Breaking news, cat uses litter tray!

 Instead of an Easter egg, DD2 requested a home made purse. Her present purse has a clip, and tends to open randomly and spill its contents. So a zip top version was preferred, and duly produced. Not brilliant, but it functions.

Little pockets made putting the zip in rather more awkward, but I trust it is going to be secure enough for purpose.










I have been procrastinating. I have had the makings for ages, but have only just got round to making the cloak requested for ' Brian the Lion'



Morris sides generally have a 'fool' and sometimes they also have an animal, to interact with any audience they may encounter. Thelwall recently decided to resurrect their animal and so the lion came back into play. Someone else has made the head, and I was volunteered to do the cloak.

That fur fabric is really thick and heavy and a pig to sew. It takes only those stitches it wants to, meaning seams have to be sewn several times. It is very heavy, which means it is as difficult to manhandle as a big quilt. And, of course, I now have a house full of fluff!








Maroon, blue and gold are the  Thelwall colours, so I have picked those up on the collar. That lion will be very cosy!





My DH has also been volunteered to join in with 'pace egging' He was given the part of the 'Black Knight'. This involved, dressing in black and blacking up.

He gets killed and, officially, carried off. I do not think there were any volunteers to carry this particular black knight off.
So, they decided to use a stretcher. Two poles and a blanket, and roll the dead knight on, pick up the poles and leave the scene. Leaving behind, one black knight, on blanket.

Black knight, looks up, says, 'oh, s%$*&' and gets up, picking up blanket and 'hiding' behind it, and shuffles off sideways. Mission accomplished.






Those of a delicate disposition, look away now!


Litter tray news!  We are using it!


  Ok, so that shouldn't be a surprise. But Genny is getting old. And for a few ( most) years she has declined use of litter tray, preferring to go outside. We have kept the litter tray going, for cold weather, and her getting caught short, but she has not bothered. Then recently she has apparently decided not to get her bottom cold. But to go indoors. In the kitchen. Leaving a most unpleasant aroma. Not in the tray, but just in a corner. Not nice.

So, I eventually twigged, and moved the litter tray to where she goes. Not my preferred position, but HER preferred position. And she is using it. Of course, this means I will have to clean it out more often, but if it saves the smells...

Wonky February starts

The stash bee queen for February has called for her blocks. She wanted wonky blocks, one each of a log cabin and a star. I think I am not alone in fnding wonky difficult at times. Apart from anything else, the frugal bit of me hates to cut off that seam at an angle, and screams 'you can't waste that bit! Make it straight, it is so much more economical' .

But, as you can see, I have managed a wonky star, and most of my log cabin is wonky. Ish. Sort of. It will have to do.

 Joining in the wonky theme. An amaryllis. Yes, I know, they are not called that any more. There was a name change. But that is what it was when I was little, so I shall still call it that. But an amaryllis with a wonk!

Why is it wonky?

Normally you would suppose I had it with that bud toward the window.

But just look at the other side.

 You can just about see, the bud the other side, is trying to grow wonky the other way....


I think I got a wonky amaryllis!












 Signs of spring are starting. First primroses, and the very first snowdrops are making their presence felt in the garden.





We were out for an hour today, pruning and chopping- maybe a little early, but the day was clement, and no guarantee of another such day in the next week or so, so we filled the 'green' bin, and then some. And called a halt once that was done.











And this is for my daughters. She only wants some more food! Poor half starved little Genny cat!

Busy sewing day!

 The Stash bee challenge this month was to do a self portrait, and a portrait of your pet.

Well, Genny is our pussy cat. Does Genny care for having her portrait made? Or would she rather look the other way?

You guessed it, she is Miss Disdain, and has no desire to oblige, by looking in the direction of a camera.

So I took a sketch from the image, and used Bondaweb to take a trace. This, of course, gives me a mirror image. So this is Genny, the mirror cat!








Not too bad, methinks!

 I am not at all convinced about having my image, either. This is the best I can do, but I trust I do not really look like that!

The block for Quilt Arond the World, for this lady, is in shades of pink and green. But a very particular pink and green. I am not so much of a pink person, and most of the pinks in my stash are rather stronger than this! So I had to go shopping! I now have rather nmore pink in my stash- and I thought this would be a stash buster???

So far, with the Stash bee, and the QATW, my stash inexorably grows!

But, having shopped this morning, I was very pleased to finish the two portrait blocks- I changed what I was doing with these, so that my Mums machine could cope, But it still struggled a bit- so do not look too closely at the stitchery round Genny's grey bits! And to get the pink and green one done as well- That is a good day of sewing!

So, what did you achieve this Wednesday?

Oh Poor Pussy

This is Genny. One day last week DD2 noticed that one of her ears looked funny. Not entirely sure what was wrong with it, but it was not right.
I then had a lovely weekend away with DD1, in Stirling. It was great to hang out with her, and do little bits of this, that and the other. and then to catch up on Sunday, with an old friend- well, last time I saw her, DD1 was 'on the way' but not ready to make an entrance by some months. And she is now, how old? Never!

and I came back, and littly said,
'Gen's not blinking that Left eye. and she is drooling slightly on the left side. '

And she isn't, and she is. If you follow that.
And the left ear is not twitching toward new noises.  All on the left side.

So it was off to the vet, who gave DD2 extra Brownie points for observation.
Now there is a little back story to this. Genny is a solo cat. She dislikes other cats intensely.
We think there is a new cat on the block, and Gen feels her territory is being threatened. She has come home with a few injuries around her jaw, and on her head, recently. She is not too keen on men either, and she loathes the vet!

So loading her into the cat carrier is an interesting entertainment. And then she sings softly and pathetically in the car all the way. And while you are waiting to be seen. Then you go into the surgery, and find today's vet is a man. Open the carrier door, and guess who doesn't emerge? Yup. We have paws braced and are planning to stay right where we are! and growl.

So dismantle the carrier, and remove cat. DD2 reassembles cat carrier, leaving the door shut, but not locked. Vet inspects Genny, and we discuss the options. ( Ear infection, injury from foreign cat under ear and affecting facial nerve, Bells palsy, small stroke or brain tumour) He then suggests cleaning of ears, and lets go for two seconds. Gen makes a break for it!, paw whisks cat carrier door open, and cat is in before you can see what she is up to.
One far from small cat occupies the rear third of a small cat carrier and growls some more. Cat carrier disassembled again, cat extracted, and ears are cleaned.  To a chorus of growls. Cat then objects to being weighed, but overall, for a cat of her years, she is a good weight, and her heart sounds ok, and the blood tests done in the spring suggest she is a reasonably healthy girl, and we could have an MRI (!!??) but on the whole it seems more sensibleto keep a watching brief.
See if she gets better or worse, and then, well whatever. 

So, what else is new?

Chilli pepper? colouring up nicely!

 My chilli pepper is starting to ripen, and looks wonderful. I am not sure when we will eat it, but I never had one before! Well not home grown anyway.

And I have made the next block for the round the world quilt. This is Courtney's 'You-tastic' block. Each block is supposed to say something about the person who made it, so teapots, sewing and elephants (happy  Nicky? I do like elephants- just a little, and yes, I am potty...)

this block is from Quilters cache, and is called Friday the thirteenth. But it was fine, and went together ok. And yes, I never could exactly follow the instructions, so some of it was made up as I went along, but I do not think you can tell!