New Chapters

It's been a very strange week. Firstly we had Wee Ben and, whilst his sleeping did improve, I will confess I was very pleased to have the bedroom dog free again on Thursday night! For the most part though, his stay went very well. Sunshine and sleepy doggies, a very good combination.

One small win, we had to swap Ben onto a strict feeding schedule to match Missy (he was left to basically free graze at home, which, when you own a dog who will eat until she's sick, is a straight no-no) and his appetite was so improved that my sister has decided to keep him on it. Whilst all dogs are individuals, I do think they benefit from a routine.

The main event of the week was hubby leaving his job. After being made redundant, his retail days have now passed and he's set to move onto new pastures closer to his technical background. It's all for the better, but it is difficult when the choice to move wasn't really his.

The staff closed shop to the public on Friday and then had Saturday to empty and strip the store. Seeing the photos of the empty unit really hit home that this was the end of his retail family, of 8 years since he opened the store to the public to now closing the shutters fof the last time. 

With covid, trying to organise a night out was impossible, so we offered to host a garden party and do take out pizza. Missy was in top form being cute and getting all the cuddles and it went well.

Until the heavens opened. So we all had to go inside and the ground floor of my house was basically taken over! Everyone had a great time and, with promises of a proper garden party later in the summer, the house felt oddly empty. I do miss my social get togethers, even when I barely know anyone there!

The poor weather continued into the the Sunday which was my nephews birthday. We tried for a nice walk but failed when the umbrellas gave out to the onslaught! 

Nonetheless, he was happy with his pressies and we dog sat wee Ben again so he could go do something fun indoors at the centre. 

A quiet day, but needed.

I think the next week or so is going to be a bit strange until we settle into a new routine and hubby gets into his new job.

I did manage to find time this weekend to finish the baby sampler for my friend. Name is still to be added, but that can't be done until baby arrives. My to do list is getting slowly shorter. 

Leaping into a New Month

It's been a rather odd weekend. We've had the unwanted Storm Jorge battering down on us, so it's been another weekend of grand plans put aside for another day. Not to say that we didn't have a good weekend, just that we kept things closer to home!

Saturday we really put into action our plan for Lent (not that any of us are religious) but the aim is to put a bag of things together each day to give to charity (we stretched this to include my mums school, my dance schools tombola, upcyling projects and passing forward to friends). It's kicked us into action to get the loft cleared out and boy the things we have found that we don't even remember owning. Long overdue! 

Today was a an eclectic day of plans made, plans cancelled, other plans made and last minute, oh, OK, let's do that! Long story short, I got my mums summer holiday booked for her, we baby sat Wee Ben (who was far more thrilled about it than the photo makes out!) and we managed to get out to Dechmont and go ghost hunting. It was very soggy, but both dogs had good fun and it was nice to catch up with my older sister and her family. 

Ah, dechmont. It's soon to be a no go walk. They have officially started building on it and have made a small carpark around the side of the buildings for dog walkers for the time being. I must organise my younger sisters Addams Family photo shoot we'd been planning forward to her next visit! 

I've been busy craft wise! In order to keep out the storms, I've been getting creative and pushing on through the odds and ends of the up cycling bag. Lo and behold, some very retro draught excluders! I was aiming to make them as vintage and retro as possible and was super pleased with the outcome. 

There's plenty more projects in the works, so expect some odd peices next week!

And hopefully nicer weather. I think we could all do with a break in the weather! 

For a Special Someone

Just a super quick post today:

Well, it's Inklings first birthday this weekend (my sisters little boy) and sadly I can't make the special day. I knew this in advance so put in a little extra effort to produce this fine gift:

He is crazy into bunnies. Bunnytown is dangerous viewing as he just goes nuts over them and, after our lakes adventure, I figured a healthy dose of Peter Rabbit was just what we needed. On an aside, at Easter, I did a bunny photo shoot with him - had him in a Thumper costume with all my cuddly bunnies I have amassed over the years and he was in absolute bunny heaven (after the initial overwhelming BUNNIES moment).

I figured that this would be a good pressie as Felix (his big sister) could play with them too and start her letter recognition and early words whilst Inkling could chew on them and, perhaps by osmosis, the letter knowledge will rub off too. 

There was a funny moment when sorting this all out when I was trying to sell the idea to myself going, they could spell Inkling... Wait, two Is. How about his sisters name. No, she has two Is as well. Mum? No, two Es on her actual name and two Ms for mum. Dad? Oh, darn it, he'll just need two sets of letters! So I did just that and I am pleased to say that out of immediate family, Felix can practice everyone's names.

There is a second tote bag as well in the same fabric, so I think he's well catered for in the home made gifts department! Eagle eyed readers may have noticed the clue Missy gave on these when I first mentioned making them!

Well, that's all for today, except to wish Inkling a massive Happy Birthday from his crazy aunt and uncle and mad wee cousin Missy!

Longings of Spring

Well, one good thing about all the snow and poor weather (because yes, we've had yet more snow) is that there's plenty of time to fit in some big craft projects and not feel like I should be out doing something. Missy is fed up with the ghastly weather too, but I suspect that has more to do with a lack of bunnies and squirrels to chase than longings of spring.

This is a bit of an off-the-cuff project as the fabric was a whim buy (on a very good deal!) when in Ramsbottom. I adore Peter Rabbit (the classic stuff, but I'll settle on the movie print since it was so reasonably priced!) and spent a lot of time playing about with ideas on this king size quilt before deciding that keeping it simple was best - the sheer scale of it was a challenge alone. I'm glad to say that I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and it's brought a touch of much needed spring into the house.

I've also been looking at ways to start using up my scraps and cobbled together these cute coasters - practical and stash busting! It almost justifies my need to keep every pretty bit of fabric more than a few inches big...

In the wings, I've been working on this years bonnet contest entry for Missy. I intend to keep hers simple and classic, but for myself I'm having to up my game and produce something truly over the top! I wont divulge details just yet, but with my sister coming up for Easter, everyone is making sure that our first full-family Easter in some years will be well remembered! I was also terribly pleased that I managed to make an Easter wreath with all the left over bits from bonnets past, so at least I can pretend spring is here!

In other sewing news I've been working on some pressies which I will reveal later and its a race against the clock to make a wizards coat for the hubby for the show that the Magic Circle are putting on this Friday - its my first shot on welted pockets so fingers crossed all the youtube videos I've watched has paid off!