Getting in the Christmas Spirit

It's December. We've had our first snow and some truly freezing weather and you know what that means! Yep, time to crack out the Xmas tunes.

We've had a very busy run of late, between the in-laws and friends visiting, I feel like I've not stopped hosting! To finish off November, we had the much anticipated Goblin Ball and it was absolutely amazing.

These outfits have been months in the making! It's not clear in the photo, but we are dressed as moths, myself a Luna moth and hubby as deathshead. The theme came to be as hubby was adamant he wanted a mothman cosplay, and I managed to swerve the enthusiasm onto a rogue/traveller inspired moth attire.

Very pleased with how they came out, and the night itself was amazing. The food was fantastic, everyone was really friendly and the outfits ... Well, the bar has been raised for next year! There was even a medieval band and we played medieval dancing games, absolutely fantastic evening.

Missy was not to be left out. We took her to see Santa Paws on the Saturday - bizarrely IKEA hosted one, even though they aren't dog friendly. One day! We popped into Jollyes on the way home to get her a treat for being on the nice list.

Following on from the being on the nice list, I did a little photoshoot with Missy on Sunday around the theme "naughty or nice", and she absolutely does belong on the nice list.

Missy knows not to take (at least when no one is looking!) and she would sniff at the treats, look and me and then sniff them again. I managed to coax her into nudging at them so it looks like she's taking them in another photo, but it was a delightful bit of fun.

Monday was a quick trip to Ireland to see my dad for his Christmas. It went very quickly but also went very well. He has 5 dogs and they were on best behaviour around my sister and I.

We had some drama on the flight there. Literally as the plane was starting to take off I got a nosebleed. So I was hunched up, one hand clamping my nose shut whilst the other was under my chin in the event of a stray drip whilst my sister was poised awaiting the air stewardess unbuckling her seatbelt. Apparently the woman pulled a face when the call bell sounded the split second she stood up, but when she realised it was an actual emergency, she was fantastic with us. She dashed off, brought me tissues and wipes and a bottle of water along with some sick bags and a plastic bag to put it all in when done. As a first aider, I appreciated the questions about if this was normal or not and was also checked on a few times during the flight. As soon as those around us realised what was going on, a small mexican wave of tissues being offered occured.

My sister found all of this hilarious and, in retrospect, it was funny, although at the time if I could have opened the emergency exit and yeeted myself onto the tarmac, I absolutely would have. Mortified doesn't cut it!

Then it was a very late arrival home before the grind of the week started up again!

I'm hoping to update before Christmas, but no promises! Stay safe and enjoy the festive season.

Santa Paws is Coming to Town

I mean, we all know which ones on the nice list and which ones on the naughty list!

This weekend we had not one, but two trips to see Father Christmas. The first one my brother insisted we book back in September which was the official Grotto experience at Dobbies. That was tremendous fun as we arrived early enough to bump into the back if the previous slot, so we were in a lovely queue of dogs all in thier Christmas jumpers.

Maisie was clearly keen to impress as she bravely put up with bring in hers whilst Missy got lots of attention as the cutest one in a llama jumper as both hubby and I wore ours. Cringy. Maybe. But dud we make a lot of people smile? Absolutely. Which makes it all worthwhile. 

After a stop at the Dobbies cafe for breakfast (it would have been rude not to! ) we headed over to Jollyes for thier 1 year anniversary party, featuring (you've guessed it) Santa Paws!

He was clearly feeling more energetic after a morning cuddling dogs - we were treated to a sing along and stories before being given chocolates. 

Not a bad wee day! 

Sunday was a sewing day. I had completed the last of the Christmas sewing on Thursday and was pleased to get on with a different project. A pair of bride and groom sloths are slowly coming together (no pun intended) and I'm pleased with how they have turned out so far.

I had Maisie again so my brother could push on with his Xmas shopping and then I picked up hubby from work and we went along to the Beecraigs Festival of Light with my older sister, BIL and nephew. To say it's been a year for my poor sister is an understatement and truth be told, I think she really needed the distraction. Hubby and I were running about with out nephew and generally being upbeat and silly, who resulted in some of the nicest photos of my nephew taken this year! My sister held an owl and hubby got his photo with "Weegie Olaf" at "Freezin" and Anna and Elsa too.

My sister lamented about not being able to bring the dogs, but thats the way it is, the event was far too busy to drag a poor dog about in. 

And I'm sure Missy was pleased for the quiet evening. She was beat after a weekend putting up with her cousin (who we were shocked to learn had made it onto the nice list, she clearly smuggled some cookies in that jumper) and was sound asleep when we eventually got home.

All in all, a fan wee weekend. 

And there's more Christmas fun to come! 

Until next week! 

A Struggle to Find Santa Paws

Well, last week was a disaster. The boiler broke Friday and it wasn't until Tuesday that I had any hot water or heating. So I was far too cold and in an absolute humbug to write up a blog post.

The week had started off really well, despite experimenting with a veggie diet for a month (more to see if we could manage it, the hubby being the kinda guy that doesn't view a meal complete unless something dead is on the plate) my iron levels were good enough to let me give blood. (I always coast about the 125mg/l limit, so was shocked to get 150mg/l, albeit from the arm after failing the finger prick). So I got my twice yearly tunnocks teacake, got the house dressed for Christmas in our usual low-key kinda way, played my new Dolly Jolly Christmas CD and the three of us cuddled up on the sofa to watch Dolly's Christmas on the Square (if you need some warm hearted Christmas themed cheese, I recommend it). 

Then, prepped for a weekend of fun and adventure, the heating went. 

And we had snow. 

Thunder snow. 

Engineer was to come out Sunday, got cancelled as someone decided not to reveal they were covid positive until after they had been visited, so my engineer had to self isolate for the rest of the day. 

They came out Monday, the propeller had gone, so the part wouldn't arrive by Tuesday. All this time I couldn't have Missy sleeping in the hall (which at best we could warm to 12C with an oil heater) so she was in with us, meaning all three of us were under slept, tired and cold in the bones. 

Humbug to all those seasons greetings. 

Then heat returned, and we could have hot baths. I don't think the poor boiler engineer had ever been thanked so enthusiastically as the radiators hummed to life!

This weekend we moved out from teir 4 and down to teir three (which really, apart from the shops opening, has changed nothing) and I was determined to get myself feeling Christmassy again. I was two weeks into December and felt less Christmassy than I had last month, that needed fixed. 

So off to Santa Paws. 

We had planned on coupling the visit with a walk round Beecraigs, but it's rained all day and I've gotten a terrible cold from my chill last week, so hubby insisted on cream scones and tea and then for me to get back inside and warm and he'd do the afternoon walk. 

Honestly, I don't deserve him sometimes. 

In bake off news, it's been gingerbread men and pupperoni pizza - the later of which turned out perfect and Missy was very pleased with! Here's a recap of our bake off adventure, and my absolute low key trolling in trying to get Missy to pose exactly the same for every shot! 

Craft wise I haven't been idle. I lost a lot of sewing time last week on the account of it being too cold (trying to thread a needle with raynauds is absolutely impossible) bu I was pleased to complete my eldest neices stocking:

It is quite possible that she is more obsessed with backpacks than I am, so I know she'll love it. I wanted to do something fun and bright, but she's moved to that phase where it's all pretentious pouting and black.

Here's a sneak peek of my current, very bright and loud project:

One more post until Christmas! 

Santa and Cthullu Cults

Dont let the title fool you, Santa is not a Lovecraftian creation! The contrast between my sisters life and my own is sometimes too amusing - read on to find out why!

It's that time of year where all the Christmas markets spring up and all the rehoming charities start fundraising again. The Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home did their annual Santa Paws visit and I was pleased that the madness of life allowed me enough time to take Missy along and my mother came too. 

For a dog that hates Christmas, she really does enjoy the fuss and attention of these events. She got loads of cuddles and fussing and stared out several stall keepers in order to obtain biscuits (and even had those without biscuits apologising to me). Her Paddington stare, as we call it, has only intensified over the years! 

Missy did me well as always and was perfectly behaved for Father Christmas. He had a great big tin of gravy bones that he was being very liberal with so she happily sat up beside him and worked her charm on him. After being deemed the "best behaved dog of the day" we were all sent off with a sweet treat each. 

My mother was proud of such praise and I could only laugh that Missy had clearly pulled the wool over his eyes. But hey, I won't mention the squirrels if you don't!

We walked along the promenade afterwards and watched the sea attack the storm walls. It was a pleasant day, and we certainly caught the best of it, but I think the weather is going to turn again. 

On a completely different end if the spectrum, and a break from Christmas sewibg: Cultist Robes.

(Hat knitted by my sister for her crazy Cthullu Cultist weekend, which is outlined here). 

Long story short, my sister and brother in law batted their eyelashes at me for some cultist robes that would a) look cool but not like something horrendous from the KKK, b) not give them rashes like the polyester ones they could find online and c) not bake them alive, hence the felt and not fleece choice in material. 

I was more than happy to take the challenge and used this Fleece Fun pattern which I liked best. I was keen on a multiway design as I wanted more used from them than one weekend, and my sister and her family are always game for laugh and dressing up. I've been sent photos of my BIL playing a out in his with a lightsaber, so it's clearly the right choice! I also liked this pattern as my sister was going for a goat demon (hence the hat) with a thousand young and we had bandied about the idea of putting eyes inside the cloak. I wanted something she could easily swish open to show off said eyes - I didn't get 1000, but there are 30 sets of eyes on there! 

So that brings me full circle to what I found so humorous. She's off taking her children to a Cthullu themed party complete with bonfire and I'm taking my furbaby to see Santa Paws. I dont know why I think that's so funny, but it is!

Although I totally think Missy could have pulled off some kind of hellish Lovecraftian monster very well! I've listened to a few of the stories and they do give me the absolute heebie jeebies, so I may have to outsource to my sister on suggestions as to what horror might suit Missy best! 

Getting Festive!

It has been a very busy week! I've had the in laws visiting (and going and coming back again as they have used us as a stopover on their York trip) which means that there just isn't enough time to get on with things.

The in laws finished their visit by taking us out to the Chinese lanterns at Edinburgh Zoo. We did this last year which had a traditional Chinese theme, and this year they changed things up a bit by making it a myths and legends theme, including some British legends to go alongside the Chinese ones. Seeing life size unicorns and a duelling Nessie and dragon was a brilliant way to start the weekend, despite the lashing rain and high winds (a given when booking anything in advance!) Below are a few of my favourite photos:

After waving the in laws off, Saturday was a quiet day in with a poorly Missy (someone was greedy and ate too fast and threw up before spending the rest of the day feeling sorry for herself). With a wee ear infection, we decided to keep a cautious eye on her and were pleased when she was back to herself this morning.

After writing all my Christmas cards and boxing up the gifts that need posted, I'm really beginning to feel festive. Today was another (yes, another!) visit to Santa Paws but this time raising funds for the Dogs Trust. It was very different to the Christmas Market the EDCH put on as it was more a photo shoot with a stall selling Dogs Trust bits and bobs and a table with some refreshments, but was still enjoyable as we were surrounded by dogs. Missy as always put in 110% to show up the other dogs and her reindeer antlers were much complimented upon!

On a final note, I did get some crafts done this week, namely a new towel/dressing gown for Missy. As big whovians, I couldn't resist an upcycle of a much loved and overworn dressing gown! It was a well timed project as her poorly episode yesterday was spent snuggled up under it and having cuddles. 

Santa Paws

Its that time of the year, the mornings are frosty, lights twinkle in the dark evenings and decorations start to appear in windows-

Wait, its only November.

So, Christmas is beginning its creep into our lives and, whilst I disapprove of Christmas stuff going on sale before Halloween, the whole nonsense that is Black Friday and the fact that yes, some of my neighbours have already started decorating, I do think it is the right time to get the Christmas Markets up and running. For the second year running, I've managed to get along to the Edinburgh Dog and Cat homes Santa Paws Christmas Market. This is where Missy came from, and its a charity that I feel is completely overlooked, so I try my hardest to get along to the fundraising events and join in.

A festive Missy

And of course, the fleet of dogs in Christmas jumpers, reindeer antlers and tinsel. One cant forget the real reason we go to these events! Cousin Maisie, who is now a regular feature here, is having a real push on her socialisation and desensitisation - so a market full of dogs we know in advance will be good with other dogs, in a place where we know no one is gonna be offish or afraid of dogs, is a perfect place to ramp things up a little. As expected, the little fluff ball was utterly adored, and Missy wasn't left out as her chilled back demeanour was praised alongside her little eyebrows.

The weather was  really against everyone. Rather than the forecast light rain in the morning and a sunny afternoon, it was pretty heavy squalls with a high wind. As we arrived, they had aborted the outdoor element to the market and were moving the stall holders all inside. We were assured that the pups would definitely get their photos with santa paws, and I'm pleased to say that they did. Missy, who is most definitely on the good girl list showed off her impressive sit and stay skills whilst Maisie was made to sit on Santa's knee. We suspect he will overlook her naughty ways on account of the fact that she's such a young puppy. Or perhaps she'll just pout until she wins him over!

We finished the day (after Missy sampled all the freebies, a pooch after my own heart) with a very bracing walk down the promenade and on the beach. After being on her absolute best behaviour, Missy was off like a rocket on the sand and bounced and bounded all about us. My poor brother was towed along by an exuberant Maisie who was desperate to keep up and then he and I ended up spinning in circles as we tried not to get tied up in Maisies lead and Missy ran laps around us.an absolutely brilliant end to an enjoyable day!

I can't claim that this was Maisies first time on a beach, but it was certainly her first shot on sand and she took to it like a pro. I adore it when Missy deigns to play with her, she can play very nicely with puppies, although it's very much on her terms still!

In non doggy news, my latest (and most ambitious sewing project) is very nearly done, I just need to add the button holes. In the meantime, here's a sneak peak at my first ever double welted pocket with flap. Oh yes, this amateur seamstress is giving tailoring a go!