Father's Day

Apologies for my lack of blogging this past week, but I have had my Mum staying with me and we were busy busy busy!  However, I did manage to get my Father's Day cards made before Mum arrived (both the same, one for my step dad and one for my FIL):

I also did a small amount of crafting over this past weekend, two tags for gifts:

I again used the vintage comic/black/kraft combination for the tag for my FIL's gift and a small scrap of Basic Grey and other scraps for my MIL's tag.

According to their weight chart, our kittens are gaining weight although to us they don't really seem much bigger (especially Pickle who is still tiny).  However, they have been back to the vet for the first round of injections and have an appointment for the second lot, and the vet seems pleased with their progress.  In fact it was very much a family day out as we took all four pets for their boosters/injections at the same time in order to achieve a 20% discount which, as those of you with pets will know, is not to be sniffed at!  The kittens are also getting a lot braver around the dogs and are coming downstairs on their own accord, so all is going well!

Carole x

Hayden's Birthday Card

Now that my new bathroom is almost finished, and all the boxes, sinks and loos have been removed from my lounge, I could finally get to take down Hayden's birthday cards which reminded me that I hadn't yet shared with you the birthday card that I made for him.

This card is made from a piece of red A4 card folded, and the graph paper was amongst some old school books that Hayden was chucking out and actually has a graph on the reverse!  The letters were cut from an old copy of either The Beano or The Dandy (can't remember which).

Thanks again to Alex for taking the lovely pictures.

So, it is lovely to have a quiet house today!  We need to choose some flooring then when that has been fitted the bath panel and plinth can be fitted and it will all be finished!  Hooray.  We are delighted with it so far.

The kittens, Pickle and Arnold, went to the vet on Monday.  She gave them both a clean bill of health along with a  dose of worming medicine (just in case!)  She thinks that Pickle is just little, the runt of the litter, but hopefully he will thrive now that he is home with us.  We have to weigh him every day to make sure that he is gaining weight.  The first day we weighed him, he weighed just 620g and has put on 20g so far this week (bless him!).  We have to pop him into one of my mixing bowls on my kitchen scales :)  Being little doesn't stop him chasing around and playing/fighting with his big brother nor from purring very loudly and loving his cuddles, as does Arnold who compared to Pickle is such a strong robust little chap and equally cuddly and contended.

Well, thank goodness it's the weekend.  That was quite a week.  Exhausting.  Gotta love Bank Holiday weekends, especially when there is a huge clear up along with more decorating to be done ...

Carole x

My New Babies

As promised, here I am, back with some good news.  Meet my new babies!  As you know, we very sadly lost our beautiful Morris and we have been missing him like mad and our home just didn't feel right without a cat.  So, yesterday, we picked up these adorable little bundles of fluff (and when I say little, they are tiny, especially the one on the left).  They are both boys, brothers and are 6 weeks old (I am now a little worried that they are too small to leave their Mum, but I was assured that they are).  I shall make an appointment and take them to our vet tomorrow to have them properly checked over.

As we didn't know whether we were getting brothers or sisters or one of each, we had terrible trouble deciding on names for them.  The little one (did I mention that he is miniscule?) quickly got the nickname Little Pickle for obvious reasons and despite me suggesting other names (such as Sidney) I have been over ruled, and Pickle it is!

For ages, the other kitten was referred to as "the big one" - bless him.  He really isn't big at all, only compared to his little brother!  Eventually we settled on Arnold as his name.

It's so lovely seeing them playing (and fighting) together, they are so funny.  We very briefly introduced them to Tilly (our Spaniel) today, and she is such a good girl that she refused to look at them so that she wouldn't be tempted to chase them.  They did little arched backs and Arnold even hissed at her (Pickle tried and made the face, but no sound came out bless him).

Loads more scrapping opportunties - I can feel them coming on already!

Carole x

10 Years Younger

Well OK, not 10 years younger because then he would be just a puppy, but look at how handsome my Italian Spinone looks (and smells!) when he comes home from the groomers!!! It takes years off him (lucky thing!) In the before picture, he's got knots in his ears, a grubby beard and a very doggy odour! In the after picture, he feels all soft, his ears are silky and he smells like shampoo! We all love him so much more when he comes home, and he gets loads more cuddles and hair ruffles!

Before
After

Now that he is getting on, he finds a day being pampered exhausting, so I didn't take him out for a walk with us this morning, and sure enough, as soon as he got home, he popped outside for a "comfort break" and has been asleep ever since!

Meanwhile, I have been busy doing the dreaded housework and ironing today, along with washing all the dog beds and towels to match the clean dog!!! I have made a list of crafting projects that I want/need to do, so will hopefully find some time to spend in my corner this week!

Carole x