}

Wednesday 30 April 2008

Then there were 4....

The dogs seem to be having a hard time understanding that Ducks are friends, not food.
Our 6 friends are now just 4, alas, some loss was expected and we are now super cautious about our remaining chums, and the dogs and ducks are only allowed out at the same time under strict supervision, until the hounds get the message, it is debatable they will.

It doesn't help that the ducks, despite seeing two of their friends savagely eaten, have no fear of the dogs, and stroll past them at leisure, really, they are asking for trouble.
You would think they might realise that water = safety, swim little friends swim! But no, they seem to prefer sunbathing to swimming, and the dogs are constantly sniffing their butts and planning their next move, le sigh.

In my long absence, I neglected to tell you all about the arrival of the ducks and new chickens. New pets are always met with great suspicion by the hounds, the main question quivering on their lips, is, predictably "Can I eat them?".
Despite the answer being a resounding NO, some casualties are always expected, and honestly there have been many.

On Mothers day I was presented with two pretty Sussex Chickens and two very handsome Labrador Ducks. I will refrain from going into too much detail because really it is quite upsetting, shall we just say that one of our Sussex Chickens now has just one leg (which she seems to hop around rather well on!), and is thus named Peggy - or Peg Leg. The two Labrador Ducks (which cost a small fortune) lasted less than an hour, we consoled ourselves with the fact that at least they got to swim on a very real lake before their passing, having been previously raised in something akin to a Chicken Battery farm.

Two more little ducklings (this time plain old CHEAP white ones) were introduced to the brood, one of which met it's end when The Hoozel accidentally left the door to their house open, and one of the dogs accidentally found it's way in.
5 more were purchased, which makes six, and there are 4 now remaining. For those of you who are trying to do the sums, the dogs killed 5 ducks :(

Here they are, little sweethearts!



They are incredibly tame, and allow us to pick them up and give them a wee stroke, so we try to enjoy that, whilst it lasts!

I was supposed to be back over a week ago, posting more dotee dolls. I have no excuse, because there are none to make, what can I say? The days just drift one in to the other and before I know it, a week has passed!
So here they are, albeit one week late!

First up, the second in the Shabby Chic theme, this little baby is already on her way to the USA.







Now, I was very excited to make this next little poppet, she is the first Icicle Doll I have made, the theme was Spring. I found the perfect scrap of fabric in my stash, which was sent by a swap partner some time ago, and has finally come into use....



I am really pleased with how it turned out, it is slightly larger than planned, as I really wanted to incorporate as much of the fabric pattern as possible, and I love her little face, Spring like and cheerful me thinks, I reckon this is what flowers would look like, if they had faces :)



This little darling is for another swap, there was no theme so I was free to let my creativity run loose. Since this one is um, eeek, about 8 weeks late, I gave her a "Ooops I'm late!" kinda face!





I really hope my swap partners like their new buddies, I certainly had fun making them.

So many Dotee swaps still to make, and so little time. I have been so inspired lately to create other things, but must catch up with the Dotee's before I can start anything else and I am now literally itching to get new projects under way, so my sewing hands are working as fast as they can to catch up with late swaps, alas, I shall be back with more shortly!

Before I go, I wanted to share these, Bluebells! Spanish Bluebells, but better than none, apparently, where there are Bluebells, there are fairies!



FankoOOoo, as always, for your lovely comments and congratulations! It is always a joy to know you are reading, and for the record, the bump is doing just fine :)

Thursday 17 April 2008

Rain, Rain, Go away!

April Showers are proving to be reeeally annoying now, it has rained relentlessly and as a result I have not been able to get out on my bicycle, which means no trips to the Post Office, hence, these prettie's are still waiting to be sent, but alas, progress is progress, as Simon is home tomorrow to ferry me there in his car, yay.

First up, these ATC's are so so late, they are for the Magical Forest ATC swap, and I still need to do two more but thought I would share these two now.



I used Prisma Colour pencils. It has been so long since I really put pencil to paper (were talking years!), and it is so frustrating to see that my drawing skills have taken a serious battering through neglect and lack of practice, I hope to make some improvements in future, although I am reasonably happy with these, given the teeny tiny size of them, it's not easy working so small, might try collage ATC's next time me thinks!

I also completed another dotee doll for a Polka Dotee swap, here she is!



And another for a Shabby Chic Dotee swap, still need to make another one of these...





And she has freckles!



I have had an endless stream of family guests over the last two weeks which has rendered me exhausted. One afternoon, when my Papa and I returned from Lunch, we found 3 Bullocks grazing outside my house!


Mr Pip was very brave and went to say Hello....



But soon ran away when he realised those things have horns! haha!



Even Simon ran like the clappers when he saw these beasts, wish I had caught that on camera too!

So, a short but sweet post from me, I am still sewing sewing sewing, trying to catch up, back soon with more!

Monday 7 April 2008

Catching Up

Greetings my lovelies!

Golly, it has been so long! Apologies for my long absence, and thank you SO much for all your well wishes and emails asking how/where I am.
After all this time of complaining of being unwell, I can FINALLY reveal the cause of all the sickness and tiredness, say hello to my little friend.....



Haha! This little SURPRISE munchkin has put me through hell the last few weeks, I have slept on average 18 hours each day (I kid you not), life just turned into something that happened when I could not get to sleep, alas, the fatigue is starting to pass and I am now getting back to real life without a duvet and pillow :) I am now almost 16 weeks pregnant, and already have a nice bump to show off, yay for me!

So much has happened since I last wrote. Willow and Littlefoot went off to their new home with Carla, there were tears all around but they are now nicely settled.
We have welcomed some new friends to our brood....



And things are finally happening in the garden....









The chickens are back on the lay....



and so are the geese!



There are lots of Spring treasures to be found....



and eggs can be swapped for all manner of lovely things, these flowers came from Monsieur Honesty...



Swapping has taken a backseat whilst I soundly slept and loudly puked my way through the last 2 months. All of my swap partners have been so wonderful and patient, I am ever grateful for the kindness they have shown, and I am SO relieved to finally be sewing again and playing catch up, progress is slow but sure.

First on the list to complete was the Dotee Doll for Dot. Dot wanted a green and blue dotee, so I chose a Kaffe Fasset fabric from my stash and used lots of twinkling blue and green beads, I started this weeks ago, but only completed it on Saturday! Also, great minds evidently think alike because Dot sent me a dotee made from an almost identical fabric! teehee!
Here she is hanging from the apple blossom....



First on my swap-bot list was the 8 week late (eek) Matroyshka Doll swap, here is what I made, 4 evenings of work, the biggest doll is 10" long, these little cuties were so hard to part with...



They are now on their way to Zoe in the UK!
Now, must dash, there is still MUCH sewing to be done, more pics in my Flickr! <3