The End of an Era 😢

Goodbye Beastie - It won't be the same here without you.

May 1999 - June 2022

(Yes, 23 lovely years)

Night night, my little fluffy man

Blue - Thank you for adopting us ♥♥♥

1998 - August 2016

Bye-bye Angel Puss

Tinkle - We'll miss you so much

May 1999 - May 2016

Photographic Evidence

There you have it, folks. Proof that I do, on occasion, still crochet. 

[Shouts of "Photoshopped!" from the crowd.]

The fact that I started this particular blanket in 2009 and I'm still only about half-way, should give you some idea of just how "occasional" my crafting is these days. Another interest is taking up most of my time. But I'm hoping to dust off my hooks and do a bit more, and maybe even design a little something for you all again.

Give yourself a little time each day to do something that makes you happy.

♥ ♥ ♥

Grrrrr

Bloody ImageShack. As of 1 November, unless I pay them $3.99 a month, the images they host for me will no longer be "delivered" to my blog. Hence all the empty images on my page.

Looks like I'll be spending precious time reloading them elsewhere (probably Flickr) and redoing all the links. Yay.

Oh, and I've got until 31 January to do it before my account is discontinued and I can no longer access the images.

Sad

Sasha - Sleep well, little girl.

May 1999 - November 2014

Fiona Apple

How has it taken me so long to discover this girl?!?

Lyrics | Fiona Apple lyrics - Never Is A Promise lyrics

I heard Hot Knife a few weeks back, thought it was brilliant, loved her voice and have only just gotten around to checking her out. I've just spent about three hours watching videos of her performances and interviews. Fiona Apple rocks!

If you like this video you might like to hear the studio version - less raw and immediate but it showcases her gorgeous voice.

SOPA/PIPA

But keep an eye on ICANN, too.

Fliplife!

Ok. It's official. I am a sad geek with no life.

The warning signs were there when I declared my devotion to Real Park. But now there is no denying I have no real life... because I have a Fliplife!

I expect there are a few acronyms I could toss out at this point so that the cognoscenti would know exactly what sort of set up Fliplife is, but I've never played anything like this before so I don't know the lingo.

I've seen it described as a cross between The Sims and Farmville (I have only a vague knowledge of either, so I really couldn't say). Whatever it is, I'm enjoying it thoroughly!

The game play seems perplexingly pointless at first but as you progress it all starts to make sense and becomes deliciously challenging.

You choose a "career" and then work to gain "cash" and "flips", which can be spent in the "shop" (what self-respecting avatar doesn't want to be seen in the latest fashion?) , on "training" to increase your earning power or on recreational activities that allow you to regain energy and build endurance.

Working as part of a "team" builds your "friends" base; working with friends increases your bonuses - win-win!

I'm probably explaining this really badly but let's just say I'm totally addicted and I'm hoping you'll give it a try and get sucked in too. The more the merrier!

Update 6 Nov 11: Here's my personal invitation link. I'd love to see you there!

Things that go munch in the night

We'd known for some time that we had a fox visiting our garden in the night.

He first came to our attention last December when he appeared a couple of time at dusk, helping himself to the crispies put out for the birds - "crispies" being the bits of batter that break off when you deep-fry fish. They are skimmed off and discarded, but our local chippie is good enough to save bags of them for us.

When we told them about our latest diner they started putting in the odd piece of fish and battered sausage - bits that had sat too long under the warmer - and these we left out for Foxy after dark. They were usually all gone by about 2 in the morning.

Naturally, the staff at the chippie hoped we'd have pictures... So we decided to treat ourselves to a trail camera, and were lucky enough to have success straight away.

That's a great lump of battered cod in his mouth. :-)

Yes, we'd known about the fox.

What we hadn't known about was this guy:

A European Badger - generally more placid than his North American cousin (unless threatened, then watch out!) and quite willing to visit peoples' gardens if food is on offer.

Chuffed to bits we were! We now put peanuts out as well as fish. Boy, does he love peanuts!

Here's a few more nice photos:

Peanuts! Nom, nom, nom...

What is that light?

Ah, and this is Blue, our outdoor cat. We get lots of shots of him and his little feline friends.

New Year Ripple Finished!

Happy New Year everyone!

Well, I did it. I finally finished my New Year Ripple Afghan. Three years to the day.

Actually, that was deliberate. I could have finished it a few days ago but I decided to leave the final round of the border until today. :-)

It's going to live on the back of my chair, to be snuggled under on cold days. I think Mum would have been pleased.

Merry Christmoose!

I have decreed that, this year and henceforth, the Christmas Season officially "kicks off" on the evening of 5 December (St Nicholas Day Eve). My mother was German and we always celebrated Nikolaustag when my brother and I were little. So - I may write some cards and wrap some pressies prior to the 5th but no decorations come out and no fruitcake gets eaten!

This morning I was in town posting some cards and looking for stick-on bows (why does everyone sell the nasty metallic ones and not the nice satin-type anymore?) when I popped into one of the charity shops. They had all their Christmas-y stuff together in a big display, but I went to the back looking for yarn (as I always do). There, stuffed in with all the other soft toys, was a little moose. He had a plain brown gingham bow around his neck but I knew immediately he was in the wrong place. He was a Christmoose!

I coughed up the £1.30 ($2.14), hurried home with my prize, ditched the gingham and dug out a proper Christmas bow. I can't tell you how silly-excited I get every time I catch a glimpse of him.

It's Chriiiiiiiist-maaaaaaaaas!!*

*Just in case there's anyone left out there who doesn't know: Noddy Holder at the end of Slade's "Merry Christmas Everybody"

Know Thyself

Wandering the internet as I do, I regularly stumble across other peoples' avatars. I've always thought how nice it must be for them to have a little graphic Mini-Me that inhabits their cyber-world. I have coveted those avatars and have spent a fair bit of time working away on various avatar-creator websites in search of an image to call my own.

I have not been successful.

No matter how hard I tried, no matter how many noses and hairstyles I sampled, nothing I created bore the slightest resemblance to Me. Perhaps all those other avatars don't live up to their owners' expectations either. Perhaps they deliberately designed an "alter-ego" - a completely different and separate internet persona. Perhaps they just picked the best of a bad lot.

No, I have not been successful. Until now.

Yes, I have at last found perfection. The cartoon creation that captures my essence, my soul. The pixel portrait that would enable any of my readers to instantly recognise me should they ever pass me in the street.

And where did I discover the real me, you ask?

South Park.
I should have known.

I ♥ Cyprus!

DH and I went to Cyprus for the first time back in March (I know, very late - took me ages to sort out the photographs). We have friends who sold up and moved out there last December and they invited us to come and stay with them.

Well, we certainly went at the right time of year. Everything was lush and green and awash with wildflowers,...
all the lemon and orange trees were in bloom and smelling marvelous (it seems like every street is lined with them and virtually every garden has one or the other or both),...and it was bright and sunny but not too hot.
We were only there for 8 days so we didn't travel too far afield -
Agia Napa,...Cape Gkreko,... around the towns in the Famagusta District... and a trip up to Salamis in Northern Cyprus.
Our friends said to come back in October - when it should, again, be sunny but not hot - and we'll all go off to the Troodos Mountains, the other side of the island, for a few days.

The people were so nice and friendly, there was hardly any traffic and the food was fantastic (if you're ever in Paralimni, go to Ttappis Tavern!). I told DH if we ever come into money I'm buying a holiday home there. I can't wait to go back. Not sure we can afford another trip this year but I'm saving up!

Grandchild #2

Born 17 March 2008
Adopted 4 December 2008
Adoption finalised 31 March 2009
(PS He's gorgeous!)

Snowflake Monday Christmas Special

In honour of the new granddaughter:

A "ruby" flake for Ruby's first Christmas! The pattern is called "Lovely Snowflake" and it's from a book, but I don't know which one. Sorry all you pattern hounds.







But we've since had an additional new addition.

DS and his partner are in the process of adopting Matthew. He came home with them 4 December. So, naturally, he has a flake, too:

I think this is a nice, boyish flake for Matthew's first Christmas. It's #8 from Sally V George's Crochet Works.

Both flakes were made with Anchor Arista thread and a 2 hook.






Boy and girl grandbabies, just in time for Christmas - perfect!

Our First Grandchild

Born Sunday, 26 October 2008 at 6:23 pm
Weight: 8 lbs 13½ ozs

Dear God...

Crane Flies*...

WHY?!?

*Tipula paludosa, known in our household as Clunk Bugs because they're useless fliers and when they get in your house they bumble about and "clunk" into everything. For those of you not familiar with these little darlings, the body alone is over an inch long. Then there's those legs! EEEeeeeekkkk!!!

ThisClose!

DH and I went for a walk today,

from Beaumont Quay around to Landermere (only about a mile each way). Very nice it was, too. Sunny with a cooling breeze, lots of shorebirds to see, no one else around.

But the best bit was on the way back, about 100 yards from the car.
A baby bunny on the footpath -


Close -


Very close -


This close!!!


It had no fear of us at all. It was so tiny - we were probably the very first
what-the-heck-is-that?s it had ever seen.

Eventually instinct kicked in and it decided it probably shouldn't be hanging around us and scurried off into the bushes.

That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it

I realise that you must all be very concerned about the fact that I haven't been making any Snowflake Monday posts for a while (meh, humour me). Here it is, a third of the way through the year, and I've only made 9 snowflakes. What ever could the matter be??

Well, mainly it's the fault of this little tadpole here:
No, not me you idiot! At my age?? This little girl (yes, apparently it's a girl) is on her way to becoming our first grandchild. Early October.

So, naturally, I've been crocheting baby stuff like a mad thing since we got the news in February. Snowflakes will just have to wait their turn. Here are the results of my efforts so far:













Heirloom Baby Blanket and Crocheted Hat and Jacket for Baby (the mittens and booties are my design)














Baby, It's Cold Outside (BICO) and Shining Star baby blanket from 50 Sensational Crocheted Afghans and Throws (WIP).

In addition, I've made another pair of booties, a BICO for another mum-to-be and seven chicken potholders.
Okay, so the chickens are nothing to do with babies. But they're cute.

I even have one as my avatar on Ravelry and Flickr.