My Sunday Photo ~ Welcome Boris

Earlier I mentioned to you we were collecting the newest member of our family.

Well here he is.

His name is Boris and he's a Working Cocker Spaniel. He's a solid black with a small patch of roan/white on his chest.

He's adorable and a most welcome addition, it's taken us a very, very long time to find the right pup, who'd have guessed we'd find him so close, he came from a place near Petworth.

At eight weeks old he had the most amazing recall and is a credit to his breeder Lynne, it's great for getting him outside to potty when he'd just woken up. If you didn't know it, puppies always need the potty when they've just awoken, eaten or got over excited when playing. Himself discovered the latter when I was having a bath this evening and got caught out LOL. 

If you want to see daily updates about what Boris and Badger Boo are up too, head over to Badger Boo's Facebook Page and click Like, or for weekly updates you can follow Badger Boo's blog.

Hope you all have a great Sunday.

xxx

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So Excited!!!

Today's the day we collect our new puppy, I'm so excited I could burst!

A new puppy means a new dog bed, which Badger Boo just had to check out for comfort, I'll be writing more about the new puppy once he's had a chance to settle in and find his feet.

As it's Saturday, it's Caption Day on the blogs.

I've not done #SatCap for a while, but as soon as I saw this picture I knew it was time.

 It would have been rude not too.

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A Welcome Surprise

I missed posting last week as I was spirited away on a surprise holiday by Himself. It was wonderful to have some time away at last, after all the ill health of the last couple of years, preventing either of us from being well enough at the same time to go away. I'll tell you more about the holiday next time.

This week I'd like to finally welcome the Policeman to the family of Knitted Collectables. You last saw the naked version of him here.

It always amazes me how they come to life as you start to add the little details.

In allotment news, the harvesting has begun.

It's great to finally be reaping the rewards after all the hard work of digging and preparing the soil. 

There's still lots more to come, I think I may have planted a few too many potatoes for the two of us, but I'm sure I'll be able to make all sorts of interesting things with them.

Just a quick post today to catch up with myself. 

Hope you've all had a great week.

xxx

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My Sunday Photo ~ Sunflowers

This year I planted Sunflowers on my allotment for the first time and they're growing beautifully tall and strong.

I can't wait to see their big smiley faces, at the moment their flower heads are forming, I love how they're just waiting to burst open.

Hopefully it won't be long before they burst forth and look even more gloriously beautiful than they do now.

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Silent Sunday

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My Sunday Photo ~ Caterpillars

I love my garden and I love Butterflies.

 But the caterpillars drive me nuts, they can destroy plants in a matter of hours.

My solution to this problem is to plant sacrificial plants, the plan is the Butterflies lay their eggs there, instead of on the plants I want to keep, on the whole this works very well.

My sacrificial plant of choice is the Nestertion (Not sure of spelling, and that doesn't look right) it works very well, my Cauliflower and Broccoli are free to grow in peace, whilst they gobble up the Nestertions, all I need to do now is figure out a way to deal with those pesky Slugs and Snails.

We also have a Toad that likes to visit, you can read about him on The Dogs Blog.

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A Painfully Slow Week

As todays title suggests it's been a painful week here in the Stone Pit Cave, my right hand has been very numb, swollen and stiff due to the Arthritis plus my left shoulder, which I dislocated a few years ago has also been very stiff and painful, therefore it's been a slow week for crafting.

 

I've had to put the Mitred Baby Blanket to one side for the time being, until the flexibility comes back, so for now I'm knitting with a thicker yarn and larger needles because they're easier for me to hold and it's been very slow going.

 

I found this pattern for an Owl Tea Cosy in one of my knitting magazines, although I can't remember which one, as it was a while ago.

 I think it's great fun, I just adore Owls and knitting with my favourite Aran yarn, normally I could have knitted this in a couple of days but with all the stopping and starting it's been a slow make.

 

 

It was my mums birthday on Saturday so I made her a Butterfly Card, painted with water colours then  clear embossed the darker colours to make them really stand out. So many people commented on it as it really stood out in the hall where mum had a massive Party.

 

 

In allotment news Himself has erected a large gazebo, which we are going to net  and use as a fruit cage once the ground has been dug **groan**

It didn't look nearly so large in the garden centre when we first saw it. It'll certainly be interesting trying to get the scaffold netting over the top of it.

 



 

All I can do at the moment is a little light weeding until I've had my six week check up with the surgeon, it's so frustrating as I want to get going again and get the Raspberries planted, but it's best not to rush these things I suppose.

The Physio said I can drive again, I can now bend my knee 125 degrees, the first thing I did was I head down to the allotment  to do some harvesting. My Cauliflower's and Broccoli have been brilliant this year, I'm so pleased as I grew them from seed and they tasted delicious. 
 

 



I'm also really pleased with my first harvest of Peas, I grew these from seed too, they nearly filled this 4ltr flower pot, plus there's lots more to come as they mature.

The Sweet Corn is starting to grow rapidly now after a difficult start, sadly only approx a  third of them survived the slugs, I then cheated and brought the rest as seedlings from Homebase. The taller ones are the ones I grew from seed but I'm sure the others will catch up soon.

The Sweet Peas are doing brilliantly well, every time we go down to do the watering I bring a large bunch of them home, the scent of them in the house is delicious.

 







I had a lovely email from Jill at Christmas Pie Crafts asking to use some of my photos for her Friday Review  of my Knitted Collectibles which was a lovely surprise.
Thank you so much for your kind words Jill.

As is usual on a Monday I'll be linking this post to Creative Mondays and Handmade Monday.

I hope you all have a great week crafting.
xxx

 

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My Sunday Photo

The first harvest of this year's peas, and what a bumper crop almost filling this 4 Ltr flower pot until I ate a few.

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Happy Birthday Mum

Today it's my mums birthday.

She really loves Butterflies, so it was a great opportunity for me to use my Swallowtail butterfly stamp from Stampin Up. I painted with watercolours, then clear embossed the darker colours to make them really stand out.

It was a big decision whether or not to add her age, it's always something she's been really sensitive about, but I decided what the heck, it says it's her 70th on the party invites, so I went with it, as everyone now knows how old she is LOL.

I'm very lucky to still have my mum when so many of my friends have lost theirs. We've had our differences over the years of course, but she's always been there for me, no matter how awkward things have been between us at times. She's bailed me out of more difficult situations than I can remember, stood by me no matter what and given me sound words of advice, although not always heeded at my cost.

Happy 70th Birthday mum xxx

Authors Note:

Opps just realised I've used the word "She" quite a lot, I can hear mum now, saying

"Who's She? The cats mother!"

I'm linking this post with Handmade Harbours Paper Craft challenge and My Sunday Photo

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Using Up Those Odd and Ends

We all have them, those little odds and ends we make then put too one side, as they didn't quite work in the project you'd originally made them for. Mine all live in a big Kilner Jar on my window sill, every day they sit there looking at me willing to be used.

 

This week I tipped out the jar and started sifting through the bits to see what cards I could come up with. I tasked myself not to make any NEW cards until I'd used as least some of these items up.

 

This Thank You card was a simple one, I'd made the sentiment a couple of weeks ago, but decided it was too large for the card it was intended for. The flowers were a something I was trying out I saw on Pinterest, where you colour the stamps with watercolour crayons then dampen with a water spray and stamp. I dismissed it as too scruffy so into the jar it went so I could use the other side of the card for something else. The sentiment and stamp landed side by side and looked great together, so I dug out some pretty backing paper and bakers twine the card was done.

 

The Happy Anniversary card was slightly different, I've been trying to learn to draw without much success, but found I really enjoyed painting my stamped images with watercolours, this little mouse was my second attempt but I just couldn't decide what to do with him. I then found the Happy Anniversary stamp with the orange backing paper. So using my punches I punched out the mouse, some matching backing paper, added some bakers twine and gems onto a card front that was already made up with a backing paper and was very pleased with the result.

 

 

The next two cards were some Spaniels I'd made up some time ago, you may recognise them as being similar to the ones at the top of my blog. I always make them up several at a time, it's so much easier if I need one to make up a card quickly, not having to wait for the glue to dry, plus every one of them is ever so slightly different even if you think they look the same, look closely and you'll see what I mean.

 



 I added some sentiments that were in the jar, cut a circle in half to make their forepaws look like they were holding it and stuck them onto two card fronts that were already made up.

 



I love making the spaniels and was really getting into using up the odds and ends, so decided to give a box card a go. They look very complicated, but are actually fairly simple to make, I watched several videos on YouTube before I got down to actually making it.

 

Again it's made up with bits out of the jar, a watercolour Bee and Hedgehog, stamped grass and flowers and an embossed sentiment. I just added the gems and stuck it all together.

I'm linking this card to the Papercraft Challenge ~ Summer Fun, because I think its very cute and summery.



I was quiet pleased with my first attempt at a box card considering its been made with odds and ends. The next time I make one I'll stick with a theme or a colour.

 

 

This weeks post is a little later than usual but there's still time for me to link it to this weeks Creative Monday also Smile it's the Weekend and Welcome to the Weekend.

 

Hope you all have a great week crafting.

xxx

 

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