So... the end of another week....

So... thank goodness it is Sunday the end, or the start, of a new week and what a week it has been. Freddy Bear went back outside on Wednesday, after escaping earlier in the week due to the cat flap batteries dying. After his recapture he became very miserable, looking out of the window with that forlorn look of a cat whose cream had soured so we decided that he could be 're-programmed' into the cat flap and let out. Here he is in the sunshine on top of my studio this morning, having climbed up the tree to get there. That dodgy dislocated hip/leg isn't holding him back too much at all. (Excuse all the old tyres on the roof it is because my studio roof is leaking and my daughter's boyfriend very kindly put a tarpauline on it over Christmas but as the wood is rotten he put the tyres on to stop it all blowing away...let's face it we had a fair few of those knocking around anyway!) There is currently a campaign underway to have a new studio and there is even talk of garage conversion... watch this space...

So our Bear is back out in the sunshine terrorizing the local wildlife. In three days, it was late Wednesday he went out as he is a night prowler by habit: we had had a mouse move in to the kitchen, he did reside under the cupboards for a couple of days until he was moved on... eaten... A dead shrew was found at the bottom of the stairs complete with large mouthfuls of vegetation and last night I spent half an hour chasing Miss 'Mudge and Freddy Bear around the downstairs trying to get them and the poor squeaking mouse in someone's jaws back outside only for them to bring it back in, dead, and eat it in the kitchen spreading the entrails a fair distance! All I can say is 'at least my cats share'.

In other news....

Iz is back on her paws and doing well. I am back in my bed, 3 nights and counting, the feeling of lying down on a nice mattress after spending 6 nights on the sofa just can not be beaten. We have managed to get Iz up the stairs, blocking it off at the top for safety reasons and in the morning we have perfected the 'controlled fall' as she slithers to the bottom with me in front guiding her movements... all except this morning because she thought she could do it quicker on her own and it turns out she can but my training of going down on ones stomach has proved worth its weight in gold and we are not calling out the vet for broken limbs.

My alcohol consumption has gone up, at first it was to numb the pain of sleeping on the sofa but now it is because this lot are driving me to drink!

Here is to next week and all she brings!

Saturday, Blogtoberfest Day 5

So after spending all week on the sofa, sniffing and being totally miserable and bored watching the weather from the rain splattered window, it was a lovely surprise to wake up this morning and be able to not only breathe through my nose - its the little things - but also hear with one ear, the other still being blocked, and although my head is still woolley I don't ache and the sun was shinning, so I popped on my trusty wellies...(I do wish Google wouldn't change the word wellies....you have to remember to read through and correct it back from wearing w.....man parts!) 

I took the dogs down to the river for our daily walk, just look at the blue skies

We kept to the back of the fields today, didn't want either dog to go into the river I fancied a dry dog walk, best laid plans and all that....

 The wild rose hips are out in the sunshine throwing up some colour in an otherwise green landscape

And after all the rain we had this week, even though its still be warm, the mushrooms are sprouting up everywhere these ones are quite small I have some whoppers on the lawn at the moment...

 





Remember that dry dog walk I had planned?  Well Defi found the mud!

This is Iz with a muddy patch on her back where Defi jumped on her to play, so off to the river we go to have a swim and clean up, good job its a warm day!

 



We did have the swim and we did clean up, back home again now, the sun is still shinning and I am off into the garden to cut back the bushes, got to make hay while the sun shines eh?

Laney

ps all photos are taken on my phone, its not a bad camera but some shots are blurry :)

Autumn sunshine and missing bumble bees!

It all started with this hollyhock.  A massive great big bumble bee was nosing around and getting covered in pollen.  I dashed in the house to grab my camera, and by the time I came back out - which was straight away - he was gone. Shame would have made a great picture.

This afternoon, I decided to head into the garden and do some tidying up.  I haven't been in the garden much this year, what with the weather, lots of bead fairs and life getting in the way, the garden is definitely looking unloved.  I didn't even grow veggies this year.  The dogs had a bone this morning after the river walk, so they still had something to do whilst I was enjoying the bright autumn sunshine.  This is Defi, growing into a handsome boy now, happily nibbling away on Izabels left overs.

Even our Meg came outside for some sunshine, here she is doing the 'hind lick' maneuver, not bad for a girl (cat) in her early 20's (human years), bet I couldn't get my leg that high anymore!  ...and yes my car is that dirty, the downside of living rural when its been raining and the farmers have been in and out of the fields with the tractors.

Seeing as I missed the bumble bee, I took some time off from the gardening - it really doesn't take much to persuade me - and wandered around, deliberately ignoring the weeds, and concentrating on the movement in the garden.  I love flowers.  But.  I love my chooks and cats and dogs more, so I don't have any flowers.  EverReady Looky Likey (the name stuck!) was caught on the old picnic bench that serves as a potting bench in a good year and a dumping ground this year - its all been tidied up now though - she was investigating the many bugs that were lurking in the discarded pots.  She had quite a feast!

I haven't been home alone today, my son had a day off and was ...and still is...cleaning his van, always nice to show off what I have actually grown from seed. Planted in well rotted manure and left to fester, this long legged triffid matured into a rather large nearly 19 yrs old!

Oh Izabel....Izzy...bell...bells....

She did come round to the front with me and Defi eventually!

This picture was one of those...oh good I have the camera moments.  Megan had moved to a sunnier side of the garden and two of the new girls, EverReady Looky Likey and one of the Marran girls tooks to sunbathing with her, I think the chooks are settling in nicely.

Another quick snap shot of the three girls.

Autumn Fruits

 

Finally, the beads of the day, beautiful autumnal colours, Poppies, acorns, blackberries, blue berries, Poppy heads and sculptural leaf shapes, all available in  my Etsy shop.

 

Hope the sun shines tomorrow, I do really need to do much more tidying in the garden!

 

Laney x

Old cats, lovely strangers, fairy doors and dragons.

Claude and Megan sheltering from the heat on the drive, under the car.

Those mogs above are my geriatrics.  Claude, on the left is about 19 and Megan, on the right, is around 21.  Both cats were rescued many years ago.  Claude was dumped on the farm we lived on, when he was about 1 yrs old and Megan had a terrible life before finding her way into the Cats Protection League in Kent, where I found her.  She was estimated to be around 3/4yrs old then, and due to her terrible life before, has never been a 'family' cat in the sense that she would sit on your lap, or even take a fuss and stroke without trying to scratch or bite and get away.  We have just left her too her own ways and loved her unconditionally anyway, and she in turn, has spent her summers in the garden, hunting mice in the fields and her winters on top of the boiler in the utility room.  A few years ago, when Meg would have been about 7/8 yrs old, she had a nasty accident on the farm we were living on.  Suffering with a dodgy shoulder, she had been out hunting and obviously slipped, landing on something sharp, that penetrated her paw.  We think she fell on some sharp blade on a tractor or something.  She made her way home, but it had been several days and we were starting to think the worse for her, but she struggled into the house and collasped onto the floor, where I found her and rushed her to the vets. The vet was certain she would lose the leg, at least the paw, the infection was so bad.  We had to soak her poorly paw in hot water and squeeze the infection from it.  We did this for at least a week and Megan let us do it without a murmur, then one day she attacked me.  I was so pleased.  She had pulled through.  I rushed her back to the vets and proclaimed her cured.  Proudly showing off my new scars and scratches!  From that day, Meg has let us stroke her and seems to accept that she is safe, but, she still spends her winters on top of the boiler, with all four legs and paws.  Other than plenty of sleeping and no longer hunting, our Meg is showing very little signs of age.  She is now deaf and I suspect her sight is faltering, but she doesnt stray from the garden so is nice and safe, and she still swipes our Golden Retrievers when they step out of line!

Unlike our Claude.

Claude has always been a big softie.  Having still been a kitten when we found him, he has always known love and affection and lapped it up.  He sleeps where he pleases, the printer, the bed, the kitchen table, anywhere he can shed fur and be a nuisance, including on my beads! He was a fabulous hunter and age it seems has not stopped him trying to catch the rats from the farm, that are almost as big as him!  He has no fear of cars, lorries or tractors, to his cost, as I ran him over on the drive in our Jeep about 6/7 yrs ago - according to the vet the best car/vehicle to run him over with as the wide tyres distribute the weight evenly...Claude was not so sure! - even after breaking his pelvis he still sits in the middle of the drive and dodges the traffic on our quiet country lane.  Which yesterday, was nearly his down fall.

Unlike Megan, Claude has aged rapidly in the last 6 months.  He has lost weight, so his once big fluffy body is now slim and slightly bony on the joints.  His eyes are rheumy and I suspect his sight is quite limited now.  He is deaf, until you open the larder then once again he is a kitten, and he is most definitely losing his marbles. 

My daughter and I did a boot fair yesterday and managed to get rid of some of the clutter in the garage.  We came home and were unloading the car, when the dogs ran to the gate and started barking.  I looked up and saw two cars, one slightly on our drive way.  This isn't unusual as the lane is narrow and one car has to pull into the drive way to allow the other to pass.  What was unusal was they had stopped.  I took a quick second glance and was just about to call the dogs to shut them up, when I realized a lady had got out of her car and was cradling a long, dangly, black and white cat.  My heart stopped in my mouth.  Claude.  I ran down our drive (which isn't too long but.....) and out of the gate.

The lady, turned to me and said 'she was just sitting in the road'.

I blurted out that 'she' was a 'he'.  Totally irrelevant fact, but at the time it seemed most important.  The chap in the van was looking concerned and I thought Claude had been hit.  He turned his little face towards me, and the expression, 'lights on no-one home' came to mind. 

He was just sitting there.  Minding his own geriatric business.  But thankfully he is fine, lucky, but fine.  During the summer we get alot of traffic (for us) especially on the days like recently, when the weather has been glorious, as people like to go down to the river, to fish, to picnic or to walk dogs and children  - both children and dogs getting thoroughly worn out so the parents can enjoy an evening of peace no doubt!  So, Claudey was lucky that these people were paying attention to the lane (not everyone does).

I took him off the lady, all of his bony self, and hugged him tight.  He may be old, he may be geriatric, he may be sick when his food disagrees with him and he may forget where the litter tray is during the night and use a corner, but he is still our Claudey and we love him.  However, he is now banned from leaving the garden!!  I don't think my heart stopped hammering for a good half an hour and my daughter - he is her favourite cat - even shed a few private tears over what might have happened...she doesn't know I know that bit.  He is old and we know that both he and Megan are very elderly mogs and both have been loved and cherished for many years, but, you can't help but be grateful to strangers that stop and pick up an ancient, bony old mog and give him a cuddle.

He is currently fast asleep on the table in the garden, I just hope he stays there!

Its been too hot to torch this week, so I finished my first piece of netted beads, moddelled by my daughter.  When its been cool enough, not often enough for me, I have ventured into the studio and made just a couple of beads.  I am loving the dragons at the minute and the fairy door toadstools, inspired by Fiona of WINIBI, Fairy Door (click the link to see one of her beautiful clay fairy doors)...this is one of mine..

Fairy Toadstool Door

and finally, 'An eye for an eye...'  a beautiful sparkly dragon, he just glitters in the sunshine.

Izzybeads

Laney x