It's a sunny day -

- good job I'm well prepared for it.

in the hall

in the porch

more in the porch

in the kitchen

in the sun room

another in the sun room

No sun in my eyes when I venture out. This glorious day I've planted out the leeks, hoe hoed the back and the front :) and picked leaves for a 'healthy' salad for tea.

The cat is not too fond of the sun so is resting as usual indoors.

She's well away.

xx

The Cat and the Rat - Part 1

The cat and the rat were hungry one day - well not just one day - on quite a few days. They were also short on things to do and being inquisitive creatures they decided to explore their surroundings. It just so happened that part of their surroundings contained a Mum blanket which was especially made for their Humom (Mum's DD). 

Ah, what a lovely blanket they thought and the cat and the rat cosied up and fell fast asleep. This blanket became one of their favourite places to visit - such a warm, welcoming cocoon. 

One day rat was having a meander around the flowers of the blanket when he saw a small piece of yarn sticking up. "That shouldn't be there," he thought and gave it a quick nibble to see whether it would go away. It did go away - right into his stomach. "Wow, that tastes great!" he cried and proceeded to chew a little more. Only a small hole was made so it wasn't noticed as there were other holes around in the blanket.

 Another day cat was having a quick roll around the flowers in the blanket, sunning herself and basking in the warmth. As she rolled she caught her claw in the hole made by rat. "Oh, drat that rat!" she cried and pulled her claw free. In doing so a little of the blanket unravelled and made a yarny tail for her to play with. It was great fun. She could even chew on the ends of the yarn and it made a squeaky sound. Such adventures. The chewing staved off the hunger pangs until Humom arrived home from work.

Humom, upon seeing the blanket, folded it over in order not to see the holes being made each day. Eventually the Mum blanket looked like this.

Everyone was very sad - except for the rat and the cat, who thought it was great sport.

Time for Super Mum to sort out the mess ......

xx

Feeling flat

Feeling a little bit flat after all the festivities? So are DD's presents. Being the owner of 3 cats and 2 rats means quite a lot of work. What better than to sit down with a cup of something for a well deserved rest. Meet the family coasters. First there's the cats - 2 short hair and 1 long hair.

Then there is the rat family - flat of course so they can balance your cuppa.

The flat cats are called butt coasters for obvious reasons and their pattern can be found here, while the flat rats' pattern is here.

Hope they don't find the cups too hot!

xx

Cosy down and cut out the draught

Remember this? It's grown a bit …

… and sprouted a tail.

The other end has grown some ears, eyes and a nose.

This draught excluder is dual-purpose and also serves as ...

… a puss-cat included! No draughts around her now!

It reminds me of another family cat member.

No pattern here, I just made it up as I went along.

xx

PS A very warm welcome to my new followers. I hope you enjoy popping by.

Question and …

answer.

Q: What is to be done when the cat sits on the blanket and the blanket needs to be turned round in order to crochet round the other side?

A: Why - turn the cat round with the blanket, of course!

Round again.

Round again - she's started to notice that something's going on here.

No, must be dreaming.

xx

Collections

I think I'm making a another collection. Is there a name for people who do this? Is it one of my hobbies? Could I be a collectoholic? A look at the Collections label shows the makings of an addiction.

I seem to be collecting blogs at the moment - my own. My Filofax blog is a record for me and I'm quite enjoying my Filofax adventures but here's another blog - hot off the press - and, again it's for me but it may be of interest to others. (If it's not to you then read no further than its title and certainly don't click anything!)

Grandma's Crazy Crocheted Cat Couture

:)

xx

PS Welcome to my new followers - I'm not too sure about one follower so I've not visited their link, having read somewhere that it's not a good idea. Beware.

If it is a good link I apologise but I'm not taking the risk.

Plotting the next move

The plot is finally rotated and ready to plant although nothing much is going in yet. The weather does not feel right and we only ventured out because it was not raining, cold or windy.

Some seeds needed to be planted though - a row of parsnips and a nursery bed of leeks. Puss cat is helping but she does not stay out for very long. Being an indoor cat she would rather be in the warm. Each day she goes for a supervised sniff around but then she scuttles in quickly.

The edges still need weeding. The small patch of grass I leave because Puss cat enjoys a chew. It's best to leave her outside for at least another 5 minutes, just in case she throws up - as cats do when they've eaten grass. We seem to be making a collection of compost bins. The Daleks are secretly going to take over.

March will see a lot more planting and soon this edible garden will turn green again.

xx

Height of fashion

DD requested a cat coat for one of her cats as the weather is cold and when they go 'walkies' in the garden she needs to be wrapped up warm as her fur is only thin. Something to get my hooks into so off searching the internet I went. This coat is the second one I've made and is loosely based on this pattern. I made it a little longer with a frilly bottom and a frilly neckline. 

Our cat is not used to coats and goes all stiff when attired. Her legs give way beneath her and she remains in a comatose state until the coat is removed.

She's a cracker though - a Christmas cracker in this coat!

Good job it's easily removed.

xx

The Best Bit Book

Christmas has finally been put away in the loft and the new year can commence with a clean house and enough leftovers in fridge and freezer to feed us for a week. Doesn't it feel good when a fresh start begins. The decs away was the best bit of the day for me so far. 

In December I started a Best Bit Book in one of my old notebooks. I recycled it by ripping out used pages and splitting the rest of the pages up so I could fit 365 entries in the book. I'm recording (on one line) the best bit of each day and the book should last up to 2020 (if I'm still around!). Here's a sample of one of the pages with names blanked out.

The book is similar to a 5 year journal but is less expensive and more personal and I'm enjoying filling it in each day. 

Perhaps that could be the best bit of today!

Or maybe it's buying some bargains in the sales.

Or perhaps enjoying reading comments and visiting your blogs.

Maybe it will be 'making a use it up from the fridge' tea.

Or finding the cat snuggled into the dried washing.

Ooh, such a lot to choose from.

By Jove it's cosy and warm in here.

xx

Ideal Home?

Looks good, doesn't it? Everything beautiful and beautifully put in its place. Windowsill looking gorgeous with fresh flowers and pegs in containers, lovely floral blind, tea towels artistically draped over the sink and stool, chopping boards standing to attention, casserole decorating the work surface, watering can ready to be of use and the veg in a harvest festival basket. Wonderful. Just like my home really.

Windowsill looking gorgeous with fresh flowers old flowers (near death)  

Plus a pipe cleaner (very useful!), a plastic tip from
a cat toy, 2 vases that have not been put away and
a plasticky thing that I've yet to identify but it must be
 off something. Note to self: Use that bit of broccoli
or throw it in the compost.

and pegs in containers,

Peg bag - Bread bag
Fire extinguisher - be prepared!

lovely floral blind no blind, tea towels artistically draped over the sink and stool, dumped on the worktop,

chopping boards (well used) standing to attention, 

casserole pans decorating the work surface in the cupboard because they need a good scrub,

Will I ever match up the jam jar lids to
the jam jars. Note to self: either throw out
that cardboard cone or take it upstairs to
and put it in the craft box. (Could be the
base of a Christmas tree) - on the other
hand - could be cardboard to chuck out!

watering can ready to be of use and the veg in a harvest festival basket veg in a cupboard (what there is of it). 

Note to self : only a few potatoes and onions left, put veg
on the shopping list

Wonderful. Just like my home really.

The cat loves it as well.

xx

PS Where was the dishcloth?

We're all glued to the eclipse

Now what's going on?

That looks interesting.

Great diamond ring.

xx

Quiz

Most of the answers to the questions can be found by typing in the search or by clicking on a label. No pressure to answer the questions as I shall post the answers tomorrow. Well done if you can answer all the questions correctly without having to look anything up. I won't publish any comment (if there are any) until I've posted the answers.

1. My home is in which famous seaside town?

2. How many cats do I have?

3. What do I call my days out?

4. What adjective do I use to describe my back garden?

5. Name one of my hobbies.

6. How do I describe the majority of my Christmas cards?

7. Name my favourite home grown vegetable.

8. Name one of my crocheted blankets.

9. What is my volunteer job?

10. What was the original aim of this blog and am I still achieving it?

xx

Do I really ...

… have to chase this thing?

A piece of string works just as well.

xx

Little bits, tiny steps, slow but sure

Everything cannot be done at once so today in the de-cluttering department - 

shoes, clothes and books went into the CS bag,

cleaning department - 

hoovered downstairs and upstairs, cleaned the loo (the loo seat came down on my thumb - ow, ow, ow!),

kitchen department - 

made a stew from last of the onions, veg and an end from DH's steak
and made bread in a terracotta bread dish which was a gift for my birthday,

give-away department - 

visited some friends and gave some daffodil bulbs to them (we'd ordered too many),

make department - 

added some more rows to a scarf,

tidy cupboard department - 

sorted another wardrobe,

relax department - 

read the newspaper and some chapters of 2 books I have on the go,

maintenance - 

re-charged the Kindle

care department - 

stroked the pusscat and made sure she took her medication (she had 3 teeth out yesterday - worrying times!)

drinks department -

Enough done - where's the sherry?

xx

It was time

Bye, bye, beautiful boy.

xx