Don't Go Cake-ing My Heart

Gilly is doing well. Dr David is very pleased with her progress, and my own GP thinks she is doing well too. She has the correct amount of platelets and her Red Blood Cells are below normal, but not terribly much so.  I didn't realise how well she was responding until we again met The Golden Retriever with the same thing. He has been very unwell, can't eat, has lot 3kg and has a large sore on his back. Gilly is doing very well indeed.

There are no blood tests this week, but we are going to visit The Vet and have some lovely pats and tasty treats so Lorelai Gilmore doesn't think going to The Vet is a not-very-nice thing. Still, there are Liver treats and Gilly thoroughly inspects the room to make sure she has them all.

Gilly is enjoying her walks again and can keep pace, more or less, with Hedy Lamarr if she wants to. This is a terrible picture, but it shows how much Gilly has improved: she trots along, tail wagging, interested in what she can find and see.

There are a lot of smells to be smelled.

And her fur is starting to grow back properly at last.

Hedy Lamarr's friend Rafa the Border Collie is not coming for a walk, he's at The Kennels. Hedy loves to play with Rafa and her pretend stick. Rafa pretends to be cross and barks at Hedy, then they swap and he runs with the stick and it is Hedy's turn to be cross.

While Rafa is away, Hedy is playing with Sandy instead. Sandy has had a sore back, but he is well again.

But Lorelai Gilmore and Hedy Lamarr especially love walking together. Hedy has learned not to bark incessantly in a shrill manner in the back of the car, and she is trying to learn not to bite Lorelai Gilmore. The little bottle of watered down Apple Cider Vinegar is a good deterrent, and most of the time I just show her the bottle and there is no need to squirt the vinegar. Hedy Lamarr is almost as big as Lorelai Gilmore, and she is 8 months old!!!

In the afternoon they snuggle up together on one too small cushion that Hedy has begun to eviscerate.

I haven't done very much, other than look after Gilly and try to keep things ticking along: badly. I have almost finished the 2ply Loop de Loop. I have finished my BoHo not BooHoo socks,  which I started on 3rd July. They are lovely, and I have another same-but-different ball of green striped Nako Boho too, and a ball of Kiwi fruit inspired Opal too. I see more socks in my future!!

I should have suspected something when I caught both Gilly and Hedy in the kitchen on Saturday morning. I shooed them out and thought nothing of it. Little did I know they were on a fact finding mission. I baked a delicious chocolate orange fudge cake for MrsDrWho and left it to cool when I went out to dinner on Saturday evening. When I came home at 9pm I realised that I hadn't tied the baby gate shut and that the empty tin just inside the back door meant that they had eaten a whole cake. A cake that had 200g of rich dark chocolate in it. I rang the emergency number for The Vet and Dr Rob was on duty. He said that other than keeping a eagle eye on them, there probably wasn't anything to worry about. If they started vomiting or lost their balance they would need to go straight to The Vet and have a drip. The only drip was me, and now the baby gate into the kitchen is doubly secured with a green occy strap. $2-95 at Woolies, but priceless when it comes to peace of mind.

The reason I baked the cake a day early was because the power was off all day Sunday for power pole replacement. My next-door neighbour had the bright idea of taking the ingredients to MrsDrWho's house and baking it there, and so I did. It is an easy recipe (I didn't bother separating the eggs) and you melt and mix and it bakes in 25 minutes.

The Cake Emergency didn't break any hearts, or bank balances, though I may have just put a new pair of green sandals on lay-by today: new green shoes always cheer me up.

And now we will all do what we have been doing an awful lot of: going to bed and sleeping. Lorelai Gilmore is taking fewer blue tablets, so she doesn't need to go outside so many times during the night, but I think the worry just makes me need more sleep. Hedy Lamarr doesn't always want to sleep, so sometimes we have to throw the Squeaky Toy until she's worn out. Hedy is a lovely girl, and we are so lucky to have her. She loves Gilly, and I think Gilly is glad to have a puppy to snuggle up with, but not one that bites her ears, so we are working on that!!

 

 

Simply The Test, Better Than All The Tests.

Today we had some better news about Lorelai Gilmore's health, which was a relief. Her platelets are in the normal range,  but her Red Blood Cell count is now low. Dr David lowered her steroid last week and she has been feeling a lot happier.

She played with her plastic cup this morning and ran up the hill (slowly, but it was a run) on Friday. We go back next week for another blood test and she may have to take an extra quarter of a tablet every evening. Dr David was also very pleased that Lorelai Gilmore wasn't a "butterball" and hadn't put on any weight at all. We are vigilant and diligent and she is slim, but hungry. Her fur is growing back too, which is great.

Hedy Lamarr has grown, she is almost as tall as Gilly now. Hedy is also growing in wickedness. She sits when you come home, but now she woofs. And she barks crossly if she doesn't get her way, or things are not to her liking. She has to be squirted with the watered down apple cider vinegar squeezy bottle. She totally wrecked the treat pocket and zip of my dog walking zippy-uppy top. The top was over the computer chair, and when I put it on and tried to zip it up this morning, I realised that there was something wrong. I quickly sewed it up, but I shall have to do something about it: either buy a  new zip or a new top.

Gilly can put Hedy in her place, but not very often. I encourage her to bite Hedy back or growl, but she doesn't want to.

Hedy is in love with The pretend Stick. She plays with it all the time on her walk, and especially loves to play Chasings with Rafa.

And when we walk by ourselves it is my turn to throw The Stick and Hedy's turn to be very playful. She waits until you get close then tries to grab The Stick and run away!!

There has been very little crafting. I have started a Mohair Bias Loop: Loop de Loop, for Auntie Dutch. I am using Naturally Delight 2ply and 6.5mm bamboo needles. I did an invisible provisional cast on and though I missed knitting two stitches, I caught them a few rows up. This is nice and samey, it needs very little thought and I can just count the stitches every few rows and adjust the slant if I need to. I could have worked out the pattern, but I was happy to pay for someone else to do the thinking for me, with everything else going on - and it is also the right thing to do!!

And a while ago I sewed Tote Bags #89 and #90. I used the last of the Peri Naughty/Gilly material and I found a Doctor Who fat quarter for Uncle Dutch.

Our local bakery is always right up to date with what is trending: it was first in town with Nutella doughnuts and now: Pokemon biscuits!!!

The Labradors are asleep, and soon we will all be in bed. Going to The Vet takes a lot of energy and it was especially hot there today. I might even knit a few rows of Loop de Loop. I have until the end of October, but I might finish before then!!

Chandler Bing: No, Beth doesn't die. She doesn't die, does she, Rachel?

Spoiler: if you have never read Little Women, there is a spoiler below. So, why not just enjoy this short video of an echidna outside the back gate at our house yesterday. In suburbia. Waddling along to next door's garden and a safe hiding place.

 

 

In the episode of FRIENDS, The One Where Monica And Richard Are Just Friends, Rachel lets slip that in Little Women, Beth dies. In order to ameliorate the pain, Joey and Rachel put the book in the freezer, and then, nothing bad can happen to Beth.

I would like to have put the last two weeks in the freezer. No-one has died, but it has not been a very happy time at our house. Lorelai Gilmore went for her Dental Check with Hedy Lamarr and the vet found one of Gilly's big back teeth was fractured, it needed to be extracted ASAP.

Hedy sits to attention in all the photos at the vet. She is on her best behaviour, when she isn't barking with excitement. We are working on that. Gilly's tooth came out and though her face was a little swollen, she seemed happy.

It all seemed to go well at her post extraction check-up, but then last Friday on our walk her mouth was filled with blood.

We went immediately from the dam to the vet, and after a day of tests and poking and prodding, we found out that she had an auto-immune reaction to something, and had no platelets, so her blood wasn't clotting. Maybe it was the anaesthetic, or the long operation, or just the shock of the tooth coming out, as it took almost an hour to remove it. Dr David was also worried about a tumour being the cause. Poor Lorelai had to start taking steroids and more tablets to stop her feeling poorly after she had eaten. She had another blood test on Sunday. We had to go for a walk while we waited and we met Auntie Dutch, so it was immensely exciting!!!

Today she went back again to have x-rays and scans. When I went in to see Dr David I thought, at first, he said it was bad news and I wondered why he was smiling and looking relaxed. As he spoke, I realised there was some good news. Lorelai Gilmore doesn't have any cancer or tumours, and so all we have to deal with is the auto-immune reaction. Dr David seems pleased that her platelet levels have risen and we go back again next week for more blood tests. He hopes that over time the dose of steroids can be reduced to nothing, and she will be as well as can possibly be expected.

In the middle of all this I had the most horrid sinus infection that the first batch of ordinary antibiotics couldn't fix. My next-door neighbour had to drive me to the doctor again a few days later as all my teeth were aching, my face was throbbing, the glands in my neck were swollen and I was a pitiful mess really. It was a relief when the doctor said that I was actually very unwell and gave me the giant horse sized antibiotics. It has taken five days, but I am beginning to feel like myself again.

Poor Hedy Lamarr has been left to her own devices. Luckily she has been busy with a new toy, a present from her Auntie BionicKnitaWoman:

She is happy to go into her little box (crate) and sleep while everyone else is at the doctor or the vet. Or lie outside in the sun.

Poor Lorelai Gilmore has been struck down with something akin to my weird and not-wonderful illness, but at least hers may be easier to treat. We aim to be positive, since I have managed to live for fifteen years when the doctors held out little hope. The vets seem to hold out quite a lot of hope for Gilly, and we are happy to grasp any straw right now.

Well, that escalated quickly. Life is going along smoothly and then it all goes to hell in a handbasket. There has been no new knitting: The Betty Spencer Hat was finished before the hell in a handbasket started, and WeeJock&Bessie's Mum likes it very much.

So on we go. And after all, tomorrow is another day and we are being grateful that there is another day to be going on with.

Let there be much more cheery news to come and maybe even some sweet Friday Food this week.

Lie-low and Stitches

In between the snow and rain and wind, we have had some sunny days, and there is nothing a Labrador enjoys more (well, apart from eating and walks) than lying in the sun soaking up the Winter warmth.

All went well when Hedy went to the Vet to have her stitches removed. We went straight into a consulting room as there was a very barky unhappy-to-be-there dog in the Waiting Room. The nurse whisked Hedy out to the surgery and Gilly waited for her. Waited and waited, even though it was only five minutes. She was quite worried.

Hedy cared not one jot, she was ready to run and play again.

Instead of being like an angry giant parrot on the end of a stick, Hedy was allowed to run free at last. I am not sure Gilly was so happy, she liked being Boss of the Walk. You can just see Gilly, being Boss of the Walk, far away up the hill. She was rather naughty to run up there, but since Hedy was on the lead, she took the opportunity when it arose.

Now things are back to normal, with Hedy Lamarr at Lorelai Gilmore's heels.

We all went to bed yesterday and most of today as I had a migraine. The DVR in the lounge-room has decided not to Timer Record any more, so I had to use the others. I have two old DVD recorders that can only tune in SD stations. The remote control may have been on the bed so I could turn the news on. Late this morning I was awakened by a strange noise.....

Oh dear, this is Hedy's first official Naughty Thing. Gilly was shocked, shocked and horrified. It can not be all Hedy's fault as she had access to the remote. It still works, but intermittently. What good luck it is the remote for the DVR that is broken. Household appliances know when your Tax Return is expected. They know. So far we need a new DVR, a new Rice Cooker and a new mixer. The Rice Cooker costs less than $20 and works very hard almost every day, so I am not so bothered by that.

I am knitting WeeJock&Bessie's Mum a hat in some soft and luxurious Debbie Bliss Andes: mulberry silk and alpaca. I have only made the ribbing, twisted ribbing, thus far and I need to buy some more short 4.5mm ends to do the actual hat. This will be the not so slouchy version.

I am also sewing a Star Spangled Jacket. Here is a tip: always cut sequinned fabric out on a sheet or some other protective covering. Ask me how I know. There are sequins from dawn till dusk all over the house. The jacket doesn't have a full lining, and the spangled fabric is not solid, so I needed to make my brain work extra hard to figure out how to work the full lining and facings. I am almost to the putting it all together stage. When you are about to take a photo and you say "Wait" to The Labradors, this is what happens: Gilly waits patiently and Hedy just rolls on into the picture.

Our Sewing night has changed this term, so I have to be organised and sew this fortnight's block and bake some cakes for tomorrow night. I am thinking of baking the Cherry Ripe cupcakes from this month's Taste magazine. I bought some fresh cherries to tizzy them up. I am not sure about the overflowing chocolate ganache. Sure, it looks great, but it is not very eater friendly.

 

The Powering Inferno

We have been living in interesting times at our house: so many social outings for the holidays and with overseas visitors, an operation for Hedy Lamarr, our land-line has not been working for almost a fortnight, there were terrible storms and our power was off for two days. There has been a little bit of teetering on the edge, but I think we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

The Labradors went to visit at MrsDrWho's house and met The Overseas Visitors. Much hilarity ensued.

Hedy Lamarr went to be de-sexed. We had been practising all the important things like having your ears, eyes and teeth checked, having a pretend injection and a new addition- having your leg shaved. Gilly and I dropped Hedy off at 7-45am.

Gilly and I went for a walk together,

and then we had hardly been home at all before the power went off. A tree had fallen on the power lines and in our street the house next door had power, the next three didn't and then the house on the corner did. Our houses very weirdly wired here, the suburb is old and houses were built and connected willy-nilly. This is not the tree that fell on our power lines, just one of the many that blew over in town. Towns were flooded, roofs blown off and almost 20,000 people were without power at one point. It has been a very bad year for wild weather.

Hedy was well enough to come home at 1pm and then we bunkered down, waiting for the power to be reconnected.

The land-line doesn't work in a power outage anyway, so were were home along together with no way to communicate with the outside world!! The Hydro rang the neighbours later in the evening to say the power was not going to be fixed and then MrsDrWho brought a thermos of hot sweet tea and more thermoses for the hot water bottle and some hot food.

The power was finally restored late the next night, and oh how I appreciated a hot shower and a cup of tea whenever I wanted one. And the internet. I still need to organise for the land-line to be fixed. The phone company just tells you to ring them about the fault, and of course I have no phone, so I can't. I did email, but they are just hopeless.

Hedy is allowed to go for a walk on her lead with Gilly. The entire time she barks, crossly and loudly. She is Not Happy At All to be restrained. As soon as Gilly is on the lead, Hedy is as good as gold and as quiet as a mouse. Hedy has recovered incredibly fast and is in total denial that she had an operation at all. She wears her cloud collar when I go out, but otherwise she doesn't seem too interested in her stitches, which come out at the end of the week. She now has smaller cloud collar #2 as she somehow punctured larger cloud collar #1 and pulled it off.

I have caught up on lots of reading. We were slightly prepared for the power outage with a torch and radio and spare batteries. I read by hanging the torch from the lamp that wasn't working. Unfortunately, the emergency services urged people to check websites and online for all the relevant road closures, snow falls and power outages and we don't have a smart phone so we were in the dark: metaphorically and literally!! We could have decamped to someone else's house but with Hedy only just having had her operation, I decided she was better at home in the place she knew, safe and sound with Gilly.

I haven't done any knitting or proper sewing. I made a toile for the Gold Star Spangled Jacket, and I finished The Extermin9 Hat for Uncle Dutch's birthday. This time I used the most up-to-date iteration of the pattern and so all the slipped stitches lined up. I like the variegated red colour too.

I have done an awful lot of sleeping, all day and all night. When things are difficult, sleep is a great refuge. And so to bed again, even though we didn't officially get up until 1pm this afternoon.

You're The Sun That I Want, You Are The Sun I Want: Oo Ooo Oo Oo, Sunny.

I have been both social and stay-at-home. With me it's all or nothing, as the song goes. We went to the posh restaurant at the Casino for MrsDrWho's birthday. There was stunning service and we ate an amuse bouche and later on a white wine jelly with pistachios to cleanse our palates: very swish. I had pork belly with bacon, chorizo crumb, cauliflower puree, caramelised apple & onion and yoghurt cheese. I was hoping to have room for a white chocolate fondant dessert, but I can really only have one course. Oh well.

I knitted a Dalek hat for MrsDrWho: Extermin8 and I liked it so much I have started another- Extermin9. I am getting the knack of knitting with two colours at once, and there are not too many rows in the Insulate pattern when you have to carry the thread across more than four stitches.

I also sewed two new bags, #85 Marvel and #86 with all the cats.

Cleo, Caramello and Muppin didn't miss out. I am slowly making them three cat beds. This is #2 and has some pink velvet on one side and Hello Kitty on the other. As usual, there were Lab tests by Gilly and Hedy. Just to be safe.

The Sunshine Rainbow Lollipop socks are complete. The ends aren't sewn in as I am not sure about the fit. MrsDrWho is going to wear and wash them a few times and I can undo the toes and heels and adjust them if necessary.

I also sent a present in the post to the lovely Knitting on the Avenue and Chloe. I was quite pleased with the knitting project bag that you put on your arm so you can walk about and knit. I think it is not so much for walking about but maybe for making your knitting more portable?? And a Star Wars bag because you can never have too many Star Wars bags, can you?

On Monday we had a lovely surprise and met Jet'sMum and Jet on our walk. Hedy was very excited to meet a new friend and Gilly likes Jet because she is bigger than him!! Hedy is giving him a bit of a whack with her paw.

Then there were all the dogs: Jet, Sandy, Gilly, Rafa and Hedy all running and playing and having a marvellous time together.

All the dogs that have lived in our house have their photo taken on the step outside the back door. I tried to take Hedy's picture today, but all I got was quite a lot of this:

Waving, asking with her paw and sitting sideways. She is so cute though that I shall just try again next time the Sun comes out. When the Sun does come out Gilly likes nothing better than to soak up some of the warm sunbeams. She is so funny, almost asleep, basking in the warmth.

The world is full of so many awful things now, and really I like to be like Gilly, and just look for the happy things right now, and bask in them. Sun, sun, sun.

Tomorrow it is Sewing and I plan on making some coconut cupcakes. They sound delicious and I can't wait to bake them!!!

Tooth Or Derring

The tooth in question is Hedy Lamarr's. Hedy lost a baby tooth early this week and you can see her Big Girl tooth coming through.  It's the tiny point of tooth just poking out of her gum. No wonder puppies chew, the tooth fell out somewhere and she had a big hole in her gum. It must really hurt.

Oh the indignity of having a tooth photo taken.

The derring-do occurred when Hedy broke into the kitchen, opening the baby gate by herself, and ate the carcase of a BBQ chicken from the bin- no drumsticks or wings, just the cartilage middle section.  I knew something was afoot because Gilly came and told me with her Special Ears on. As we are on to dog number 6 I didn't panic. I rang the vet and Dr Megan remembered Hedy. She said to keep an eye on her for either emission or non-emissions from either end, and no dinner or breakfast. We have tied the baby gate for the time being. Of course I knew what she had eaten and always ring the vet. I thought I should add that. Hedy usually likes to do whatever Lorelai Gilmore does:

On our walk we usually just see this: Gilly off on her walk, and Hedy trying to keep up and keep on task, looking to Gilly. 

I have knitted a hat for the baby next door, Modern Sweet in some Loyal 10ply in a hot pink. Very cute and I love the flower. It just took an evening to make.

I'm also knitting a new hotwater bottle cover for my new back-up hotwater bottle. It is a pattern of my own design, and the last one was in 5ply so this 8ply is a tad too big but I don't care. I am using all odd ends of wool and using Fibonacci stripes, because they make everything pleasing to the eye.

Nothing much has been happening this week because I have a cold, a cold which I suspect I caught at Leukaemia Support group when I was in a room for two hours with the hot air-conditioning on. We don't walk on Wednesday, and I took them walking this morning, but both days I have slept till way in the afternoon. I did wonder if it was time for Hedy to have just two meals a day, but no, they continue till she's six months old. So the sleeping is why Hedy wasn't being sufficiently supervised.

At the weekend I read about an Eco-Cooler, an air-conditioner that works without power. It uses the principle that air you breathe out with an open mouth and a "ha" is hot, but air you blow out through pursed lips is cool. It needs a lot of plastic bottles and I'd like to try it out in Summer. So, I bought some fizzy cordial, as we call it, and conducted a taste test so no-one else has to. Believe me, no-one else wants to.

There are three Fan Made flavours: Fairy Floss, Fruit Tingler and Pineapple Coconut and then Traditional Pink Lemonade.

I don't drink fizzy cordial, maybe some lemonade in Summer, but rarely, so the first overall impression of the flavours was how sweet they were: incredibly sweet.

The blue Fairy Floss tastes vaguely of almost burnt sugar and sweetness. It doesn't really remind me of Fairy Floss very much.

The Fruit Tingler is perhaps the best of the four. It tastes distinctly of Fruit Tingle lollies. And sugar.

The Pineapple Coconut has an artificial and strong coconut smell, but a lesser flavour. The pineapple flavour is not prominent.

Can a drink taste pink?? Yes, it can because that is what the Pink Lemonade tastes like: pink. Or what I imagine pink tastes like. Pink and sweet.

Well, that was certainly an experience. And not an altogether pleasant one. I think of myself as having a sweet tooth, but these were all overly sweet, being 31/34/31/31% sugar respectively. Definitely a sometimes food and one that I will not add to my menu any time soon.

Our Sewing group continues on, and some blocks have been sewn.

I had all sorts of plans for this week, but none of them will come to fruition and I am just not worrying about it. Tomorrow I have an appointment to have my hair cut I shall and bake a chocolate cake for the vet. Dr Megan talked to me over the phone and the nurses were very kind to ask her to ring me back. The Labradors snuggle together on the couch every evening. And I have a hotwater bottle and some yoghurt full of the right kind of healthy bacteria for tea. We watched Doctor Thorne this afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't wait for Episode 2. I like Trollope. I remember watching The Pallisers and then Barchester Chronicles on TV and we read Trollope at Matric. Very witty and he writes excellent women!!!

Here Comes The Rain Again (And Again And Again)

Last week I was feeling sad when The GardyGardeners left for their new home on The Mainland. We had a lovely lunch to farewell them properly. I managed to somehow have three things happening on the same day and in the end I had a small migraine. I dosed myself up and just went to lunch: a bit woozy and fuzzy, but I didn't do the two other things. I just slept in the dark. I knitted a Corgi for them to take to their new house, but poor Corgi Ben didn't have any eyes or a nose. I will have to post him.

Corgi Ben also has tag from the engraving shop!!! He is knitted in some 4 and 5ply and the pattern is from last week's English Women's Weekly and is called The Queen's Favourite. Ben is a tad plump, but I think that he will squash down a bit, and he will be safer to be posted if he is plumper.

This week when I went to post to my blog I couldn't access it at all. I couldn't even see my blog or anything Typepad. I sent an email and this morning when we woke up it was all ship-shape and Bristol fashion.

We are in the middle of a flood emergency - a one in a hundred year event. The peak of the flood has just passed through the city. We are up high and safe, but some of my friends over the river have been evacuated, and some friends' houses have been flooded. Sadly, people have died and many cows and sheep have drowned. The flood barriers have been raised and so now we wait. It will be a long and difficult recovery for everyone affected. We are very grateful to have the Police, Emergency Services, SES and other professionals and volunteers to keep us safe.

The dam where we walk has been overflowing and fuelling the flood. The power and the noise is frightening, but when the video bumps up and down, that's Hedy Lamarr pulling on the lead and you can hear her barking.

Yesterday afternoon and evening we were trapped at home because the traffic diverted from the highway went around the front and then the back of our house. There was a seven kilometre traffic jam and in the end I walked up to the shop at the corner. This is the view of the Eastern side of the city from our front window.

Gilly was on full alert and spent hours running from the front window to the garage at the back gate, just to keep an eye on things. Hedy was a little confused by it all.

Hedy was not confused about the joy of a lot of rain and mud. She has been playing in the rain and the paddle pool and digging holes, though she would deny it.

We had a very cold snap last week and it was -2*C and there was ice on the grass at the dam. I think Lorelai Gilmore is about to be hit from behind by Hedy Lamarr.

Or worse, there could be nipping. Hedy has nipped Gilly with her sharp little baby teeth and given her tiny sores. Gilly is such a patient and good girl, and takes it all in her stride. They both love to run and play, and for Hedy, her walk is the high point of the day: after breakfast!!

I am slowly catching up on presents for my friends' husbands and partners. I made a decision that they will all be having a hat, or something I have sewn, and something baked. I knitted a hat in Hawthorn colours for WeeJock&Bessie's dad. It is The Hawk-thron Hat in Loyal 10ply, always a wonderful wool to knit with. The second hat is for Mr HouseOf and I knitted it using some Inca Spun Tweed and then Silk Garden as the colour changing contrast. The colour change is quite long, so there is not too much contrast. I used the Turn a Square pattern, but it turned out rather larger than I expected, so I just decided it is a slouchy beanie. The Inca Spun Tweed is so soft and lovely to knit with, I'll use it again.

Tonight it is Sewing and we are going to leave Hedy Lamarr out of her crate at night for the first time. We bit the bullet and let her be free during the day a week or so ago. Lorelai Gilmore is there to look after her and I suspect Hedy sleeps in her crate when there are no people about. Baby steps for the not so baby puppy.

 

Happy Walk, Keep Walking Happy Walk.

Most recent first: Hedy Lamarr has been for her first walk with Lorelai Gilmore. It all went spectacularly well. Rafa's dad and mum pointed out that Hedy is much more obedient than Gilly, who is having a little regression while she gets used to Hedy. I am just glad Hedy came back when she was called. I cheated and left her lead attached as a bit of an impediment, so I might just have a chance of catching her if she didn't come back.

I am a tad puffed out, breathing heavily, it was Gilly and my second walk for the day. Every time we play the video, Hedy comes from wherever she is when she hears me call her name. She is so cute!!!

Hedy walks very well on her lead, though she occasionally goes the wrong way!!!

We all enjoyed our walk and look forward to more happy times at the dam together.

It  is also time to start leaving Hedy out of the crate when we go out. I popped up to the deli at the corner and when I came home The Labradors met me at the gate, safe and sound.

Gilly enjoyed her last walk without Hedy yesterday. She loves the cool weather and the rain, and we have had plenty of rain and an electrical storm. If only we could have the rain spread out, rather than in one fell swoop. Lorelai Gilmore can't wait for Rafa to be let out of the car so they can run very fast together.

I have, no surprise, sewed some more grocery bags: bags 81-83 in fact. The first for a cat loving friend, and the next two for Mrs and then Mr Madcage. The duckies are a late Easter present!!!

I found the best sock wool ever for MrsDrWho: Rainbow Sparkles from Opal. Beautiful rainbow merges and glittery silver sparkles that are soft and don't feel scratchy at all.

To retain the gorgeous stripes I decided to tackle an afterthought heel. There are so many variations, but somewhere I read a tip that you should knit the heel and then measure on the person to see how long the foot should be. Fantastic idea. I knitted half the stitches for the heel on waste wool, and then slipped them back on the left-hand needled and knitted them again with the sparkly sock wool. Then it was just a case of pulling out the waste wool and picking up the top and bottom stitches. I decided to make the swirl heel from the Crystal socklet at Knitty.com. Here are the Sunshine Lollipop and Rainbow socks thus far.

Mr Madcage also has a new birthday Forest beanie, knitted in Loyal 10ply with a twisty cable pattern. I do like the Loyal 10ply. It is soft and light and very warm and knits up beautifully. I did have a better photo, but it turned out I actually took a video and I don't know how to make a photo from a video.

For the very first time I decided to bake something Star Wars for May The Fourth Be With You. I watched a very helpful video and then made some Darth Vader black fondant helmets.

I piped swirly red and chocolate two tone buttercream onto some fudgy chocolate cupcakes and topped each with a Darth Vader helmet. I don't think they are too bad at all, and MrsDrwho said the cakes were very yummy.

This week I am having a rest as far as possible. Last week I had a migraine, and then on Monday we had the NBN debacle- that's the National Broadband Network, where our house will be getting Fibre To The Home.  I met The NBN man a few weeks ago when he came to confirm that we will have the cable from the pole outside to the roof, as our house is built on a giant rock and there is no way to dig a trench. Easy, I thought. Ha!

During my five or six phone calls and Live Chats I was assured that the technician who was to come on Monday would do the outside and inside installations. I talked to my friends who have The NBN said they said this is not the way things are done, but I checked and checked again. On Monday the technician turned up and he was just the Inside Person. The Outside People had not done their job yet. The Inside had not talked to The Outside and so nothing could go ahead. Well, after all this, I ended up telling the ISP not to even talk to me until they had it all sorted out. And I shan't believe them even then, since I have had two separate communications, stating two different dates and times since then.

This week I am also going to drive an automatic car. I have only ever driven a manual car, but our car is too small to take two people and their suit cases to the airport. I am going for a drive tonight, just so I can get a feel for the car and learn it's super modern things like reversing camera and other things of which I know nothing!! Hedy is already having her post-lunch nap in her crate, Gilly is asleep on the  couch and I think a nap is definitely called for after all the tooing and froing.

Read It And Sleep

Time has just slipped away, and we are almost two thirds of the way through Autumn. Gilly enjoys Autumn.

I've been poorly with a cold which turned into a sinus infection, which may (or may not) be gone. Hedy was being a puppy, which required quite a lot of effort, so thank goodness for Lorelai Gilmore. She is A Shining Star of obedience, companionship and puppy-wrangling. Quite a lot of my conversations lately begin with:"I was going to, but then the puppy came."

Lorelai Gilmore and Hedy Lamarr went to visit The GardyGardeners. Hedy tipped out the water bowl twice, and almost chewed the vacuum cleaner.

They could run and play in the garden and Hedy loved the large giraffe ornament. Gilly was exhausted before we even went home.

Hedy was exhausted when we came home, and slept with her ears arranged through The Crate.

We went to The Vet to be weighed and Hedy is 8.7kg, so growing nicely. We saw Dr Malcolm and he said she was a cracker of a puppy, and she walked on her lead very nicely. The weather is very warm for Autumn and so there is a lot of playing in the paddle pool, especially after a ride in the car.

And this happens:

Hedy Lamarr has ears that remind me of Sister Betrille in The Flying Nun.

Well, apart from Labrador-ing, nothing much else has been happening. I sewed some new shopping bags. I have started numbering them, but I didn't keep a proper record with the photos, but I am about to sew #80.

I sewed the Cat bag for a kind lady at the knitting shop. The cupcake bag was for The Bakers and their new shop. The material was the closest thing to a baking theme I had. I ate the most delicious rhubarb and custard pastry from their shop.

The apple bag was for The GardyGardeners and I sent The Labrador bag to a far away friend. I only have a little of The Peri & Gilly material left, so I shall have to print some Gilly & Hedy soon.

Hedy started as all The Dogs have, and as she means to go on: helping with the photos.

Lorelai Gilmore enjoys her walks with her friends, Rafa and Sandy. Most of the time they do parallel play, but at other times,

this happens.

Thank goodness Hedy is able to look after herself a bit more. When I am poorly and spend the day in bed she has to fend for herself with Gilly. I have been doing a lot of reading, I discovered some Georgette Heyer-lite books by M C Beaton and so I have been devouring them as quickly as they come from The Library.

Tonight we are doing Sewing, but with no actual sewing. I am making some apple pastries and not having a glass of bubbly, because I am taking pretend cold and flu tablets.

I do like to try and answer all my comments. It is not a chore and I know it is not a "should", so I shall work my way slowly through them. I appreciate all the lovely comments on my blog. The blogs I read?? Well everyone could have won the lottery and moved to France with a film star as far as I know. I shall slowly catch up on that as well!!!

I think we might have time for a nap before tea time. Actually, there's always time for a nap!!