Friday (Food) Friday, Gotta Get Down On Friday.

I am being kind to myself after a tricky week and there is no Friday Food. This week:

• The NBN came
• The phone and internet did not initially
• Nor did the silent number
• The car is leaking some kind of fluid (sp edit)
• We need new tyres
• It has been hot and ever so humid

 

The actual man who installed The NBN was kind and very nice to The Labradors. Gilly was interested and sensible. Hedy was all yes I want a pat/no you are a stranger and had to be put in her little box for everyone's peace of mind. Ipad photos, so worse than usual. Hedy inspected the work.

I am just treating myself a little carefully. After phone calls and emails - from MrsDrWho's mother's house because you can't email or phone if you don't have the internet or landline connected -  my ISP magically found it would not take up to twelve days (5-7 working days with two weekends in the mix) and they had enabled the internet and phone by the next day. I do despair, that I have to exert such effort, but it all ended up being sorted out and my number is silent again too.

Don't know what is leaking from under the car, I just noticed it yesterday, and we need new tyres desperately, so I am off to see what can be done about money. No point in having a car if it doesn't work. We spent all our money on Lorelai Gilmore last year and she is worth every cent!!!

Although it is hot and horridly humid, we have had a cooler summer and this morning it was cloudy so the sun didn't heat the front of the house: a boon.

So I am being grateful and telling people about what is happening. I am thinking today of James Hird. I am not an AFL fan, I only keep an ear on MrsDrWho's mother's team so I can chat to her about the games. I know only too well how easy it is to slip into a state where you believe people would be better off without you, that you are not worth very much and life seems a burden rather than a joy. I hope that whatever has happened, he can find the help and support he needs, anyone needs: BeyondBlue.

The Labradors have new Summer beds. They have a cool fabric outer and are squooshy but not warm, they feel airy. They are very popular, especially after the paddle pool. I think a wet cushion is a lovely cool sleeping place.

When my mum came to visit she came on our walk. The Labradors were astonished, as were the people, at the cicadas flying through the air. Gilly, and then Hedy, found the cicadas which had fallen to the ground but were still flapping, and they became potential friends or snacks: you guess which. They look like birds, but they aren't. The sound is almost unbearable, but to us it is the sound of Summer.

I did some Christmas baking, and made cards. That's pretty much all I did. I made spiced shortbread mini biscuits, gingerbread with fondant snowflakes, vanilla pinwheel biscuits with peppermint candy cane iced on the edges, flourless chocolate biscuits, fruit cake and ganache truffles and lemon and white chocolate truffles. I am so pleased with the way they turned out and I purposefully made things that weren't covered in chocolate so they didn't melt in the heat.

I bought a Craftsy course on sale for $24 and learned a new zip technique and sewed a Becca bag and a Sweetpea pouch. I am totally enamoured with the way the zip works. You cut the zipper ends off and then sew just one half to the bag and then re-attach the zipper pull. I feel very clever!!!

Grocery bags #97 and #98. I am almost to one hundred and I think I shall give #100 away on my blog. It is the very least I can do after subjecting readers to endless bag photos. I have some special material from Spoonflower printed with Gilly and Hedy and I shall use that!!!!

Last two zippy chip bags for the last two children at our Christmas gathering.

Also for Kris Kringle, hot bowl cosies. When you take a bowl out of the microwave, you pop it in the cosy to protect your hands.

And generally the rest of my craft for 2016: I am always amazed that I make so many things. I do sometimes think I waste my time sleeping and feeling not very well at all, but I look at all these things and I feel useful and productive. Of course I love making the shopping bags, but I like to try new things as well.

Gilly is trying new things, she joined in the Border Collie/Labrador Puppy chasing game. We are so pleased to see her being happy and enjoying herself. I wonder if she pined for Peri, after Peri died?

And Hedy is as happy as a pig in mud. She is silly happy, and extra pleased because Gilly stole a present bone from the Christmas bag and I gave half to Hedy Lamarr!!

Here are The Labrador after the gardener whipper-snippered. They have the whole yard to play in and he even filled the paddle pool. He's a kind gardener.

Today I sat down and added one hundred and four books to my sidebar - you can only see the most recent twenty books I think. I hadn't added any last year. I think there are some I have missed. I usually take a photo as I put the book across the opening at The Library. I think there might be a few photos elsewhere. I've already read seven books this year so I hope to keep up-to-date with my list in 2017.

It is still too warm to sleep, and since we did sleep all day yesterday until 4-19pm and then all night again, perhaps we can stay up a little later. Tomorrow and Sunday are forecast to be 30*C so we should take the cool moments while we can.

Where Have All The Flours Gone? Long time Passing.

This week I went to The Hospital to participate in a pretend ward round for the almost graduating doctors. They have a small replica ward and there were four patients and we all had a scenario to play. I was being me, with a relapse. An actor was playing a dementia patient and caused havoc all around the ward and he even ran away from his doctors!! Though the bed wasn't terribly comfortable, it was a very restful three and a half hours. I changed into my pyjamas and my next door neighbour gave me some honey bear lollies to eat. We had cups of tea and sandwiches at half time.

Last week I did actually feel quite poorly and had a couple of days in bed. Luckily one was Wednesday and we don't go for a walk, and I roused myself to take The Labradors for a walk on Thursday and then I could sleep contentedly knowing they had their exercise. The weather has been typical Spring weather: hailstorms, heavy rain, wind and then warm sunny days. No-one knows what to wear or if they should take their umbrella or not.

Hedy has learned a new trick. When she plays with Sandy, she does evasive roly polys to try and get the better of him. She is so funny, and after all the rolling on the grass also very wet. Gilly doesn't play. She likes to wander about investigating all the smells, and (I am sorry to say) eating wallaby pooh.

Gilly went to see Dr David last week and we had good news again. Her blood results were all in the normal range and this week she only has to take one blue tablet each day, and we don't have to go back for a month!! Lorelai Gilmore is so happy, she wags her tail on her walk and she is naughty at home: I caught her in the kitchen!!!!

She is still very hungry all the time and likes to eat her food up on the step, so she can be higher than Hedy Lamarr. Hedy likes to try and steal Gilly's food.

Hedy is so big now and she can be quite defiant. She knows she mustn't jump up when someone comes home, so she sits perfectly: and barks crossly. If it is later in the evening, Gilly is always waiting at the gate, but during the day they are both there. They are not allowed at the back gate because they bark at dogs going past, but if I am at the car, I let them have a special gate treat!!!

I had meant to blog last week, but on Thursday and Friday my internet was interrupted. Earlier this year I was without a landline for five weeks, and finally my ISP apologised and gave me some compensation and upgraded me to a better plan. I was very pleased, but no-one explained clearly that being upgraded meant an interruption to the internet!! It was all fixed by later on Friday, but I lost the will to bake and blog!!

Our knitting group had a Dessert Degustation. One of our number is undertaking a Hospitality course and she has been cooking with some famous chefs, like Tetsuya!!! We were lucky enough to experience these culinary delights from our talented chef:

Poh's White chocolate ganache tart with raspberries, creme caramel and chickpea brownie with berry compote and whipped coconut cream. I couldn't eat the chocolate brownie, and I couldn't even fit in a second slice of the delicious white chocolate tart!! The creme caramel was so smooth and the caramel so yummy.

The final dessert was Tetsuya's Granny Smith apple granita with apple jelly. We didn't know about the tiny hidden apple jelly cubes so they were a wonderful surprise. This may have been my favourite. To finish we had three truffles, I can't remember what the dark chocolate one was, but the other two were saffron and cumin I think, and then a spiced rum and coconut. It was a marvellous selection of desserts and no-one had room for dinner.

Hedy has also been using food, but not in a good way. While I was sleeping she chose some plain flour from the shopping bag and then opened it and played with it, in the loungeroom, on the carpet. I am not sure how to remove it as it has set in a crusty layer. The darker spots are where she has tried to nibble the flour. She is still very much a puppy.

But look at her: even when she is lying in wait for Gilly half way up the steps, she is as cute as a giant button!! I think that might be flour on her nose.

I am knitting a hat for WeeJock and Bessie's dad. It will be the Five by Five, Faith Hat and I am using some lovely soft Inca Spun Tweed in grey. I have knitted a ball of wool since lunch time and only have another 5cm to work until the crown decreases. I think I shall finish it tomorrow!!

Hedy always gets a sudden urge to play rough and rowdy rebel games at bedtime. There is an awful lot of refereeing to do and maybe a little cider vinegar squirting. Oh no, now she is blowing bubbles in the water bowl. She is fascinated by the patterns the water makes in the light, and so we have a towel under the inside water bowl now. Thank goodness for Lorelai Gilmore!!!

Now It's Music I've Found, And I'm Tired, I'll Sleep Sound.

Oh I am so tired. I am beyond tired. Today we went for a walk and unexpectedly met Rafa and his dad. Hedy played so much she had to have a little lie down.

Then I had my hair cut and this afternoon I went to be a Patient-Partner at the Hospital. Seven people searched for, found and then palpated my spleen.  An enlarged spleen is a rarity, so the almost newly minted doctors and their tutors were excited to feel my spleen. I also had to exert myself so that they could hear the murmur in my heart. And get on the bed, off the bed, several times. I want to go to sleep, but I know if we go to bed now, I shall be awake in the middle of the night again.

Lorelai Gilmore is feeling very well. We met a new puppy, Sebastian, but I don't have a decent photo of him. Hedy, Sandy and Rafa played with him. Gilly?? No, Gilly met Sebastian's human and ascertained immediately that she had treats in her pocket. Gilly has never met a pocket full of treats she doesn't love!!

Lorelai Gilmore has her "asking for a treat" face and paw down pat. Look at that face.

Hedy Lamarr never passes up a treat, she also never passes up a muddy puddle.

When Hedy bites Gilly, I squirt a little diluted apple cider vinegar at her. I only had to do this a few times before she realised what it meant. After that I just had to show her the bottle and say "No!". Unfortunately I left the bottle on the desk and Hedy wrought her revenge quickly, chewing off the top.

I have been knitting something from Craftsy's new free Autumn Knit-along . They say Fall, I say Autumn. It is a gift, so I have not shown it as it truly is. I am very pleased though. It was a fun knit and looks great too.

I've also been trying to eat more vegetables. Tonight I had peas, sweet potatoes and potato. Yesterday I had some carrots, Hasselback potatoes with bacon and broccolini (not shown).

I am tired in other ways too. A female politician has said she felt bullied by a male politician. The male Premier has decided there is no case to answer and the male politician apologised for his tone, but not the bullying. Now he is saying that he is the victim. How is it that he seems to have turned the whole thing around and made it about him?? The Premier says there should be mediation, but I think there should be a proper third party inquiry. I don't believe that putting a bully, and the person they bullied together is a good idea. I think it can give more power to the bully. No-one really know what happened, but the male politician threatening to sue anyone who discusses it seems wrong.

It is still a man's world.

Today is International Day of the Girl and a survey released shows that two-thirds of girls believe that gender inequality is a persistent problem in Australia. 40% say they do more chores than the boys in their family and only 16% feel they are valued for their brains and ability. Things have changed, but not enough. It seems that because girls have been given the same opportunities as boys, boys feel they have had something taken away from them. And when women are given equal opportunities to men, men also feel that they have lost out: I am speaking generally. I think of the way Julia Gillard was, and Hillary Clinton is, treated so poorly by men and by the media. I despair of old rich entitled white men. Women and men are certainly different, but deserve the same opportunities and respect. A few weeks ago I found a credit card on the road behind my parked car. I took the card to the police station and I had to fill in a form. The form was all "he", "him" and "his". Not even a pretence of "s/he". I do feel not as equal when simple things such as government forms only have male pronouns. I would like to see all forms with just female pronouns and then tell men that these pronouns are inclusive. I don't feel included.

What else can I talk about?? The Plebiscite for Same Sex Marriage. I cannot for the life of me work out why I can have a vote-that-might-not-even-be-worthwhile about same sex marriage, but not one about going to war or the deficit. It does seem now that The Plebiscite might be off. I think couples should be able to be married in a civil ceremony. Everyone should have a civil ceremony and then they can have their marriage blessed, or whatever, in a church if that is what they choose. And churches should be able to refuse if they want to. I don't want to interfere in their religion. I can't think of one good reason why there should not be same sex marriage. The arguments used against it sound oh so familiar to those used against African Americans, against our Aborigines and against women. And saying that children deserve a mother and a father?: even fifteen years ago in my classroom most of the children's parents were no longer together in their original family unit. There were single mums, single dads, people who had remarried, people whose spouse had died, the list goes on. I believe children are better off with two people, or one person, who loves them, rather than with two people who hate being together and make their home an unhappy or unsafe place.

I feel like Hillary after saying all that!!

And I just can't even start thinking about Donald Trump.

There. I've managed to while away an hour. Time for a cup of tea, maybe another episode of Fringe and then sleep. Tomorrow there is no walk, we don't walk on Wednesdays, so I plan to sleep all morning.

And now I plan to press "Publish" and be damned.

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!!

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.

I Am Monarch Of All I Savoy

A Labrador is a bottomless pit. No matter how much I feed Hedy, she is still starving, and because she is naughty and a puppy, she finds things to eat. Gilly does not, she is such a good girl. It was very quiet and when I went to investigate, there was Hedy with her head in the bag of vegetables, and there was the cabbage all hollowed out. It was a Wombok cabbage, but I could not resist the Savoy/Survey serendipity.

My mum and aunt came to visit at the weekend and we ate out and chatted and shopped and had a marvellous time. I am so lucky she comes to visit as I can't travel on a bus or aeroplane because of germs in such a closed environment, nor can I drive that far in a day. My mum brought me a set of cups, saucers and plates that belonged to Tiger Nan. They are so pretty, and I have unpacked them and put them, carefully, in the dresser.

I sewed them some shopping bags, what a surprise!! #87 and #88

We continue along on our Summer Block of the Month 2016 quilting every fortnight. I am behind, but other people have made all four Sawtooth blocks, and here are the last.

Poor Lorelai Gilmore, Hedy Lamarr is such a trial to her. Yet Gilly continues to be a patient and kind sister. When we are walking without other dog friends, Hedy chases Gilly

and bites her. Gilly opens her mouth and shows all her teeth, but never bites back.

Look how Hedy really grabs Gilly's fur and skin and bites and pulls hard.

That expression on Gilly's face, she is resigned and not asking for help. I try to remain Switzerland, but if I do drag Hedy away, Gilly comes over and asks with her paw to have the puppy returned.

And then the game is over and it is off to smell things together.

We slept all day today, and no-one (Hedy Lamarr) did anything even vaguely wicked: which is fairly amazing.  Soon Hedy Lamarr is going to the vet to be desexed. We have to buy a new cloud collar. It is much nicer than the cone collar, and Peri wore it happily and Lorelai Gilmore wore is for fun!!!

I hope Hedy likes it too.

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!!!

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.