2paw

Coop-La

At last we have some slightly cool weather: it rained on Lorelai Gilmore and me when we were walking this morning. Still, it's warm..

Yesterday evening Uncles Dutch and Electric brought a chicken coop to be stored in the garage. Well, what a source of fun that was. I had a sneaking thought that I might pop Lorelai Gilmore inside. No need. Peri is very clever, she had a quick recce and then 'encouraged' Lorelai Gilmore to go inside. 

 

After all the excitement of visitors, Harki decided it was a bit too much effort to go up the steps. When I came back from walking in the rain this morning she was up in the garage and had obviously investigated the new thing.

If you do this: ( does my bottom look big in this?)

And then play in the paddle pool, ad infinitum, then you get this:

One very happy, muddy puppy.

I have started the unnamed top-down raglan cardigan. There were no bamboo circular needles in the shop, so I had to have a Knit Pro one. It was a knitting emergency and I didn't want one from The BSODL(tm) It is nice and pointy, which is good, because the bamboo is splitty. Note that I have had to go to The Dark Side and use stitch markers, which I have thus far managed not to knit into the fabric. I have lost one, but it wasn't a special one. I will cope.

MrsDrWho*, Mrs Princess and Miss Mac invited me to join them for a very social trivia night. It was a lot of fun, very uncompetitive (no arguments or cross words from any people there) we had a delicious platter, wine and I had a cup of tea and it was Not Too Hot. Bonus: we came third and won a $25 voucher which will pay for some wine next time. We were flummoxed by two of the six topics; Cars and Sport!!!

Oh you can see where I wrote down our answers to check them.That's a banana calzone which MrsDrWho had not quite all of for dessert.

Plans for the next few days:finish lining the secret bag, make a toile of my dress bodice, I did adjustments yesterday (with Gilly's help) and drafted an A-line skirt because bias skirts and I are not friends, keep knitting my cardigan, buy a long retractable lead so Lorelai Gilmore can have a swim and catch up on all the Fringe episodes I have stored on my DVR. I have 200 hours of saved programmes to watch. I have 20 hours of space left so I really have to catch up NOW!!!

*Cateau additions proceed with some speed.

Weighting To Exhale

Two possible interpretations of my blog title today:

1. Every Labrador has Gained Health, as TinkingBell would say. Harki is only 41kg instead of more than 48, Lorelai Gilmore is 26 instead of 28 and Peri hasn't been to the Vet but she must be slimmer. She looks slimmer.
2. It is so hot we are melting. We'd like a big exhale of cool air and possibly misty rain.

Harki had to go to the Vet because she has FlippyFloppyEar. Lorelai Gilmore was so sad to be left behind.

Harki had to go in the very hot car, but I put a big drink in the back and we went straight there and back. (Very Frodo Baggins of us)

 

When we came home I put some clean water in the paddle pool and Peri had The Most Wonderful Time.

Then everyone joined in, but Peri was still In Charge.

I bought myself something to help me feel cooler. There are lots of different kinds on the market. I bought this from my local Cancer Council office, but you can buy them online. It is delicously cool, and it is refreshed and cold again instantly when I plunge it into iced water. I have bought some crystals to see if I can make my own.

I have finished on Tennis Sock. It has a tennis court (to scale)on the front of the leg and then the top of the foot is covered with 105 little tennis ball shaped holes. I love them!!!! One down and one to go.

And, inspired by Suzy's cardigan, and Ailsa's too, I have knitted a tension square, washed and dried it and made lots of calculations. I am hoping to make a short sleeve top-down raglan cardigan from Cleckheaton Bamboo. Hope being the operative word here!!

So we are lying around, being hot, drinking cool drinks, hot tea and filling the air cooler up with ice and cold water and wondering if it will really be 30*C for the foreseeable future??? Oh and MrsDrWho and I have these!! There are elbows!! I shall only know answers about Doris and Frank!!!

Stryperdrive

I have finished my first socks for the Southern Summer of Socks. They are divine and I love them so much and I am very sad this wool is discontinued. I made the extreme effort to make all the stripes the same size, I cut and pasted till it was right and I am very happy.  There were quite a few ends to sew in. It was totally worth it!!

The Stryperdrive Socks, knitted on 2.5mm needles using my own personal sock pattern with 64 stitches. I used Lana Grossa Magico. I don't really ever want to wear them, they are so nice, but in the spirit of my 'using nice and special things' drive: I shall. I've started my third pair of socks using Ailsa's fabulous Tennis Ball sock wool. I am perusing books to find a suitably tennis-bally pattern.

The Labradors have been well, and Harki has been naughty. I know we all find this hard to believe, but she has. On Wednesday she hopped out of the car and took off down the road after a cat, knowing she had no chance of getting within a bull's roar of it, and then she meandered back in her own time when I called her. I put Peri inside and then walked down the footpath till I could see her. She looks so happy in her wickedness!!

Peri Naughty and Lorelai Gilmore have been honing their synchronisation skills at the other back gate.

What else?? Our Dining Out Knitting group dined out at Pickled Evenings and very delicious it was, and despite the picture, not very pickly!!!

There has been much knitting and I have finished the Sensu Scarf for Mrs Mauritius. Sensu is the Japanese word for 'folding fan' and this scarf in Feather and Fan folds and rolls very nicely. I knitted it in two pieces and grafted the live stitches together at the centre. I have two matching cast on edges!! It needs blocking. Knitted from Zara Extra Fine Merino two balls, using 5mmm needles.

 

During Blogtober I sent some White TimTams to Melanie Jennifer and she retured the favour with some excellent white chocolate with hazelnuts. Good thing I took a picture because I have eaten it all. Thank you Melanie Jennifer!!!

 

The weather is going to be very hot over the next few days, so we will be getting the ice and the air cooler ready to go, and closing the curtains to keep the heat out!!!

Ball's Well That Ends Well

The weather has gone from the sublime to the ridiculous: we had 28*C on Saturday and then today we had a cool, rainy day with extreme winds of up to 120 kph. We all like the cooler weather better. It was Too Hot To Knit, the stitches of my sock wouldn't move along the wooden needle. They stuck. I started knitting a scarf for Mrs Mauritius a while back, but the rib was just too solid, instead of nice and softly draping. So I unravelled it on Sunday when it was cooler and started a simple Feather and Fan pattern and it is perfect. Mrs Mauritius likes to fling her scarf around her neck and over her shoulder, so this will be excellent. I am knitting up two balls separately, and then I will graft the live stitches together in the centre so I have matching cast on edges. Here it is, and you can see the original is almost knitted up now. Oh I am using Zara Extra Fine Merino, I think, I can't find the label. I have put it somewhere safe.

I have been Spring Cleaning and I have a whole lot of fabric to be washed and ironed into submission, newspapers to be recycled and bits and bobs to sort out. I have also scanned some photos onto my computer and for those people who always want to see a picture of me: this is your lucky day!! Here's a picture of me, and Harki and Baby Peri!!! And it is old, about eight years old, because there is a giant stack of videos. Look how tiny Peri is, such a gorgeous baby!!!

 

Yes, there are pink curtains, but they work, so they're staying!!!

And now, the 'Bespoke' skirt Give-away!! This time I decided on The Tennis Ball Option. I had ten entrants, so I used ten of The Labradors' tennis balls. I wrote numbers on the balls.

I would line them up outside, let loose a Labrador and the winner would be the first tennis ball chosen. I tried Harki, but she was only interested in looking for treats interspersed amongst the balls. And there were none. So then I tried Lorelai Gilmore. I was very encouraging and enthusiastic in order to get a result, so beware the volume!! And the winner is...................

Number Eight, and that's Gaby!! Congratulations Gaby, I'll email you to discuss your blue skirt!!!!

And thus begins my effort to blog more frequently with fewer words and pictures so it doesn't seem like an overpowering task.

The Hunt For Red Blogtober

I feel all 'My Way': And now, the end is here, And so I face the final curtain. Way back when, Bells suggested that I could actually succeed in the Blogtoberfest, I pooh-poohed her idea, but she was certain. So I joined and here I am, gentle reader, at the end of the fest. Thanks Bells, for knowing I could do it!!

It has been the best of fests, it has been the worst of fests: but now the fest is over. I'd love to pinch Bells' great collage idea, but really I can't choose one Labrador over the other and I'd need 93 pictures. Oh I'm just having a lemony drink with ice and I thought for one horrid moment I had another broken tooth, but it was just a piece of ice!!!

Peri hopped in the creek on our walk, but Harki finds it harder to jump out now, so she paddles in the shallower part of the creek upstream.

It has been unbearable hot all day, hot and humid. It was 28*C in the city. I bought a bag of ice, I hosed The Labradors and there was much playing in the paddle pool and lying in the shade. (Them not me!!) It was too hot to knit my socks or the scarf that needs to be finished by Wednesday. Quelle Horreur!!!

Lorelai Gilmore is quite confused by hot weather and ice. The former has suddenly appeared, and the latter suddenly disappears if you lick it. She's been mooching around because I had to hide her frisbee. Harki keeps finding a sudden playfulness and snatches it away. She's on a mission to chew it up, so I had to put it up high and away from everyone!!!

Halloween has come and gone with much upset in the neighbourhood. There was screaming and yelling and that set all the dogs in the street barking. They blew raspberries and 'boo-ed' in the front windows and upset The Labradors. I left a note that said I wasn't participating but I would defend to the death their right to 'celebrate' or words to that effect. They were not happy. Fences were jumped, gardens were run over, parents smiled indulgently. I shall draw a line under Halloween now.

I have unearthed my Easiyo Yoghurt maker and made my first batch for the year. In Winter I am all about the slow cooked rolled oats, but in Summer I like yoghurt and fruit for breakfast. I have some apples and raspberries to add to my morning yoghurt tomorrow!!!

I have not fulfilled all my Blogtober goals. I have not read all the Blogtober participants' blogs, computer circumstances beyond our control intervened, so I shall be doing some extra reading in November. Due to said circumstances there was not any scanning of photos, but now my computer is zoomingly fast there is some hope that will occur anon. I have cut out a pattern for a dress, and if it's cool tomorrow, I shall be tracing it and undertaking some adjustments!! So much for my goals. I have, however, found blogging every day quite good. Usually if I am feeling poorly I avoid blogging but I have really enjoyed posting everyday. I can't ever say I will do it again between now and next October, but I would like to blog more frequently. 

Since it's too hot to knit, I will have some peppermint tea and watch the end of Taggart and then to bed, where we hope it is cool enough to sleep.

Till next Blogtober then: thank you, thank you very much!!!

Oh and tomorrow there will be some form of Labrador Enhanced choosing of the 'Bespoke' skirt winner!!!

Hallow, Hallow, Hallow, What's Going On 'Ere Then???

RoseRed posted about Halloween and how she 'doesn't like it'. Though some may think me a wowser, I don't like it either. I liked it even less, with all it's commercialism and not being part of our Australian culture, when this appeared in my letter box today:

Pretty sure I am going to make a sign for my front steps and back gate saying that I am philosophically opposed to Halloween, regardless of its origins. I am Australian, not Celtic or American, and I believe it to be nothing more than an out and out attempt by businesses to make money by co-opting Australian children to their Halloween cause. MrsDrWho will be happy to help I am sure. I shall be ready!!

I just googled and found most of the text is taken from Yahoo Answers. Not even original.

I did give Ms TinkingBell some gifts. I have been pondering the TARDIS lately and working on a 'generic blue police box' zippy bag. (As she says, I don't want to be hunted down by the BBC) It still needs a bit of tweaking because the gap between the windows is a tad small, but I am inordinately happy with the way the handle pops out of the top.I also embroidered some fabric and covered buttons. I am not sure how many were needed, so I did some, with the promise of more when needed!!!

I bought Gilly a new toy, a frisbee. She seems to like things that fly through the air, like flies. I threw it from the gate and then lost sight of it. I spent a bad twenty minutes searching for it up and under trees. Gilly helped, searching and sniffing ever so diligently. Then she went back inside and came proudly out with the frisbee in her mouth. She had taken it inside at the very start!!!! Harki likes the frisbee too, it's a proper dog toy, but she didn't get a look in.

Here is Peri looking ever so happy. She's usually hiding from Lorelai Gilmore and this may be her happiest look for a while. Today when she opened the gate and slipped into The Forbidden Zone, Lorelai Gilmore ran to the gate but it was too late and the gate closed. Undeterred, she put her little paw and nose in the gap and opened that gate and went in all by herself. Poor Peri!! Clever Lorelai Gilmore!!

I have had a restful day today and I may just have a little nap before I go to MrsDrWho's house to watch the end of (beware of spoilers) Torchwood: Children of Earth and Stargate Universe.

Oven' You, Is Easy 'Cause You're Beautiful.

The Oven has landed. Here it is, in the garage with the cook top, waiting patiently till it can be connected. In a little bit. Peri is undertaking some quality control. The kind Delivery Men opened the difficult non-rolly uppy double garage door and popped them inside. Easy Peasy!!!

Today I had a lovely day with Ms TinkingBell. We met a little after 9am and then we spent the day in these happy pursuits:

• we started with a cup of tea and coffee
• shopped at Esme's for some cute fabric fat quarters
• eyed off some green trousers for me
• had a happy visit to The BlackSpot of DoomLight(tm) where I bought the cutest ever crochet kit in an olde worlde beauty case bag (made from cardboard, but still...) Ms TinkingBell bought wool!!!
• there was a little secret shopping then Cocoon
• Gourlays for some lollies
• Petrachs for some books
• toasted sandwiches for lunch
• then a fond farewell

Ms TinkingBell looked extremely cool and trendy in her skant(sp?) and her Tempest cardigan. I've had to do some tricksy editing because of the 'secret shopping'!!!

The thing about Imaginary Friends is that surprisingly often, it's as if they have never been Imaginary at all.  Believe me, we spent all day chatting non-stop: we could chat for Britain!!!

Harki and Peri went for a walk yesterday, on a Non-walking day, so that I could make my rendezvous today. It was walk and roll: Harki walked and Peri rolled.

Lorelai Gilmore has had to supplement her breakfast with a treat: a stick of celery. Apparently it's delicious, after all her eyes are closed in ecstasy as she chews away at the stalk.

And this is the loveliest photo of Harki. She was lying in The Forbidden Zone amongst the leaves and rose petals and it was quite warm. She's a happy girl!!!

I am quite worn out. I have been making myself stay awake so that when I go to bed I will fall straight to sleep. I hope. My tooth is a little sensitive but it has got over itself and settled down nicely. This evening I caught up on watching the news from the last two days, Spicks & Specks and NCIS whilst knitting the second unnamed striped sock.

Only two days to go until the end of Blogtober.  Fingers crossed I won't lose my nerve at the last moment!!

Lab-arbarians At The Gate

As requested, here is the recipe I used for the sour cream lemon cupcakes pictured two posts ago. The recipe is from Campion and Curtis In The Kitchen, the original 2002 edition. They have a new and more whacky-do edition out now, but I still like my old one.

• 125g softened butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
  
• zest of 3 lemons (they say one, I say three)
• 2 tbspn lemon juice
  
• 150g plain flour
• 60g self raising flour
• 100g sour cream

Heat oven to 180*C. Cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the zest, the eggs, one at a time, and then the juice. Sift the flours together and then add, alternating with the sour cream. Spoon into the muffin papers and bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool a little on a rack and then pour the hot lemon syrup* over them

*To make the lemon syrup put 100ml lemon juice and 90g of caster sugar in a pan and stir over a low to medium heat till the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Pour over the cooling cakes. You may need to add a splash of water if it is a too thick.

Today I cleaned the windows of my car, well the ones I can reach, ie the front and back, not the wagonny ones. Then I had to have a little lie down. The Labradors were allowed into The Forbidden Zone and pined for me. Or if you are Lorelai Gilmore, you nibbled at the Jasmine like a little goat.

Then it was off to the dentist, Dr Galloway: he is very good. He fixed my tooth. As always, it hurt afterwards when the anaesthetic injection wore off. But the whole thing was very painless. In the interest of Blogtober, I have photographed the inside of my mouth. In the interest of any readers, I have Black and Whited the picture. It was scarily pink. Must be the effect of the flash.  Then I came home and had some drugs, and a little lie down!!!

My handbag fell off the chair last night and my mobile had a sad accident. It would only work if you pressed hard on the back. I tried a little green cardboard fix, but to no avail. Luckily I still have my original phone, so I charged it up and popped the SIM card in and off it went. It is ever so hard to take a photo in this house without someone sticking their nose in. This is, well you know who it would be!!!

So now I must go to bed, have a long lie down, and be up bright and early in the morning because I am meeting up with someone tomorrow morning!!!! There will be pictures, if I remember. And my new oven is being delivered tomorrow too. An exciting day!!

Your Home Is Skirt By Sea

I find it hard to do sweeping. Well I can do the big sweeping, but the small dusty sweeping eludes me. If only I could find the broom to go with the dustpan.......

Peri has been keeping watch at the window again. One dog running free and she thinks there will be one every day!!

Harki is happy on her walk, but her walks are getting shorter and she is not so fast any more. She's a bit grumpy with Lorelai Gilmore (though aren't we all sometimes: about brooms for example). We are making the most of every day at the moment and though there's still boiled celery for breakfast, today there was a little poached chicken as well!!! I just went and gave her a big rub on her ears as her sore leg makes it hard to have a good ear scratch. If you stop, she whacks you gently with her paw and wags her tail. I start again.

Poor Leonie, Jennifer Rose and Wendy are waiting for me to post their DogLotto winnings and I promise to email tomorrow and ask for details!!

Today I have my final Blogtober Give-Away. It's a skirt, custom made for you, whomever you are. Sadly, I can only offer this to people who live in Australia, as I might need to send a toile/muslin for fitting. Who knows??

Your skirt can be:

• A-line
• Pencil
• Gored: 4, 6 or 8
• or even Tiered

Negotiations will be entered into. I would need waist, hip, waist to hip and length measurements which would, of course, be confidential. I will draft a pattern, purchase some fabric and sew your skirt for you and I'll send you the pattern too!!!

To enter, just leave a comment and tell me the fabric colour or print you'd like if you win. The time to enter ends at midnight on October 31st or whenever I remember to shut the comments off.

Because You're Mine, I'll Walk Online

Oh I am soooo happy. I have my hard drive back: all safe and sound and clean and fast. How happy I am and how not driven to mental torment by the lack of internettage. I had a little celebratory drink in one of my dad's glasses: it tasted oh so sweet. Isn't it nice that is is so green inside my hard drive???

 

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments and positive tooth, earache and computer hard drive wishes. Luckily, my tooth doesn't seem hurt much, a few pings, that's all. I have an appointment at noon on Wednesday for Dental Reconstruction. The earache is all gone and my computer is back online, so it seems all the Good Karma is working!!!

I whipped up a little batch of sour cream lemon cupcakes from my Campion & Curtis cook book. I had forgotten I had it, and it's a great book. I used my special muffin papers in the spirit of using special things, and I poured a little lemon syrup over them.

 Lorelai Gilmore has been walking at The Tailrace near the Hydro plant and all the water comes out clean and fresh from producing power (!!!) and yesterday there was a seal catching fish and cavorting in the inlet. Out of the all pictures I took, I managed to snap it LochNess Monster style. It's right in the centre of the photo.

Lorelai Gilmore was much more fascinated by the duckies.....

There was a General Hackles alert this afternoon when the next house but one's Cocker Spaniel made a short but successful bid for freedom!!!

Can you tell I cleaned my windows today?? They are very shiny. Lorelai Gilmore watches the TV reflected in all the windows at night. It keeps her most amused.

I have finished one Striped Sock which doesn't have a good name yet. I am most pleased with my even and matching stripes. It was worth the extra effort.

I am having to draw a line in the sand. Unlike our Premier's lines in the sand, which always seem to be blown away so easily by the wind, mine shall not be. I have decided that I can't answer all my comments made while I have been 'away'. There are over 120, and the number is too daunting. Please pretend that I have sent you a lovely chatty reply, possibly it might even be witty, and The Labradors have sent you lots of waggy tails and happy smiles. Will that be OK???