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.

 

When I Say I Love You, You Say You Better, You Better, You Better, You: Vet.

By the time it was Monday, I decided that we had gone way past the point of Friday Food, and so we gave it a miss. I have an annoying small cold, and we've had a few days in bed. The weather has been blissfully cool in the evenings and nicely warm during the day. I am apparently doing an amazing and death-defying trick when I wear my Star Wars dress without a cardigan!!! I can't work out how to make the self-timer on my new camera work, so I shall have to rely on a real person to take a photo of my Equinox Cardigan for me. I am knitting a scarf. I'm using some Debbie Bliss Rialto Luxury Sock wool. It is a tad splitty, but is knitting up nicely as a scarf. I admit I threw caution to the wind and bought a simple pattern that I should have been able to work out for myself, but I have Puppy Brian Brain (sigh), so I gave myself leave to do it.

I cried off Sewing this last week of school, but I did buy six new Fat Quarters from Esme's for my Star BOM. Mrs Madcage bought me the four fabrics on the left from Central Australia and I just wanted some more. I need about fifteen Fat Quarters in all. The star blocks are all discrete so it doesn't matter that the greens are not all exactly matching. I like them, and that is all that matters.

Gilly and Hedy went to The Vet for Hedy to be vaccinated. Hedy Lamarr was extremely well behaved, and so pleased to see all the people everywhere. She had worn her collar, but we had not tried the lead, so there may have been some extra carrying. Hedy weighs 6.6kg and is just right. She has doubled her weight in the three weeks she has lived with us.

The Vet's garden is an excellent place for a wee and full of smells. Gilly was tired of waiting and ready to go home. She has her annoyed ears on.

Gilly's friend Rafa, and his mum and dad, gave Hedy a lovely toy to welcome her to our house. Hedy loves the toy which has eight rope ends and a squeak.

Lorelai Gilmore is ever patient and kind and teaches Hedy how to play.

And now I am sneezy and snuffly again. The cold isn't bad, but as I can't have any cold and/or flu tablets, it is most annoying. I waft about smelling of Vicks: which is not a delicate perfume!!!

I have felt well enough to read and I have a backlog of books to add to my sidebar. I've also lain sideways on the couch and started watching Star Trek: Enterprise. I barely remember any of it, and didn't ever see the last season, so it is a bit of a bonus all round.

I think I am making progress on answering my comments?? I was quite a way behind and I think I have to click through to the next page back.

All The Labradors are asleep, so I think it is time for a cup of Ginger and Lemon tea while I catch up on the ABC News.

Some People Want To Fill The World With Gilly Love Songs, And What's Wrong With That?

There could not be a better big sister for Hedy, than Gilly. Lorelai Gilmore is interested and kind and endlessly patient with the very annoying puppy who has come to live with us. She is so very happy to have someone to play with, and since Hedy can't jump up on the bed yet, she has an oasis of peace to which she can escape when the puppy is too much.

Last week we went to The Vet, just for a visit, so Hedy's first experience wouldn't be her vaccinations.

She was very reassured by Gilly, who loves going to The Vet. Hedy went out the back with the nurses and did an accidental wee of excitement. Gilly waited with me and had lots of pats and treats from the other nurses. Hedy has a nice new bandanna and didn't mind wearing it at all. It is very strange hearing what an excellent job Hedy Lamarr is doing when she puts on weight. She has gained almost 2kg in almost two weeks, which is exactly the right amount for a puppy.

Hedy only cried a little in the car, and I think it was because she couldn't see out the windows.

Gilly likes to play with Hedy, they love Tug of War.

They also like taking naps together.

Hedy bites Gilly, she pounces on her, she growls and she inspects Gilly's belly, just in case Gilly might be her mother and there could be a drink of milk. She chases Gilly and steals whatever she has and runs away with it. Through all of this, Gilly is never rough,or cross, and never growls. I think she should be a little more assertive, but they should work it out for themselves. I don't think Lorelai Gilmore realised how much she missed Peri, until Hedy Lamarr came along.

Here are Harki and Peri, and Baby Gilly, seven years and three days ago. I think Gilly and Hedy look very much alike!! I keep calling Gilly Harki because she is so pale in colour and Hedy is caramelly like Peri.

When Hedy sleeps, Gilly goes about her Big Dog business and usually sleeps. I take the opportunity to sleep as well, or to sew. I have made bags #74 and 75 for AuntieDutch and MrsDrWho respectively. I also sewed a sturdy Easter fabric basket for MrsDrWho. I found a less than Fat Quarter sized piece of glitter Easter material and used a free Craftsy pattern. It turned out rather well, and will store folded fat Quarters very nicely.

I sewed the best matching buttons I could find onto my Equinox cardi today and washed it and it is still drying, but it is done. I am very happy it fits so perfectly, well it did before it was washed!! The sleeves are kind of 7/8 and I like that. I used exactly three skeins of wool. I have about a metre left over so not exactly exactly, but so close I think it can count. I can't seem to photograph the colour, it is darker than this.

And now it is an hour and a half since their dinner and The Labradors have spent all of it running in and out playing Labrador games. They are very happy. Soon Hedy will need a sleep. Oh she's here now. Hedy knows her name and will come when she is called. She does almost all her wees and poohs outside (5 wees and 3 poohs inside thus far which is very good) and because we are home she is carried out and popped into the nice grassy area and praised highly when something good happens. Gilly is praised as well, and she gets everything first. First at last!!

We have started out new quilts at Sewing. It is the Summer BOM from 2015 at Craftsy. Here are our first blocks.

Oh, Hedy is complaining because something is not going her way: the door is too open, the water is too full or some other tiny thing is awry in her little world. Thank goodness we have the Lovely Lorelai Gilmore to be a good influence.

Here is The Labradors' Easter picture. Happy Easter!!!

It's A Long Long Way From Mayall To December.

Well, there was an outing/commitment splurge last week, and I ended up having a day in bed on Friday. It did the trick too. It is ironic that when the weather cools and I feel the happiest and healthiest, I end up doing too many things and have to rest up. Still, Peri and Lorelai Gilmore are trained to nap and they slept on the end of the bed all day. They are good and faithful animal companions.

The weather has been so wonderful: it was so warm and sunny on Thursday afternoon that Peri had to lie in the shade as she was too hot. Gilly sat next to me, in the Sun, and I read a book. Very civilised. The mornings are cold, frosty and foggy. We don't mind. I rug up and The Labradors revel in the icy grass when it cracks under the paws. How they can bear the chill I don't know, especially when they have to be under their quilts, warm and snuggly, every night.

Peri loves to roll, and she's pretty choosy about where she rolls. I agree with her choices, she's as clean as a whistle.

Gilly? Not so much. She watched Peri roll, and then chose the yuckiest place and rolled in something horrid.

Peri was feeling eminently superior. She was also being dominant, just to put Gilly in her place, when she heard me being cross.

Peri is the bravest and most adventurous of the Dogs That Walk at The Dam. The workmen had left and so she ran up the steps to the Look Out and found a lot of water to play in. Gilly was down the bottom of the steps, missing her.

Last week we made what I like to call The Film Strip block for our 2014 quilts. I cut mine to the pattern's requirement, but it was fiddly and as MrsDrWho and MrsReno were in the midst of report writing, I modified it a little. I think my iPad photos are just a LOT wonky!! It was a nice easy block to sew.

Knitting has continued, though not apace. I am making another of these, but using red so it is an angry Ood. I was blithely knitting away when I realised I had joined in the round after the dark grey rib, and I hadn't made the split in the cream. Bah humbug. So I just continued on, finished the red and cream border and then picked up the row of stitches before the grey and cut the bottom off. I just knitted downwards and cast off after the grey rib. Worked like a charm, thank goodness.

I made some delicious lemon curd. Onyi gave me some lemons and I used this recipe. I only made half the amount, but I paid careful attention to when the curd coated the back of the spoon, and it wasn't terribly thick when that happened. It set beautifully in the fridge, and was creamy and so tasty. I made a three-egg sponge and served it with the lemon curd and cream. I really appreciate the gift of the lemons, they are $1 each and I so love using them in all my cooking, savoury and sweet.

We have nothing planned for tomorrow or Friday, so I think more rest is required. I should organise my iPad so I can leave comments on all blog posts. I am so spoiled to be able to lie on the couch, or in bed, and not have to sit at the computer desk.

I was sad to learn of Rik Mayall's death. I was living in a small mining town with lots of people from other countires and someone's friend sent them videos of The Young Ones recorded from TV in the UK. We saw it before it was screened here. It was not The Goons, or Bless This House or Some Mothers Do 'Ave Em. It was something completely different. I am not sure if this is an apocryphal anecdote or not, but I read that Rik and Ade Edmonson wanted to call their show 'Bottom', 'My Bottom", so that every morning after the show was on TV people would ask each other "Did you see My Bottom on TV last night?". 

PEnnsylvania 6 Not My Number

Well, telephony can be even stranger than you think. This morning my internet stopped working and then the phone rang. It was Pradesh from Telstra telling my my phone line was fixed. I told him it wasn't broken in the first place and wouldn't give my name, address or number. He told I didn't have a silent number, and I assured him I did!! The number he'd rung turned out to be my next to next door neighbour's!! Somehow he had managed to connect their number to my phone and mine to theirs when he was twiddling the wires in the pit.

The next door neighbour in the middle helped us negotiate the situation and about an hour later EVERYONE had their phones and internet back. We laughed. What else can you do??? It made for a nice friendly team-building neighbourhood chat!!

I have been away from The Internet so long people had babies, operations, moved house and who knows what else. Meanwhile I have pretend knitted two scarves with tape. One for my aunt and one for Mrs GardyGardener.

I did this whilst watching all of the first season of Elementary. I was not very supportive of the show as I felt they had copied Sherlock from the UK. So, I just pretended that although the people were called Sherlock and Holmes, they were a different Sherlock and Holmes and that seems to work quite well. As a detective show about a deductionist and his associate, it is pretty fabulous.

This week we are sewing a paper pieced block for out quilts. It is a cute block, and I can easily show the others how to cut simple rectangles to make the chevrons.

Peri found something yucky to chew at the dam. It required quite a lot of concentration and powerful jaw crunches, the only type of crunches that ever happen here.

Gilly has been splashing in the paddle pool and then digging an ever deeper hole in the dry and dusty garden. We have not had rain for a very long time and it is getting droughty. I must sound disappointed when I say 'Oh' at her muddiness, because she looks so sad. I am not cross. We all paddle in the pool and play a watery game to get clean.

Gilly has a new slow you down eating plate. Sharon, The Lovely Librarian, sent me a link to this plate and so I bought it straight away. I call it The Green Mountain Plate. When I dish up the food, I just put one cup aside for Gilly, and pour it all over the GMP. Then she spends many happy minutes licking up all the hidden treats. I love her crinkled up nose, so cute!! Peri is not interested at all, even for something really tasty. It is too much like hard work.

I bought a new cook book for The Labradors. 

I plan on baking one new thing every week, and I shall start with this one. Sounds good enough to eat!!

The Typepad has decided I can't post any more pictures today, so it must be time to finish.

On Thursday I am off to The Hospital to be a Patient Partner for the Doctors-in-training. They ask me lots of questions, and poke and prod me a little. I get a chance to speak to a captive audienced!!!

My ankle is healing up very nicely, and I must remember to do my exercises. I tend to think once something is almost better, I can give up. That is exactly the wrong time to stop.

On Friday we are all of to The Vet so Peri and Gilly can be vaccinated. It is very exciting and we are already all a-quiver!!!

PEnnsylvania 6-500