Sew Grateful

It seems quite a few people had a very disturbed sleep last night. Hedy Lamarr kept us all awake, and even Lorelai Gilmore went into the paddle pool at 3am. Was it a full moon?? I am so very tired, but I was out of bed like a shot this afternoon when the LovelyChemist rang to say there were puppies to be cuddled. 

There are five tiny puppies and I held the little girl called Brownie, she’s on the bottom right with a brown head. They were so calm and quiet and I could have held her all day.

My sewing machine has stopped working and is being looked at, but I hold out little hope. MrsDrWho lent me her spare machine, she is so very kind, but I was almost brought to tears when the Puppies’ owner, MissHansen, gave me her surplus sewing machine. So many kind people in our lives : we are very grateful.

Gilly and Hedy were very concerned and interested, maybe it smelled of puppies?

Ms KN&W gave me some potted mint, and I have managed to keep it alive. I am the kiss of death to plants. I used some mint in my couscous last night, it is so much more minty that mint from the supermarket.

Arnie came to visit again this afternoon, and the front garden was mowed and trimmed while he played with Gilly and Hedy.

The Fogs Of War

We have been very busy because it is The School Holidays and perhaps that is why I had a migraine last night. I have to be truly bedridden before we miss a walk and Gilly and Hedy had a lovely walk with Rafa this morning. The mornings are quite foggy, and the fog is so thick you need to use your windscreen wipers.

Hedy Lamarr and Rafa conduct a series of games. There is a lot of facing off, running and then engaging.

Gilly and Hedy love the cooler weather. Gilly is especially happy and wags her tail and even “plays” with Rafa for micro-bursts. Gilly is so good, but she waits until she sees the prize before she asks with her paw. Hedy is already asking non-stop because she believes I have a treat!!

MrsDrWho took me on a short road trip to visit Auntie and Uncle Dutch and Lo, The Young Dutches and Kinder Zoe came for lunch. There are no photos of them, because, privacy, but here are Poppy, Auntie and Uncle’s dog, and new puppy for Zoe: Daisy-Belle. Daisy-Belle slept in MrsDrWho’s arms. She is such a cute puppy. 

I sewed two more tiny Hold It bins by Made by Dana. The yellow for Kinder Zoe and the Bunny outer fabric for The Dutches. 

 

I also made some Honeycomb Malteser Fudge. Auntie Dutch loves honeycomb but I thought it would just dissolve into the fudge, but the chocolate covered Maltesers might just be OK. And they were. It is such an easy recipe: melt together one tin of sweetened condensed milk and 440g of whatever chocolate you like (I chose half milk and half dark) and stir until smooth. I let it cool a little and then made layers of fudge, Maltesers, fudge and then pressed the remaining lollies into the top. I chilled it in the freezer and we were good to go. This fudge needs to be kept in the fridge, and in theory if you use a 20cm (8 inch) tin, you can cut 64 pieces.

I fixed my Star Wars dress, after Hedy’s paw ripped the neck. I unpicked the lining at the waistband and then laid the dress so that the lining matched the lining and the Star Wars the Star Wars, and then sewed a fish eye dart really. The seam is there if you know to look for it, but because the fabric is so busy, I think it works.

I finally knitted Mr HouseOf’s birthday hat. I was seduced by a Caron Cupcake, but the pattern on the label was for a child’s hat, so I worried if there would be enough meterage for an adult hat. I used some lovely black Merino Magic for a double width band, and in the end there was plenty left. I shall use it to make a striped hat. Hedy may have stolen the pom-pom from the bedside table. I am not sure if Mr HouseOf wants it, or not?

When I talk to The Nextdoor Neighbors at the fence, Hedy Lamarr likes to dig the hole she is working on. It is fine, that is the dedicated hole digging area. However, if you are in range, she will shower you with dirt. Poor Lorelai Gilmore was standing there very innocently, when she came within range:

Hedy could not care, and poor Gilly needs to have her head wipes and be cuddled. She is very patient with Hedy.

I feel so much better now the weather is cooler, even though I had a migraine. I am lucky that mine only last two days and I am allowed to tailor my hospital-at-home drugs to suit the pain level. I am even happier that I have worked out how to blog using The TypePad mobile platform. I emailed myself a video from my phone to the iPad, then I saved the video and used the YouTube app to upload it and then copied the URL. I feel very technologically competent.

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day and I plan to bake some kind of ANZAC caramel slice. I never feel very included with all the emphasis on mateship and men. I do remember those who have served in any capacity, at home or abroad, in the Forces or not. I am very cross right now that Brendan Nelson wants to spend Half A Billion Dollars on an underground hall for the War Memorial. If that much money is there to be spent, we should be spending it on people, the people who have been negatively affected by their service. If you’re willing to put your life on the line, I think we should be willing to give you all the money you need to help you transition back to civilian life. Another display won’t help anyone. They could just squoosh everything together a bit more.

I need to get my act together and sew a dress before the month ends. I have six days.......

PS When I preview this post it looks weird, so please excuse any weirdness. I don’t know how to fix it.

Come back to the Five And Dime, BillyBall, BillyBall.

This blog post has been siting in my Drafts since the 2nd of April. Tonight Australian Story on The ABC was about Emma Betts, a young woman who died from melanoma. She had a blog called Dear Melanoma, and sometimes I need something to remind me to practise gratitude. It is not that I am not grateful, but complacency is such an easy thing to slowly slip into. I haven’t used the very long time I have been ill to do anything really worthy, but life has been worth living. We are lying in bed (again) and I decided I would not wait for the right time to post to my blog, I would find some photos and do it now. No one expects The Spanish Inquisition: or decent photos on my blog!

Lorelai Gilmore and I are in bed and Miss Hedy Lamarr is off somewhere creating chaos, or in her Little Box. We are watching Caught Out about the Cricket cheating in the Test against South Africa. One of the people said that we are all sullied by the behaviour of Smith, Warner and Bancroft: that as a nation we have to live with the consequences. I do not feel sullied. Cricket is not what it used to be. It used to be on The ABC and no one wore coloured clothes. I do hope that the men are being well cared for, I am worried about their mental state. 

But I don’t feel represented by men playing cricket, or mateship or ‘if you’re not with us you’re against us’. Sadly, I do feel represented by our inhuman treatment of refugees, by the way we have decreased our foreign aid, eg.

We should be more outraged by the lies and obfuscation of our politicians. That’s my two cents’ worth on that topic.

In good news, I have sewn a new dress: the Beetle Dress. I bought four or five panels of fabric on super special at The Spotlight. Each panel had some tropical leaves, two kinds of lattice and two Christmas beetles. I managed to cut out the pieces to my satisfaction and I love the surprise beetles in the back of the skirt. I tweaked my Upton Dress pattern by moving the shoulder seam forward 2.5cm, moving the side bust darts back 5cm and lowering the under bust darts by a half. Luckily I have short legs and so I was able to eke out the skirt lengthwise. 

I wanted to wear my new dress to WeeJock and Besse’s Dad’s birthday party. WeeJock and Bessie’s Mum was very worried I would be unwell, or unable to walk the steep paths to the venue. In the end I rested and was relatively well and able to go. Jolly good thing I did, because it was a surprise wedding!!! Oh we were all Very Surprised and I had enough tissues to share with my friends when we all cried joyfully. It was such a wonderful evening and two wonderful people shared their special day with us all. Now my dress has been renamed as “My Wedding Dress”, which confuses come people and amuses me no end.

Hedy has had FlippyFloppy Ear and we bought the very expensive new $130 tablets that aren’t steroids for her. She was vaccinated too. Dr Rob says that,when she is not being excited, her heartbeat is nice and slow and she is incredibly fit. Gilly came too, of course, and they are both nice and slim. I always feel happy about that. 

This year I have been unwell, really unwell almost all the time. My immune system is compromised and that is why I am poorly. I have missed out on an Easter Day trip and other outings, I’ve not sewed or knitted very much at all, there has been an awful lot of sleeping and the one thing that is sancrosanct is The Labradors’ Walk. Five times a week we go for a walk, we love going, and I save some, or all, of my energy for that. I hope the cooler Autumn weather brings me some better health.

I have at last finished a pair of socks for my next door neighbour. The Blueberry Choc Shake Socks 2018 are knitted in Opal Fresh and Juicy. Opal sock wool is the work horse of sock wools, and though not the softest, it is comfortable to wear and lasts seemingly forever. 

Someone stole Hedy Lamarr’s red BillyBall when we were at the dam. She has a new blue BillyBall and she loves it. Thank goodness.

However, her love is ephemeral. On Friday we met Sandy’s mum and her grandsons. They had a foam soccer ball. Hedy wanted that ball so badly, that she stole it. Luckily the boys played with the BillyBall: all’s well that ends well. She worked very hard to fit the ball in her mouth.

I sewed two Hold It bins from Made by Dana. I can’t work out how to make clicky links on the iPad tonight, sorry. I am very happy with them, and I plan to sew some more.

I am knitting a cardigan for Kinder Zoe. Her favourite colour is yellow, and I love this buttery colour. I am making Pixie Dust by Lioness Arts. It is a top down raglan with a lovely lace pattern in the increases, repeated across the whole body.

I baked a layered chocolate cake with whipped butterscotch schnapps ganache for MrsDrWho’s morning tea at school. I used my cake levelling tool, so that made me happy. The day was very warm and the ganache would not set, so I had to put the cake in the freezer and it went slightly wonky. I think the women at school used the roses to make it look beautiful.

There, I feel I have achieved something positive. I only skimmed before I posted, so please excuse any errors.

Take This Job and Bucket.

Thank you for all the lovely birthday wishes for Hedy Lamarr. Hedy has been a rascal while we were out. She has been somewhere grubby, I don't know where.

And she has chewed the new buckets. They only cost a dollar each, but these are buckets three and four. One and two went into the bin last week.  The buckets fill up with rain water, and those marks in the aqua bucket are where Hedy likes to pop a front paw in, and try to empty the bucket.

Lorelai Gilmore would never chew a bucket, look at how good she is, and how lovely!!! Autumn is four days old and already the mornings are crisper and the nights are closing in. Gilly runs to greet Rafa and then runs back to tell me she has greeted him. So much running for an older dog.

Oh and back to Hedy's birthday, we assigned comments ordinal numbers as per the post and then employed a random number chooser, and the bag and chocolate treat goes to: Deb!! I know Deb in real life and so this will perhaps give us a much needed excuse to catch up for coffee, tea and cake!!

We had two medical emergencies this week. On Wednesday Gilly was bitten on the leg by a wasp floating in the paddle pool. We rang the vet and they saw us within twenty minutes. Here are The Labradors waiting for Dr Michelle to bring back Gilly's antihistamine injection. Because she takes Imuran to suppress her immune system we have to be very careful of her treatment.

Is Dr Michelle coming back?? Gilly and Hedy think they hear her......

Yes, she's here and she has liver treats!!!

There were quite a few wasps, not a nest, but enough to be a worry. My neighbour helped me to hang some wasp traps. Hang them Very High. But not high enough. Somehow Hedy jumped up and ate the wasp trap contents. It was a hard decision to make: should Gilly run the risk of being bitten again, or should we use a wasp trap? There was less than 1/2 a teaspoon of the wasp powder in the trap. We rang the vet and they rang poison hotlines and thankfully, a dog Hedy's size would not be affected. But they both had to skip dinner, as the vet said not to induce vomiting. The lovely chemist at the corner says she knows of a very stinky, but safe, wasp trap filler, and so I shall be able to use that. I feel terrible, but I truly had no idea Hedy could jump higher than I could reach. I baked the vet a very large Banoffee sheet cake as a thank you, for they didn't charge me at all for their advice.

I know it is difficult to believe, but I am about to sew a dress. The Kimmy Dress was one of this month's Seamwork patterns. I really like it, and I am going to make the hack with a flared skirt, a longer flared skirt. MrsDrWho's mum brought this material back from Singapore. It is less than a metre wide, so I have bought some plain green to be a border at the hem. The fabric itself has borders, and I want to try use them as well. I'll also have to add a dart, as I need an FBA. And I know I am behind the times, but I finally realised The Officeworks is able to print out patterns in PDF in A0. Thanks to Beth who talked me through the email process. No more taping 32 pages together, I am happy to pay $8-50 for two sheets.

Lorelai Gilmore and Hedy Lamarr are very accommodating and stopped half way down the steps so I could take a photo for The Blog. On the right is a tortoise... I want to say bird bath, but it is really a kind of teeny tiny pond that Hedy likes to drink from. The gardener comes tomorrow, so there will be some at long last weeding and trimming. The grape vine is taking over the entrance.

I have three new balls of sock wool, so I am eager to finish the socks I am working on. I just have the foot and then the toe.

I also have a new-to-me phone, an iPhone 4. WeeJock and Bessie's family had a passing down of phones and I was lucky enough to be on the end of the line.

My older phone costs just $9 and really just did texting. My new phone might be eight years old, but it is so exciting to be able to text my mum and not say: "I am knitting rocks today", or "Fear Mum". I can iMessage and I can add photos to The Instagram. I am so very grateful!!

MrsDrWho and I watched the last episode of Star Trek Discovery this afternoon. I loved the entire series. There were parts that shocked us with their unexpectedness, and the plot was riveting. The characters were both familiar and new and I especially liked that it was a darker version, more like DS9 than TNG. The cliffhanger ending has us eagerly awaiting the next season. And the theme music, very good music and the music over the last credits was perfect.

The weather has been cooler and I have been feeling much better, though I see it will be 28*C at the end of the week. Bah humbug.

 

Happy Birthday Two You, Happy Birthday Two You, Happy Birthday Dear Hedy Lamarr, Happy Birthday Two You!!

We are so very late for Hedy Lamarr's birthday blog celebration. Here she is doing what she loves best of all: waiting for me to kick the ball so she can catch it, on our walk.

Her birthday was a little over four weeks ago when we were still in the grip of The Terrible Humid Heat. Rest assured, she had a tasty breakfast and dinner and lots of playing with her friends on her walk. Now she is a big Two Year Old we are not sure whether Hedy will be a terrible Two, or perhaps a little more grown up??

We can't believe Hedy is two. Where did the time go? It seems barely any time at all since she met AuntieDutch or came home in the car to meet Lorelai Gilmore with MrsDrWho. Hedy is very affectionate, but has no boundaries at all. She is full on all the time, but I think this is still the joy of youth. There are times when she is quieter and more gentle. Gilly is a patient sister, but sometimes I have to growl at Hedy when she plays a rough game.

Hedy has a small Billyball at home and at any time you choose, she is probably outside, waiting to play. She brings the ball inside, leaves it there and runs up the stairs outside. She waits and waits and is every hopeful. Sometimes I think we should ignore her, but she is such a lovely girl, and we don't want to miss out on any play time!!

Lorelai Gilmore and Hedy Lamarr love to search out interesting smells at the dam on their walk. Hedy watches Gilly carefully and likes to do what she does.

And Gilly loves to eat the smelly things she finds. Look at that dirty tongue and that happy face!!

It is always a comfort to know that The Labradors have each other when we are not at home. Gilly is always waiting at the gate, sometimes Hedy is inside asleep in her little box. But they both sit and wait for the gate to be opened. Hedy likes to give some big woofs to alert everyone that we are home!!

Not to be outdone, Hedy Lamarr has a bag to give away for her birthday Two. It's another polypop tote bag, #137, made with Gilly and Hedy's Spoonflower material we printed. Please leave a comment and when the week is up, we'll draw a winner and post of a birthday gift to someone.

I am still getting around to sending off a card from Lorelai Gilmore's birthday give-away. Where does the time go? February is almost over too!!

ABC, Not As Easy As 1 2 3.

Oh it has been so lovely and cool. Well perhaps the pendulum of weather swung a bit too far the other way: we had terrible storms, hurricane like winds, 104mm or 4in of rain and more than 20,000 households are/were without power. At our house we had a lot of rain and a small branch fell off a small tree. Lorelai Gilmore and Hedy Lamarr are in their element, which must be water?? Well it isn't fire, wind or earth, so it must be water. Hedy loves to make splashes and waves.

Gilly is looking her best now the weather is not so hot:

And this photo is very typical, Gilly is happily trotting past and Hedy wants to play with the ball. Now!

MrsDrWho's mum gave me some greengages. I love greengages. I just cut them in half and popped out the stone and boiled them with some water and about a tablespoon of caster sugar for ten minutes. I plan to have them with yoghurt, some expensive vanilla ice-cream and maybe top some with a crumble?? When I was little we had a green and a golden gage tree, they are a kind of plum I think. It is the taste of my childhood. I am also lucky to have received a jar of greengage jam....

I have sewed a few bags already this year. I am not sure of numbers. I have a list somewhere, not sure where, but I can ask Judy-May the number of her positive word bag.

I am an easy mark when I see Labrador bags in the supermarkets. This is a Coles Easter bag and $1 of the $2 price goes to The Guide Dogs. I bought three because that is all they had!!

I saw this pattern on The Internet and had to have it. The Spotlight didn't have a copy at our shop or online and I ended up buying it from The Etsy. It is on its way and the weather is cool... Who knows, I might sew?

Now let us speak of The ABC's First Annual Public Meeting.

I booked a ticket and like everyone else assumed that we would be having a "meeting". No, that was not what happened. Most of the people there were on the north side of sixty, if not seventy. There were FOUR chairs and a couch.

Eventually they rounded up a weird assortment of chairs, not enough for everyone and for almost an hour I sat on the floor. Then we were treated to a similar amount of time of the television screen buffering. Buffering and buffering. Older people were watching the meeting stream on their smart phones. It appears my ticket just entitled me to almost watch the live stream. That's it. No discussion as promised. And we were told to both cheer when we were to have a live cross, and also to be deathly quiet. Most people couldn't hear the instructions given by a softly spoken woman on the stairs to people hard of hearing. It was not worth the bother. I shall be writing a letter to Michelle Guthrie offering my organisational skills and expertise. I can organise sitting down. I can organise chairs, and a microphone (it's the ABC for dog's sake), and someone to make sure the streaming feed is working. It did eventually work, but we ended up watching a TV backwards through glass and relying on the closed captions because there was no sound.

We are seriously considering putting Hedy's little box away. She's older now and though she naps in it, it takes up a huge part of the dining room. Well I just looked and not really a huge part. And it's not inconvenient, but one day we will have a new puppy and we don't want two little boxes. We are not sure how she will cope.

There has been much news of kangaroos/wallabies on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. My mum has a wallaby that greets her at her front door after it has chewed all the new leaves from her plants. We see lots of wallabies and pademelons.

We see them almost every day as we drive to and from the dam. If we are walking up the hill with the dogs on their leads the marsupials are quite unafraid. They know they can leap high over the wire fence and be away, even if a dog accidentally gets loose. Which they won't because we don't want them chasing the wild life, or running on the road. And yes, I did stop the car to take a photo. There is little traffic and the rule is not to stop for animals but there is no danger if you slow down and give way to them.

Autumn is coming. The nights are drawing in. The temperatures could still be high, but it is only a fortnight until Autumn officially begins. Yay!! I shall be in my element.

Some Like It Not Hot

We saw Bonnie the Labrador @randomknits had a new toy. I decided Gilly should have a new squeaky toy. Hedy wants it, Gilly has it, and so it begins.......

Oh so many things have happened. The heat is somewhat less, 27*C instead of 37*C, and the nights are often cool enough to sleep. I did have a little crisis. I heard a beeping sound in the middle the night and thought it was coming from the fuse box. I worried all night and I could feel my heart beating fast and my stomach swirling and I could not think properly. I rang The Lifeline people at about 6am because I didn't want to wake up anyone I knew!! The woman on the phone listened, and suggested I ring an electrician and ask their advice. I did. He answered the phone at 7am, and was so kind and understanding. He asked for a photo of the fuse box and I emailed one to him. He said it all looked absolutely fine and there was no sparking or fizzing or other weird things happening. I left a little gift of thanks for him, and for his dog, at his office.

I felt so much better, and that night when I heard the sound I called my next door neighbour and she said it sounded like a cricket. And over the next week we had all sorts of cricket noises because of the hot weather. I was just so hot and so tired and unwell that I could not employ any of my usual coping strategies. This year, if there are no medical or major appliance emergencies, we are going to buy an air-conditioner for the bedroom. Being able to sleep and be cool will be so wonderful!!!

I like to talk about my anxiety and/or depression because when I didn't talk about it, things became very terrible. And I don't want things to be terrible again. I also know to ask for help. That helps!!

Lorelai Gilmore and Hedy Lamarr met a new friend. Sandy's dad and mum are respite carers for Guide Dogs and Guide Dogs in training. This last week they looked after Cobie. He has some Golden Retriever in his mix. Cobie is about the same age as Hedy but he is bigger than everyone and has beautiful longer fur.

From the left you can see Hedy, Gilly, Rafa and Cobie.  Lots of happy waggy tails. All the dogs get on very well and play happily together. Cobie is on his lead because he is worth a lot of money and must be kept safe from falling into gorges or over cliffs.

Lorelai Gilmore is feeling better now the weather is cooler. Hedy is always pushing to the front and demanding attention and pats, but Gilly just stands quietly and waits. I asked the other humans to pat her too, and she was as pleased as punch.

Hedy just wants to play with her Billyball. She is more than a little obsessed.

I love back to school time, I love all the stationery and the accoutrements. I have also had a lot of therapy and I no longer feel sad when my friends go back to teach their new classes. I did some lunch and recess prepping for MrsDrWho to make the transition a little easier. In the shops I saw a lot of coffee cups, keep cups, travel cups and on a pamphlet I saw a tea travel cup, which used tea leaves. I emailed the Sistema company, but they said it was discontinued in Australia. To my surprise and joy, Tash offered to send me the showroom Twist'n'Sip tea cup. I am very grateful and it is so lovely. I put tea leaves in and it brews. I can close the top so it doesn't spill and I can click it open to drink. Now I am likely to take this to the back yard, or maybe to a picnic, not in the car. Thank you Sistema, for your unexpected kindness.

MrsDrWho and I went on a  little road trip to Latrobe to visit Reliquaire on the last Thursday of the holidays. Reliquaire was razed to the ground on Christmas Eve 2015, but they relocated and then rebuilt. It is a shop full of lovely bits and bobs, from a $1 badge to a $5500 giant bear and everything in between. We spent a few hours browsing and found lots of hidden things behind secret doors like these dinosaurs.

We had morning tea first, and later on lunch, and stopped at Ashgrove cheese for cheese supplies. I love cheese. I am glad it is chocolate I cannot eat because I could not live without cheese. I bought Harvarti with jalapenos, Double Gloucester and cheddar with cracked pepper. MrsDrWho bought matching Harvarti with bacon. I had cheese for dinner.

Artists and schools have painted the cows which decorate the Ashgrove grounds.  They amuse me.

I am well enough to have knitted a sock, using Opal Fresh & Juicy in the Sweet Chocolate Dream colour. I used my usual pattern which I cobbled together. One sock down, one to go. I love the colours, and Opal does knit up beautifully, my stitches look so nice. None of the colours are really right. maybe the first one but a little less bright than the second?? I mainly watched Altered Carbon on The Netflix while I knitted. I have also sewed a little.....

I bought two T-shirts from The KMart, one on sale for $5 and one for $10. I plan to make this raglan T-shirt in Autumn, with the Star wars picture and logo cut out and used with some green material.

I saw on The Instagram that people made a Make 9 goal. I think I will join in, but instead of nine patterns, I might choose the nine different materials I want to use to sew dresses. I bought this pattern from The Etsy. It is a trend, and I am at the very end of the trend, so far at the end that I couldn't buy it here. I like the low cut front, but even so, I shall raise it a little. I always feel my cleavage can draw the eye from other parts I would rather were not so prominent!!

It is 21*C now, so it feels about 27*C and we shall lie in bed with the cool breeze blowing and hope to sleep. I have chosen something for my Friday Food, and there's a day up my sleeve so I am very hopeful!!

If you left a comment on Lorelai Gilmore's birthday post, expect an email in the next few days!!!

January, Don't Be Hot, Don't Be Too Hot To Me. You Make Me Sad........

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, unfortunately January has been as hot as hell and is about to get hotter and we have been hiding from the heat as best we can. This year I am keeping track of the days when I am unwell and the days when it is too hot, which makes me unwell:

This is the year so far: I was sick with my throat infection, had a brief respite and then had an enforced long recovery in bed. Now we are having a run of hot days. And more to come. I do feel physically unwell when it is hot, and in Tasmania The Police have said we need to add 5-8*C to the temperature to calculate an equivalent Mainland heat. Coming up is a week of 35-40*C. When I look at this I see why I haven't really done anything this month.

I am reduced to eating instant noodles, with some hot smoked salmon and peas. And I have drunk so much liquid that I slosh when I move.

We have set up a cool retreat on the verandah with piles of old doonas and cushions, but round about now the mosquitoes come out and we have to come inside. We are very grateful that we have had some cool breezes overnight, but it was already hot when we woke up this morning.

When we went for our walk on Tuesday last week the dam area was closed. We saw a giant crane and other big machines on Monday.

When we went back on Friday we could see they had added a shiny and jagged metal edge above the new valve area. It is above where the water gushes out. We don't know what it is for. Yet.

We had to go along to another walking area where we met Rafa and his Dad. Lorelai Gilmore was in her element, she raced ahead with Rafa and smelled all the smells. Hedy was not very confident at all.

Hedy Lamarr looked to Gilly to lead the way.

When we came home Hedy could not seem to get comfortable. She wriggled and was restless and licking her legs. We went to The Vet, all of us as usual, and saw the Lovely Dr Alison. Hedy had tiny red spots and was allergic to something in the new walking area. They love going to The Vet and Dr Alison gives them treats!!! Their tails wag too fast for the camera.

$150 later we came home with a new magic spray instead of nasty tablets. Of course Hedy hates the spray. The first time I sprayed her - one little spray under each arm and two on her belly- she hid under the honeysuckle for an hour and looked accusingly at me the whole time. Now I squirt her when she starts eating breakfast. The spots and the irritation disappeared almost immediately and we didn't go walking there again.

MrsDrWho and I went for afternoon tea last Monday. I had a lemon tart and she had a cronut. I was torn between the tart and a rhubarb and apple cake. MrsDrWho bought me an apple and rhubarb cake to take home, and it was delicious.

And that is all that has happened thus far, but I wanted to take advantage of a brief moment of cool to announce the winner of Lorelai Gilmore's birthday bag:

and it is Judy Edmonds. Congratulations!!! I assigned ordinal numbers in order of comments and then used The Internet to chose the winner randomly:

I will send an email Judy!! Lorelai Gilmore and Hedy Lamarr would love to send a card to the other kind people and dogs who left happy birthday wishes as well, so we will send an email about that too!!

We hope it is appropriately nice weather where ever you are. Please send cold wishes......

Number Nine, Number Nine, Number Nine, Number Nine, Gilly's Nine......

Happy Birthday Lorelai Gilmore, eighteen months ago we weren't sure you'd make it to eight, so nine years old is pretty wonderful!!! She'd had a dip in the paddle pool after her special birthday breakfast. (And nicely obscured Hedy Lamarr with her tail) Their breakfast today was chicken breast, carrot, celery and a little rice.

Here is baby Gilly, she was so cute!!

Do not think that Hedy Lamarr was missing out. She likes to stand on your lap, dripping with paddle pool water, showing you that she really wants to play with her Billyball.

In celebration of Gilly's birthday we are giving away a shopping bag, Labrador-ified. It is bag #134 and the second bag of 2018. Please leave a comment, and then in a week we will draw out a name from a hat. And we promise to send everyone a card with Gilly and Hedy's photo!!

It is a polypop bag in my favourite lime green colour with a strip of the Labrador fabric I "created" last year on The Spoonflower.

I am feeling a little more like myself again. Antibiotics are a wonderful discovery and without them I would be dead. Thank you, scientists, for all your life saving discoveries. I know doctors counsel against the overuse of antibiotics, but because I have a compromised and suppressed immune system, any small health issue can become serious very quickly. I am allowed ALL the drugs!!!

Here's a quick review of last year's craft and cooking. I didn't knit very much at all, basically because I was poorly, had a chewed finger that needed plastic surgery and had my eye operation. I made hats and cowls and small things. And only one pair of socks.

I sewed a lot of shopping bags: thirty. I love sewing these. Someone asked if I would make them for their cool and trendy little shop, but I am not only unreliable health-wise, but I could not bear to have to make bags under pressure. I only make them when I need them, and I enjoy it immensely. I like to try and match the bag fabric to the person and it is fun looking and choosing.

I sewed a variety of other bags too.

I sewed some garments, which I was very pleased with. Two dresses for me and one for MrsDrWho's sister in Supernatural fabric.

I made a table runner, wall hanging and the final of three cat beds:

And finally the "other" category, a baby quilt, a cross stitch and some tiny bunting.

I was not very consistent with Friday Food last year, for obvious reasons. Here's what I did make:

So all in all, in spite of being chronically poorly and having extra medical happenings this year, I was very productive. I like to keep as busy as possible and to be useful. Since I can't be a teacher any more, I have to find ways to make myself productive and useful.

Today I am baking some biscuits for Gilly, going to The Eye Hospital because I have an errant stitch sticking out of my scar, I think if there is a hole big enough for a stitch to poke out then germs can find their way in, and possibly baking a cheese and spinach slab quiche.

And we shall be resting after yesterday's heat. It wasn't 47*C / 117*F, but it was too hot for us.

Still Crazy After All This Year

I saved this post as a draft on New Year's Eve, at  12/31/2017, 8:56:48 PM, but my tiredness and annoying little cough turned into a raging throat infection and temperature, so my draft continued to just sit there: unrealised. I saw the Nurse Practitioner and she prescribed the giant antibiotics and I have been getting better. It no longer feels like a thousand swords when I swallow and I don't have to sleep almost all of the day and night.

 

The time before, during, and after Christmas has been much cooler, and we have used the time to sleep. Just sleep really. Sleep in the cool breezes coming in the window. There’s one right now.

We had a lovely Christmas, even though I didn’t finish everything I wanted to. In true tradition I am now doing one thing every day. Starting yesterday, I baked a batch of the most excellent chocolate biscuits. Today I am puffy painting the General Grievous I appliquéd on a bag for MissSingapore. I may even cut out her kimono jacket ready to sew tomorrow.

I am very grateful to have such wonderful family and friends, who accept the reality that I am always late with most celebratory gifts.

I have not given over blogging to The Instagram. I intend to blog again next year, perhaps more frequently. This year had a huge chunk taken out of it, from August to the end of November, with a chewed finger and then an eye operation. Everything turned out well. Hurray for our medical system.

MrsDrWho gave me some little notebooks she thought would be good for blogging notes. Oh my word they are. I have not written in them yet, but I have a list of things including: errant apostrophes and people in the 12 items or FEWER queue with 24 items, or the ABC radio presenter who said 'arch'-ipelago. They are my Little Books of Not Calm!!!

We always spend New Year’s Eve at home. I always fill in my diary and have a glass of cider and nibbles. This year I have a different kind of diary, not the usual Buffy Diary. My psychologist suggested a Passion Planner, recommended to her by a friend. We will see how it goes. I don’t have to fill in dates and I photocopied the cover of the Buffy Diary so I feel a comforted by its familiarity.

Lorelai Gilmore and Hedy Lamarr are both well. They hated the hot weather before Christmas and have so enjoyed the coolness. This does not mean they have not been in the paddle pool morning noon and night. Especially night.

I managed to sew my Captain Kirk Star Trek dress and wore it in the middle of the night to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi. I did not know three hours had gone past. I sat entranced for the entire film. People complain, but they did not live through the long dark teatime of the soul when there was no science fiction or fantasy on TV. There was no streaming, no way other than buying VHS tapes. But this is not why I liked the film, I liked it because it was an excellent tale, told well.

I need to tweak the toile and shorten the bust darts, add a sway back adjustment, trim the front armhole and maybe fiddle with the forward shoulders?? I love the v-neck at the back and now I need a dress with a v-neck at the front.

I finished the year sewing a lot of shopping bags:

And I am sad I forgot to take a photo of all the slices I made for food gifts. My plan worked very well and I shall do it again in 2018.

Gilly and Hedy had a lovely Christmas and they had a special walk with Rafa and the returning Paris the Guide Dog in Training. Here they are, assembled, walking up the hill together: The Four Dogs of the Christm-apocalypse.

Lorelai Gilmore is very happy, she sometimes looks a bit sad, but she has the hay fever and her eyes are yucky. She very much enjoys a special treat on our walk.

Hedy Lamarr has learned to drop on command. She is recalcitrant. I am working on 'come'. She comes when she likes, if she likes, unless I say "Here you are" in my treat voice. Then she comes. Here she is being very annoyed when the Billy ball won't co-operate.

Here are two happy, wet Labradors in the backyard.

And here endeth the draft.

Tomorrow or the next day I plan to post a review of all my crafting and baking during the year.

Gilly and Hedy wish everyone a very happy and healthy 2018. We hope it is not interesting at all!!!