Have a very Merry Christmas!

Love from me Sarah, my partner Robert, the cats - Alfie, Harvey, Ellie, Monty, Poppy and Sadie, the hens - Dotty, Dolly, Sybil, Gracie and Lettuce and last but not least, Guinea pigs, Lola and Hattie.

xxx

This and That

Christmas day will soon be upon us! Wheeeeee! Now I just have a few more presents to wrap I'm looking forward to it. Christmas always gives me a feeling of hope and new beginnings. Plus everything is twinkly and pretty!

We had a bit of stress with the chicknes the last few days. I was watching them tuck into their afternoon treats when I noticed a fairly big bloody patch on Sybil (our white hen). I actually took a sharp audible intake of breath when I saw it. I thought people only did that in films! To cut a long story short, Lettuce had plucked out several of Sybils feathers. Ouchie. I just wanted to scoop her up and bring her into the house. Obviously that wasn't practical, so I set her up her own space inside the shed right next to their coop, to let her heal (chickens can get to like the taste of blood!). The next day I checked on her to find a scene that looked like a massacre. It looked like her area had been burgled and there were spots of blood here and there! She had gone crazy in the night not being able to be with the other girls, trashed the place and injured her comb, which was bleeding. So I cleaned her up and put her back in with the others. I'd hung a cabbage in the run to distract Lettuce and they all loved it! What was the first thing Sybil did, when her legs hit the run floor? She shot off into the nest box and laid an egg. She'd hated her 'sick room' so much she'd refused to lay her egg there.

Beary news! I have actually finished a bear! Just have some beading to add to his collar and he's all done. Will post pictures when I get time and the right lighting.

Festive hugs, Sarah x

First Eggs!

Two of our chooks laid their first egg today!

Above is Dotty's, which strangely has come out dotty! Sybil sadly squished hers. Considering Sybil is a rather scatty hen, I shouldn't have expected any other.

I was rather in awe of Dotty's egg. Also rather proud (?). Hopefully there will be another two tomorrow and Sybil will be a bit more careful!

Hugs, Sarah x

Chilly Chooks

This is a rather belated 'Snow Post'! Those of you in the UK will know that the snow has been and gone! It has been rather icy this week though. Eeek! I think I practically broke all the bones in Robert's hand on our walk into work. Although I wear flat boots, I might as well have had a sheet of glass for soles. If I'd tried running, I'd have gone nowhere and would have just been spinning legs on the spot.

I' d have liked to have seen what the chickens thought to the snow, when their eyes first alighted on it. As I am nowhere near being a morning person, it's usually (ok, it's always) Robert who lets them out into their run.

Do you see the feet marks going around the run? Thats our resident racing pigeon. I think he thinks he's a chicken now. They'll be clucking and he'll be cooing. Bless him. Really must ring the man who lives nearby, as it's most likely one of his.

Anyway, must go. Housework to do (yawn). Plus.........there's a bear in creation!!!

Yes, I heard the thud as you hit the floor........

Hugs, Sarah x

Cluck, cluck

We are now the proud owner of chickens! Five to be exact. All various hybrids. Love them very much. They all have different personalities.

Dolly and Dotty (the brown hens) are Light Sussex and Rhode Island Red crosses. Dotty is very curious about everything and likes to climb on my lap. Dolly likes to come and see what I'm doing when I'm cleaning out their coop.

Sybil (white hen) is a Leghorn cross and will lay white eggs (eventually!). She's very scatty, but incredibly comical! She loves pecking at my clothes and tugging at my jeans and takes the liberty of wiping her beak on me when she feels it needs it.

Gracie (grey hen) is a Maran cross and will lay eggs with a plum blush. She's a big hen with lovely hazel eyes. If a bird flies over she practically spins on the spot with panic! She's usually the first to go to bed.

Lettuce is the last, but not least of the hens. She loves a cuddle! She's the youngest of them all but is the boss! She loves to study my face and nibble my hair. I'm wary of too much curiosity, as last week she pecked out one of my contact lenses!! For a moment I thought she'd damaged my eye and turned my head to look at her and there she sat on my lap with my contact lense sticking out of her beak! Suffice to say, I grabbed it back as quickly as possible. Keeping hens is certainly not uneventful.

Well, fingers crossed for eggs. I sometimes forget they will at some point be laying them. The camera will be out when the first one appears!

Moving on

Firstly, thank you so very much, to all of you that left a comment on my previous post. It's so very much appreciated. My tears are all dried. I have a photo of her on the mantlepiece so I feel she's still with us.

Anyway, he's a photo I took a few weeks ago of a rather lovely mushroom (actually one of many!) that sprung up in the garden. We were able to absolutely identify it and found it was edible. Well.....you know how button mushrooms shrink? Well this deflated. Smelt very mushroomy but had a slippery texture. I think I will pass, if anymore spring up.

My life lately is out to work in the morning, back home, cup of tea and out into the garden preparing for some new arrivals. Watch this space! When this preparation is over I'll be concentrating on making the back bedroom/study more a workspace than dumping ground. I really need to get back to making some bears.

Before I head out to the garden wrapped up warm, I'm going to re-design my blog head banner. I see so much lovely eye candy in blogland, I feel mine needs to 'pop' a bit more.

Toodle pip for now.

Hugs, Sarah x

Farewell my lovely

We woke to an incredibly sad day Sunday. Lily, one of our most precious of cats had died in the night at the age of seventeen.

She was boney and deaf due to old age, but still had the most willing of purrs. You only had to smile at her to set her off.

Outwardly I may seem fine, but I still have that lump of sadness within me. I'm still teary, but keep looking back at what a wonderful cat she was.

Lily had come to us a sickly and feral kitten. A week after we had got her my Dad died suddenly. She helped me through it. My focus went on her. The vet was doubtful she would make it. She was riddled with cat flu and ear mites. I remember studying her nose one day and discovering it was actually pink not black. It was covered in solid dirt.

When she was younger she would cuddle up in bed with you, head on the pillow beside you purring. She would sleep in the bed just like us humans, head and front paws on the pillow with the rest of her down under the covers. She even got to know the word 'bedtime' and would dash upstairs ahead of anyone who was retiring for the night. She also knew the word 'birdies' and would fly to the window to watch the birds devouring what had been put out for them.

I'm biased I know, but she was so very special.

There's a light on her grave the comes on when it gets dark. I like to look out and know she's there sleeping.

Farewell Lily my lovely, I'll always miss you.

Sarah x

Church Farm

A little belated, but some photos of our trip to one of my favourite places to go for a day out, Church Farm in Stow Bardolph, Norfolk. Enjoy!

The urge to snuggle up with them was overwhelming!

All the pigs at Church Farm smile!

"Hey, teach ME the art of escaping!"


Photo trickery! - The donkey on the left is 32

Buff Orpington - He was being followed around by one of his wives, but were hard to photo together

Brahmas - the cockerel was about 3 feet tall!

Trevor the Cockerel - He shared his home with Brian and their ten wives!

I love Church Farm. I could happily live there. One of the barns would do and the food is delish!

Hugs, Sarah x

Pigeon Newsflash!

An update on the pigeon saga. Well, they are all gone, all nine (!) of them. But it's all good news! We thought they all belonged to the man in London, so didn't want to tell him they were here, for fear that he would collect them and 'neck' them. We found a note through the letterbox a long while after, with a name and telephone number (?). Unsure as to who it was we didn't ring it. To cut a long story short, seven of the pigeons belonged to a lovely man five minutes away from us, who had bought them from our houses previous owner. He rang the man in London, who said either 'neck' them or if he wanted them he could transfer them over to him. Well, the man local to us, is a big softy like us and wouldn't dream of necking them, so he's having them! All worked out well in the end. Hoorah!

Hugs, Sarah x

Ebay Forest!

Just a quick post to say, yay, I did get Forest on ebay ok Sunday! Though for some reason the ivy background I downloaded when I designed his layout isn't showing, though it did in the preview. Very frustrating! Grrrrrr.

Anyhoo.......visit his listing by clicking here.

Had a lovely day out today at a rare breeds farm, but I'll save the photos for another day, as it's just about time for my beauty sleep!

Hugs, Sarah x

Pickle Post

Well previously I had a Pigeon Post, so I had to have a Pickle Post didn't I?!

Above on the right, is Pickle, who will be travelling to his new home this week. On the left is Forest, who will hopefully be going on ebay.com this coming Sunday. I hope to get Forest's listing page designed this week. It's been a while since I did a layout or listed on ebay, so hopefully I can get into the swing of things again. If not, it'll be the following Sunday ;) Hopefully.

Our conservatory has turned out to be a great place to photograph bears! Must be all the light. Outside in good fine weather, the light is great, but when it's raining or overcast it's not so great!

It's nice to be posting something beary! I still haven't got organized to start sewing again. I think I will have to get set up in the dining room temporarily until the study is redecorated. It will be so nice to be getting things out of boxes! Joy! Sewing materials and such, right at hand! Sigh.

Anyway, I'd better make a start at the layout for Forest.

Hugs, Sarah x

Pigeon Post

Aha, you left the pigeon loft door open. The joy of human forgetfulness!

Well we now have four (sometimes five) resident racing pigeons. Probably down to the fact that I'm a big softy when it comes to animals and partly to the fact that they've decided that our new home is still their home. Of course, I had to name them didn't I? Above is Specky (left) and Addie. These two have fallen head over heels and adore each other, which means I will have to keep an eye out for eggs so that the four don't turn into many more.

I once looked out and saw eight, sitting in row on the pigeon loft. Thankfully the 'extras' didn't stay. I woke up the following morning wondering if I'd dreamt it.

I must admit, I have grown quite attached. They wait on the house roof in the morning, until they see me heading down the garden, fly above me, land on the patio and if I'm not arriving quick enough, walk to greet me, turn round and walk back to the patio with me. They then have their breakfast, pecking away at the pigeon food in my hands. I'm not daft, I know that I am the object that feeds them, but it's the building of trust that's tugged at my heart strings.

Did I mention the others? There's Amtrak, who was collected by courier and flew back here in a couple of days, Bully (who no longer does) and Pink Ring (Amtraks on/off girlfriend).

Call me a big old softy, you know you want to......................

Hugs, Sarah x

Award!

I got an award from the lovely Babs at Simplycats . How lovely! Its rounded off my day beautifully.

The award is the Arte y Pico and is awarded to people whose blogs inspire others with their creativity and their talents, also for contributing to the blogging world. When you are given this award it is considered a special honor. I'm terribly chuffed!

Thanks Babs!

The rules for passing this honor on:

1) Pick 5 blogs that you would like to award this honor to.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

I've decided to pass this award on to the people whose blogs I visit most regularly.

Contents of a Fried Brain - Sindie is always positive and cheerful, whatever life throws at her. An inspiration.

A White Cat - Babs has already awarded this blog, but I couldn't resist! Beautiful cats and brilliant photos!

Rachael Rabbit - Lovely crafts and cute knitted animals!

Wild Thyme Originals - Gorgeous bears and humourous insights!

Bearing All - More gorgeous bears and fellow British bearmaker!

So there we are!

Thanks again Babs, I'm still chuffed!

Hugs, Sarah x

Racing Pigeons

Be aware when buying a house that belonged to a keen racing pigeons enthusiast, that when the said pigeons are sold on, you might get the odd one or ten come 'home'. This is whats been happening to us. We are now up to nine, though one is a 'repeat' visitor. Two have gone back after being 'shooed' away, four were collected by the new owner, one went to a local pigeon association as it didn't belong to the new owner all the others were sold to, one went by carrier (in an 'approved' box the poor pigeon couldn't even turn around in) and two are now pottering around in the garden as I type.

The repeat visitor has opened my eyes to the harsh reality of pigeon racing. Apparently if the said pigeon can't be broken in, basically his neck will be rung, as, as the new onwer said to Robert, " It'll be of no use to him". He suggested as a deterent, putting them both in carrier bags and shaking them or letting our cats have a go at them. I read someones blog yesterday, who had found a stray racing pigeon and luckily found a 'forever' home with a lovely couple. As she said, sadly some enthusiasts just see them as tools in a sport.

I'm praying that all my striding up the garden and flapping an umbrella at them will do the trick and they'll go home. It's wearing me out, but the thought of the repeat visitor being collected Friday to possibly meet it's death, I don't think I could handle.

Wish me luck with my umbrella flapping..............I think I need it.

Hugs, Sarah x

A Tiring House Move

Sooooooo tired

Weeeeeell I'm back! Miss me? ; )

We moved to our new home on the 23rd May and I'm still rather shattered from it. Plus I started a little part time job in the morning which gets me out of the house and brings a few more pennies in. It's a 20 minute walk there and then 20 back and probably a few miles walking in my job, so eveything aches and my feet are stiff in the morning. My feet actually make snapping and cracking noises first thing in the morning. Did I mention I'm still 'only' 37? I think I shall be like the Bionic Woman when I am a little old lady. New hips, kneecaps etc.

This house caught us by surprise. We were adamant we were going to live in a village and we've ended up on the edge of the town we originally lived in. BUT, if we walk 100 yards up the road we are in a village. The clincher for us was the tree lined avenue and the 203 feet by 35 feet garden we have! Plus all the houses original 1928 features. We have a lime tree outside our house at the front and if I opened our bedroom window I could hold it's leaves! We have two mountain ash trees in the garden, a silver birch, a cherry and a laburnum. The silver birch is taller than the house and the others aren't far off. I adore them all, despite the leaves we will have in the autumn!

We have squirrels too, that visit regularly. Sometimes three at a time, in a group, foraging for the peanuts they're hidden in our lawn!

The cats settled in pretty quickly. Hopefully when we have the rest of Mum's cats (3) they will too. Although there will be the introductions to ours to deal with too! We will certainly have to re-do the conservatory in the future, with 7 cats there'd be no room for 'people' furniture!

I'm itching to get bearmaking again on full throttle. It's a case of finding everything first!

Toodle pip for now! It's nice to be back.

Hello Hattie

I liberated little 10 week old Hattie from cramped and stark conditions in a pet shop over a week ago now. She is the new friend to Lottie after the sad loss of our Tilly (see previous post). Lottie is quite taken with her. I put her back in the hutch with her after trying to get her used to being handled and Lottie dashed up to her and started gently nibbling her ear.


I was watching Hattie having the time of her life, dashing in and out of the tubes and arches in their run at high speed (with a little jump in the air for good measure!) yesterday evening and felt my heart sink thinking of the guinea pigs I left behind in the pet shop. I hope they all (about 6) find a good home soon.


Fran is off to the USA! Hello Lori, if you are reading this!


We complete on our 'new' house on the 23rd of this month! After nearly 7 months renting the Vicarage it is time to start packing. Where did the 7 months go?

I Miss You

Sadly, Tilly, the guinea pig I mentioned in my previous post, died on Sunday. She wouldn't eat earlier, so I kind of expected it, but it still knocks you sideways.

Lotty we still have, but she's all we have. Although she seems happy, it breaks my heart to see her all alone in the big cage we'd only bought a few months ago. Plus, we have two big runs we made not long ago. I've been looking online at guinea pig and animal rescues, but some are too far away and they all mostly seem to be boys. We've had boy piggies before and loved them, but it would mean waiting until he was 'seen to' to put him in with Lotty. I'd prefer to get an older rescue guinea (or two) as we were planning, after 15 years of having guineas to no longer have any, but with Tilly leaving us sooner than expected (she was 3 1/2) it's left me scratching my head.

If anyone knows of anyone in the Cambridgeshire or Norfolk area that has an older piggy (or two) needing a home, drop me an email or include it in your comment.

Lotty is in the video with Tilly when she was just a few weeks old. Turn up your speakers to hear Tilly 'chatting' away.

I miss you Tilly.

xxx

New Bear!

I have at last got around to finishing this little chap! What with house buying and trying to empty Mum's house, it's been hard trying to concentrate of late. Plus, two, slightly three, of the cats have colds. Alfie is picking up after feeling very sorry for himself. Lily is as cheerful as ever, but not fending hers off so well with her being 15. Harvey has been quiet today, but so far no sneezes. It's not nice being sneezed on by cats. They don't have our good manners to cover their noses. Also, one of our two guinea pigs is off colour. Piggies go downhill so quickly. Something else to add to the worry pile!

Anyway, hope you like the new little man. He's yet to be named!

Have a good weekend when it arrives. We are off to a friend's 94th birthday meal Sunday! Yum!

x

Pickle and Nose Warming

Pickle (previous post photo on right), is now on ebay.com, say 'Hi' to him here . Ebay can be a hard nut to crack, so wish me luck!

The above photo is of Harvey and Alfie showing nose warming techniques. Cats lose a lot of their heat through their nose, like we do our heads I suppose. Here they are showing a couple of the many ways of insulation!

Buddies

It never ceases to amaze me how I can have bears sat waiting for homes and never think to photograph them together. A lightbulb came on in my head yesterday and I toddled outside to take the above photo. Is it just me, or does Pickle (right) look a bit apprehensive of the camera?

Things are going smoothly with our purchase of our next home. I've not been able to buy anything 'housey' for about two years, what with the sale of our last home and renting where we are now. I've been excitedly looking at sofas, kitchens etc and worn myself out so much, that I can't think anymore! I won't say anymore in case I jinx things!

I'm now off to do some display labels for one of the local museums. Exciting? (not).

x

New Website!

Ta da!

I have this evening uploaded my new website - or new website design I should say.

Sarah's Bruins

What do you think? I feel its so much better than the dark brown I had and much softer visually. Although I liked the dark brown, I didn't feel it fitted in well with my bears. There's so many styles of website I like and so many colours, etc, that I'll always feel, should I have done it this way and that. But I'm happy with it and I can always change certain pages as the mood takes me. My two new bears are on there, Pickle and Forest. I love the way these boys turned out! So very different in character, yet the same design.

Thinks are looking up on the house hunting front. We've viewed one twice and may be putting in an offer! It's scary but exciting. I'd forgotten how nerve wrecking it can be!

Have a lovely weekend everyone! Lets hope the sun keeps shinning!

x

Website Weary

I'm having some rather long days (ok they 'feel' long) redesigning my site. I'm keen to move on and start ordering some mohair and sewing again. I always have to get one thing out of the way and be happy with it before moving on. I'm not one for juggling lots of tasks, though of course life can have other ideas!

I shall plough ahead, then I can drool over the lovely sample pack sent to me from BearBasics. It's beautifully put together and even arrived in its own ring binder! I'm keen to order some longer pile mohairs, as it's great to see how a bear thats been created from a short pile looks with a longer pile.

No beary photo to post so I'll show you the view from our living room, when it snowed for Easter!

Alfie Ear Update

Just for you Babs!

Alf's ear is now as good as it is going to get. We now affectionately call him 'Curly', due to the new shape of his ear!

In the consulting room on his last check up at the vets, he had a go at getting on everyones shoulders. He had a sit on Robert's and mine, but the lady vet politely declined due to the fact she wasn't as padded up as Robert and me!

We popped into my Mum's house on the way back to feed her cats and thought we would have a go at introducing Alfie to them. They were all incredibly good. Alfie would hiss now and again if one got too close, but I was quite taken aback at how well it went. Hopefully when we have Mum's four cats live with our three, it will go relatively smoothly!

New Website on Way!

I've not blogged too much lately as I'm in the process of re-designing my website. Just a few more pages to do, then I can upload it. I'm so indecisive, it's a good job I do my own!

I will return to blog again another day. x

What else?

As well as being a teddy bear artist, I also paint murals for our local museum.

This one is of a woad mill. I love the blue against the white wall, reminds me of delft tiles. When the exhibition is over it will be painted out in white emulsion :0( At least I have photos to look back at!

Custard and Alfie news

Custard is on his way to the USA. I worry so much about them travelling all that way! The relief when I know they've got there! Daft isn't it?

I'm still working on a bear that I've made from crushed vintage velvet in green. My Robert said it reminds him of a smoking jacket. I see his point. He's all done apart from having his ears sewn on, so at the moment he sits there listening to silence. He's a long time in creation as I've been sourcing the right materials for a garland around his neck. He's forest inspired, so I've got ivy leaves and I'm waiting for some great acorns to be delivered which I have just purchased from ebay. Rather than sit and twiddle my fingers I'll make a start on another bear.

Alfie news!

Alfie had his second check up on his ear at the vets yesterday evening. The drain wasn't really working well enough, so it was took out (this is where I let Robert hold him and I stood behind him until it was done!). We now have to keep the two holes open with bathing, so it continues to drain. Anyone feeling lightheaded yet? I shall have to give it a go on my own as its a long while until Robert gets home each day. I don't mind the bathing bit, its the holding him at the same time! Anyway, I'm off to give it a go. Wish me luck.

Ear, ear

Our Alfie goes into the vets tomorrow to have his Aural Haematoma deflated. In laymans terms he is going to have a large blood clot drained (icky). Pardon me if you are eating. Apparently, a blood vessel ruptures. Pardon me again if you are eating.

He's thoroughly fed up now. His ear is heavy and is sticking out at a right angle, rather than upright. It kind of looks like I've been using a bicycle pump on it. In the first photo, he just looks perplexed, but his left ear, as you look at it, should look like the one on the right. It's much lower down now than the photo shows. He even hates me breathing near it. I shall do a lot of staring out of windows tomorrow (Friday), waiting for his return when his daddy (oops, sorry, Robert) brings him home.

Lots of extra love and treats I see on the cards..............

As yet un-named

Unbelieveably, though my head is like mush, I've managed to create this little chap 'As yet un-named'. Does the mood of the artist reflect in their bears? He has turned out to be such a sad little man. You just want to hug him all up and tell him it'll all be ok!

I'm slightly re-designing his pattern for the next bear, which is going to be created from the most wonderfully soft, 'don't want to put it down' plush. The pile goes this way and that, which will need some careful planning as to where I place the head pattern.

Mum news!

My Mum goes into her residential home today (gulp). There's just so much to sort out, its almost hard to breathe at times. Hopefully her stay there will only be temporary, as my sister is getting a quote for a garge conversion with a view to having her live with her. I so admire her and my brother-in-law for that. I would of course miss Mum very much, but would feel she is in safe hands and around family. Is my Mum going to turn into a 'Yorkshire lass' at 79? Hmmmm, we'll see.

Right.......I'm now off to try and focus on the next bear and stroke the lovely plush. Sigh.

Healing Nature

I think it was Monty Don (the gardener) who said nature was a great healer, or something to that effect.

I got this wonderful sight last week. Viewable as I sat on our sofa and looked out of the patio doors. This is one of the joys of being in the country. A few days ago too, the moon seemed to be in front of us most of the way to the hospital to visit Mum. It lit the road ahead of us and was truly beautiful.

Sad News and Decisions

I feel like I'm thinking through fog and walking through mud these last few days. My 79 year old Mum went into hospital almost a week ago, as her mobility had suddenly got worse and she had several visits from the paramedics, as she was slipping off her chair.

We got the news a few days ago that she had had another stroke (she had a mild one 8 years ago). It's made her weak on her left hand side and slightly lopsided, though her speech and mind are fine. She was completely 'with it' when me and my partner Robert saw her last evening, so different from the evening before when she was rather confused.

The hospital are saying she really needs to be in a residential home as does her doctor. She had a couple of weeks stay in our local hospital for physio and rehab a few months ago and they were saying the same, but when she came home she was getting on fine with carers four times a day, who she is fond of.

Mum loves her home and doesn't want to go into a care home, so it's very hard knowing what to do. My dread is that she goes into a care home and improves so much that she needn't have gone into a care home at all.

At the moment I envy Sleeping Beauty. To sleep time away and wake to find everything well again.

There's still house hunting on the go too. Our renting period for the vicarage ends at the end of April and we still haven't found anything to buy. If we end up with Mum's four cats as well as our three, its going to have to be something special!

I'm sure I'll look back on this blog entry in time and wonder what I was fretting about. I really HOPE I do!

To end on a positive note - Nanuk sold and is hopefully now in London, bless his little heart.

Nanuk on ebay

Here as promised is Nanuk's ebay.com link

Click here

Pop by and say 'Hi' to him!

New mini for 2008

This is Nanuk. A mini polar bear for 2008.

I went all out and made him his very own beaded necklace, which I enjoyed making. Hats off to all those jewellery makers! It's incredibly fiddly with small beads!

Nanuk will be appearing soonish on ebay.com. Watch this space!

Goodbye 2007 - welcome 2008

'Let some of the tranquility of the cat curl into me.'

~ David Rowbotham, 'The Creature in the Chair'