Forgetting it was Wednesday....

Yesterday was such a bright day

Very chilly though

......

and this sunset was just so beautiful

The doggy ear cleaning is going well

I think Dextie must be feeling better 

because of it ...this morning

he sat next to me to do it

what a difference a day makes !!!!

My seasons swap is all wrapped 

And I wandered down to the Post Office 

this  afternoon to send it on it's way

And completely forgot

the Post Office and many small shops

close every Wednesday afternoon

here and in the surrounding area.

I have completely lost track of what

day it was!

Will post it tomorrow for sure.

I had a potter in the craft room later

And

 sorted all my Christmas books ,

magazines and patterns ..

I have magazines going back years...

I never throw those out.

I

know I have to start

my Christmas making soon. 

I love nothing better than , feet up ,

hot cup of something ,

and browsing through my little collection

of books and patterns . 

gaining inspiration ,

making a list of things to try to make..

Probably next week 

I will have to start making.

This year now everything is sorted I know I 

don,t need a thing..

jingle bells found...Christmas ribbons

and buttons found

fabric and felt all sorted .

Little Miss has sorted her beads out 

to make her little angels

last week too.

I feel quite excited !

I did cut out a few ornaments 

ready for the Christmas 

decoration swap.

Over the next few evenings they will be sewn...

and I hope to get around to 

some Halloween sewing too.

Little Miss 

says she still wants me to put Halloween 

decorations up

this year 

but doesn't  want a party .

noise is a real issue for her at the moment...

she wants things calm and quiet

and well a party 

would just be too much for her right now.

Maybe too a sign she is 

growing up...

Little Man doesn,t care either way,

no doubt we will have a 

Themed tea and then 

popcorn watching Hocus Pocus...

See you soon

Xxxx

A kerfuffle

When I worked , I always was organised (had to be), my desk was neat, tidy and clean.  Work had a clear desk policy , your desk was supposed to be clear at the end of the day, no one's ever was but at least mine didn,t look like a tip.  Well when I began my project to tidy the annex in my old brain I thought if I called my craft table a "desk" ! I would be methodical again and I would rediscover my old sorted and tidy ways ...WRONG......it seems to be a perpetual work in progress...even my blogging friend Kimberley said she laughed when she saw it on my post last week.......
 Why I make such a mess when I craft still mystifies me, maybe it is the inner me being a rebel..yes that's a good excuse and I'm sticking with it.  I just seem to spread out and make such a mess......
at least I can shut the door on it at the end of the day!
Yesterday I needed a certain fabric to finish off a swap project and the joy of knowing exactly where it was......happy me...not up physically to a hop and skip but did a little mental one!!. The craft room
now has nothing in the way if the radiators , so when the time comes to turn the heating on we can , so DH happy too about that...the end to the chaos is in sight.

Now what a kerfuffle I had this morning !!.I do so love that word ..he he ..this is how my morning started after the children were collected and off to school...  the washing fairy hasn,t turned up for work since the weekend and so I caught up with that......wormed Dextie , he has to have two tablets and kept spitting them out ....another job for mummy...daddy doesn,t want pupster to get upset!!!!
so that means be being the meany again...then ..

What a performance cleaning and administering ear drops to the pupster's ears is ...no muzzle or anything like that...he is putty in my hands bless him , but he saw those bottles, cotton wool and latex gloves and I have never seen him move so quick!!! He hid under the table and no amount of coaxing with offers of treats...showing him his lead could shift him, so picture the scene......there I am
crawling under the table, banging my head, then having got down there , forgetting the cotton wool,
swearing, getting up,getting the cotton wool, getting down under the table again,banging my head For the second time ...and the pupster moving further under the table and DH splitting his sides with laughter!!! I did get a big lick by pupster after my nursing duties for my efforts......but I have nightly
drops to do too and this for another 6 days!!!! I think tonight I may have to corner pupster in the front
porch..no escape there..... I went to wash my hands after and looked in the mirror and looked like I had been dragged through a hedge backwards.......and it wasn,t even 9.30am!!!!

Lovely sewing this afternoon ......just need to do a bit of ironing and wrap it and my season swap will be on it's way.

I have also joined this SAL...I need to get motivated to finish things off......details in my sidebar.

The idea to the SAL is every Friday you dig out one of 

your.  works in progress 

and make some progress with it

and boy do I need too!

The cattle grid already full of leaves...

Dextie after his ear treatment

Looks like it is going to be a long week

for poor old him and me 

Ha ha.

See you soon

Xxx

The postmaster isn,t speaking to me again !!! Ha ha

over the weekend as you know I have been resting my back...and I am still amazed at how wonderful you all have been with such lovely comments.... Thank you xx .  as you know I am a novice blogger, but you ladies , ever since I started have been so kind and I wish I had been braver sooner  .,  I am enjoying blogging so much and this weekend I have sat and read more back posts and snippets on your blogs than ever before, I have  caught up on you lovely ladies, laughed, smiled,  sighed and the sadder posts have brought a lump to my throat.....so I consider this bad back a blessing in disguise.  I feel recharged  and have so enjoyed getting to know you all more by reading you blogs . Up to now I have read your recent posts , I always do when I have a new lady join my blog  and try to remember to follow and add you my blog list too (think I need to do a bit of blog housekeeping though, I fear I am a bit behind!!) sometimes I have just subscribed by e mail or bloglovin ,  but it's been lovely to to have that special thing "time"  to read at leisure.  Xxx

Sunday dinner was not a disappointment!!! This was DH's dinner...not mine promise (wink wink) I don,t like broad beans or boiled potatoes , I like roasties..yum yum. I suggested next time he might
want to go the whole hog (get it pork dinner he he !!) and use a turkey platter instead of a normal plate.......

Well I had loads of post !!!! So pleased it has all been wrapped .

We are so lucky to have a little post office in our village but it had a major glitch with the computer last week...call me old fashioned but I know I could of posted somewhere else..a few miles away , but if we don't "use it" we will loose the Post Office with all cutbacks going on and having a local office for cash back (school dinners, local fish and butcher calling once a week...I know, I am still amazed this still happens!!!, )is so handy for ready cash is important at times.  So although I had a couple of
things to post I waited until today to post.  My little lot will raise the figures a little for our little PO.

Anyway Bob our Postmaster is a fellow Londoner like me!'.... We always have a joke and
laugh..when I go into the shop he shouts "out !!..I refuse to serve riffraff !" At first DH was a little
taken aback by our banter...he always says when I talk to other Londoners (family etc )I speak so fast
that even after 26 years nearly together he struggles to understand me!!!'..I think the same of him when he goes "back  up north"!!!! Anyway finally the computer was repaired and as I told Bob he was a lucky boy to have the joy of my company whilst he sorted my little bag of goodies!!!
Although moving here to our little village was in reflection completely "out of my comfort zone" , I love it.  People are friendly, nosey in a caring sort of way and it reminds me of growing up in South London...all our neighbours then were honorary aunties and uncles, no one had anymore or any less that anyone else .  When I was five I had a nasty nasty deep gash to my leg that needed A&E treatment and we only had two neighbours who had cars..so Dad yelled to my sister" ask Uncle Bert
or Albert if they can run us to the hospital" and one took us and the other picked us up later... ... That
sort of neighbourhood spirit is still in our village and I love that.

So I hope all my post arrives safely , it is going here there and everywhere.  I now have my season
swap to finish.....happy days......and a couple of bits for the paper and string (in my sidebar) swap and then concentrate on my Christmas swaps.

Dexter has been shaking his head all weekend... Trying to put his paw in his ears...so off to the vets this morning...as most animals he barks and shakes and hates it.  I muzzled him as he is a good boy but not knowing what was in his ears , better to be safe then sorry.  Transpires he has loads of wax in his ears and had a scratch from where he has been trying to itch, so ear cleaning and ear drops on the agenda for a week, but vet said no infection as we caught it early. DH has designated me as nurse, another skill to add to m CV..!!!! Will my talents ever cease ..ha ha..know DH 's game he doesn,t want Dextie to hate him because he is going to do a mean thing to him !!!! ..oh and Dextie needs to loose 4 kilos !!! Thought he was heavy last week, we have to reduce his food by a third ..oh dear !!!
Dally's like labs love their dinners...going to be major sulking going on!!! Next weigh in when he has his jabs in early December.. ...

Took these few pics from Newcastle Emlyn  whilst waiting for our boy's appointment...

Love the sound of flowing water

over rocks 

Oh stormy weather..

Have a great week

See you soon

Xxxxx

A bit of feet up and a gentle stroll now and then.

Thank you for all your lovely comments re the old back, it is holding up and I am taking it easy.  During the exercises I always have to do  for my back yesterday morning , I a felt a clunk in my back. I love that sound and feeling, it usually means what wasn,t where it should be has gone back to where it should be!( hope that makes sense) gently does it for a few days and hopefully I'll be able to avoid the chiropractice option.

Yesterday I had a gentle wander and a few sit downs around Cardigan with Little Miss.  It was a beautiful and dare I say a hot and sunny day!

We treated ourselves to breakfast first, then a couple of shops, another sit down here and there, my Little Miss is a great nurse!  "Take it easy mummy" she would say....and I did !

Cardigan was busy but of course the holiday season is coming to a end , so not too busy.
The castle has recently undergone restoration but we haven,t been yet.  A friend went in August and said she was a little disappointed because there still weren,t things finished so to leave it a while, maybe a spring morning outing?

I took some pics there though while we sat near the river

This display really was beautiful and 

Still going strong

The castle wall is in the background

Dextie and his birthday toy

enjoying  the afternoon sun

and the toy is still in one piece

Must be a record !!

I thought this was a  spring flower  ?

The agenda for today is sewing , more  sewing (!!) 

swap wrapping 

and baby present wrapping , oh a few cards 

and a birthday present 

to wrap too.

At least now I can find my washi tapes haha.

DH is cooking a roast pork dinner, 

the runner beans are still being picked ..

oh , my favourite ... 

With

apple crumble

for pudding

Too...

Happy Days....xx

See you soon

Xxxx

Oops ..need to get a move on

I intended to finish the annex yesterday ... I really did have good intentions honest, but my back had other ideas!!!! I did go in there and pottered, sorting my cross stitch bits into nice baskets, my hexagon patchwork obsession, I have quite a selection of sizes now.....all,sorted,in trays of different sizes...
My they look so pretty.....

 And I put all my very favourite fabric in the brown suitcase

Then I found a place for my washi and fabric 

tapes

and something I had wanted to do for ages and ages organise 

my  die cutting machine and dies into themes 

But no lifting 

so the last bit of moving boxes and tubs

will have to wait for another day....

I have a history of slipped discs and sciatica and when my back say "enough" I listen otherwise I will be laid up for weeks !! Lots of gentle stretches and exercise , some anti-inflammatory tablets and I am sure it will be tickety boo.......I am going out , fingers crossed with Little Miss today to choose a present for my new great nephew and a little treat for his sisters and brothers.  I really don,t want to miss our little outing.  On days out like this Little Miss shares her thoughts with me more so than at home.  She seems to be enjoying the new school  but although she is in a special ASD unit , she still uses the canteen etc and tells me it is so loud and noisey when the big kids are about.....noise has always been a problem for her ....I have told her just to take it a day at a time ....easy for me to say..not so easy for her.

So yesterday  I did something at least ...frustrating  because I wanted to do more  .but I did do something!!! I did spend time in the annex, I did a little sewing for a swap......even did some daydreaming .....nice.

My desk looks like this

The rugby thing has started, I am not a fan and had to endure grown men dancing around a rugby ball like a bunch of nellies!! last  night. Hubby says it's on for 6 weeks..oh no it's not I told him!!!  I feel a lot of sewing will be called for !!!!!! Looks like it might be a long 6 weeks otherwise!!!


                                                                      See you soon
                                                                             Xxxx

That Friday feeling

Thank you from me and Dextie for all the lovely comments yesterday.  He had a great birthday, a new toy that he hasn,t destroyed (yet !!!!) a lovely walk and big swim with daddy on the beach and a big chew later .
In between he was my shadow in the craft room and we had a big 38kilo cuddle at bedtime and my lap and ribs held out!!'!


I am so looking forward to the weekend.  Been another busy week, lots done and lots yet to do .
Yesterday went well in the annex , today I really do think it is going to be a very workable space at last.

I got another e mail from Sewandso, this time offering £2 off the price of tickets for the below show

visiting www.theknittingandstitchingshow.com and quote promotional code FWM15 at the checkout....

So if any of you were intending to go to the show and book in advance another £2 off sounds good, it is valid for 

Both venues , London and Harrogate.

I found this stamp 

made me laugh.

I can only dream !!

This is more like it...!!!!

Jo - Throughthekeyhole is hosting 

a 12 days of Christmas swap 

if anyone wants to join in..

it is international.

My repotting last week has

produced these little surprises

I do so love pansies..

Another snap dragon 

I just love this colour 

and these two pretties.

Told you that compost was good.!!!

See you soon

Xxxx

My pupster is 5 today

Happy birthday Dextie xxxx
--------------------------------------

If you look closely you will see Dextie has two spots so close 

They are below his eye

Together they form a love heart

I love that heart

nature made him that way

he is VERY spotty like his mum

Some Dally's in comparison hardly have 

any

Yes I am bias but he is such

A very lovely part of our family.

I cannot believe he is 5 today.!!

Well this is the tale of how we got our boy.

One day when Little Miss was about 4 we 

We're walking in the park and a naughty , cheeky

poodle jumped up and stole her ice cream.

That little act would cause absolute misery for my little 

girl and us for over 3 years.

She refused to go to the park unless she was in a pram,

and when she saw a dog would hide under blankets.

I could be driving along and suddenly she would scream out

in fear if she saw a dog

very dangerous as the outburst would be sudden 

and could distract my attention..

One day I feared I would have a accident

I too found myself always looking for dogs.

Her fear and it was an absolute terror

of dogs had to be addressed

and somehow we had to get her 

used to dogs of all sizes.

So , like everything that the kids don,t like or understand

I had a plan, in a controlled, gentle

way introduce the offending subject.

I had tried visits to an animal rescue place

distressing for her and the dogs..

Not the answer.

Dogs quite rightly so are everywhere.. 

This  problem was not going to go away 

it just could not go on..

thankfully Little Man was fine 

but would he soon develope a fear of his own! 

DH had always wanted a Dalmatian

I always had dogs 

mainly lab/German shepherd crosses and a poodle.

But when we got married we decided not

to get one because we worked long hours

And we're often out of the house

up to 12 hours

and that just would not be fair

on any pooch.

But

with me now at home full time ,

now was the time.

We decided at the weekend to start looking for a  

Dally pup .  My plan was Little Miss would get used to a small dog 

(Pup) and then get used to bigger and bigger dogs as the pup grew

into a large dog.

Luck was on our side ..

I kid

you not , we  found on Monday evening

a litter of 9 had been born that weekend!

We contacted the breeder and they had 3 dogs and 

6 bitches 

DH  wanted a dog not a bitch.

The breeder lived 30 mins away and lived

Near Hever Castle one of my favourite places.!!!

How lucky was that? 

We had expected to have to travel 

To different counties...

We always planned to meet not only 

The mother but father too

I wanted to see the temperament 

Of both

that's why we didn,t get a Heinz 57

We had to be as sure as one can be 

The pup would have a good temperament,

if not our problem 

would only worsen and it was not

Our plan that we would then have to 

give the pup back for re homing.

This was the first picture we were sent .

Dexter's mum "Twiggy" is a liver/white dally

Here she is with the pups only a few days old.

All the pups turned out black/white

they are born white and the spots develope 

during the following weeks

(Dexter is still developing spots !!)

Dexter is at the top left of the above picture

He obviously was always going to be "top dog"!!!

He has a row of slanting spots that start

just above his nose...

Here is our little chap on the day we picked

Him, he was 4 weeks old 

Unlike his two brothers, he was a very

Confident , nosey little boy 

And he seemed to respond well to noise

Unfortunately Dally's 

Are prone to deafness and deaf pups have to 

Be put to sleep

But our boy passed his hearing test  with flying colours.

He has full hearing in both ears, his brothers only 

have  hearing in one ear , but that is fine

But you can,t breed from them without full hearing though.

This handsome chap is dad,

"Gunner" 

We visited his owners too as we wanted to check out

His temperment too.

His owners are part of the Dalmatian Club of GB.

What they don,t know about Dalmatians is not worth knowing. 

When we visited I felt we were being interrogated!!

They were lovely but wanted to know that we knew what we were taking on !

Dalmatians are very strong minded 

dogs, they can become quite a handful

If you let them..

Dexter was no  different .

Thankfully having dogs all my childhood , 

I had the experience to know what he was up to 

and play him at his own game!!

He was a stubborn pup

he tried to be top dog over us 

no chance  pupster !!!

Finally he found where his pecking

order was and it was not top dog! 

but we picked well

he is a very affectionate chap 

 a great house dog 

and so protective of us 

but that is all in his breed.

Dalmatians used to protect stage coaches 

they are faithful and loyal

and "working" dogs

They are full of energy and need 

Lots of exercise.

Dextie  brings us so much companionship,

and love ... and when a 38kilo 

wants  to sit on your lap

for a cuddle 

......

You know about it believe me!!!

Little Lady was part of everything when we decided  

to get our boy, 

the breeder was great 

Sending regular pictures and updates.

Little Miss helped make a blanket 

for the new pup

and yes she was nervous for a day or two

when he arrived ,

but within a week she helped feed him, 

played  in the garden with him.

Then his first walk in the park in the snow 

was amazing. ...she

wasn't in a pram, dogs of all size  everywhere

And 

She was fine, fear gone

problem solved

And 

we had a much loved new addition to 

Our family.

Off now for a birthday walk...

Happy Birthday Dextie xxxxx

See you soon

Xxxx