Lunch At The Art Gallery

I had a work lunch today at Auckland Art Gallery  it is such a beautiful place.  Look at this gorgeous display that's situated at the front of the gallery.

The reflection of the flowers in the running water is so pretty...

This little bird decided to take advantage of the cool water on such a hot day...what a fabulous place to have a bath (typically the bird ducked it's head under the water just as I took the shot)

This huge flower display hangs form the ceiling in the main entrance. It's so pretty and the flowers sway gently in the breeze...

Sadly, I didn't have much time to look around but I will definitely be going back to have a proper look at all the collections of artwork soon.  The building itself is just lovely to look at...

Especially with that gorgeous blue sky as a backdrop.   Not a bad place for a spot of lunch is it?
x

Latest Picture!

Here is my latest picture, 'Purple Fairy' available from my website soon!

Learning to Crochet and New Books

I have always loved the idea of knitting but sadly I have a bit of a funny thing about wool. I can't stand it when wool squeaks together, do you know what I mean?
I remember my lovely old Nan teaching me to knit when I was about 9, everything was going so well until the needles kind of rubbed against the wool (I must of been knitting quite tightly?) and it made this squeaky noise and my teeth went on edge and it made me feel all funny so I threw the needles down and announced I would never knit again.  I had hoped that it was a passing phase but sadly not.
I still can't stand the sound of wool being rubbed together and I would rather put pins in my eyes then hand wash a woolly jumper (ooooooh my teeth are clamping together now just thinking about it!!)
Anyway, recently I have been pondering over the idea of crochet...seeing as it's only one needle, or to be more precise one hook...surely the risk of the sound of squeaky wool would be limited?  Its a risk I was willing to take. 
So, off I skipped to buy some wool and a 'Learn to Crochet ' magazine, which to my delight came with 5 free hooks! (can you believe it!!)
I made a start as soon as I got home but found the instructions very hard to understand from the magazine, so I went straight on to YouTube and low an behold half an hour later I was happily crocheting away!

This was my first attempt (using some old wool I found laying about)

After a short while and being the impatient person that I am, I decided to stop wasting time messing about and decided to dive right in and start to make something worthwhile... a nice cosy blanket (as you do!)

So here are the colours I chose...

And here is my blanket so far...

I thought I would do a thin grey stripe, a thicker green stripe, another thin grey stripe then some white then repeat the pattern (or something along those lines - depending on my mood!)

I'm quite pleased with it so far.  The ends are a bit of a concern though...

This end is ok (as long as I don't keep on making it wider as I go :0)

But goodness me, this end is a bit of a shambles!!! 

Oh well, I guess i have to keep reminding myself that it is my first attempt and it isn't going to be perfect.  It doesn't help when I stumble across blogs such as this one Attic 24 where there is so much gorgeous Crochetness (is that a word??) going on!  I'm very jealous... but like all things I guess practise makes perfect. 

On another note, I've been very naughty and treated myself to 3, yes 3!!!!! new books today.

'Mudbound' by Hilary Jordan, 'The Witch's Trinity' by Erika Mailman and 'Gran's Kitchen Cookbook' from the notebooks of Dulcie May Booker. I don't normally buy cookbooks as I never use them but I had to get this one as the photos of sweet little Dulcie remind me so much of my own Grandma! Especially this photo on the back of the book...

I know, I know,  I'm an advertisers dream!

Right, I'm off  to do a few more rows of my blanket...wish me luck!
x

Latest Commission!

I hope Isla likes it.... x

A Cat Conundrum!

I don't know whether you remember but I have mentioned 'Hunter' our neighbours black cat in previous posts. Hunter and I have had a very checkered past. The fist day we moved into our house, we turned up to find him sitting on our doorstep. Being the animal lover that I am I immediately crouched down and started stroking him which he seemed to be very happy about. After a little while (and after getting a 'stop playing with the cat and help to bring stuff in' look from Tom) I stood up and that's when it happened. Hunter struck. Now, I have been around cats and various other animals all my life and I know the difference between a cat playfully attacking and a real full on viscous attack...this was the latter. I'm talking all claws and teeth sinking into my leg! I screamed, Tom tried not to laugh and Hunter skulked off. It happened so so quickly, you know like when you watch those TV shows 'When animals attack?' well it was just like that (OK, maybe I am being a bit dramatic but as you can imagine, I was pretty traumatised)  Luckily I had a pair of jeans on but Hunter had still managed to pierce my skin with his teeth and leave big scratch marks with his claws so much so that I had to go and get a Tetanus Booster. Nice.

So, after that I tried to avoid Hunter. I've never been scared of any animal but I was definitely wary. Hunter was always hanging around and I'd walk as far away past him him as possible.   After a while I thought that it was ridiculous that I was scared of a cat and decided I should face my fear (get back on the horse and all that) so I made amends with Hunter. Forward a few months later Hunter was now coming into our house, (we did try to stop him, but have you ever tried to stop a cat from running in when you open the door? Its almost impossible) Hunter seemed to love being with us, even though he has a perfectly nice home to us just next door and is very well cared for.  He started jumping up on our laps and I have to admit I did start to give him little scraps of food.. oh alright, I'll admit it I bought a little cat dish and some 'Friskies' especially for when he came to visit.
We've been in our house for 8 months now and all has been fine with Hunter up until a week ago.  I was sitting on our deck having a nice cup of tea and reading a magazine when as usual he came walking along our balcony to say hello. After greeting him I went back to my magazine and that's when it happened again, only this time I didn't even see it coming. I was nowhere near him and the worst part is I was wearing shorts!  Thank god he didn't bite me this time, just sunk all of his claws into me. I was so shocked, this attack literally came out of nowhere... once again I screamed (this time more out of shock) and once again Hunter skulked off.
The puncture wounds were quite deep, and blood was pouring down my leg (honestly, I'm not exaggerating, I even took photos to show Tom when he came home which I did consider adding to this post but nobody wants to see that first thing on a Sunday morning do they?)
So, I decided that Hunter would now be banned from our house. I was so upset that he did it again especially after we had come so far since the last time it happened and although i am writing this with a light heart I am genuinely worried (and a little scared) that he will do it again.  It's been very hard trying to ignore Hunter, he has been sitting outside our back door and turns up every time I pull into our driveway. Last night I found him sitting on the bonnet of my car waiting for me... I did weaken and gave him a little pat but told him quite firmly that he can't come in anymore as he was naughty and thanks to him I am walking around with scabs and bruises on my leg - not an attractive look.
This morning I went outside and found a HUGE dead rat on our doorstep.  Obviously a gift or an apology from Hunter? He has never left us a present before and although finding a dead rat on our doorstep wasn't particularly nice I thought that there was something quite touching about this gesture. So now I am not really sure what to do? Should I continue to ignore Hunter or should I once again forgive him and just hope that he doesn't strike me again?  Now can you see why I am having a bit of a cat conundrum?

Advice please?

Happy Sunday everyone xxx

Tooth Fairy Pillows

Here is my latest little project...

Tooth Fairy Pillows!!  I wanted to make some little extras to take to the market with me and this is what I came up with....

I bought some little iron -on motifs and some little bags and sewed them onto the front fabric, then wrote 'Tooth Fairy' with a fabric pen and gave it a sprinkling of glitter for good measure. Once dry I sewed the back and front fabric together before filling it with stuffing!

I wrote a little note for the Tooth Fairy which the owner of the pillow can sign, then once their tooth falls out it can be placed in the bag along with the note...

These have been very popular...here is one I made for a customer which I personalised...

And here are some others I have made waiting to be stuffed!  Tooth Fairy Pillows will be available to buy from my website within the next few days!

A Good Day at The Market, a Picture Update and Hello Miss Amelia!

I had a great day at the market yesterday, it seems people are ready to start to think about their Christmas presents which is good for me!  It always surprises me, as the people who I think will buy something never do and the ones you least expect are the ones who buy?  - Anyway, I'm going to be busy with the lead up to Christmas so I must be disciplined and not get sidetracked (no outings to Spotlight for me then!)

Here are a few 'unfinished corners' of the commission I am currently working on...

The little bluebirds and their nest of eggs are one of my favourite parts of the picture.  I'm hoping to have this finished by the end of this week.

On another note, do you remember me telling you about 'Little & Lucia' ? well, I couldn't resist anymore and have purchased one of Lucy's hand-made ponies!  I'd like you to meet, Miss Amelia...

Isn't she Fabulous??? 

I think Miss Amelia has had a very nice upbringing, she is extremely stylish and even has vintage style lace running through her hair and all over her back??  As soon as I saw her, I just knew I had to have her, I mean a pony covered in lace for goodness sakes! How could I resist?
Now I just need to find an appropriate spot for her. Somehow I don't think Miss Amelia has been raised in a stable?  I just hope I can find somewhere she will approve of?

Have a nice relaxing Sunday everyone!