Lucy antics

This was just a few days ago, there was a piece of wood on the piano that we had rescued from the jaws of ''Lucy the destroyer'' and which she had liberated from our log basket.....

Here she is having been carried down with the washing in the laundry basket, because she now scales our new stairs barrier- 55cm high! with ease.

And then there's her penchant for sitting or playing in the bay window..... We keep moving the sofa away from the window and she carries on jumping across wider and wider gaps.....

SEE? I like it on here.

I feel right at home.

Yes, I'm really happy and this is before my coat was ''plucked''.

Am I not supposed to be on here then?

I got up here but I can't get down, it looks so far?

Are you sure I'm not allowed up here?

Goodnight folks, applecakes recipe and some fingerless gloves in crochet to follow soon! Got to get some sleep, my swine flu vaccination is kicking in and I'm feeling exhausted.

Two puppies made: a brother for Bobby

'' Will you lick or sniff that ladybird first or shall I do it?'' '' Do you think we can eat it?''

Here's Bobby's first brother. How come they are so different? Same pattern, same colours, almost the same yarns...Same maker. Brian has wool ears and tail and a crocheted nose, not an embroidered one... His muzzle seems longer, but maybe it's all in the stuffing?

They can both sit and both have a big smile on their muzzle.

Brian is more thoughtful, introspective, a careful planner....

And this is Pippa: post grooming parlour. Such chiseled features, aaaah.A little fuzzy as she wouldn't sit still, this is the best I could do today. She's in the middle of a pseudo pregnancy and wakes us daily at 4 am for some cooperative nest-building. Demands my presence as I was there for her first true whelping. So much for extra sleep in half term!!!

Another lovely day, kids have been baking marshmallow cupcakes.......Just like they did in August! Visitors tomorrow and parties on Saturday, see you again soon maybe Sunday, maybe Monday?

Hopefully will have some more crochet to share!

Have a happy few days.

Puppy amigurumi

On a windy, blowy, blustery day in Oxfordshire, but not in the 100 acre wood, a little puppy was born....Bobby!

As named by Miss E who instantly decided he was made for her...and her alone... Until Miss Y saw him and decided the same. He is however destined to be a Christmas gift in the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes....

He was started on Tuesday this week at the S&B where I completed his 4 legs and part of his body. On Wednesday he gained a completed body, 2 ears and a tail, part of his head soon followed. Today( Sunday) he acquired his muzzle and was assembled and completed.

Ta Dah!!!

He's not my own pattern: he's from the pattern called PUPPY PRAM STRING from the book Weekend Crochet for Babies by Sue Whiting. Available from most libraries or here.

I made him from DK pure wool with bamboo ears and tail and embroidered with DMC soft cotton. His tail and nose are my own slight variations as I wanted him to have a tail that could wag happily.

He is my FIRST attempt at a toy/amigurumi....I fell in love with the picture in the book and so he's been on my ''MUST DO'' list for quite a while now.

Hop, skippety,hop: I'm soo happy!!!Isn't he CUTE?! I can see I'll be making many more!

He may be a little overstuffed? I was concerned as ''as a puppy pramstring'' ( and thus pictured a-dangling) I was not sure he'd be able to stand by himself, but he can!

He's 9 cm high and 11 cm long, Up to his back is only 6.5cm.

3.5mm hook and it's all dc's ( sc's for USA)

I've already started on his litter mates...Black and tan,black and beige, beige and tan....Or maybe some in primary brights?! Yellow,green and blue? Red,blue and orange?! These latter ones would NOT be for the operation Christmas child- might frighten the kids- but my kids and their friends would be OK with it.

I feel a dachshund variation coming on: shorten the legs, lengthen the body( and slim it down a bit), longer tail, squarer longer snout ( or muzzle) and who knows?!

Lucy and the stairs and Blue Peter Appeal

Lucy, my constant and loving companion pup has learned to dash upstairs! And this is AFTER vaulting faultlessly over the 17.25'' ( 44 cm) high stairgate we have erected to prevent this event. Here she is. ''LOOK mum I did it!'' ''Ooooh did you mean for me NOT to do this?'' '' You don't really mind do you?''

Then she does a funny little dance when it's time to come down, because she cannot manage it yet. A bit of panting, barking and going back and forth....

''Are you going to carry me down? But I don't want to go yet!''

Please, pretty please can I stay a bit?

No! I'm NOT coming. See now you can't see me....

WOOF WOOF WOOF Oh the excitement, I can't come by myself. Where are you going?

At this point I sneek downstairs a bit out of sight to see what she'll do.... Ohhhhh, Oh dear, oh dear NO! It's very steep and high isn't it? SSSSo ssscary....
( she inches forward and peers over the top step)

Can't see me now, can you? I'm not coming it's too steep.

I'll just lie here and look straight ahead... I'm not looking down, oh no!

Hello, are you going to carry me now? Please?

This little play is enacted 3-5 times a day at the moment and if I shut her in a downstairs room she tries to break the door down even though Pippa is downstairs quietly napping on one of the sofas...

Soon I shall have a higher stairgate and/or Lucy will grow out of this? It's ever so slightly annoying but at the same time so very cute and adorable.

This weekend I will be busy sewing and cutting to make ''gowns'' for OPERATION SMILE which is this year's BLUE PETER APPEAL.

Miss Y brought home a letter from school and I think it's a terrific idea so we're busy rooting in our attic for t-shirts and fabrics ( I thought I might sew some too).

We're making gowns for children who have a cleft lip or cleft palate and who need a gown to have the operation to rectify this in. The aim is 20,000 gowns to save £60,000 in surgical costs.

More details from the BLUE PETER APPEAL ( I will be trying to link this properly) which launches on 21 October apparently.

If anyone reading this want to join in, here's the diagram showing you how to do it/ what is needed.

You cut up the back and either sew- or cut a small hole and tie- a ribbon on both sides of the opening . Add at least 3 or 4 pairs of ties and you're done!

There'll be an address on the Blue Peter website , the gowns will be used in Guwahati, India.

They do not have to be sterile and will be re-used for future medical projects also.

The link may not work very well yet as the Appeal launches at 4.35 on Wednesday 21 October!!!

Talking of links, my link to Joseph Murphy because of his books does not work, sorry my apologies for that. I'll take a photo of the cover and include that in the next post.

Also next will be CHRISTMAS PUDDING RECIPE!!!!

It's a hot favourite with my family for many years now, nut free and packed full of fruit. Very easy to make, I make it 3-6 months before Christmas to let the flavours mature so it's on the ''to do'' list for this weekend/week!!!

Come back soon?

Cuttlebrook dewy morning- autumnal start to a day

WHOOOOPEEEEEE!!!!!
This day in late September started with THIS in the post and then just got better and better....
Above is FUNFAIR in BA T'AT pure merino wool from the shop in Ilkley I have mentioned before in my Yorkshire holiday posts. I'd ordered some wool by phone and the colours were beautiful, but just not my cup of tea so they were ever so sweet and helpful and let me swap it for THIS!!!!AMAAAAZING! I LOVE IT.

Only problem is: so do both daughters.... Eldest particularly claimed it as hers for fingerless gloves/ arm warmers even though an earlier skein called BUDS OF SPRING is already a scarf she wears ALL the time..... The pattern for which , by the way, is coming your way on 20 November in INSIDE CROCHET magazine!!!!!!!!

I have to calm down. It's all so skippety hoppity exciting!

Ah. Quite a poor harvest of conkers so early on- well about Mid-September.

What's this then?

NO! Lucy you CANNOT eat conkers....She gave it a good try though.

We went for a very early walk: before 9 am. What a blue!!!! I just loved this sky and those silvery and white tones with the soft beige against the blue--oooh I feel a jumper or scarf coming on...

Flowers at this time of year?

Lucy: not on a lead: waiting patiently as asked to do by a ''WAIT and STAY'' .She's watching me take the photos above. Having galloped ahead. Sparkling silver dew: MAGICAL.

Capturing a dewy moment. The day is promising to be quite warm later....

Lucy jumping through all that wet grass: she's soaking wet and very happy.

A glimpse of glories ahead?

Lovely colours!

It will be even more red in a week or so. Still I like the contrast with the green and red together.

Nature knows a thing or two about colour theory!

Home again: sighing contentedly over such a skein of beauty.

Found some late roses in our garden....I wonder if Debbie Bliss has the same rose? I have seen some of her new wool- Autumn 2009 range- and it is EXACTLY this colour pink.

In situ, the kids trampoline in the background.

Oh no! Lucy saw me holding the rose and now she's decided to EAT it.

C'est la vie! It is still a magical day!

See you again soon. I have banana muffins and chocolate fridge cake to share later....