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Warrior Woman

Well I’m now a fully paid up member of the Amazonian Women’s Archery Club and I’ve been told that for a while if I row a boat I will go round in circles.

I’m so lucky to be living in the UK and being looked after by the NHS. The level of care and professionalism is incredible, from the wonderful young man who taught me the trick to putting on surgical stockings to the surgeon who came in and drew over my boob with her marker pen, which tickled btw. It’s like one of those Oscar acceptance speeches where there is a long list of thank yous.

All went well. I remember being wheeled into the anaesthetists room just before the op and waffling on about how I liked their pink walls, then holding the face mask myself just above my face saying how different it was from the old dentist masks which smelt of rubber and sweet odours (they must have been so pleased when I fell asleep) then waking up in recovery a couple of hours later being given the best tasting cup of water ever. I did suffer a while from a bit of nausea but that did fade away by bed time later on in the evening and I was also going to the loo by myself by that time too.
I was in a ward with 4 other lovely ladies all in for different things and I have to say the best line of my stay was from one lady who declared she couldn’t go home yet as she was waiting for her big knickers to arrive.

I’m home now with one of those wound drains attached to me which I’m going to use to terrorise my squeamish friend when she comes round later. And speaking of friends – Claire, Jan and Graham, Sheila, Stacey, Susan you are the very best mates a girl could have. I love you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Off to hospital tomorrow morning to have the drain removed which will be a relief as I’m currently dragging it around like chains in a horror movie!

Manchester lass – your candle worked! Bless you xxxx

Slàinte Mhath xxx

February 18, 2015
Bumps in the Road

Surgery this Monday morning! I have to be at the hospital at the ungodly hour of 7.30am. I will probably need the help of 6 alarm clocks.
I was driving yesterday and noticed this…….

I seem to be alert for all things boob shaped at the moment! Anyway my mind was very keen to change the sign to this……………….

Can’t help it, it is my warped sense of humour. I am also very tempted to stick a post it note to my boob before going into theatre. I was thinking something along the lines “Not suitable for rehoming”. That would sort of go along with my animal saving. I am sure it would give the team a good laugh. I wonder if you get scanned for post it notes on the body prior to leaving the ward.

I read the patient info sheet they give you and it says that you normally walk down to theatre. I keep thinking of that scene from the first Hobbit film where Bilbo Baggins bursts out of his front door clutching his contract with the Dwarves and shouting “I’m going on an adventure!” I wonder if I can recreate that with a quick jog down the corridor waving my patient notes. Probably best not, I could end up recovering in the Psychiatric ward.

I do worry for my 14 year old cat Poppy who for all her life has been making it her mission to paddy paw my left boob into submission. Can you teach a 14 year old cat new tits?

Thank you Manchester Lass and Kate for your lovely comments, they were very much appreciated xxx

Slàinte Mhath xxx

February 13, 2015
Yes, I am guilty of blog neglect!

No posts from me since June 2014 – where did the time go? A lot of tea cosy making and stuff, but mostly frittering away my time. I reckon I could clean up on Mastermind with Eastenders as my main subject. For someone that has no tv I do remarkably well on BBC catchup.

All that has changed now as at the beginning of the year I got the news that I have breast cancer (no capitals, this nasty disease doesn’t deserve them). If there is one thing that makes you rethink your life and priorities bc is it. I’m just about to embark on surgery followed by chemo. No, I’m not going to post all the gory details as they unfold. I made the mistake of reading a fellow sufferer’s blog where she had described every single minute of suffering. I cried myself to sleep that night.

The one thing those wonderful MacMillan Nurses (capitals here cos they are great!) do is to warn you to stay off the internet and not to Google the disease as you can scare yourself witless. So I have decided to focus on real life in the flesh people – MacMillan Nurses, ladies I meet in the hospital waiting room and friends that unknown to me have gone through it. I prefer my situation to be one of hope and of appreciation of the great gift of Life. So here is a nice hopeful pic to be going on with until my next post.

Dolphins expressing the sheer joy of living.

Slàinte Mhath xxx

February 8, 2015
Foxy Feed

Some slightly better news than the last post I wrote. Twinkle an adorable Tabby who has spent a long tme at PAWS Animal Sanctuary has finally found a new home. A couple came by this morning and fell in love with her.

She’s going to a home with a huge garden and a lot of love!
Below is a video I shot of a new little Fox cub who has just found his way to my door and the cats’ leftovers! He is so gorgeous, I love watching him trotting around and sizing up this new world of his. If you watch the video, please ignore soundtrack in background, I’m watching re-runs of 24. Jack Bauer and I are up to Season 5 now.

Beautiful Fox Cub in the Garden

Gully the Herring Gull is taking food from me now at very close range – we’re up to about 2 feet away now. Honestly I swear there is a queue of wildlife at my door every afternoon! My neighbours opposite me love watching all the different creatures turning up for their tea.

And this is a skinny little adult fox which I’m trying to fatten up. There is a large dog Fox that comes round as well and if they both turn up at the same time he won’t let the little one feed.

Craftwise I’ve been busy sewing, but I’ve taken time out to crochet this little cutie.

The pattern was free from DenDennis Amigurumist It doesn’t take much yarn and it’s quick to make. The head and body are made as one which is great as there is no fiddling about trying to sew a flopping head on!
A short post this time as I have to get back to Jack!

Slàinte Mhath xxx

June 29, 2014
Hatches & Dispatches

It’s so hard to discipline yourself to sit down at the computer when all you want to do is to get outside and visit gardens, pubs and cafes with outside seating, the beach, quaint villages, animal homes, riverbanks, dig holes or just sit outside enjoying the sun while it’s here.
At least the sun is helping to dispel the blues after some sad news this week. Remember that little family of Robin chicks from my last post?

And their proud mother?

Sadly the nest got predated by a Magpie and the little chicks are no more. Simon King captured on film the Magpie looking at the nest. Thankfully he didn’t publish the actual predation.

So very sad, I had a real lump in my throat when I read the news. Simon did say that he had also witnessed a Crow taking Magpie chicks. It is the circle of life but a cruel one at times. I have a fondness for Magpies as well since I helped rear a nest of abandoned Magpie chicks to where they all fledged. This is one of the little characters sitting on my hand.

The second piece of news also refers to a previous post – little Button the black and white stray cat who got the all clear from Feline infectious peritonitis was finally rehomed to a very loving home, then sadly only after a couple of days in his new home he took a bad turn and had to be put to sleep. His new owners were devastated as so was I, but at least he did finally know what it was like to be in a home if only for a very short time.

To cheer up the mood of this post, I think I’ve been adopted by a Herring Gull. He has cottoned on to where I put out the food for my foxes and has started getting there before them to grab it. This afternoon I had some left over cat food chunks from my cats’ breakfast which I threw to him one at a time outside the front door. He got closer and closer and more trusting too. My cats were out as well but they stay clear of the gulls. I know he has young so I’m pleased the cat food will be recycled and go to a good cause. Sort of evens the balance with the robin predation.

Now I have been busy with other animals too. Let me introduce Suarez (thanks to my friend Michael for the suggestion) the crocodile.

I used the pattern from the book Super, Super Cute Crochet. Amazingly the instructions for the teeth were missing from the pattern and the publisher didn’t post errata for the book. So I improvised. I’m quite pleased with how Suarez has turned out. He’s currently sitting beside Eric and Ernie’s tank sizing them up.
Then in the absence of any British sports wins recently I decided to fly the flag myself and embroider this very British pouch.

It reminds me of one of my favourite Michael Caine films, The Italian Job! You’d have a hard time blowing the b****y doors off this Mini, they’re firmly stitched on. And for the lining I turned up the Britishness of it and used this fabric.

I love it! The designer was inspired when they created this. It makes me smile every time I look at it!
Well that’s enough of smiling for the mo, I’m off to catch up with Keifer Sutherland in the latest episode of 24.

Slàinte Mhath xxx

June 25, 2014
‘Every Little Helps’ or does it?

It seems to me that if you want to get a big company’s attention you need to Tweet them. I got mad the other day in Tesco as they’d hiked up the price of their Sunflower Spread from 75p to £1 in the space of one week. So I tweeted @Tesco and asked them if they were expecting a poor sunflower harvest this year hence the 33% price increase. I’ve previously emailed and snail mailed them about various things with no reply whatsoever. Tweeting seems to work as everyone can see the Tweet and send it on themselves to their group of followers and so on and so on. Having the grand total of 23 followers (@Elle_M_Kennedy) I didn’t think I’d get a reply but I did and this is it – “Hi Linda, our suppliers work hard to secure the best possible prices. I’ll look into this & I’ll be back in touch #ASAP” I am still waiting but at least it was an acknowledgement!

My days recently have been filled with watching the webcams on TV presenter Simon King’s site.
http://www.simonkingwildlife.com/page/live-cams/robin-nest-985

Fox cub on Badger & Fox Feeder Cam – pic by Simon King

Kingfisher on River cam – pic by Simon King

Badger and Fox Feeder Cam – pic by Simon King

Kestrel Nest – Still from Simon King webcam

Little Robin on her nest – Still from Simon King webcam

Baby Robins hatched today – Still from Simon King’s webcam
I’ve watched Blue Tits babies grow up and fledge, Woodpeckers being fed, Wren babies leave the nest, Badger cubs playing – the list is endless and also gives a fascinating insight into the private lives of these beautiful creatures.

I have been doing other things when I’ve managed to tear myself away from the laptop. I made this –

It sort of continues the wildlife theme and I adore Badgers! This is Picasso Badger, he’s on the front of a zippered pouch I made.
This little fellow got made too. As you can see from the pic below he was immediately adopted by my pair of Lovebirds!

And some new labels to go with my Badger makes

An ex Writers’ Club member and friend Pam Weaver gave a talk in our local library this week about the books she has written.

They are set locally and together they form a saga. Pam read chapters from her books and explained how she got the inspiration for them. A real life gruesome murder in Eastbourne, East Sussex 20 years ago gave her an idea for one of her books and the excerpt she read really built up the tension. This is Pam’s website address if you’d like more info. She really is a very talented writer.
http://www.pamweaver.co.uk/index.html

Slàinte Mhath xxx

June 19, 2014
Here, There and Africa

Embroidery Library a brilliant source for machine embroidery designs had a sale of African inspired designs last week, so I thought I’d treat myself to a Zebra, some Meerkats and half an Elephant. I had some thick cream coloured canvas (which is a dream to embroider) and added the designs to a piece of it. I then found a lovely piece of Zebra print cotton (you see, sales are never cheap. When you have an idea you usually have to buy something else to complete it).

A bit of cutting and tutting later and sewing on my brilliant little Elna Sew Fun machine and voila a Safari bag has been born!

As we’ve just had confirmation in the UK that all plastic bags in shops will cost 5p each from next year, this is my answer to shopping without plastic. Not so much a Bag for Life but more a Bag for Wildlife.

Thinking of shops and stuff, how many of you fellow crafters out there with your own little shops are starting to gear up to make your Christmas stock soon? I think there’s something slightly rebellious about working on Christmas designs when the sun is shining down and the waves on the beach are lapping at your feet (Australians, you must be expert at this). I’m about to start on Rudolph Tea Cosy.

I only make one of these each year as there’s so much work involved in making the embellishments. Poor old Rudy, he’ll never get a friend at this rate.

I did my usual Sunday visit to PAWS Animal Sanctuary last Sunday. Dear little Button a black and white stray who was thought to have Feline infectious peritonitis has got the all clear.

(On the right one up from the bottom) picture by PAWS

The vet thinks he has just got an intolerance to certain types of food. A while back he could hardly raise his head from his bed but now he gets out of his bed and does his best to head butt your knees. I hope he gets a good home, he has struggled for so long he deserves one.
Stacey also took in one cat who was dumped by the side of a road in a cat basket and one who was dumped in a box. Both were starving and in an unkempt condition.

Dumped by the side of the road – picture by PAWS

Dumped in a cat basket – picture by PAWS

I am constantly amazed by the fact that most animals no matter how badly treated they are by us are still capable of giving us affection. I was there when the longhaired cat above came in and I spent some time petting it. The dear little thing purred and purred in between frequent trips to his food bowl. Again they both deserve some love in their lives and they’ve both definitely landed on their paws by being in Stacey’s care.

Slàinte Mhath xxx

June 5, 2014
Origins

Do you ever pick up a secondhand book and find an inscription inside and wonder about the first owner of the book? I came across this book the other day

with this inscription inside

It’s dated 1979 which is the year of publication of the book, so it must have been a brand new book bought for Colin for Christmas. Did Colin grow up to be an artist? Who were Denis and Lindsay? Why was Colin’s book in a charity shop? Did he donate it or did someone else donate it. Maybe it has done the rounds and I’m the fourth or fifth owner even! Hopefully Colin did have a happy Christmas and Denis and Lindsay’s gift was put to good use. I love reading things like this and imagining all sorts about the owner and although I love ebooks, you can’t add a piece of history like this to a downloaded book. BTW the book itself is wonderful, the bird sketches are breathtaking. I always envy artists who with a just few strokes of a pen or pencil can create life on paper. Note to self – Keep practicing!

Now remember my new found love for machine applique? I had so much fun with my Flamingo design that I made it into a little zippered pouch.

and added the flamingo fabric as a lining. I might put a couple of embroidered pouches in my shop. There are so many gorgeous/cute/funny/clever embroidery designs available these days that I could spend the rest of my days sewing them or at least until my machine wears out.

I’ve also been making a few of these. Can you guess what it is yet?

No prizes but my recent addictions should give you the answer!

Slàinte Mhath xxx

May 31, 2014
Pen and Ink

This is a picture of three of my favourite things – a bottle of coloured ink, a beautiful fountain pen and a sheet of writing paper.

I also have bottles of orange, fuchsia, lavender and green ink! Alas I don’t have a fountain pen for each ink colour, but it puts me in a happy place when I write with any of these colours. Sad that not many people use fountain pens these days and the only ink colours you seem to be able to buy in the shops are blue or black or even blue/black! I buy my inks from The Writing Desk. I’m like a kid in a sweet shop when I go onto this site. You can even get scented ink – reminds me of handwritten love notes sly exchanged by Jane Austen’s characters. I never buy Fountain pens over the net as I think they are something you have to try in person, a bit like shoes!

While on the subject of ink, here is a rubber stamp I carved at the weekend.

I’m rather pleased with this one as I’ve just started learning how to handcarve stamps. I also have this brilliant book on how to make your own stamps.

The author Geninne D. Zlatkis has also posted a video tutorial on her blog on how she carves stamps. Very talented lady.
More makes –

I’m getting a bit addicted to machine applique now I’ve figured out how to use the files. I downloaded this design from Cherry Stitch Design as a single Flamingo and then using SewArt software I copied it, pasted and flipped the copy and merged it with the original one to make a pair of Flamingos. Hours of fun!

Also over the weekend i had to feed my addiction for crocheted Birdies. This is the newly hatched Patriotic Birdie!!

I’m resting from Birdie crocheting at the moment – well at least until I can think up another colour combination! Most of the crocheting was done while watching the wonderful birdie and animal web cams that the rather wonderful Simon King has put up around his home. Well worth a look. Along with hundreds of others I’ve spent the last few weeks watching a Bluetit family grow up and was almost tearful as the last one left the nest this morning. I hope they have a wonderful life.

Slàinte Mhath xxx

PS Simon King has found a second Blue Tit family for us all to watch over

May 27, 2014
Universe

My interpretation of ‘Universe’ for this week’s Illustration Friday.

Also as well as chucking paint around I’ve been feeding my addiction for crocheting Birdies. This is Lemon Birdie making friends with my Bluebird of ‘Appiness.

I also knitted a toadstool to act as a prop for when I photographed Harry Hedgehog Tea Cosy.

I hired a stylist for the shoot!

This is what happens when you attempt machine applique for the first time without a clue what you’re doing.

And this is what you get when the penny drops!

Slàinte Mhath xxx

May 25, 2014