TIME PASSING

Hi everyone

Another week has whizzed by and although I have been busy I feel as though I have been standing still and have accomplished little.  Age or the time of year when the days are long and you feel you have plenty of time to do lots and actually do little?  Oh well, there is always tomorrow.....

Part 1: Crafty Tales

Up until a few weeks ago, I had been working hard on producing my mini-cards for my Christmas events.  I then stopped, moved onto wedding invitations and Christmas (sorry, a rude word at this time of year) got left behind.  It struck me this week that I am no further forward with my stock and therefore need to get a move on, or my stall will look rather empty.  However, I decided that Christmas might have to wait a little longer and as I had lots of orange ribbon (I bought some narrow ribbon when I bought the wedding stock) and some black material, I thought, hey, how about a Halloween fabric wreath.  So, here it is - it is a work in progress as you can see, but it should be ready in a couple of days time and I will then add it to my Etsy shop:

I think black and bright colours look so good together.  I am looking for a template for a bat as think I will add one to the centre just to finish this wreath off, or I may pin it to the wreath itself as perhaps the centre isn't big enough to do justice to an embellishment.

It has been a week of catching up on everything that was put aside for the invitations.  Not much progress on the Orders of Service as need information from the bride and groom.  However, there is plenty of time to work on them and they are nowhere nearly as complicated as the invitations.  It's time for to visit the other crafters who take part in Handmade Monday - I know you will enjoy the blogs and the work the other HMs have been creating during the past week so don't forget to check them out.

Part 2: Chitter, Chatter

Phew!  It is HOT.  Great weather for lazing around outside reading and doing very little and that's just what we did for most of yesterday and today.  We had a meal with a friend yesterday evening and sat outside until very late. Hedgehogs visit her garden every evening, but only one last night - think the rest of the family probably had a take-away and didn't need to come out for supper, feet up and glued to Hedgehog Street or possible Hedgehog-Enders.

I hope you have been able to read my guest post from Lesley Beeton?  Thank you Lesley, it is a great post and I think it is well summed up by Hannah's comment '....I love to hear stories of how people use their creativity in difficult times as I believe it helps others to find that part of hope that creativity brings'.  A lovely comment, thank you Hannah.  I know Lesley would like feedback on her post, so please do visit.

Did you also visit my mid-week blog post about Trio?  A must-read 'tail'.

This week is an odd combination: good weather and Richard on leave!  Those two happening at the same time have been unheard of this year.  He has two weeks leave and the first week is work (not that he is fully aware of the long list he has to tackle) and the second week is leisure.  However, as most of the work is outside, think the heat might prevent some of it being carried out and it may be a case of reversing the weeks.  However, no matter what the weather is like time off from work is always welcome.

We have an interesting situation that has developed over the last few weeks involving our cat, Jazz, and Shadow, the 3-legged cat who now lives with our neighbour.  Up to the time of Shadow's operation, they were friends. OK, they didn't go to the pub or play football, but they were quite happy to lay on the patio together in the sun fairly close to each other.  Despite being a big cat, Jazz is a softy and he wants to be friends with everyone (two legs or four, he doesn't mind), but he is one of the original 'scaredy-cats'.  His 'hello, I'm Jazz, can we be friends' attitude doesn't always work and often he gets cuff around the ear from cats who don't want to be his best pal.  When this happens, he never retaliates - in fact a few months ago a neighbour walked by with his small dog, Jazz began walking towards him (the 'be my friend' behaviour kicked in) and the dog started barking.  What did Jazz do?  Nothing, just sat there - possibly wondering why this particular 'cat' was on a lead and making sounds that didn't seem to be cat-like.

My apologies, I have wandered off of the plot.  When Shadow walks towards Jazz, he lurches because of his missing left front leg - this seems to frighten Jazz and he cowers and hisses.  They don't fight - thank goodness - but some pretty blood-curdling screams have been heard.  On top of this Daisy (who is clearly reincarnated from the women who watched with glee as heads were chopped off in the French Revolution) rushes out to grab a ringside seat!  This morning, hearing a cat scream, I went into the garden to find Jazz underneath one of our loungers and Shadow standing guard over him!  I managed to move Shadow away, lift up the lounger and rescue Jazz and carry him indoors - that's his street-cred blown to bits!  A difficult situation, and I am hoping that eventually they will get fed-up with the constant 'arguing' and become pals again.

I am off to enjoy some more sunshine - and do some more work on my Halloween.  I hope you enjoy this week and don't forget to come back on Wednesday for my mid-week post and Friday to 'meet' my guest blogger.

Jill