Tag Archives: North Norfolk coast

Crochet, Cats and Crochet Mice….

Welcome back to Planet Penny and another Handmade Monday post.  It’s also a catch up post, because last week I didn’t feel able to bring you up to date with the ‘Clovis the Cat Saga’ because I was dreading the outcome.  But I’m back now, with more crochet, more mice, and even more cats!

If you’ve not visited before, Clovis is my ‘foster’ cat, living with my mum and who suffered a nasty accident 10 days ago, you can find out more in this post.  Last weekend he was safely ensconced in his crate, and I thought I had the after-care sussed.  That was before the Break Out, when he hefted his 8 kilos plus frame out of the crate just as I was juggling with a used earth tray (YUK!) and got out outside!!

To cut a very long story and traumatic story short, he got out, panicked, ran under the neighbour’s car, got up inside the car while we searched elsewhere.  Reappeared several hours later when the neighbour started the car and belted down the garden on three legs and vanished into the undergrowth.  Hours of fruitless searching and calling later I gave up for the night, hoping he would creep in via the catflap under cover of darkness.  The next morning my mum went to look for him inside…no sign… By now it was raining, and I went back to search, dressed in waterproofs and wellies…convinced that he had displaced the pins, caused an infection, had soggy bandages,  was lying somewhere in pain and unable to move and it was all my fault

The neighbour came out and suggested starting his car again, just to make sure he hadn’t gone back underneath, and, just on the off chance before he did, I went back inside  just to check Clovis wasn’t inside.  And there he was, on the bed in the spare room!!!  I couldn’t get near enough to check him over, so I shut him in with food, water and a tray and left him alone over night to recover his nerves, as the following day I had to catch him again and take him to the vet.

Against all the odds he was absolutely fine, I meanwhile have aged 10 years….

Tabby cat on a patchwork quilt with a purple bandage

Tomorrow of course, I have to catch him again for the next vet visit, please wish me luck!

However, I have still fitted in some creativity, the first being a little ‘Granny’ project with the Planet Penny Cotton.  It’s fun making all the little bits and bobs with the rainbow colours, but I wanted to make something pretty for the home…

Crochet 'Granny' squares on Provencal Print

This small remnant of beautiful vintage Provençal Print was crying out to be a cushion back…

Provençal Print cushion back

…and I was pretty pleased with the front too!

Planet Penny Cotton Cushion detail with button

Planet Penny Cotton Cushion detail with orange button

Planet Penny Cotton Cushion on polka dots

Planet Penny Cotton Cushion on school chair

I can’t get away from pussy cats though, while my back was turned Henry decided to give it a quality control check!

Tabby Cat on Crochet cushion

…it passed!

And the crochet mice?

Well, after my last post about using different yarns and hooks to change the size of the mice on the Mouse Patterns, I had lots of comments via the Planet Penny Facebook Page about the cuteness of the teeny tiny mice made from Coton Perlé using the Planet Penny Mini Mice pattern.  I’ve raided my embroidery basket to make some pretty little crochet mouse hair slides…

crochet mice hair ornaments

a handful of crochet mice hair ornaments

crochet mice hair ornaments

blue/green crochet mice hair slides

and have now bought a mini rainbow selection to have a play with using this much finer crochet hook…

Very happy colours!

a rainbow of embroidery threads

I hope you’ve had a slightly less exciting time where ever you have been over the last week.  I know I’ve given the impression with my photos lately that Norfolk has been having the summer no one else has had, but we’ve had our share of wet days too.  It’s St Swithin’s Day today, and this is supposed to happen…

‘St. Swithin’s day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St. Swithin’s day if thou be fair
For forty days ’twill rain nae mair.’

So far around here it’s been dry, so fingers crossed!

I’ll leave you with the usual link to Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour where you can find lots of lovely blogs to visit…

See you soon …x

Reasons to be Cheerful about January!

It’s a good thing I take my camera with me where ever I go so I can catch those fleeting moments of loveliness which are standard for British weather in any month of the year.  Today has been gloomy, damp and grim.  Tim has just come home with Higgins with a thick layer of mud on his underside.  That’s the problem with a 4″ inside leg measurement!

However on Monday the day dawned like this…

and ended like this…

…and in the middle was a chilly walk on the beach!

Which was very enjoyable!

I had a really good time at the OutHouse Studio in Aylsham yesterday, teaching a beginners needlefelt course.  I didn’t realise it was the very first course to be run, which made me feel rather honoured.  It was a small group but everyone had lots of fun,(including me) and were very happy to go home with a Cupcake pincushion.  The OutHouse now has a website which you can find here and if you are in Norfolk do keep an eye out for all the other crafts which will be featured over time.  Next month the course is  needlefelt animals, which I promise to show you soon.

And there are Wedding plans!  My younger son is getting married in May and my future daughter in law and I are plotting  flowery country loveliness galore.  Obviously all under wraps for the moment, but if you have any suggestions of  blogs or websites of the crafty country wedding kind, we’d love some tips!

And finally I’d like to share this, the best Facebook status I’ve seen…

“listening to music while sorting out paperwork makes the job worthwhile!!”

I’m sure you’re wondering why, most of us listen to music on a daily basis.   But this was written by my niece, who recently had her cochlear implant switched on…How fantastic is that!

So what are you reasons to be cheerful this week?  Do join in, via the Linky below or in the comments column and spread a little happiness, all over the world!

See you soon xxx

Reasons to be Cheerful – Week 10

Hello, and a very happy 2012 to you!  Have you taken down the decorations yet, or are you waiting till Twelfth Night?  I must admit to taking mine down after New Year’s Day.  The tree was in the window, right in front of  Higgins’ look out point and I got fed up with things being swept off by a waggy tail and then secreted behind the sofa to be dismantled.  (I got my own back when he stole a cracker, put a paw on one end and then delicately tried to remove the interesting long thin piece of card poking out of the middle… BANG!!! Gosh, I didn’t know he could jump quite that high!)

I find the first week of the New Year a bit strange…I end up a bit like Higgins trying to settle in a newly washed bed, I seem to spend a lot of time shuffling and scrabbling trying to make it all the right shape.

We definitely need a bit of cheerfulness with this awful weather, I hope you haven’t been swept away in this wind, or suffered power cuts or cancelled travel arrangements.  I  feel for Tim, who is stuck in the middle of the North Sea at the moment, I’m just glad that he’s on something with it’s legs firmly planted on the bottom of the sea…

Higgins has been to the sea, he went with his Boy…

He really loved having his Boy to stay over Christmas and probably the Christmas tree incidents were down to the fact that the Boy went home and left him feeling very bored.

I removed all the holly, which had more berries this year than I had ever seen before and hung it with the mistletoe in the cherry trees so the birds could polish off the berries…


Something which made me very happy was a crafty Christmas pressie from my friend Kit, who knows how much I like stationery…

But the best bit was the bit Kit painted herself…

How on earth am I actually going to use those labels…and part with them?

I’ve been shopping on Ebay…

…and talking of buttons, how about this for a Christmas present?

 I’ve got so many possible crafty bits of inspiration all I’ve got to do is actually decide what I’m going to do next!

So what are your Reasons to be Cheerful in this first week of 2012?  Do join in, either through the Linky below, or via the comments, it’s lovely to find out what every one is doing to get through the gloomiest wintery bit.  And if you are in the southern Hemisphere, your sunshiny, Springy bits are most welcome!

See you soon! xxx

Tiptoeing Round the Corner….

…waving a sock.  Hello!   Can I join in?  I know it’s Handmade Monday and I know it’s a bit late and …I only have – a sock.  Just the one.  And yes, actually, it isn’t quite finished…. but I’ve been awfully busy and I really really want to join in…Is it ok? Hmmm?

It has been a busy weekend, so I hope you’ll forgive my lack of productivity!  We headed off to London town in the white van, filled with all Aimee’s worldly goods…

No kitchen sink, but there was a bongo drum and a unicycle….

Her mother’s daughter, apparently…

We had things to deliver to the South Coast too, so more family was visited and I managed a visit to a favourite shop for curtain fabric where the lady of the shop had her own brand of fabulousness …

and a great blog too…Pop along and say hello!

Higgins didn’t want to be a  White Van Dog, so he went to the Norfolk coast for a little break.

Oooh, these sand dunes are a bit steep...

 

...but this wet sand is nice and cool....

...and the sea is even cooler on the tum....

...and it's nice to have a sunny patch to dry off in...

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible

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