Tag Archives: miniature dachshund

It’s Spring, It’s Spring!

Wow! Look at the sunshine!

I think Tim brought it back with him. We went off for a walk in Bacton Woods yesterday. We haven’t been since the time Higgins had a play with a very bouncy spaniel, got a sore leg and had to be carried back to the car. He might be little but he’s very solid! But it was lovely, and I’ve spotted clumps of bluebells so we must be sure to go back again at the right time.

The gorse made a lovely splash of yellow…

…and Higgins even met a little friend…

I’ve spent the afternoon in the garden today, I’m glad you can’t see the compost under my fingernails! I’m trying very hard to keep up with the Garden Diaries but I’m afraid I’m a bit of a fair weather gardener. The broad beans are coming on very nicely and I might have a few baby salad leaves to harvest next week, but the carrots and spring onions are taking their time. I hope a bit of warm weather might do the trick.

More and more things are bursting into flower. This really is my favourite time of year. You can feel things growing all around, and I love the fact that the roadsides are filled with daffodils and the hedges with the starry white blackthorn blossom, and every time I go out in the garden something else has popped out.

There’s still the odd garden pest though!

I also love the weeping willow at this time of the year, at the point where the leaves have emerged just enough to turn the branches limey green without hiding its gracefulness.

I’ve been very busy indoors too, and after all the wrapping and packing I’m nearly at the end of this batch of rainbow yarn. I’ve had so much lovely feedback as the pink parcels have arrived at their destinations.

‘My cotton has just arrived ! It is so so gorgeous (even better than I thought!)’

‘The cotton arrived yesterday afternoon. It is WONDERFUL!! Better than any cotton I have ever used. I LOVE it! THANK YOU so much for sharing. I am off to crochet a little mouse… 8-)’

And it’s great (and just a little strange) to see the yarn turning up on other blogs in other countries, in Australia and the USA.

If you haven’t got your pack yet,

find out all about it here,

Please get in touch with any questions

here

I’ve been needlefelting, working on the piece for the Taster Exhibition at the Forum in Norwich for Open Studios but I haven’t anything to show you just yet! What is so frustrating is having a pattern in my head for another crochet idea and NO TIME TO MAKE IT! I’ll try very hard to fit it in before Handmade Monday comes around again, I do hope it works.

So on that note I’d better stop chatting, and skedaddle off to work again, I hope the sun’s been shining where you are…

See you soon…x

Silent Sunday

Higgins and the Bootscraper

Ever since the East Anglian drought situation has been in the news, it has barely stopped raining in this little corner of Norfolk! Poor Higgins couldn’t leave the house on Monday because the floods in both directions were deeper than his little legs could cope with, even if he was prepared to venture out in the rain.

We got out yesterday, but the all pervading gloom really put a damper on things…roll on Spring!

We also fell foul of the dreaded hedge cutter. I know it make things quicker and more efficient to have large machines to cope with things that might have been a full time job for one man, but I hate the way the hedge cutter just rips and slashes the twigs and branches from the hedges and small trees, leaving jagged stumps and debris scattered all over the lanes. Higgins stopped dead in his tracks and held up a paw half way through the walk and had to be upended so I could remove a thorn from his pad. (He was very brave…)

You can see that having this to contend with on a regular basis would make a bootscraper by the back door a useful thing to have. I was very excited when a friend sent me this link a few weeks before Christmas with the perfect Christmas pressie for Tim, who is always a nightmare to buy for.

Source: grahamandgreen.co.uk via Penny on Pinterest

I duly sent off the order feeling quite smug that for once I was ahead of my usual Christmas panic. Unfortunately, I didn’t make any allowances for the Higgins factor, and when it arrived, conveniently while Tim was offshore so I didn’t have to worry about secrecy, I unwrapped it and put it on the floor to admire it….

Oh dear…

Competition? Or maybe a little friend to play with?

It’s probably just as well I don’t have a little film, complete with wuffing and gruffing and growling and yodelling which goes with these photos…

We’ve tried to sneak it out by the back door while Higgins isn’t looking, but as soon as he spots it he starts all over again, so for now it’s on a high shelf in Tim’s workshop…

As I said, Oh dear….

I’ve got lots more to ‘show and tell’ but reliving this means I need a cup of tea, if not a lie down! Do please have a game with Higgins in the side bar, he loves chasing the ball. And it is possible to make him roll over, has anyone managed to do that yet?

I’ll be back with Planet Penny Cotton Club news, see you soon x

Birthdays and Crochet Butterflies

Oh, how wet and miserable it’s been today! Tim has just donned waterproofs and wellies and winkled a very reluctant little dog out from the bottom of his bed to go for a splosh down the road. I have to be on standby with towels and a roaring fire for their return. Meanwhile I have crochet butterflies to make…

Hang on! That didn’t last long…they’re back…Higgins got 100 yards down the road, did what he had to do, then made a determined bid for home and the towel on the utility room floor. It’s so comical the way he goes flat on his tummy and wriggles around to get dry, before I even get down there with him to help…

Then on to the dry towel in front of the fire to finish off…

Steaming nicely now!

I mentioned that March is birthday month in our family, starting with younger son on Friday, and today was my mum’s turn, 83 today! A small family gathering for tea and birthday cake, deliciously chocolatey and made by my sister, whilst the smallest great-grandson entertained my mum in fine style.

So of course there were presents…

…and flowers.

And also crochet butterflies! I found these little lovelies on line and thought they were perfect for the Planet Penny cotton. Because there has been an issue with the link breaking I have written and photographed my own version of this pattern so it’s available to you as a downloadable PDF. Just click this Crochet Butterflies link. They are sooo quick and easy to make…

I also tried knitting with the cotton as someone said it looks as if it’s only suitable for crochet, and I have to report it knits like a dream. I made another little jar cover, as it’s ideally suited for showing off a sample. I think I could have cast on another 2 or 4 stitches as it’s a teeny bit stretched but it still works well and shows off the colours…

So I hope the weather is being a little kinder where you are, but in the meantime make some crochet butterflies and dream of summer!

If you’d like even more butterfly love, how about a Butterfly and flower mobile You can find the pattern here.

See you soon…x

New Crochet Bunting for Handmade Monday

There’s been a lot of weather about this week! Anyway, moments like this when you’re out for a walk make it worthwhile, even when it’s below freezing point. And no apologies for sharing another snowdrop picture, I’m getting a little obsessed by seeing things from a miniature dachshund’s viewpoint!

I’ve been happy and relieved that this week at our monthly Knit and Stitch meeting the little heart pattern was tested out by a relatively new crochet-er, and it worked ! (Bearing in mind I might have been crocheting for a while, but I’m a novice pattern writer!) Not only that, but having cracked the pattern, Carol went on to reinterpret the heart with crochet wire and beads, which is so pretty…

They look huge here, but they’re not much bigger than a 10p piece, delicate crochet jewellery.

My latest rainbow creation from my gorgeous cotton yarn basket is a new version of crochet bunting. I know the white Christmas Bunting is very popular but there’s been a lot of white around just lately, and I needed an antidote!

I’ll be posting the pattern in Tutorials very soon.

Which brings me to the fireplace. And the hearth rug. the scene of many a power struggle amongst the four legged members of the family. On the one side is Henry, who has been here for getting on for 17 years, who isn’t in the best of health, but who know exactly what is due to a senior citizen and is quite prepared to use all his ‘Grumpy Old Man ‘ tactics to make sure he gets his way. And on the other side is Higgins, who is absolutely sure that everything is all about him…

Today my sister arrived with a special present just for Henry, and I rather knew it was going to cause trouble…

A beautiful rag rug, exactly what a old and bony pussy cat needs…

um…hang on…

…that’s better…

But when a little chat about ‘sharing’ fell on deaf ears…

Higgins retired to the sofa…

Hang on, can’t you see him?

It’s a dog’s life…

But enough of all that. It’s Handmade Monday again, and it’s time to visit the lovely Wendy over on 1st Unique Gifts and find out what everyone else has been creating this week.

Next week I’m hoping to share a new idea with you, one you might just want to join in with…

In the meantime, see you soon! xx

A Snowy Handmade Monday

If my Silent Sunday photo was the day before, this was what those clouds were heralding…

(and if you look closely you can see someone has made a little bow wave!)

Funnily enough, after the early morning excitement, Higgins was NOT very enthusiastic about a walk later on in the day…

But he soon got into the swing of things…

…and definitely appreciated the coat in the end!

So there’s been a good excuse to linger indoors and do a bit more crochet. I had a lovely book for Christmas which is full of inspiring things to make…

…and had some fun with these…

and in the spirit of re-using containers, and as excuse to use this fab ribbon…

I gave a tin of Heinz Tomato Soup a whole new lease of life!

I started on a little something for Valentines Day…

…and if you’d like a pattern I’ll be putting one on soon.

I’d also like to share some other little handmade lovelies which although are designed for Easter, are much to pretty to hide away. One of the wonderful things about the blogging/making world is the new friends you make. People you would never otherwise have met. I had lunch with one of these friends last week, a couple of hours of frantic chatter, comparing notes and trying to fit everything in! Gabriella and I both had stalls at the Pick’n’Mix Market last year, run by another blogging/maker friend Lisa of Bobobun, you might remember this photo of the Moobaacluck Stall. So I was so thrilled by this present from Gabs…

I don’t think I have enough handles in the house!

So now it’s time to join in with Wendy’s Handmade Monday over on 1st Unique gifts, where you’ll find all sorts of yummy things going on! It’s well worth a visit!

See you soon xx