A Special Moment.

I know I've shown you this little fellow before. He's a possum that I met when visiting an animal sanctuary in Queensland 2 years ago. He is a brush-tailed possum, one of our natives and although protected, his kind are very common in suburban Melbourne. Most people, especially garden lovers, call them pests and try to get rid of them. They do have a voracious appetite for most garden plants (especially roses) but I'm happy to share our patch of land with the little bloke that lives in our shed and last night I had the absolute joy of meeting him. Unfortunately the encounter was so brief there was no time for photos. And I don't know who was the more surprised. We have a large ash tree outside our backdoor and that's where I put the fruit scraps that I leave for the possum, in the mistaken belief that he will enjoy them instead of eating my garden plants. (He loves my geraniums as much as I do but for different reasons.) Anyway, there I was doing the fruit thing when I heard a faint rustle and a little face peeped round the trunk of the tree. We stared at each other for a few seconds before he turned and moved away and so did I. When the distance between us was to his liking he came back and started on his snack.
Some days something happens to leave a special memory, and this was my day.
I hope something nice has happened for you today. Bye for now till next time.

Another granny

I'm still on the project of enlarging some little cot covers for my friend. This one is a bit awkward because it is a different size from the last two that I worked on, although it still needs to be made larger. I think it is going to be a knee-rug size and I've worked out that I will need 20 new squares to finish it off. So here I go. Those little daisies are to be the centre of each new square and the big granny is the blanket that is to be enlarged.
I'm sticking with the plain granny square pattern for the new squares so that they will match the centre.
Wandering through my books yesterday I found one I forgot I had. Ooh I do love doing that. This book is called 'Discovering Crochet' and is one of the Mon Tricot series put out in the 70's. There are some granny squares in there that I would like to try. Oh for another pair of hands. I feel some WIPs and UFOs coming on. Meanwhile I'll be good and get on with the present job.
It's a blistering 38 degrees here in Melbourne today. That's 100 in the old Farenheit language. No matter how it is measured it is still jolly hot. Roll on Autumn, my favourite season.
I hope the weather is being kind to you wherever you are.
Bye for now until next time.

Ready to go.

Number one of the blankets that I am enlarging for a friend is finished. The small squares surrounding the large ones are mine. Yes I know I'm slow but many years of too much crochet & knitting have taken their toll on my hands and I try to ration the length of time I spend at my beloved crafts. I'm really pleased with this effort though the stash still doesn't look any smaller. I'm beginning to think it is related to the Magic Pudding and will never get smaller no matter how much of it I use. What a lovely thought - endless craft supplies - yes please.
On this subject I have a message from the man of the house, who shakes his head in bewilderment when I speak of my stash in guilty tones. "I don't know why you crafters worry about your stash," he says. "Just enjoy it. You know you'd go balmy without it." So there you have it fellow stash holders. From one member of the non-knitting/crocheting population, "Go for it."
I'm now starting on the next enlargement project.
Bye for now until next time.

A Present for Bonnie.

Since way back in the dawn of time (my time anyway) I've loved to make doll's clothes. Collecting offcuts from Mum's sewing projects and using a needle and thread to gather strips of fabric onto a band, I turned out skirts galore. I was pretty chuffed with myself because I could do a proper waistband. I was allowed to use Mum's sewing machine only so long as I didn't turn on the power, (that privelege didn't come until I was 12). Turning the wheel by hand, though laborious, got the job done more quickly. Any excuse to dress a doll was good enough and not much has changed over the decades. So when this little dolly needed some new clothes I needed no persuasion. Bonnie is the daughter of friends of ours and loves to play with her dolls. So here is a new dress, some pyjamas, and a jacket. I hope Bonnie gets as much fun from them as I have had. Wishing you a good day wherever you are.
Bye for now until next time.

A challenge

A friend who works in the newborn unit of one of our hospitals has given me a bundle of beautifully crocheted little blankets. They were intended as a gift for the unit's cots but are in acrylic and will not stand up to the very hot water that the hospital's laundry uses. Being a tiny cot size they are not large enough to wrap a baby so my friend was unable to pass them on to the hospital's welfare section. It saddened her to think that this lovely well-intentioned gift should go to waste so she presented them to me wondering - could I do anything with them? Well now I ask you; what crafter could resist a challenge like that? My first thought was to stitch some of them together to make a larger blanket. "Make it big enough for a single bed then it could still wrap a baby if necessary." suggested the man of the house. Not just a pretty face that man. That done I took the blanket off to a local welfare agency that rehouses those fleeing from abuse. I thought I'd match up the colours in the others and work extra squares to enlarge them. What an opportunity to reduce my stash. So here I am half-way through the first one, making smaller squares to add to the little cot cover in the centre. Do you know my stash doesn't look any smaller. I'm hoping it will by the time I get through a few more.
I do hope your year has got off to a good start and will just keep getting better.
Bye for now until next time.

Zimmy

This picture made me smile and I thought I would share it with you. A real performer, Zimmy is happy to be dressed up in all sorts of costumes to have her photo taken. She seems to love the attention. Zimmy belongs to my son's partner and has her own facebook page - Zimmy Dog. She is a real campaigner and fights for several causes, among them, Oscar's Law - a movement to end the cruelty of puppy farming in Australia, the Winter appeal for Animal Rescue, and Save Lennox, an ongoing issue in Ireland.
With only a day to go it looks as though Santa Zimmy has her paws full with getting her Christmas presents ready for delivery.

With all the hype, tinsel and coloured lights it's easy to forget what Christmas is all about. I hope yours will be blessed and peace filled and your New Year will be full of promise and opportunity.
Bye for now until next time.

Euphoria

Sometimes something happens that makes a day really special. Yesterday was one of those days for me. Our daughter had announced that she was taking us to the Royal Melbourne Zoo. The man of the house has been eager to visit the Zoo for ages as we haven't been there for many years. We were keen to see the new enclosures that have been built to make the animals more comfortable and so were looking forward to our trip. The day before our visit our daughter let me in on the secret she had been keeping - the trip was actually a combined birthday and Christmas gift for me and the treat was that I would take part in the 'Elephant Experience' where I would be able to go behind the scenes to help feed Marli, the baby elephant who is now about 19 months old and also meet her mother.
Words can't describe how beautiful the experience was. Like anyone who truly loves animals I hate cages but sadly, for many of the planet's beautiful, endangered animals the spacious, natural enclosures at the Zoo are an insurance policy for the species.
I avoid the tendency to anthropomorphize. The most important needs for an animal's welfare are food and safety from predators, an absence of boredom plus the space to enable them to behave like animals. The Zoo is staffed by dedicated keepers who have these needs and the welfare of their charges as their top priority. They are doing a marvelous job. The elephants are fed in a manner that will encourage them to forage, are provided with plenty of space to amble and socialize.
What an experience. I loved every minute of my time with them. I can't remember when a birthday gift has given me so much joy.
Must go now. I hope your weekend will be a good one. Bye until next time.