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Sleep Peacefully my Little One

Nov 3rd, 2012 Leave a comment

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This is Fire my beautiful Siamese cat.  Unfortunately the time came for us to part earlier this week.  He was a wonderful cat with an amazing personality and he fought so hard against a variety of medical problems this last 6 months.

He’s left a cat shaped hole in our lives and we’re all missing him, even the dogs.  Salem my other cat is taking it especially hard and is very clingy.  Pebbles especially is finding this difficult to deal with as Salem keeps trying to cuddle her, the way he used to cuddle Fire at nap time.  Jake the dog has been amazing in the aftermath, insisting on cuddling with me far more than normal.  I love snuggling with Jake as he’s big, so I don’t have to worry about accidently squishing him.  All week he’s been cuddling in and helping me sleep.  Why is it when we’re upset we sleep better with another heart beat next to ours?

Anyway I started this year with 3 beautiful cats and now I’m down to one.  Simba went to the Rainbow Bridge earlier in the year after loosing her fight against cancer, Fire now joins her.  Sleep tight my little ones…

There was a noise in my ear….

Dec 20th, 2011 1 Comment

Last night I settled down on the sofa to indulge in a nice cup of tea and what I was hoping would be a good book.  As I opened the cover I was reminded by how much I love the feel of an actual book in my hands and snuggled further into the cushions.

Jake was settled by my feet and Pebbles had stretched out beside me with her head on my lap.  Feeling as if I was snatching some precious time for myself after all the chaos of the last few weeks I started reading.

That’s when I heard it… The most annoying noise in my ear!  I turned around to investigate and guess what I found?  Fire the cat…

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Apparently he had the same idea to relax on the sofa.

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As a result I found it difficult to read when all I could think about was how could such a small cat make such a loud noise.

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That said I didn’t have the heart to move him as he looked so comfortable.

Playing with Fire

Sep 6th, 2011 1 Comment

My friend Mr H has an interesting hobby, he likes to play with fire.  Not arson or anything nasty like that, but fire poi, fire staffs that sort of thing.  So given my resolution to do more night time photography it seemed like a natural thing to ask him if he fancied some photos.  Fortunately he did and we were soon out having fun in the dark…

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug

He has various bits of kit but we only used 3 on the night.  We started with the light poi giving him a chance to warm up and me to work out the best settings for the camera.  Obviously if you’re taking shots like this you could use one of the preset modes, but these are rely on the camera’s light metering system being used to select at least some of the settings and are therefore unlikely to give results.  So it was manual settings all the way. 

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMugOnce we were both happy the real fun started with the Fire!  It’s difficult to believe how much heat, noise and smell these give off.  That said, even though you know that’s fire sailing through the air it’s hard not to grin.Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMugWe used two separate locations close to where we live.  In fact those lights in the background form the village and it’s adjacent town (which is tiny and smaller than our village) just across the waters of the river.  I thought it made a wonderful backdrop.

Once the fuel in the poi ran out we moved onto his fire staff.  I know Mr H was worried that this would be the least spectacular as ‘well you can only really twirl it around’ but he hadn’t mentioned that the twirling would be about him!  He twirled it in his hands, then started twirling it round his arms and neck…. then started throwing it up in the air, where it would twirl in beautiful arcs, before seamlessly catching it and continuing to spin it around his body.

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug It’s was great fun and really affirmed my belief that I should do more night time photography.  Thanks Mr H, you were a star :D

I like my morning routine….

Jul 23rd, 2011 2 Comments

I do.  I know it’s silly but I have things timed down to an art.  My beasties know the routine as well and it allows me to get to work in a relatively ‘sane’ frame of mind.  Except…

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is now in pieces because

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had an ill timed jump up onto the kitchen worktop.  Now I would love to be mad at Fire the cat, but I can’t as he didn’t do it deliberately.  Yet I am upset.  I searched through my cupboards but no suitable replacement could be found.  All my other mugs and cups are for drinking tea later in the day and so just don’t do the job right.

I suppose I’d better explain that before I start to sound like some sort of freak!  The shape of the cup alters the speed at which tea cools.  All my other mugs are comparatively tall and narrow at the rim giving a much smaller surface area at the top when compared to the over all volume of this fabulous amber nectar.  If I use any of my other mugs/cups my tea stays to hot for me to comfortably drink before I have to leave for work.

So I’ve been looking for a replacement cup with just the right proportions, but no luck.  It appears that this shape is out of fashion at the moment… sob…

The closest I’ve been able to find was hidden at the back of my cupboard (a gift from someone who meant well)…

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and forms one of these cup and teapot sets

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(I’ll pause now to allow the screams from Maytheweed to pass me by)

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So this is now my morning cuppa.  And what exactly is wrong with this I hear you ask? Well you can’t tell from the photo but that cup is TINY and ahem check out the colour……  I can honestly say it’s the only thing in my cottage that is pink.  If you love pink, good for you, but I just don’t.  Lilac yes, blue, yes, black red green yellow, yes…. but I simply can’t get my head around pink Sad smile

I heard a strange noise behind me…

Jun 24th, 2011 4 Comments

Last weekend I decided to ‘tidy’ my dining room which also doubles as a study.  This was not a particularly ‘good’ idea given I wasn’t well and it really was a big job.  Well after much use of foul language the dining room is looking much better. Unfortunately this is mainly because all the stuff that needs sorting is now piled up in the lounge.  This includes an old printer box.

Anyway as I sat down at my desk to have a nice cuppa tea this evening (and catch up on some blogs) I heard a strange noise behind me……

There was something in the box

I quickly grabbed my phone and started recording but ran out of memory.  So there was a mad dash for the ipod to continue recording.  I was just quick enough to catch this…

The something was getting out of the box…

Investigating a new edition to the family….

Apr 21st, 2011 1 Comment

I’m sure I mentioned last week was rather busy.  One reason for this was my mother was visiting, and together we went Caravan hunting.  I’ve been talking about it for about a year now and it’s finally happened.  Yes, I have officially joined the ranks of Jeremy Clarkson’s most hated people – Caravaners!

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Fire getting comfortable during the ‘inspection’.

She’s a beautiful old girl in excellent condition and I hope she’ll help to liberate me from the cottage with the dogs.  I’ve stayed at B&B’s with Jake (who is in general a good boy) but the thought of taking him AND Pebbles filled me with dread.  In fact the thought of them together in that sort of situation has been enough to stop me even trying to visit places on my ‘must see’ list.

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Checking out the view from the door

So a little mobile home of my own with an awning for the doggies seemed perfect.  Of course the cats wanted to investigate as soon as it arrived.

Last night I went to sit in the van, which is on the drive, and try to get a better feel for her.  Naturally she needs new upholstery and things like that making.  Not because there is anything wrong with the condition of the current fabric, but simply because I have two large furry people who will track dirt in after walkies.  Removable and machine washable covers seem like a very good idea.  It’s also a good excuse to do some crafting hehe…

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Showing a friend (Salem) the new pad

Fire was the first in and quickly started investigating.  In general he seemed to approve and was quickly showing Salem around like an old pro.  Salem was a bit more interested in having a snooze on my lap though, much to Fires annoyance.  In fact he’s actually on my lap in the photo above (you can just see the green of a hand knit sock about half way up on the left).

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Checking out the emergency exits

The windows open quite wide which is perfect if you’ve a cat who prefers not to use doors.

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and of course the mandatory rear end shot

So I’m now dreaming of all the wonderful throws and things I can make.  Of course before I can do that I need to decide on a colour scheme.  A quick mooch round some local fabric shops last week with my mother and Maytheweed showed that finding the perfect ‘base’ fabric is going to be harder than I first thought.  I’m looking for something more contemporary than the existing fabric, but not so modern it looks silly.

No doubt whatever I choose will be carefully inspected by Fire……

A link with the past

Mar 15th, 2011 2 Comments

Like many families we have a few family heirlooms.  Nothing spectacular, but they provide a link to the past.  Most of them fall into the category of jewellery which I imagine is the same for many families.

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One, however, is a little different.  A silver thimble which once belonged to my great grandmother, Sarah.  It passed to my grandmother, and then my mother who has now decided the time is right to pass it onto me.

It might not be the most ornate or financially valuable (in fact I’m fairly sure it’s not worth much at all), but it’s now one of my most prized possessions.

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We know it is pre 1910 and we believe it was given to Sarah when she worked at Blacketts in Sunderland as a seamstress.  It’s always been referred to by the family as ‘the silver thimble’ although I believe it probably has a steel core and then silver outside.  It’s certainly quite heavy.

This tiny little thing makes me feel very strange inside when I hold it.  It’s a direct link back through time to my forebears.  It’s not a fact, or a date, but a tangible object which has been used and loved.

I remember my grand mother using it when I was a child.  Even to my young mind I could tell there was something special about it for her.  Later as I grew I realised she treasured it because of the link to her mother.

Now it has passed to me and I find it’s stirring all sorts of emotions, the strongest of which is wonder.  I wonder at the ability of such a small, mundane, inanimate object to affect me.  It triggers a desire to know more about it’s history and also my own.  Did Sarah have any idea when she received this tiny bit of metal that one day her great granddaughter would look at it and wonder about her life.  Was it something she was happy to be given as part of a sparkly new job, or did she not really want the job at all.  Of course I’ll never know the answers but it doesn’t stop me wondering about it.

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Here it is with a much smaller, lighter thimble which my mother used when she still sewed.  ‘The silver thimble’ is all well and good but was simply to big for her finger.  I must have inherited her hands as I have the same problem when I try to use it.

The Antiques Road show is due to go to Layer Marney Tower in May where my friend Maytheweed works.  I wonder if it would be possible to take it along and see if I could find out more about this little piece of metal which has touched my heart so deeply.  Then again, does it really matter?  Whatever they say won’t change the link if forms with my past, and that’s the magic this thimble holds over me.

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Oh and Fire the cat seemed to enjoy watching me take these photos from his bed next to me.  I simply couldn’t resist taking a photo of him as well.