Over The Past Year...

I realised that I had written a post of "Hey, look, I'm back!" but didn't explain why I had been away...

Last year my father had been quite ill, and on September 11th, our family were told not to worry, he'd have a simple operation and then all would be well. On September the 16th, the surgeon and doctors changed their minds drastically, and my dad was told he had cancer. But... not to worry, as it was operable, and his outlook was good. 11 weeks to the day after this, my wonderful dad passed away. It was such a shock to us all, and it sent me into a spiral of grief and depression. I have been diagnosed with 'prolonged extreme grief' which is similar to PTSD in some ways.  I don't write this here for sympathy - only to let people know why I haven't been around and why I may seem to have changed a bit in the past year.

Things are sometimes a little better, and I take each day one at a time - never expecting to have a good or bad day, but just hoping to get through it and remember my dad with a smile and fewer tears than the day before.

This photograph was taken on my birthday - the last birthday I had with my dad.

I have a wonderful family - Mum, brother, husband and children - who have all helped me (are still helping me) every day... and great friends who understand.

So... there it is.

I'm not sure if I ever updated about my dog Lily, or my cat, Baby - well, Miss Violet... but I always called her 'Baby' :) Poor baby was run over and died in my arms on the way to the vets. I do have other pets now - but miss her terribly. My jack Russell Terrier, Lily, had mammarial cancer, and we had to have her put to sleep. I swore I would never have another dog... and that thought lasted about 5 days before I went out and got a little Yorkie who we named Barkley McScruffles. He'll be 2 years old on January 1st 2016.

When Miss Violet died, I eventually got another cat who we named Kitty Belle. She is a cross between a Persian and a Black Bengal - so she dribbles a lot and meows all the time :)

Kitty Belle had kittens, and I kept one because she was so very tiny, and her name is Coco (but we all call her Coco Bean)

This is Coco and Barkley.

Kitty Belle

Kitty with one of the kittens (not Coco)

 

 

 

Miss Violet

A quick introduction to Miss Violet ("Baby"), who is just over 4 months old now, and we've had her since she was about ten weeks old. She's a long-haired terror who is utterly adorable, and thoroughly spoilt! This was taken during the first week we adopted her...

She thinks the dining room table is her bed during the day.

She also takes over my daughters bed...

Places herself in awkward positions in my craft room...

and occasionally seems to get "cat" muddled up with "meerkat"...

...which is funny because when we first went to see her, the sellers said she had facial markings that made her look like she had a moustache like the "Go Compare" tenor singer.

So, there's the little kitty who's helping to heal my broken heart.

When...if... Bella returns, they will get along famously! Of course, they'll wreck my home... but it'll be worth it :)

A Little Bit Of Crafting...

I missed WOYWW this week - I was at the hospital getting measured up for new wrist splints. It's so annoying, having this part of me that stops my body from working the way I want it to... especially now I've extended my hobby needs. I have this urge to make dolls house furniture using the same techniques and materials I use for scrapbooking... but working in 1:24th scale (also known as 'half 'scale because each half an inch represents one foot) just isn't possible for me... it's too fiddly.

I did try though... I wanted to make a little travel chest, but it's ended up being slightly too big for my needs, and slightly too small for what my Mum could use it for (my Mum has a 1:12th scale dolls room). It did look kinda cute though...

The wee mini trunk measures about 4cm across, and is less than 3 cm high - I've shown the two pence piece against it so you can gauge the size. I was so tempted to make a mini album to go inside it... but Bethany wanted it for her bedroom instead, to keep her earrings in :)

That's all I've really had time for - though I have made a few tags for the "Autumn Swirls" album. Tuesday was CallieCats vet appointment, and she sailed through the operation. No more kitties for Callie! She's gained over 6 ounces in just two weeks, and looks amazing! This is Callie today, just one day after her operation...

As for Bella... well, she seems to have found a place to hang out and cause mischief now we've stopped her climbing the Christmas tree...

... and, yes, that IS my craft desk she's sat on *lol*

I really will try and get around to paying visits in blogland... as soon as I have more than ten minutes to spare at a time!

No time right now...

Ah, yes... for as long as crafters have needed to work with bits of pretty paper and make a mess with paint and glue, there's been the problem of finding the time! But right now I have the most wonderful excuse for no new scrapbooking pages and no time in the near future for any crafting. I'd like to introduce the newest member of our family. Please meet Callie, our new kitten.

Our very beautiful (but totally vicious) cat Bagpuss died last year - he was about 20 years old, and I vowed never to have another cat. A vow my children did not agree with. Hubby of course, didn't want another cat at all... not even when our daughters cat had kittens could he be swayed into thinking that one little ball of furry cuteness would be a welcome addition to the 'furrmily'. Tonight, I had to clean up so asked Hubby just to look after the cat and make sure the dog didn't have her for a late supper. A little peek ten minutes later and Callie is happily curled up on hubbys shoulder and he is very obviously smitten. She's quite the little character and has already (in just a few hours of being home) learnt that the camera will be a permanent fixture in front of her cute wee face - and is posing appropriately...

The only problem as yet is that she doesn't have any clue what a litter tray is for. Apparently, it's a huge pile of gritty stuff that a kitten is placed in only to see how quickly she can jump out of it, spraying the gritty stuff around the floor until her new owner chases her, picks her up and places her back in the pile of gritty stuff for the chasing game to start again... No poopies as yet - but we have bought her a little house that I thought she'd like. She loves it... perfect for weeing in apparently!
As you can see, the pretty plaid pink cushion inside has been removed... five minutes after putting it together, and it's been taken apart and in the wash already :)
She'll learn eventually...
Little steps... (She's only a babykitty right now, she was born on 27th February.)
And our home feels quite complete now we have a cat in it again.
Not sure that Lily the Dog agrees though.