Sleeping Kittens

When I came down stairs this morning I walking into the living room and found my youngest daughter curled up with Kevin the kitten on the sofa, both fast asleep. After oohing and arghing , I grabbed my camera to photograph the cute duo. There is something warming and comforting seeing my children lying in the fetal position, it also reminds me of when they were babies and I would cuddle them as they slept in the same position.






So after such a lovely sight first thing this morning, youngest daughter and kitty had to be today's subject for a painting.

My Inner Child

I am so pleased to have started painting again after so long.I have been meaning to start a series of work based on elements of my very own three little Herbert's for some time. This painting is based on my eldest daughter. She has butterfly like characteristics ( if you can understand that!), as a tiny toddler she would dart to and throe and she is no different now, the dress is similar to the pretty dress she wore on her 11th birthday; feminine, floaty and fairy-like!
I always have a ridiculous list of things that I want to do and make and there is never enough hours in the day! During my "sorting out" time , I now feel more relaxed and have temporarily put my sewing machines away in the cupboard under the stairs, we need a trial separation.

I am not completely happy with my painting, but then again I can over analyse my own work and that will probably never change.The paintings (Flutterby and future series) are purely light hearted, intended to be just aesthetically pleasing, whimsical and childlike, no heavy message or concept involved with this work- as I wish to enjoy this creative process!
I do feel a kind of inner self satisfaction and forgot how much I enjoy painting. today I will start painting number two, but must go out and buy some new paints as many had dried up. Unashamedly I get just as excited buying paint as I do fabric!

Honey and Lemon

The sun is finally shining, which is fabulous, typically expected we have an Indian Summer. Typically I now have a cold, which has zapped my creative juices, so I have spent the last few days feeding my obsession with arranging my art and craft bits and bobs, due to my creative yet chaotic mind I strive to have some order and try to work in a methodical manner. I become irritated when I cannot find what I am looking for and end up making a big mess and quickly lose momentum. So here is the result of hours of sorting!!!! They look very pretty, but I do think I am bordering on having OCD!!


Colds must be the most irritating of common ailments, and so easily prevented if I consumed more vitamin C. So to quickly get the cold out of my system I am using my dear mothers recipe of honey and lemon in hot water. I intend to continue drinking this when the cold has gone , as it must be healthier than the silly amount of tea and coffee I normally drink.

The Summer of 2008

The Summer seems to of paid a very short visit year, short bursts of sun followed intermitant with lots of rain. I did intend to brave the world of camping but seriously the weather was so bad that the camping venture is postponed for next summer! However I did have some fun times with the children and thought i would post some random snippets of our not so sunny summer.


Fishing:

Yes we spent many days freshwater fishing in the rain catching big fishes and lickle fishes, and many a fish got away!







Barbeque's :

I postponed our Barbey, but a brave friend carried on with his summer barbie with the aid of much tarpaulin and everyone had a fabulous time.


Tales of the river bank :

It was beginning to feel natural to be near water!



The Guinea Pig Project :

The interactive 3D project, It was fun to make, the children loved it and I thought that if we made one it would be so much cheaper than buying one! I thought fabric was expensive until I had bought the materials for the guinea pig run! I also wished that I had not looked on the web at the price of ready made- home delivered ones. I guess the secret to saving in pennies is to source the materials from anywhere but a D.I.Y. store. Homer and Bart the guniea pigs loved the finished run.

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The holiday fund :

I could,nt quite remember why I had,nt booked a holiday to the Caribbean, then as September dawned I remembered why : I had to buy my little darlings there school uniforms. this does occur at the same time every year you may think. However this year eldest daughter starts senior school and her school tends to have a lengthy list of uniform requirements. My other two little darlings changed school when we moved at the beginning of summer, so I managed to get away with not kitting them out with all of the uniform. All three looked very smart when they started the new school term, but I do wish schools would not make us purchase all the items with the embroidered logo!

The shoe photo reveals the scary financial reality of three children in 2008!






I am so glad it is Autumn now, my favourite season; it never lets you down. Autumn is the season that does what is is supposed to do. Today was a glorious beautiful autumn day, in fact it was one of the sunniest sundays in a long time. Autumn fashion is so much better as well. Too much pink flesh or per ma- tan on show in the summer!

A New Throne

Gosh, it,s like having a new baby in the house! Everyone wants to hold Kevin, but not too much in case he gets anxious. He spent his first night asleep in his cat carry case with a little hand knitted blanket which had the scent of his mum. Today we went out in search for a new bed/ basket for the little man.

we went to one of those large pet care shops, which have everything your pet would need and also a lot of things pets do not need. I was amazed how pet accessories have developed. I knew that you can get everything for the fashion handbag dog, but was quite amazed by the range available for a rabbit! In my childhood, I had a pet rabbit , which urinated and pooed a lot and ran around the garden like a lunatic. I would love to know what rabbit sits still in a fluffy cocoon style basket and has fun running through a white and pink fluffy fur fabric tunnel, you can get a whole range in pastel pink or pastel blue!

Anyhow, I had a very difficult time choosing from the vast range of Kitty beds,; four poster beds, girl beds , boy beds, beds with a scratch post and toy incorporated. Then I saw the most stylish of beds in the cats "Natural Collection", a whole range of adorable kitty things in naturals fibres and fabrics. I blew the cat basket budget on the "Natural Sphere". Kevin will look super cute and extra snug and it will go with the interior of my living room. O.K. I have not even started on the living room since we moved in, but this will be the start as I want a natural, slightly ethnic look. So Kevin,s chair is the starting point!

Here are some more photos of him in his super cool basket. He looks larger in his photos than in real life.

I do aim to get some art and making done....soon.