I've had a fun week

I love the school holidays :o) I have had a wonderful week with my daughter, but it always flies past too quickly. We had our bit of sadness this week when we lost one of our hens but lots of happy times too and are really enjoying the new chicks we got. We always try and do something special together each holiday that will hopefully form one of those longterm happy 'forever' memories and this holiday was no exception - we both 'zorbed' for the first time! ........ Zorbing is when you roll down a hill in a giant plastic bubble!

me + ali in our own little bubble

Well they do say you should do something new or scary every day to feel alive!
(although next time I think I'd like a steeper hill)
Monday morning its back to the mini-making with my serious hat on as I have soooooo much to do!

My New Minis

OK, so they are not the sort of miniature minis you were expecting ...... but they ARE miniature chickens! LOL they are different breeds and ages but all sooooo cute, I think I must get spring fever as its the usual time for me to want some little chicky-chooks about the place, what with having to rehome my Rooster and with Layla being so poorly it did seem the right time to get some more. Hubbs has now said 8 is MORE than enough so methinks this really is my lot this time, I only started with 3 then he said 'no more' at 6 so 8 is pushing my luck a little bit :o) anyway these are our new additions -

this is the smallest at 6weeks , a lavender frizzle we've called Miss Dusty Ruffs, she looks quite a scraggy thing at the moment but they are so pretty when fully feathered up.

next is a 10wk old white pekin my daughter says is her favourite and she is called Sugar

and this young lady is the biggest at 12 weeks, she is a Silver Partridge pekin & I've called her Sylvia Parsnip cos it sort of sounded right!
They are all a bit too small to go in with the other hens just yet so will have to have lots of cuddles in our nursery pen instead. After the cuddles are done in the morning we are going to the Bath & West show for a day out which should be fun, so we'll be having another farmer-ish day tomorrow too, we were glad we didnt go there today as it was apparently very wet, a dry day is forecast tomorrow so win, win for us :o) then I REALLY , REALLY need to get cracking with my outstanding commission stuff, last minute panic.com strikes again!!!

Weekend Ramblings

OOh I've been a bad blogger! Ignore the above date I did start a post on Friday but now its Tuesday!! I have taken a few days off form blogging to spend a bit of time with the poor neglected family over the bank holiday weekend and instead neglected you all, sorry :o( I had one of those busy doing not-a-lot weekends full of grass cutting, weeding, planting & we finally fitted a gate to the side of our 'new' conservatory (last summer!) we had sort of got used to sliding a fence panel back and forward so we feel quite posh now with a proper gate! LOL
We also had a wonderful day with friends yesterday, BBQ and chatting with a drink or 3 - well it was on 3 when I lost count anyway! We had taken Spike our noisy rooster to go and live with them as they have much more tolerant neighbours than we do and he seemed to like it there. In fact he had a queue of girlie chooks lining up to check him out so I think when he's settled in he is going to be more than happy there! its VERY quiet here now though.
I did do a bit more mini furniture painting/crackling on Friday so Hagatha & Grumpbolds room is looking nearly done all bar the laying of the parquet floor that is really annoying me as it wont go right.... have to rethink the flooring I think and just give them floorboards and a rug. Oh and I have to fit their ceiling light too before I fix the floorboards in the room above, in fact there is such a long 'to-do' list still that I wonder if my Skool of Majick will ever be finished!

It is so nice when blogger buddies think of me when they give awards out, always makes me get that slushy, warm fuzzy feeling :o) This time its from my friend Debie at Piskies and Poppets and is very much appreciated. I also recently got tagged by Debbie of Tiny Treasures and need to pass that award on too, but am going to wimp out and not single any specific person out for the award to be passed on to cos everyone of my 'followers' and friends are as deserving as the next and I would hate for anyone to feel left out! so if you want to receive either, take it, its yours with love.


and finally, for Kat the Hat , the pic of my son's goth quilt using some of that Alexander Henry fabric I covet so much!

Tudor Dolls

Ok so they are not my usual spooky, oddbods but I just had to show off my new dressmaking skills. These are the dolls that I made at Tiggy's workshop last weekend, well not both of them, I made the lady one when I visited her last time , it was only the gent I made this time. I really thought that the gent would be the easier of the two but he was a tricky so & so and I admit defeat with the ruffs! they got the better of me & are far from perfect but they did my head in trying to get them just right - lots of cussing was mumbled!

I always new my dog wasnt wired up right!

Ok this post is nothing to do with my miniatures, rather the dog's ones!

My Twinkle has decided she is having 'puppies', not the usual variety though, she is having a phantom pregnancy and is currently 'nursing' a tennis ball, a velvetty flower and a resin goat stolen from outside my skool of majick! I always new she wasnt wired up right!

I had to take the chicken back to the vet yesterday, ( in an old microwave box which caused much hilarity from the receptionists!) and asked about the dog while I was there & was told to just leave her to it and she'll get over it in a couple of weeks. The chicken is much the same, but not in any discomfort so her and her lump are free to waddle around the garden for a good while yet. I wonder if anything is 'normal' at my house!

Blog list not updating?

Is anyone else having issues with their blog lists not updating /notifying when new stuff/posts get added to blogs you follow? I was thinking a few peeps had been quiet, but they had posted a few times....? odd, so I'm having to just go and check for myself now to find out the latest. I feel like I'm missing out now LOL , technology bah ppfftt!

I got tagged!

I got tagged by Debbie of Tiny Treasures , who has the most amazing recreation of Diagon Alley - check out her slide show on her blog!
The tag asks you to name six unimportant things that make you happy...... This is a dilemma for me as what makes me happy isn't unimportant! ? (scratching head time) I then have to pass it on to six other people and they have to do the same thing to six others, on to infinity.
I'll do my six happy things now but will hold on for a bit to pass it on as I need to put my thinking cap on....
1. Jaffa Cakes! yummmmmmy little things that always make me smile.... there are 12 in a packet so if I eat 2 at a time does that take up all 6 things I have to list?
no? erm..................................
2. Listening to my kids laughing
3. Seeing other peoples kids laughing
4. Playtime with my dog, my kids, with friends, by myself - whatever
5. Taking time to stop and smell the flowers
6. My stuff - its mainly little things and it all makes me very happy! (shallow perhaps but I'm trying to be honest LOL)

Doing the a happy dance!

I absolutely LOVE hubby at the moment - he has really, really fixed my puter now AND retrieved all my lost files, emails & addresses - he needs a medal :o) 'normal' service has resumed once more!

Now I hope Julie doesn't shoot me for posting this, but the photo below made me giggle - of her and Thimblemins Jane comparing codpieces! Julie quite obviously was very amused!! I think this was where she wondered if she was making a Tudor gent or fetish man, LOL :o)

I'm back :o)

I'm back and had such a wonderful weekend :o) Julie (Jakdaw's attic) and I stopped off at Debie's (piskies & poppets) en-route to Tiggys for the weekend and could have stayed forever. We had a lovely meal and a great chat, her kids were absolute treasures and it was such a lovely welcoming and loving home that if we hadn't had to get to Tiggys, we defininitely would have stayed longer (although I wasnt keen on looking at her pet spidee's - ewww). Ages ago Debie promised me Pook and I finally got my hands on my beloved treasure - here it is and it will take pride of place when I rearrange my workspace, but until then Pook will live in my cabinet where it can remain safe from harm.

Despite my satnav being the spawn of the devil and trying to get me lost in the heaviest rain I have ever driven through, after leaving Debies, we arrived safely for our dolly weekend and guess who forgot her camera ? !!!....... yep, me! I could have kicked myself, I can't remember everything, I did remember the wine and cake though so all was not lost LOL. Anyway I took a few on my phone and am now struggling trying to find the cable to extract them from said phone and upload them to here. So watch this space and I will post some soon. They will probably be of the codpieces, as these were compared and giggled about quite a bit !!
Tiggy's workshops will be starting in the next couple of months and I have to say that anyone who wants to learn costuming techniques or wants to dress a doll in historically accurate costumes, really should book up for one of her weekends. I believe she is starting the courses at £30 a day tuition plus the cost of whatever kit you choose to make. Kits range from tudor through to 1920's, male, female and child dolls. Included in that price is lunch and refreshments and on top of that if you need accomodation , she has twin guest rooms available for FREE on a first come first served basis, and have one of her hubby Jon's lovely cooked breakfasts too :o) anyone who may be interested inone of her dollying weekends can contact her at tiggy@civilwardrobe.demon.co.uk I will of course post further info as and when it becomes finalised as I know anyone will enjoy the workshops immensely.

While away my hubby 'fixed' my computer and in the process managed to lose ALL my contacts files!! Aaarrgggghhh !! no email history is left, no emails , addresses or phome numbers! so if you are one of the peeps I keep in contact with and you haven't heard from me for a while, PLEASE don't think I have ignored you, I will need you to email me you details again so that I can resume contact.

Enough of my ramblings for now, I am to explore blogland to catch up.

Dollying weekend

Hiya, just a quickie post to say I won't be around for a few days as I'm about to head off to 'Mrs Tiggywinkles' to dress those Tudor gentleman I told you about the other day. Julie from Jakdaws attic is going with me too and I know we will have lots of fun. I'll take a few piccies if I can and post on my return. Last year when I joined an online doll group just for a bit of advice, I had no idea that I would form such good friendships with some of them & definitely didnt imagine I'd be going off for girlie dollying weekends with them! don't know what I'd do without my online buddies now? Thankyou each one of you for making me smile when I switch on my computer :o) ooh, enough of the soppy slush! Get the kettle on for about 5pm ish Debie! LOL

Blog make-over

After browsing around and admiring all the gorgeous graphics on a few blogs today, I went in search of a new 'me' and found one I sort of like better than black on black, from here http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/ there were a few more I liked there but didn't want to look like a copycat so this is the new look......... for a while anyway.

where do the days go?

I've been happily visiting everyone elses blogs and having a good read and then came back to mine and realised I haven't written anything for a few days! how did that escape me?? I think the hen thing knocked me off kilter a bit. Thanx to everyone sending well wishes for Layla, she's still waddling around and seems happy enough, time will tell but the outlook isnt that hopeful ...... I will be down 2 birds very soon as I have to get my lovely Rooster rehomed soon as there is a school just across the road from me and hes started cockadoodling at the school bells every half hour, so basically doesnt shut up for long LOL but he's upsetting the neighbours, its amazing how something so small can make so much noise! I will have to go chook shopping then as it will look a bit too empty out there for my liking - I know I will come home with more than 2 so its not all bad news :o)

Spike

Back to minis................................... can you hear the wind blowing ? yep thought so! I haven't done anything for ages, pfaffing is what I have been doing! I won't be idle long though as I'm going to see a friend over the weekend to be a 'guineapig' testing her workshop program for doll workshops that she's planning on starting, I think we are dressing tudor gentlemen (12th scale ones of course! LOL) - good excuse to catch up and have a drink or three too. I know I will come back inspired and will be busy for a while after, so I think my oomph and my mojo are currently waiting for me somwhere on the M5!

Feeling sad :o(

I am feeling sad today, I have to take one of my chickens to the vet later as she has peritonitis. Basically she's misfiring and her eggs are going into her abdomen instead of coming out. She seems ok in herself at the moment and I'm hoping he can give her a hormone jab to stop her laying any more eggs, which will give her 'mechanics' a chance to sort themselves out, maybe wishful thinking? I know there are some people out there who think huh? its just a chicken, but Layla is also a pet, so its hard being rational when you are emotionally attached. She's been such a wonderful bird and was the first of my chooks to ever lay an egg for me so I will miss her if the vet says 'times up', but I don't want her to suffer either. My sadness has also been added to by the fact that I realised that it would have been my dad's birthday today, he passed on 14 yrs ago and I dont normally feel like this but the chicken thing has well and truly set me off! fingers crossed the vet will be able to do something helpful.
I am now going to go and buy some jaffa cakes! they usually do the trick to cheer me up :o)

Edit - back from the vet & not the best news, it would now seem that she has a huge growth/tumour in her oviduct and has put on a kilo in weight in the last 2 months which is lot considering her usual body weight is only 2 kilos !! have lots of drugs to give her but we have to see how things go. She is such a happy chicken though so its nice knowing that she's not that aware of what is happening to her.

Blogland is Brilliant!

Oh the wonderful things you can find when having a nosey around all the other blogs that other people follow, anyway I found a wonderful youtube video on silke's witches its a lovely song with a very Burton-esque video

I really would love to add it to my blog but havent a clue how to do it so if anyone can help me out so I can show it I will be forever grateful :-)
Edit - thanx to Gaye sending me the 'what to do email' I managed to do it ! so don't feel quite so thick now - Yay!! :o)

Ive not done any mini-ing over the last few days as I've had my mum visiting (think she came to check out my lads new flat wasnt too much of a hovel!) but am looking forward to getting back to my 'to-do list' tomorrow as I do get withdrawal symptoms!

It's going to be one of those days !

Do you ever wake up and think you are going to pee miracles and poo wonders? and then you have the first cuppa of the morning, make yourself a new 'to do' list, read the minimag on the side that you forgot about the other day and think I'll have a quick look on the computer........... yep its gone ! the oomph I had when I got up has got lost along the way, am off to look for it now.

More awards!

OOh its like luvvies day around here LOL! got another 2 awards today :o) Julie from Jakdaws attic returned the award I passed to her

and then Debie sent me a sweet one too.

so to show my appreciatation of the award My Top 7 Loves are :

1. Hubbs and Kids - without them I just wouldn't be me - they are my soul mates. (does this use up more 'loves'? if so I admit greed and need more than 7 loves!)
2. My Pets - my dog Twinkle is as daft as a limp brush, drives me nuts but I wouldn't be without her or my chickens - I know they are plural but would use up all my 7 if I listed them individually!
3. My Miniatures - ....? perhaps this isnt so much a love as an addiction, in fact I was going to name my 'business' A Miniature Addiction!
4. My mini friends - kind and thoughtful, all generous sharing their knowledge, I love that I need all of you x
5. The internet - what a fantastic invention it was ! and all the neat things you can research or learn or just admire and for free! (I love free!)
6. My life! - sure there are things that I'd like to be a bit different, but I'm happy how things are and like to think of my cup being half full not half empty.
7 .and finally....Jaffa cakes! - shallow I know but hey, they have to be in here somewhere!

Paperclay Chimneys

I have really neglected my dolls house recently, so as I don't have any dolls to do this week, I decided sod the housework, I need to do a bit of essentials like working out how to put a chimney breast in the Skool of Majick so the poor trainee witches have somewhere to prepare their potions. The bigger one is going in the kitchen / spellroom and the smaller one in the lounge. I've not played with paperclay like this before so am quite pleased how its gone so far, although I'm a bit wary about adding the paint effect cos it took ages to dry and Im convinced that as soon as the paint goes on that the clay is all going to fall off!! only one way to find out though.

Hello again, I can't believe it has been so long since I popped in here! I am equally as surprised (pleasantly though) that I had an award waiting for me when I did get here, from Minikat at Little thoughts from an average mind It is a wonderful feeling that someone I didn't know a week ago has become such a sweet friend & thought of me so kindly - so thank you for the award Kathleen you are a true gem :0)

I copied this info from minikat
"This is the blurb about the award:
This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!”

So I now have to pick eight bloggers to pass this onto. The trick is trying to pick someone who hasn't been awarded that same thing already. Hmmmmm.......
1. Julie at jakdawsattic cos she's lovely and has been a good friend both online and off.
2. Debie at piskies-and-poppets ditto above reason!
3. Eileen at eileen sedgwick - a wonderfully cheery & truly amazing all round artist that creates breathtaking pieces.
4. Roz & Aidy at lilyelf for creating D-a-m-e, a great group for both miniaturists and enthusiasts alike and for giving me the confidence to get 'out there' with my work :o)
5. I know its supposed to be for those who havn't received it before but.....
Jodi at creager studios for being such an inspiring and wonderful person, and the first person who's dolls I truly admired and did the ''I really want/need/wish I could own that'' at!
6. Debbie from debbies tiny treasures really deserves this for just being so nice!
7. Nikki at witch and wizard miniatures for having such interesting blogs.
8. Last but not least the whimsical goblin cos I think Goblinz head will explode at the thought of someone being nice!! LOL

Another thanx for Kathleen as this award has also taught me how to find out and add links to other blog pages which is going to be very useful sending people on to other great stuff I find so they can enjoy it too :o)

I went out !

I was going to do mini DIY yesterday but had an invitation to go out with friends instead, so after a rummage in my fashion reject filled wardrobe - I went clothes shopping instead! Its been about 2 or 3 years since I last did the pub crawl around town thing with my girlfriends & I survived the night out, despite copius amounts of strange coloured liquids being consumed along the way. Feels like a confession statement LOL but had a great time, and woke up this morning minus the normal hangover from hell, but..... the last pub we went in had a live rock band and I really should know better than to stand so close to the speakers and expect to be able to hear anything the next day! off to ponder what to do with my day now as I was expecting to feel ill and don't, so have gained a day, woop, woop!

Rainbow Witch

Afternoon all
well she's finally finished - I am so slow! I am just waiting for the commissionee to approve the pics or its back to the workbench for another try, which Im secretly hoping for as I'd quite like to keep this one as she's grown on me. Her dress is made from really fine silk, I actually cut up a favourite sarong I had as it was just the right colour! now that my waistline has expanded somewhat and the sarong is now considerably shorter methinks it wil now live in my fabric stash and I will forget which will send me mad looking for it when I next go off on holiday!

I'm having a nice lazy day today, hubbs is out golfing and daughter is 'tidying' her room (yeh right! LOL) so I'm going to play in my workroom for a bit, might actually do some work on my Skool of Majick & Witchery as it has been neglected a bit lately. It desperately needs a roof going on as the dust thats settling in it is now looking a bit more than the required for spooky!

10 followers already!

I was quite suprised to find my followers into double digits today! especially as a newbie that hasn't said much....yet! so to all those who have decided to follow my ramblings, I thank you - I will try to be more interesting soon I promise.
I finished my Rainbow witch today, and a few other bits but the light is really crappy so will take pics in the morning for you all to see. I'm not the best photographer so will probably take a few dozen snaps before getting 1 that looks half decent. I just hope I don't wake up , take one look at her and think.. nah , dress is all wrong and strip it down and redo it again! does anyone else redress their dolls a few times before it looks 'right' ?
I'm off for a wander around blogland for some bedtime reading now, catch you all on the morrow xx