Pregnant or not pregnant?!

Hello! A little update on the doggie front here. For those of you who maybe don't know, I've have recently mated my dog Jenna in the hope that we will have some little puppies!

I would say now that I am fairly sure that she is pregnant! All the signs seem to be there pointing towards a positive answer anyway.

I wish though that I could be able to say a definite yes or no. At this point if you know what you're feeling for, you can actually feel the puppies but as I don't, it's a bit hard to tell and have figured that maybe my clumsy fumbling probably won't help matters so have kept well alone from the prodding and poking you see the vets do.

Speaking of the vets, as I would quite like more of a definite answer, I have booked her into the vets to have a scan! This way I'll get that definite answer I'm looking for and maybe an idea of how many puppies she's having if she is!

All potentially very exciting. Another thing that I've had to start getting ready is a whelping box for Jenna to hopefully give birth in. After seeing the range of boxes available to buy, I decided to make my own! So I've been out today buying wood and lino and have made a start on making a Jenna Box as I call it.

I know that you might think that I'm getting ahead of myself and that I should wait till I've had the scan done but the thing is that you have to get them used to the whelping box a couple of weeks before the birth. Jenna at the moment if all goes well, is about two and a half weeks from giving birth!

I'll put the photos of the box once I've finished making it on here so you can have a look shall I?!

Let them eat cake!

As Marie Antoinette famously didn't say! I thought that I'd post some pictures of the cake in action along with the party that went in tow.

It was a really nice party actually with a lady called Wendy Moore coming in to do some henna on the girls. She did a great job creating beautiful patterns on our hands and she was such a lovely lady so thanks Wendy for coming!

Henna in action!



A party of henna hands! The black paste you see on most of the hands eventually dries and flakes off revealing the brown dye.

I then got one! As I wear a tribal style ring, I thought it would be cool to get a pattern that would go nicely with it.



Depending on how skanky you are, the henna lasts for a couple of weeks.

After the henna was tidied away and the girls were off playing games, I went to go and collect the pizzas. I don't think I'll be doing that again any time soon! As a newly passed driver, I found it a somewhat scary experience driving with pizza that was quite hot causing the car to fog up from the inside. Not even the fan seemed to help much so I ended up driving home with the window down!

With the pizzas precariously delivered, these were quickly gobbled down.
Cake time I think!





These were special candles that burnt the colour of the candle. They burn stronger colours than in this picture here but you can see definite shades of greens especially popping out from the flame!





So pleased with the size of this cake! I got good comments on the texture too which was light and fluffy. Still though, I don't think it quite lives up to my Nana's sponge which is a classic!

Needless to say, the cake has now all gone. Cake as I'm sure is the case in most households never stay around for long!



And in other news..

Thought that I would fill you in on some important little bits of information that have been going on for me in my absence from Bekah's Corner.

• I passed my driving test the other week!! After putting it off for a while I finally took the plunge and went in for my test. Obviously it went really well and only got 1 minor (you're allowed to have 15 before it's a fail) which I couldn't believe! And yes, don't worry, I'm being sensible and I know that I've still got a lot more to learn etc etc!

• I've just set up with my course group our first exhibition! This for me is so exciting. Open to the public so anyone can view our work, this is hopefully the first of a few more exhibitions in the future?! The link to my college blog is on the left of this post just below my 'About me' section. If you click on the link, you'll be able to see what I've been up to!

• I've started volunteering at Guide Dogs for the blind. I was recommended the position in advertising sporting events for the charity by my tutor which was a huge compliment. I work at the office on Friday's and with a couple of brilliant people, I help to design advertisement campaigns for people to do sporting events in a charity place. So far I have helped to do and send off design briefs for the Great North and Great South Run as well as pushing some charity places for the Reading half Marathon!

• Speaking of the Great North Run, I've got a place to run in it! Running hopefully with my Dad if he manages to get a place somewhere, I'm really looking forward to doing it as it's something that I've always wanted to do.

• After filling out a Games Maker volunteer application form years ago it feels now for the Olympics, I've just received word that I have got an interview for one of the roles! This still means that there are no guarantees for me making it as a Games Maker, but I'm closer than I was before which is exciting. My interview is in March so I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

• And finally, I bred my dog Jenna a few weeks ago. Time will tell if she is pregnant or not but so far, it's looking encouraging! She seems to be showing some signs of being pregnant so watch this space! If she is preggers, she'll be due between March 17 and March 21.

So all go here! Maybe it helps explain why I haven't been posting on here but it's still no real excuse. Besides, I've missed not being on here. I know that not many people read this but I see this as one big diary which I love to flick back through from time to time to see how my life is planning out. The plus side for you is that it's a diary that I actually encourage people to have a snoop around so go on, have a nosey and keep tuned for more!

The icing on the cake!

Well I've just seen the last time I posted on here and saw that it was way back in November, so bad! That can't be right I thought but it's there in black and white! So guess I should start off this post by saying happy new year even though that seems ridiculous also as we are now well into 2012!

With the half term now well underway, I've had some free time on my hands which has been great after a very busy but brilliant half term at college where I did photography working with film and developing in the darkroom as just one of the things I got up to!

But anyway, back to half term. With my sister having a very late birthday party today, she and I were busy at work yesterday making a birthday cake. She is having a henna party with a lady coming in to create henna on the girls and hopefully me too!

So what better way to bring in this theme than to do henna of an edible kind on the cake!

Pretty yummy if I do say so myself! It's a Victoria sponge cake decorated iced beautifully by my sister, Megan. She was a bit reluctant at first to ice as she was afraid that she would ruin it bless her. To help her start, I traced the flower onto the cake for her to ice over. After that, she was away and there was no stopping her! The side of the cake is all her own making and the love heart shapes on the top make perfect holders for the candles to go on later!

As I said before, she did a beautiful job and I'm really quite proud of her!

Durham!

So better late than never! Here are some of the photos I took of Durham. It really is a very picturesque place with a lovely vibe about it.

One of the problems I found was that it was quite a bright day which made photo taking a bit tricky at times. Still, enough of the ramblings, have a look!



No, this isn't her Halloween costume!



Ellen's made the place a lot more like home since I last saw it.





Looked round Hogwarts, I mean Durham Cathedral!





You've got to take a picture of people rowing in Durham!





I always keep my eyes peeled for street art wherever I go. I love this one!!





I wonder if Ellen wrote this?!





Poster in Ellen's room





We went to see this awesome guy playing called Sam Brookes.

 So that was a little glimpse of Durham through the eyes of me there! I took so many more photos but these are definitely my favourites and what I think sum up my stay.

Granny Square Bunting

I went to Durham in my half term from college to visit my twin at uni!! I took lots of photos of Durham but I'll show them in another post. This post, I decided should be all about The Bunting!

As every good visitor should, I came bearing a little gift for her. A few weeks ago Ellen asked if I could make her some bunting for her room.

Well, of course I said yes, no problem. What size? I asked her. I'll admit that her reply of two and a half metres threw me off guard a bit but nevertheless, I got it done and I'm pretty sure she was happy with it.

This I found was the perfect project to do you're a bit busy with other things, as it was just so flexible to make. By this I mean that I could do little bits here and there, quickly whip up a triangle and block it whenever I had a bit of spare time.

Yes, this project involved me trying out the art of blocking for the first time. I wanted the triangle to look more, well triangular so I read up on how to block yarn. Turns out it's incredibly easy being that you only need to soak them in luke warm water and pin them to the shape you want on a board. Leave to completely dry then viola! Done!

Once measured and the requested size of 2.5m, I folded it all up ready to give to my sister.

Just thought I'd show you the little pile of work I created. It might not look like much, but a fair amount of work went into that!

And so here it is in it's new home in Durham! Ellen had obviously told her friends on the same floor as her about this bunting so I think that they were just as excited as she was to see this much awaited bunting.

Show and tell time!

Thought I'd show you a couple of the things I've been up to in college these past few weeks.

Our assignment this half term has been about working with 3D materials. It's been so cool the amount of the things we've been allowed to try out. Wood work, different types of printing, wire and plaster are just some of the mediums I've been giving a go.

Working on a theme of objects that inspire creativity for our design with wood, I created this clapperboard mounted on a background of words from the acting world.

Working with wire, we were allowed to do anything we wanted for our theme. Inspired by my travels, I created a wire globe all about the favourite country Ellen and I visited, New Zealand. It's really hard to take a good picture of wire I've found but you can probably just make out the countries on the outside of the globe with some Maori pendants hanging inside. 

As we're now coming near to the half term holidays, we're now in the process of finishing up this assignment. For this, we have to create a final piece by creating a sculpture out of any of the materials we've worked with.

I haven't got a finished piece to show you yet, but here's a sneaky glimpse of the final design for you to look at:

I'm also still doing a bit of knitting and crocheting whenever I have the time. I think me knitting and crocheting is like me with reading. I've always got to have some form of wooly craft on the go just like I've always got to have a book to read!

I'm currently crocheting some bunting for Ellen to go in her uni room. I've asked her how long she wants the bunting to be in which she replied, 2.5 metres! I've got to get cracking then! I'd say I've got about a metre done and the first five triangles are now in the process of being blocked to give them more of a triangled shape.

It's a shame I can't show you them but I can't risk my sister seeing them as I want them to be a surprise. But to give you an idea, they're going to look a bit like the bunting below.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little show and tell post! I'm now off to make some more triangles I think whilst my Dad's downstairs watching Wales play rugby. I can't hear any shouting at the telly going on which he is often prone to doing when watching Wales, so I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not!

Oh I tell a lie, Dad's just given a few gruffly shouted words of encouragement to Wales as I was typing!

My twin goes to Uni!

It was a big day in the Funning household today! My twin went to Durham University and so it was a whole family day out to settle her in. 

Though I think she was pretty nervous when we drove her there, once we'd arrived, she seemed fine. Her room is HUGE which my Mum being mum was very relieved about.

So when Ellen was settling in, Dad, my little sister Megan and I went into the town to get a few last minute stuff and to have a look round. Durham, from what I've briefly seen of it is a lovely little place. It's got a really nice historic feel. I think Ellen will like it there.

Her room overlooks the river and just in front of her building is where the boating house is. Even today, we saw a few people out training on the water. All very cool.



Do you remember this little knitted elephant?



Moving in



View from her college, St hild and St Bede

So now my twin lives in Durham whilst I'm still here in little old Kendal. Will I miss her? Of course!! But I don't really feel sad today that she's gone because it's not a sad occasion to go to Uni. But I'll look forward to staying with her definitely!! 

Still here, still knitting!

Yes yes, I know I'm starting to make a habit of saying this in all of my few and far between posts but it really is true!

It's been a whirlwind of busyness and I feel like a parent who's just had another child, spending more time with the new one compared to the older child in terms of now running two blogs. I've been putting so much onto my blog for college that I have rather neglected this one haven't I.

Well, I thought I'd make up for it by putting a post on about knitting; just like the old times!!

Having college going on full time, my knitted projects aren't growing as insanely quick as they used to but I'm still chipping away at it whenever I can. I even take it into college with me just in case I get a spare few minutes! It's certainly a good conversation starter I can tell you.

So my current knitted creation is this owl from one of my pattern books:

So cute isn't it! I thought I'd knit this up because I had the perfect wool in my wool hamper and I've had my eye on making this owl ever since I got the book. I've not got anyone in mind to knit it for but if you want it, it's yours once I've finished it!

Other news, I've finally gotten round to buying myself a new camera after dropping my old one in a lake somewhere in New Zealand. It's a Fujifilm camera which is very different for me as my last one was a canon powershot which I got on very well with.

Though I haven't learnt my way properly around the camera yet, it's serving me well so far. I use it a lot for college actually. I take pictures of whatever we're doing so I can put them on my college blog.

My singing at church is still going well. I even got asked to perform at someone's wedding last week as part of the worship band so that was pretty cool.

Well that's me for now. Do keep following my blog if you're one of my few regulars. I may be busier now and not posting as much as I used to but I will always get round to posting my news in the end even if it does take a bit of time.

If you get fed up in the mean time, you can always have a look at my college blog www.funningr11.tumblr.com.

College begins!

I can't believe that it's been almost a month since I last put a post on this blog. That is just not on. I'll try and be more up to date in the future.
Still, I've been busy here, there and everywhere so it's not as if I've not been bothered to post, it's just that I've struggled to find the time.

It's been a nice few weeks visiting various members of family in different parts of the country and trying to make the most of the summer days when they choose to shine. The pictures in this post are just some of the photos I took of my trip down to Norfolk staying with my grandparents. Looking at these, it's hard to believe that these were taken such a short time ago. As I write this, the weather and fewer light hours really proves that summer doesn't last long and is rapidly drawing to a close.

But anyways, as my blog title says, some things do begin! It's official, I am now an art student!! Ok, so I've only attended two days of college so far but it all counts.

So far it's going really well and although I have been fairly nervous, I'm really enjoying my first week. I'm so excited at the prospect of things I might create. With amazing facilities there, chances are that I'm going to get to do make things way beyond what I could achieve at home!

Another exciting thing is that this year, they are introducing to their students blogging. The plan is to use them as an online portfolio so that people can easily access my work.

You can have a look at my blog if you want. Unfortunately, you won't be able to comment on it but if you do have any questions, then you can just ask me on this blog!


http://funningr11.tumblr.com/