The Big Reveal!

So this seems quite funny that I'm posting about this on my first day back at college when I actually finished this in the first week of my holidays. It seems odd too that it's taken me this long to take some photos of it but I wanted to take some photogenic shots of it so you could see it at it's best! As we have finally had a nice day here, I thought that I would make the most of that and capture my lovely new cushion outside.

So without further ado, here it is:

As I've said, it's been finished for a while now and so it's become a regular part of my bed. I'm so pleased with how it turned out. I've always admired these style cushions whenever I see them so I'm happy that I finally have one of my own!

So yes, sorry it's taken so long for you to finally see it but I wanted to show and tell it properly. Hope you love it as much as I do!

A furry visitor

A couple of weeks ago now, we had one of the puppies pop in for a little visit!

Honey (formally known as Nutmeg) and her owners were on their way to have a holiday in Scotland and so arranged to pop in on the way!

I was so excited to see what she would like at 5 months. Being one of the Orange Roans, it would be interesting to see how her coat had developed.

Well, it turns out, that it's extremely fluffy! She arrived in the house like a bundle of fluff. Once she saw Jenna, the two were away and wouldn't stop playing the whole time they were here.

When mother and daughter weren't in a crazy blur of playfulness and actually stopped, I was able to take a few photos.

Honey's fur it turns out has darkened almost exactly to the tone of Ellen's hair!

Waiting for treat time. This shows you as well just how much Honey has grown. Indeed, she's near enough fully grown. 

Certainly a bonny dog if I do say so myself! She's also pretty bonkers too! Don't let it be said that she hasn't got a character. Still, I'm sure that she'll settle down as she gets older.

It was so so lovely seeing one of the puppies again. It's hard to believe though that they were born 5 months ago. Where did that time go?

But that's not all! We're going to be meeting up with another puppy on Sunday which will be fab. The puppy that rather amusingly goes by the new name of Mary Poppins will be reuniting with her Mum for the first time since she left. 

The plan is that we'll all go for a walk at Kendal Castle so fingers crossed that we'll get some half decent weather.

More paper cutting

A few months ago, I posted up an image of my first paper cutting. Do you remember? To tell the truth, I wasn't even sure if I had posted it or not and even had to glance back at my history to see if it was there. But it is and you can read all about it here or just admire the pretty picture of it below!

Well since then, I've now created another paper cut that I made specifically for my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary. After racking my brains for something special to make them, I decided on the idea of a paper cut as I just love the simple but intricate work you can put into it creating something hopefully quite special.

After drawing out the design and tracing aspects into it here and there, I was ready to start cutting. I really must make more of these cuttings. I'd forgotten even in just a few months how much I enjoyed doing them.

But enough rambling, let me show you some photos. Cue the jingling art gallery music. (I should find away of inserting that into a blog! On second thoughts, maybe not. That jingle can get quite annoying after a while. Never mind, just hum it in your head if you want.)

Obviously all cut out of the same paper, the word 'golden' was a bit hard to see once it was all finished due to a lot of it being on top of the 50. The decision to outline the word in black was a bit of a scary one because if it didn't look right, I would have ruined the whole of the paper cut! Thankfully though, I took the gamble as I knew otherwise the word would be unreadable and it paid off.

For the frame, I went rummaging in a big charity shop that resembles more of a warehouse and found this brightly coloured piece. I thought that the contrast of red with the golden paper would look quite nice and classy. Not only that but it would coincide with my sister's present to them too. She's creating a lovely quilted bed runner in these colours with a twist in that a lot of the patches have writing on them   from the guests at the party. 

Here you can see them receiving the present. They'd better like it I thought, as there was a whole room of people watching this! 

Thankfully though I think they were over the moon with what I had created for them. I love making special presents for people who have no clue of what it might be. The excitement at seeing their reaction was definitely worth the blister that had begun to form on my thumb from holding the craft knife by a long way! 

50 Years! Wowee! Congratulations Nana and Grandad. 

A puppy visiter

The other day I had a lovely surprise when one of the new owners of a puppy popped in to say hello. It was Koura (now called Molly) who came and showed us how much she had grown in the few weeks since we had last seen her.

Jenna and Molly continued where they left off and played the whole time they were there. For this reason, it made it fairly hard to get a good photo. But, just to show you how much she had grown, I'll show you this:

A blurry action shot I know but to me it really shows how much bigger she is now! I would say that she's about half the size of Jenna now! 

And here's the cheeky little double act together. No I'm not talking about the image below but the one above! She really is exactly like Jenna when she was a puppy in both looks and personality. Oh and you know that she and another little puppy had what was called an innocent heart murmur? Well, they've both been checked out and are totally fine and no murmur is there now.

It was so great to see them all and see how close they had all become with Molly and vice versa. 

We also get lovely updates from a couple of the other new owners too. One had to give us a bit of bad news though in saying that Tilly who is now called Mary Poppins has broken her leg! A rough and tumble play with the other puppy they took ended in the sand pit lid falling on her front leg. She's fine though and is sporting a cute little blue cast till next week when it's being taken off.

Bless her! 

Well, I think that's about it on the puppy front. It's so nice getting the little updates from people. I just can't believe that we actually managed to raise 8 puppies! But, here is the proof. 

Iced hearts

Last weekend, I went back to Durham to have one last visit with my sister before she came back for the summer. Being a guest, I couldn't just turn up empty handed so of course, some baking was in order. 

Mulling over the numerous baking books that we have in the cupboard, I eventually settled on a simple but always appreciated option, biscuits. 

Ah the good old biscuit. Quick to make and sure to be a safe option when you know that there are people who have certain dietary requirements (well, safe for most people anyway). As I was travelling on the train, something that wasn't too delicate and would travel well I knew was a big factor too.

So yes, here they are as you can see, taken late at night before my journey hence the bad photo quality. Simply decorated, I think that they don't look to bad at all considering that I made them the night before almost on the spur of the moment.

I'll make a confession. The icing is actually an icing mix but this was only purchased due to the lack of icing sugar in the shop. Still, I'm not ashamed and the mix actually produced some nice icing that didn't taste funny (as it can sometimes do) at all.

Along with the stars, my younger sister and I spent a nice evening together pasting on either the chocolate or lemon icing whilst watching a film on Netflix which is a service that I'm testing out with one of those free trials at the moment. Just quickly, I'll say that I'm not really that impressed with it as it is definitely a case of watching what is there rather than you just popping something up on demand. I think I'll try the free trial on Lovefilm next!

Leaving a few biscuits with the family here, the remaining biscuits went down a storm in Durham. They tasted pretty good even if I say so myself and by the end of my visit, had been almost entirely consumed.

I have to say, I'm really enjoying being a more constant blogger on Bekah's Corner again. Even if no one really reads this, it has and is giving me great satisfaction to see all the little achievements of my life gathered in such a way as this.

I think the other reason why I'm blogging now so much on here is due to the fact that my college blog has now finished. I blogged so much there and now I think the withdrawal symptoms of that are displaying themselves in the transfer of writing on this blog instead. It seems that I just have to blog!

Koura

Well as I said in the last post, Koura went on Saturday! To complete the whole process of the puppies going, here is her official leaving photo to prove it:

After having a lovely morning playing in the garden with Jenna, her new owners came and took her away! I've since heard from them which is lovely and she's doing really well and apart from crying a bit, she's been really good apparently!

At ten weeks old, she was definitely ready to go and although it has felt a little funny for the first couple of days without any puppies, it's amazing how quickly life goes back to how it was before. With the half term week this week, I've spent my time chilling with the lovely prospect that I can actually go out without worrying who will be in for the puppies and on Monday, have actually gone on a great day out with my friend to Manchester. FREEDOM!!

Ok, so I speak maybe too soon. With this half term week falling slap bang in the middle of my final major piece at college, it has meant that I have been tied down to a certain extent with college work. But hey ho, apart from the mini evaluations that I have to do everything time I create something, it isn't actually too taxing. I won't reveal anything about my final piece yet, but I promise to show you it when it's completed!

Well, I think that's about it from me for now. Stay tuned for some crafty creations that I've been up to including a little sneak peak of a gift that I've made for someone. As they have not received it yet, I'll not ruin the surprise and put all of it on for now just in case they read this blog before their little parcel reaches them!

Hope your all having a lovely half term despite the bad weather! 

Going, going, gone!

Ok, so it's a bit of a corny title but there you go!

Well, I can't believe it. It's all nearly over! We are left with just one puppy in the house and even then, she's leaving tomorrow. It's been such a great experience raising the puppies. Hard work, I'll admit and the business side of things dealing with the people has been a bit stressful at times but definitely well worth it.

As you know, I've been taking photos of each puppy on the day that they leave. As I haven't gotten round to regularly posting on this blog, I'm posting them all at once but they've been steadily going in these past couple of weeks.

Tilly now named Mary Poppins!

Lola, now called Zula. Mary Poppins and Zula are currently living together with a lovely family till they meet up with the family's Mum where Zula will live with her in Scotland.

Milo is now called Bertie!

Clover, now called Bella.

Barney who is still has that name now!

All now with lovely people and homes! The great thing about it too is that some have been keeping in touch and sending update emails and photos. This has just been so great and hopefully, we'll even get to meet up again with some of them so Jenna can have a play with her ever growing puppies.

Speaking of Jenna and playing, this is what Jenna and Koura have been doing non stop all week. It's been such a joy to watch and I think has definitely been a big part of having just Koura with us so special. 

I think these photos sum up perfectly the relationship that these two have developed. Koura is so much like Jenna in personality and is so chilled out but does have her little cheeky side. When I say that Peppa will probably be pleased of Kouras permanent departure tomorrow, I think you get what I mean. Despite Peppa's warning growls, Koura has shown that though not quite pouncing on her, has certainly enjoyed winding Peppa up from a distance! This was exactly what Jenna used to do as a puppy.

It's actually been quite odd having Koura here which by the way is now to be called Molly. It feels like I've been warped back in time to when Jenna was little. It's certainly going to be harder saying goodbye to her than the others but I know that she'll have a great home and that in the long run, three dogs just simply wouldn't be feasible.

So there we have it! By this time tomorrow, we will be without puppies but in need of a rest. A bit downhearted but contented. The experiences of raising a litter was certainly not without it's lows but the highs have definitely been all I was hoping for. And you know what, with the amazing help of my family, I don't think that we did a bad job at all!

Would I do it again? Probably not. But I can say that I've achieved one of my dreams that helped get me through my illness and loved it at the same time!

Dear me!

I think this title is pretty apt for the slogan of my life at the moment. I just cannot believe how crazy it has been here in these past couple of weeks.

First we had our amazing 'Big Bash' party celebrating numerous family occasions including mine and Ellen's birthday! I can't believe that I'm now 20!!! It was such a great weekend and I know that a lot of people who read this blog went and helped make our party be so great!

The puppies are now nearly 9 weeks old! Typing this write now, we have currently 6 puppies still here with us after Milo went on Sunday and Nutmeg the Monday. What I'm trying to do with each puppy on the day they go, is to take a lovely last photo of them here.

Riley now called Milo

Nutmeg now called Honey

So far both puppies have settled into their new homes really well. It's so great to hear this as obviously we do try to get them sent to good homes as this gives them the best possible start in life!

It's set to be another busy weekend which isn't that much of a surprise really! By the end of this weekend, we should be left with only three puppies left as Milo, now called Bertie leaves on Sunday and Tilly, now called Mary Poppins (How great! But Poppy I think for short) leaves on Saturday. The owners of her will also be taking probably Lola and holding her for her Mum to later take too! Clover who is now called Bella will then leave next Friday

After that there is just Barney and Koura still to sell. We have someone interested in Barney so hopefully that goes well.

It's all been really manic trying to sell them all and then of course looking after the ever growing puppies but the end is nearing site. Everybody here is so so tired and though we agree we'll miss the puppies, we are looking forward to that rest period!

However, I of course still have college and things are hotting up there as I well and truly enter my Final Major Piece. This so far is going ok but as I'm so busy at home, it's meant that I'm not doing as much as I want to do. Speaking of not doing college work, I should be doing that now so I best tootle off and crack down with that whilst the puppies are still asleep!

Puppy Pictures

It's been a couple of days since I said that I would put photographs on and I've finally gotten round to sorting them now. Believe me, it was hard to tell which puppy was which given that they all look remarkably similar front on.

These collection of photos were taken to show how they had just opened their eyes properly for the first time! As I didn't want to use flash, I used a relatively slow shutter speed which was hard to use when you are trying to capture squirmy puppies. But, I'd rather have some slightly blurry photos than blind puppies from a flash any day.

I know that they'll all look the same to you (they do to me in these photos!) but I've really studied them to be able to tell you exactly who's who. Enjoy!



Barney

Clover

Koura

Lola

Milo

Nutmeg

Riley

Tilly

So there you are! Do you have any favourites?!

The puppies are here!

As I'm sure most of you know now, the puppies are here. Eight of them to be exact!

As promised, my next post would hopefully contain some puppy pictures so here they are:

Here is the first puppy being born. At this point, he was just a couple of minutes old. His arrival took us somewhat off guard though as she just produced him without any real warning!

The birth went fairly well. We had some problems with the first puppy being born and in particular the last one. It was touch and go for a while with her whether or not she would survive. However, after a bit of resuscitation from me, we managed to keep her.

I think this is one of my favourite pictures of the puppies so far. I love how they line up and suckle like this!

Here's the first born called Riley this morning having a cuddle from Jenna!

As I mentioned above, a couple of them have names already. We've now got most of the names lined up but we just have to assign them to a puppy!

These next few days are pretty important so I'm holding my breath at the moment as there is a possibility of losing some of them. For now though, they seem to be doing well so lets hope it stays that way!



Not something you see everyday!

Nature gave me the perfect opportunity yesterday lunch time to use my new camera!

A bird not normally seen in your back garden, decided that it would swoop by and eat it's lunch with us. Dad says that it's a buzzard so I'll take his word for it. I'm not that much of a twitcher but did quite enjoy trying to capture a nice shot of this pretty impressive bird of prey.

Here is the best picture that I managed to get before he then decided that his privacy was being invaded too much and flew away prey and all:

Pretty cool I thought!

Still no puppies to distract me from my work yet! Although, she has been acting very differently today so it's looking good for the birth to take place in the next couple of days. I will of course, keep you posted. Hopefully the next time I do update, it will be to show you some pictures of them safely arrived!