Patchwork quilt and a cat!

Over at Inspiration Lane there was a challenge to choose something from the 'Pottery Barn' and base a layout on the item.  I chose this beautiful heritage log-cabin quilt and below is my layout, which includes a photo of us with our friends from California when they visited us in Scotland.

I've used this photo of Jenny the cat before, but no apologies for that, taken a few months before she died, it was the last time she really looked well enough for photographs.  The kit is Alter Me by Joyful Heart Designs, the stitching I've also used before and comes from 'Neutrality' from DSD by Athena.  This layout is for a numbers challenge at Inspiration Lane, where a certain number of papers, elements, photos etc are specified.

Goodbye Jenny

We took Jenny to the vet first thing this morning and she was put to sleep. She was 17 and painfully thin, over the last month she had deteriorated considerably and had not eaten properly for a week. It was kinder to let her go now than have her carry on in such a state.

I would rather remember her when she was plump and sleek with her beautiful pink nose. Here she is sitting on my paperwork with a self-satisfied look on her face in April 2008.

Happy Birthday Jenny

Jenny Cat is 17 today.

Jenny

Jenny has been through a lot in the last few months. She is beginning to recover and, for a 16 year old cat with both her thyroid glands removed, she is really looking quite good!

New Felt Bag

The felting session that included making Dicky Bert was really started in order to make a felt handbag/purse for a friend and work colleague who is leaving this week. She had asked me about making one for her, but wasnt' sure what colour she wanted and it never got made. So I decided to surprise her with this bag which I think will go well with the colours she wears.
As you can see, I had an 'assistant' photographer!

The Eagle has landed!

Well, not quite an Eagle - ha ha ha! Over on Bubbly Scrumptious there is a Bubbly Fun Challenge to create a felt bird, read about it HERE As I make my own felt from fibres, I felt I had to rise to this challenge and remembered a project in a book by talented felter Ewa Kuniczak for making a felt bird. It was a considerable challenge as I have never done any wet felt scupting, but I was really pleased with the way it came together, even if it did take me a couple of hours!!!
I had even more fun staging these photographs of Dicky Bert, as he has been named by the Bubbly Funk Chat Room crew (some of their suggestions would have brought the wrong sort of traffic to my blog lol), and you can see by the sky just what a glorious day it was yesterday.
I've promised to do a little more trickery with these photos, so come back tomorrow and see what I have manged to do.

Chic Life - Sardine Challenge!

This Week's Challenge Item (3/1 - 3/7) - Sardines:

This week's challenge ingredient scares me the most from the original article that kicked off this challenge, "The 11 Best Foods You Aren't Eating". I'm not sure I've ever knowingly consumed sardines. I'm actually afraid to eat this ingredient, so it will be interesting to see if how I'm able to work it into any meals.

I had to rise to this challenge as I am really rather fond of sardines. Mainly because, when we were kids and we had been out all day on a Saturday, my mum used to make Sardines on toast and then Cinnamon sugar on toast for pud!

I found this recipe at Cooks.com for Sardine Hero's and made them for lunch today. I like to buy the Sardines in Brine as they have less calories than the ones in oil and I really don't like sardines in tomato sauce.

Sliced onions and green pepper sauted till soft.

Sub rolls toasted , then the mashed sardines piled on top.
Top that with the cooked peppers and onions and some sliced tomatoes.
A little sprinkling of grated cheese and back under the grill.
Then put the toasted top of the roll back on and press down, slice across and serve.

Jenny likes sardines too :)

HS:MS:HS - SPS

Here is my DH and our kitty-cat Jenny. When she was a kitten she was very flighty and it is only in the last couple of years (she is 16 now!) that she will jump on your knee and sometimes, as you can see, even onto your shoulder!

Cats Birthday

My cats, James and Jenny were 16 on the 5th of November. An easy birthday to remember, I'm not sure if the fireworks set off their mother cat's labour, mind you I still managed to forget that it was their birthday until the 6th! However, as they live a fabulous life with a farm to play in, and all the best seats in the house, so don't feel sorry for them.

Anyway, I thought I would celebrate their Sweet Sixteenth with a couple of LOs using pictures I took at in the sunshine of last weekend.

All the digital papers and elements are from the Scrap Orchard November Mystery Mega.

Sun Worshipper

Jenny squeezed herself between my basil plant and the jug of flowers to find the sunniest spot. There was a cold north wind blowing outside, but gloriously warm just inside the window, perfect for basking cats.

Two versions of the same thing!

Yesterday morning the sun was out and it was really warm. So we took our cooked breakfast outside and sat on the patio. The cows were grazing in the field making an idyllic pastoral scene behind us and Jenny the Cat decided to join us on the table. She was ejected as soon as the photo was taken!

The top LO is for Digital Craft Cottage, you can only post digi LOs using their kits or your own designs. The kit is Bugs and Butterflies by Muriel.

This LO is for Scrap Orchard - Apple Cart Challenge. The kit is provided free and you post it in their gallery. It was quite challenging to use only the pieces in the kit as there were not all that many. All the other LOs seem to have A's on their report cards, so I wanted to do something different, the report card is for Jenny and she 'could do better' in many areas hee hee! I did this LO first, then recreated it using the DCC pieces so I could post there too.

On a slightly lighter note...

My other cat is an accountant!
I'd left my box file open on the chair while I was doing something and Jenny came along and sat in it! Look how unrepentant she is as well, cheeky minx.

You can just spot the corner of a Bubbly Funk pizza box in this picture - that's the one from my April Kit, not the one that arrived today full of the new goodies that Caroline has added to the shoppie. Hee hee hee