Goodbye Little Tooth!

Mr. Brother Cat is quite content today.  He's been Mr. Happy and Mr. Playful and Mr. Enchanting and Mr. Sleeps-on-the-couch-with-me again.  Almost without me noticing it, he had been sleeping all the time, either behind the TV or in his hammock.  He wasn't sleeping on the couch at night while I was sitting there, which is one of his favorite things to do.  I knew he had a bad tooth, because I noticed it about a month earlier.  He had a kitty "resorptive lesion."  Lucky for him, he has a mom who's a vet and pesters him constantly, looking in his mouth and such.  Most people never notice these resorptive lesions until either they're really bad or they bring their kitty in to the vet for his or her annual examination.   The treatment is to take out the tooth, which I did last Monday.  All of his other chompers were in good condition and hopefully will stay that way.  Once the socket healed up, he's been back to his normal, fabulous self!  I thought he had finally just grown up (he's five) and wasn't acting all kittenish any more, but it turns out that tooth was bothering him more than I thought.  Now he can soak up his kitty sunshine and be sociable again!

Dreamy Afternoon

It's lovely here today.  The sun is out, it's not too hot, and there's a nice June breeze stirring the leaves.  Lark needed her photo done, as I finished this dress a week or so ago but hadn't photographed it yet.  I made this dress after I found the dark turquoise velvet ribbon on etsy.  The fabric is white-on-white cotton print, although that doesn't show too well in the photograph.  The pattern is my own creation.

Hedgehog Embroidery

This is a little summer book bag for my nephew's 2nd birthday.  Inside are a few books about Skippyjon Jones!  I hope he enjoys having them read to him.

Here's a bit more detail of the embroidery.

Aren't they fun?!  The little hedgies are rolling and climbing and snoozing in the letters.  I found the alphabet in one of my Japanese craft books that I bought last year in Seattle.

Summertime Fun

There are some things everyone loves about summer, whether they are chickens or people!

Texas Bluebonnets and Crochet

Finally, I have uploaded my photograph of the next block in the State Flowers Quilt project.  I'm already WAY behind!  It's fun work, though, and easy to do on warm summer days in the hammock in the yard.

I've also been making some crocheted triangles from Beyond the Square.   I think this will be a cushion when it's done.  Another perfect project for hammock lounging!

Springtime Portraits

 

Candy tried on the dress I made for Belinda the other day.  The colors look nice on her.

And Little Duck had her portrait done today, too.

And the Wee Ducks had their photo done, today, too.  They are getting bigger!

This is the life!

They're never going to want to go back outside after this kind of spoiling!  This is Hattie and Gwennie on the couch last evening, watching TV with us.  They started out in a towel on my lap, but the other side of the couch was too interesting, so they marched over.  Of course, the blanket is now in the laundry!  Hattie is certainly a girl, because she has let out some LOUD quacks over the past few days, but Gwennie is still a mystery.  If Gwen turns out to be a boy, we'll have to come up with a new name.  They're really cute, and besides be addicted to lettuce are also addicted to green peas!

A More Cheerful State of Affairs

A nice lady sold me two Call Ducks to be pals with poor Daisy Duck, who is incredibly lonely without her Millie sister.  These guys arrived yesterday afternoon and are quite friendly (obviously!) and so cute.  I suspect them both to be girls, but won't know for a few more weeks.  It doesn't matter what gender they are as long as my Daisy loves them and they all get along.  I let Daisy take a look at them and she seemed to think they might do.  She didn't make any aggressive gestures and she quacked nice and low to them.  Once they are quacking instead of peeping, we will get them introduced properly.  If they are girls, they will be named Gwen (yellow) and Hattie (brown).  They're really sweet!  I'm sure Miss Millie would be glad that her little sister has some new pals.

Millie Duck

This was my little Millie duck, last June, when I first got her.  I got Millie to be a companion for Daisy, the wee little duck in the photo, who was lonely.  Millie came from a veterinary student who couldn't care for her any longer.

This was Millie, in July, swimming in her kiddie pool for the first time.  Below, she's with her little friend, Daisy.





Millie had a good summer and grew bigger and this was her in the fall, in her new duck run with her pool installed.  She loved to swim and play with Little Duck (Daisy).  She also loved to moodle around with her beak in the leaves and grass.  She loved to nibble on my pantlegs and she liked to quack really loudly.  She knew her name and always quacked a greeting when I pulled into the driveway.




This was my most recent picture of my little Millie duck, taken on March 31st, while she was mucking around in the leaves outside in the new fenced area I had made for the ducks and chickens.  She sort of liked the chickens and would try to roost up on top of their feed bucket so they weren't higher than her.  I'm not sure if she thought she was a chicken, or whether she just didn't want anyone to be up higher than she was.

Today Millie was killed by a hawk, while I was home and just inside, about 50 feet away.  I put them outside at about 7 AM, into their fenced area, where they go every day.  I came back in.  It was raining so I didn't go back out very quickly to check on them.  Millie had been hiding her eggs somewhere the past few days.  I went out around 9 to check on them and fill their feed bucket and Little Duck was walking around but I didn't see Millie.  I thought that I would probably finally be able to find where she was laying those eggs.  Imagine my shock and horror when I rounded the edge of the shed to see her dead on the ground with a hawk ON TOP OF HER.  It was not afraid of me and I had to run at it screaming to get it to go away after I put the chickens and remaining duck back into their run.  It looks like it pulled her out from under the edge of the shed, because her little feathers are under the shed a few feet away from where I found her.  She tried to get away from it, but it killed her anyway.  Poor little Millie.  My last look at her alive was as she marched away from me this morning when I let them out, into the fenced area with her little military gait, stamping around like she owned the yard, as always.

I wish that I had heard something and I wish that I checked on them earlier.  I can't believe that all this happened in the span of about 2 hours while I was RIGHT IN THE HOUSE a few feet away from the yard.  I should never have left them unsupervised.  Millie was a good little duck and I'll miss her and I am afraid to say that her little friend Daisy (Little) will miss her probably more than me.  Little is now all alone with only some chickens for friends.  :(

The Little Naturalist

Luke got to take a walk outside today.  He's outfitted in a new set of breeches, cotton shirt, reversible vest, and hat, and as an added bonus, the new wigs and eyes I got for him and for April arrived, so they are both sporting new eyes and hair.  I absolutely adore the shoes that Luke is wearing.  They're from Boneka and are sized for Bitty Bethany and fit him perfectly.

Belinda gets a new frock

I haven't made Belinda anything in ages.  I was inspired by the thought of blue flag irises when I made this dress:  dark purple and green.

The other doll in the last photo is Tamsin, who I haven't photographed in a long time, but she remains one of my favorite dolls.  I'm disappointed, though, that she seems out of scale with almost all the other Kish dolls of other sizes.  She looks OK with the Bitty sized dolls, and OK with the Chrysalis babies if you bear in mind that some babies are smaller than others!

Best Birthday Present Ever

I finally took some photos of my little Custom House Ange Ai Uri, who I named Luke.  He was the most surprising birthday present (in the end of February) ever--my little sister Sarah gave him to me, and I didn't expect a doll in my birthday presents at all!  I usually buy my dolls for myself, and I don't think anyone has ever given me a doll for my collection!  I was surprised and delighted!

I made the PJ's from a pattern that I modified and enlarged.  It was originally for Riley Kish.  I lengthened the legs and changed the foot piece quite a bit.  The PJ's are actually for Sarah's doll that is the same size, but I wanted to photograph them, so here are the photos.

April and Springtime

My Rosen Lied Beige, April, is wearing a new spring frock that I listed on etsy.  I love it so much I almost didn't want to list it.  It doesn't show, but there is a lining that makes a little petticoat beneath the top, and it has lace on the edge that matches the lace on her bloomers.  

It feels like spring around here today.  I had the day off to enjoy the bright sunshine, blue sky and 70 degree temperatures.  I cleaned the coop and also cleaned out the chicken runs, which were full of wet straw from a long winter.  The straw was so thick in one of the runs, there was still ICE beneath it!  It's already melted.  My red chickens are one year old today.  Hard to believe they went from this:

To this in just one year.

I had a fence installed around the half of lawn where their coop is.  They needed to be out.  We had issues all winter with Matilda, in particular, picking feathers from the other birds.  I have tried every trick out there to get them to quit, and managed to reduce it quite a lot, but they do best when they're out most of the time and don't think about boredom and picking.  They're still a delight and are funny, quirky animals, each with their own personality.  The Buffs will be 1 year old in about 2 months (May 31). 

State Flowers Embroidery Project - Maine

Over at Turkey Feathers blog, Vicki is sharing embroidery patterns, one by one, of the state flowers for each of the fifty states.  I read her blog frequently (she sold me the patterns for the embroidered baby quilt I made for my nephew, Noah).  I decided to stitch along, although I'm already way behind!  I have the first one done.  This is Maine, and the state flower of Maine is the White Pine Cone.

Think Spring

This is Riki, by Helen Kish, an 8" Chrysalis baby, dressed in a drop-waisted cotton dress with a wool felt jacket.  I listed the outfit on etsy on Thursday and it sold within 24 hours!  I was surprised that it went so fast.  I'll have to make some more things for the shop.  It seems like the shop is always empty!

Pipos Baha in the same outfit:

Before and After, a testament to a child's love

My niece loves this bunny I made for her last year.  She's loved him to pieces, literally.  He's her favorite toy and she takes him everywhere.  Her other aunt sewed him up and her daddy put a patch on the back where his fabric wore out.  I'm so glad my crafting is appreciated!

This is what I made her for her birthday this year.  I hope she loves him as much as Bunny!

I love....

I love living by a wetland.  Walking the dog this morning was a relaxing experience, as I watched the mallard ducks stick their heads straight down in the water on the pond so that all you see are funny little rears sticking up into the air and waggling duck feet.  I love the cacophony of honks that geese make when they're flying north, the way light comes through white pine needles and cones against a gray sky, and the bright trills of red-wing blackbirds, having returned recently from places south.  Even though it's gray outside, it's still an early-spring treasure of a day.

I have been working intermittently on April Cottage.  The floor is done in the kitchen.  I first started with 1" square tiles cut from the flat parts of egg cartons.  I glued them down with tacky glue.

Here they are all in place.

 Then I sealed the whole thing with three coats of matte Mod Podge.  Do not attempt to grout a floor without sealing it first!  I nearly forgot to seal it and it didn't go well.  Then I sealed it and it worked great!

Next, I used spackling compound, which  I tinted light gray, to grout the floor.  I applied it with my fingers and wiped off the excess with a damp paper towel and buffed it with a dry one.  The room is now ready for the baseboards and wainscot.

Some dress sewing

I find I take a lot of inspiration just from fabric.  And if I don't have any inspiring fabric, I don't feel like creating anything!  I found this fabric at Joann Fabrics and it's just what I was wanting for this weekend's project.  April (Rosen Lied Beige) needed a new, pretty outfit for a meetup in Ithaca in a few weeks.  This fabric was just the right thing for her.  I used patterns from the Londie Phillips book I mentioned before.  It's a great book with patterns for multiple-sized dolls.  I'll have to take a photo of my Effners wearing the dress after April is through with it.

Cottage Kitchen

The April Cottage kitchen is coming slowly along.  I have the stairs in, as seen above.  The floor tiles are ready to be glued down, and then it's time for the wainscoting and trims to be glued on.  It's rather painstaking work!

Kiley and Miki

Helen Kish's newest Riley's World dolls, Kiley (smiling) and Miki (looking sleepy on the right) are having a party celebrating Kiley's birthday!  Zsu Zse is attending.  I made Kiley's dress from a pattern in Londie Phillip's new book.  The fabric is a great vintage piece that was a freebie with an etsy order from Niesz Vintage Fabric and Design.  (Thanks for the great fabric!)  I lined it with white cotton, as the original fabric is quite sheer.  It gathers beautifully for this scale work.