Kitty invasion!

Today was a very, very good day because today we went to the RSPCA to collect our two little kittens.

Dear friends and family, please meet Lilith:

From October November 2010

And her [possibly] sister, Esme:

From October November 2010

Currently, they are chasing each other from the living room into the lean-to, but earlier today, they said hello to L.

From October November 2010

Explored the various ledges of the house:

From October November 2010

Tasted (and, it seems, liked) corn crisps:

From October November 2010

Fought the dasterdly mouse:

From October November 2010

Or, rather more accurately, Lilith fought the mouse while Esme looked on:

From October November 2010

Esme found it a bit frightening:

From October November 2010

But bravely stuck out a paw:

From October November 2010

While Lilith contemplated the desireability of the great outdoors.

From October November 2010

Tutorial: A wizard's hat

It's that time of year again! Halloween! And so, in the spirit of the season, here is the Quick and Easy Mage's Hat.

Requirements:
-Half a metre of blue felt
-Pins
-Sewing machine
-Thread
-Bits of yellow felt
-Small piece of something moon-like
-Gardening wire
-Tape measure

Cut a quarter or so of a circle from the felt. I made mine with a 21 inch radius.

From October November 2010

Cut slits. Mine are every 4.5 inches, to a height of 5 inches.

From October November 2010

Cut as many triangles as you have slits. I made mine quite big so I could play around with how upright the brim would be.

From October November 2010

Pin and sew.

From October November 2010

Next, cut the astronomical objects, and pin them into place. Sew (I used it to try out my handy-dandy applique stitch). Finally, it's time to sew both of the far-end sides together. It should look like a proper hat now.

From October November 2010

Now it's time to hem the brim. Leave enough room to insert the wire.

From October November 2010

Thread the gardening wire through the hem for added stiffness.

From October November 2010

And voila! A hat perfect for prestidigitation....

From October November 2010

Or reading up on the news....

From October November 2010

Summer vs. winter

L. and I went for a very brisk walk yesterday on the nearby hills, and autumn was definitely in the air.

From October November 2010

From October November 2010

From October November 2010

From October November 2010

.....And then we came home to our garden, which seems to be under the delusion that it is still summer.
My annuals are still growing and blooming:

From October November 2010

The lavender seems to believe it can put another crop out:

From October November 2010

The roses are still blooming:

From October November 2010

From October November 2010

(Although, admittedly, they are starting to look a little tired)
The freshly-planted rhubarb has put on some greenness:

From October November 2010

And most shockingly of all, the fuschia has decided it isn't dead after all, and is blooming madly:

From October November 2010

L. will no doubt come to regret his decision to buy me a sewing machine

Our house came to us with pleeeenty of curtains. Unfortunately, most of them are very ugly. So, I've been looking for replacements for the past six months, but with very little success. I've been especially keen to replace the 'modesty' curtain in the upstairs hallway -- horrible synthetic mesh with bizarre blue patches. However, I've had no success at all in finding something that would look better....

Until last weekend, when L. bought me my most coveted sewing machine, and I found just the material I was looking for (it was a truly magnificent birthday weekend).

The old curtain served as the pattern....

From Briar Crescent

And then it was a simple matter of hemming and ironing:

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And ta-da!

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From Briar Crescent

Our modesty is now preserved in style!

Lean-to re-build: the homecoming

L. is on the plane home after a whole 5 weeks halfway across the globe doing Very Important Things. I've really missed him and I can't wait to show him the lean-to's progress.

When he left, the lean-to was just a plan:

From Briar Crescent

And a very bare foundation:

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But things have changed quite a lot, both outside:

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And in:

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From Briar Crescent

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I can't wait to show off the progress!

Lean-to re-build: job done....mostly

Well, the lean-to is almost done. The plaster has been applied....

From Briar Crescent

From Briar Crescent

And dried oh, so slowly! I was itching to paint, but was a good DIY-er and waited until it was appropriately dry. But it was a very slow process.

From Briar Crescent

In the meantime, I sanding the brick wall a bit so the wall would look much nicer when we paint over the horrible green.

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But, as you can see, some imperfections stayed.

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Here is the first coat of white. I had to water down the paint a bit to encourage it to fill all the little holes and cracks.

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And last night, I finally got the whole room painted.

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Two coats, and still a little patchy.

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And the green still glows through a bit....

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But, I'm going to leave it for now until we decide on a colour. I thought we might keep it white, to make it nice and bright, but, well, the white is actually too bright and my eyes are even wistfully thinking back to the horrid green....

From Briar Crescent

But for now, it'll do.