Time for some Cat Photos me thinks.....

 Merlin - sniffing out a barbeque in the vicinity....

 Mickey - your pincushion looks nothing like a cat....

 Hutchie - Feed me now!

 Billyboy - deep in thought....

Archie - my camoflage is working.....

Have a good week all, keep cool and keep smiling.... 

PS Other captions welcome!

Blogger's Block and Other Animals

 Does anyone else suffer from Blogger's Block or have I just made up the condition.  Do you know that 'I have nothing worth saying' feeling, everything seems so minor to mention.  The thought that nobody will be interested in that and then the days go by and before you really realise it you can no longer hold your head up as a blogger, you're verging on being an ex-blogger ....  That's when your internet friends step in and offer encouragement and support, understanding your blight, having been there etc.  So thank you to all my blogging buds for the gentle push I needed and here's hoping that you'll be encouraged to continue blogging as well.

The lovely cookie above was made by one of the nicest library customers we have.  She makes them to sell for World Lupus Day, which is apparently today.  It is no more, I've eaten it and it was delicious.  I find it so lovely that there are people in the world willing to give up their time and effort to help others and that this lady made a special effort to come in to see me, as I'd loved last year's cookie so much!

 The cookie helped stop my craving to go back to Ilkley, North Yorkshire, where I visited earlier this week, stopping off at the world famous Bettys Tea Rooms.  A delightful cup of tea and a cake were the order of the day.

 I found a lovely victorian shopping arcade but sadly there was only one shop open in there, a sad sign of the economic times.

 The display of tulips around this church was amazing, and more amazing as I don't particularly like tulips or the colour yellow!

 We went over the moors, no sign of Heathcliff  I'm afraid

 and stopped off in Tadcaster, the home of John Smiths Brewery to partake of some fish and chips.  The batter is always so amazing in Yorkshire and the haddock from Kirkdale Fisheries was no exception, so light and crispy.

 I've been putting my extensive wallpaper sample collection to good use, decorating the chimney breast in my bedroom to show off the fireplace

 and papering a wall in the kitchen to try to increase the chances of selling my house, yup I hope to be on the move and escape to the country, but more on that, no doubt, in upcoming posts.

 Mickey remains indifferent to all the hustle and bustle going on around him.

 Merlin was just intent on getting some rays on the sunny windowsill.

 Hutchiebaby picked up some rays on the entrance hall floor

 and Billyboy insisted on supervising the paper hanging.

Archie was having a laze in the garden and I'm going to take a leaf out of his book this weekend!

Hope you  have a lovely weekend whatever you're up to!

Catching up with Billyboy and friends

All that blogging yesterday and I didn't mention my boys once - shock, horror. That will never do, so without further ado may I present little Billyboy!

He's having a bit of trouble out on the mean streets and in the garden, some cat is picking on him and he ended up at the vets with an abcess under his chin. I think the expression says it all, he's ready to leap from the basket, invincible now he's had his shot of antibiotics. Let me at him!

I thought I'd try to capture a few spring shots in the garden but this is the only one he'd pose for

then he was off, too much to do to be posing.

Someone mention posing??! Is the camera on? Point it my way!

Merlin is always up for a pose, pass the shades please :)

The big old boy, Mickey, is notoriously difficult to photograph as he is mostly curled up like a big russian hat, snoring but managed to catch him showing his fangtastic side with a cat nip bag.

Is it safe to come out yet? Hutch is still shy and nervous but he's slowly getting more adventurous.

He's a super old boy, cheeky in a very quiet way and keeps me company watching the tv at night. Absolutely loves his cat milk and he very nearly runs for it, he just manages a quick waddle, he really is a complete pudding of a cat.

Archie was 4 last weekend and continues to be a delight and a total gent. I still can't believe someone abandoned him, he's a super cat.

Talking of abandoning things, the needlepoint cushion at the back of Billyboy was put in a rag bag for disposal! Ok, it has a small stain on the velvet back but really! Luckily my sister-in-law knows how I love recycling old fabrics and saved it for me.

I was going to applique the floral design to a denim skirt but then thought it would look good on the cat chair in the garden room.

I'm still collecting flower paintings for the garden room, getting quite a collection now, but still plenty of wall space to go :)

A quick shot out of the french doors from the garden room. A lot of tidying and prettying up needed in the garden but lots of plants coming up, bursting forth. I'm hoping to spend some time out there at the weekend when hopefully I'll have finished decorating the bathroom. Gosh I ache, some of the positions I've had to get into today to paint behind the bath you wouldn't believe, lol. Hope you've enjoyed this furry update, happy purrs till next time!!

Ocean ATC Swap

I heard a thud on my door mat earlier and was delighted to find my ATCs from the Ocean Swap I did on Roses on the Table in July. I just love the variety of different interpretations and media used by the ladies there. Now I've got to find more room to display them, lol.

My faithful companion Mickey, my old boy, joined me for a bit in the garden as I sat reading. He and the rest of them are finding this hot and humid weather a bit too much, with a lot of flaking out and lying in the shade.

Bill is keeping me company now, tired out from his day down by the river. Somehow he's lost his whole collar this time, normally it's just his name tag, he's lost lots and lots of them. I keep spares in a drawer so he won't be bell-less for long. Mice of the world rejoice! But it seems he's more interested in flies at the moment, yuk.

Typical Sunday Afternoon

Archie is adorning the shower mat, sprawled out on his back.....

Mickey is curled up asleep on his favourite comfy chair in the dining room....


Billyboy is asleep on the bed, clutching is tail, ahhhh.....

I'm tinkering around with paint, paper and my sewing machine.....

And Merlin has taken the veil, stretched out on the studio window behind the voile curtain. All in all a lazy, laid back, Sunday afternoon x

Lucky Me

I had this tonic of an ATC come through my letterbox yesterday. I won it in Laura of Artfully Musing's monthly drawer. Do pop over to her blog and have a look at the wonderful work she does and she showcases others work as well. I love this ATC and will have to look for a suitably grand place for it to be displayed.


Out in the garden things are growing rapidly. I still get a kick out of my seedlings coming up, no matter how many times I see it. Here I've got beetroot Bulls Blood - grown for it's leaves in salads, dwarf kale and italian cabbage to keep up my iron levels in the winter, lol, all to be grown in amongst my flowers and shrubs.

It's hard to believe that in the space of a few short months it's gone from this.....

To this rather uninspiring bald look.....

To this, full and lush, with green and flowers everywhere. Still got to mend my arbour where the front support came off, luckily no one underneath when the wood split and then thinking of some sort of hanging for it...... more to come on that

My Mary Rose rose was the first one out

Followed this week by my lovely Zephirine Drouhin, clambering nearly to the top of the archway in only it's second season. Both of them have incredible scent but I have yet to smell them - I'm still blocked with this cold, so looking forward to having a good old sniff of these :)

Look who I spotted lurking amongst the chives, my old boy Mickeylove. He does tend to nibble the chives and the bamboo. 'You maybe black and white but you're not a panda!' I can be heard crying quite regularly, wonder what the neighbours make of that!

Definitely turned a corner with the old cold lurgy thing and feeling a lot more chipper. My computer didn't mind me coughing etc so I gave this little old blog a bit of a revamp. Let me know what you think all you lovely readers out there. I've also been able to catch up my telly viewing, one day just slumped in front of iplayer and watched 5 episodes of Spiral - anyone else a fan?

And more importantly pay visits to my favourite blogs, lots of beautiful blogs and bloggers out there. Blogging has opened up a whole new world for me, finding like-minded people, on the same wavelength and sharing our art, snippets of our lives, triumphs and tribulations. If you've been thinking about blogging, do it, just jump right in and go for it, you won't regret it. Maybe that's just too much at the moment but maybe make contact by commenting on a blog for the first time, go on, dip that toe in, I dare you :)

Sunday in the Garden

The bluebells are finally coming out and it was the perfect day for a bit of work around the garden. I've put in foxgloves and oriental poppies, both I hope will self-seed.

The cherries are in blossom and really hoping for a bumper harvest of morrellos this year; last year's cherries dropped off in a really dry spell.

Just adore this red crab apple blossom, wonderfully vibrant.


I've also planted a miniature lilac. I just had to buy it down the garden centre this week, as it reduced me to tears as my old cat Freddie used to love lying in the one I had at the old house so I bought it in memory of him. It smells divine.

Of course I was working under supervision and my work was scrutinised throughly by Archie,

then Mickey checked that the cat walk-ways across the bed were still accessible despite the influx of plants,

and Merlin checked out the newly pressure-washed decking and found it perfectly adequate for a bit of rolling in the sunshine!