Catching up on sewing up

I am desperate to start a lovely crochet throw Autumn Log Cabin Throw but before I do I have set my self the task of assembling, filling and sewing up all the FO’s I have that have either been knitted by myself, my Mother or my friend Barbara (mostly Barbara’s work as she is a prolific knitter and it is a job to keep up with her!), that has been piling up.

In the last week or so I have put together:

Floppy Dog, Jessie's Puppy (minus the clothes!), Freddy Ferret ,3 x Tabby cats , a donkey, Monkey Jemima Puddleduck, Teddy with smock & Small Clanger

Still loads to do including another Jemima Puddleduck, a Jean Greenhowe clown, farmer rabbit, more cats, a teddy and a Jean Greenhowe traditional doll.

Halloween

Let sleeping dogs lie!

Have you heard the expression ‘Let sleeping dogs lie’ – well greyhounds are no exception to the rules. Here is a selection of photos of Tillie & Rocky doing what they do best!

Chicken Run!

Need we say anymore?

The Big Knit

Mailed off today the 23 hats I knitted for Innocent's Big Knit 2009. I missed the first deadline but have since learned that they have extended the deadline to 30th October.


My personal favourite!

Rocky & Ruby

Not blogged for awhile but I am back again now.  Rocky our new foster greyhound lad is settling in nicely.  Cat training is going well and he is fine with Ali in the house but if he sees him outside he is still excitable.  Took him to the vets this morning to have his follow up booster jabs and he behaved impeccably.  He is still unsure and barky with strange dogs if approached on the lead but I think this is all talk as most of the time his tail is wagging.  He has put on a couple of kilos and is finishing all his dinner up now.  Yesterday we caught the narrow gauge railway at Wroxham and travelled the 3 miles to the next station at Coltishall and then walked back home to Wroxham along the footpath.  Rocky enjoyed all the new smells and was not fazed about the distance walked at all but I think he was glad to climb into bed once home.

I haven’t done much in the garden lately apart from clear one of the raised beds and dig it over.  I barrowed two loads of lovely crumbly leaf mould on to it yesterday.  I need to get some horse muck on as well then I can put the winter cover on and let the worms do the rest ready for spring.  I still have things growing in the other beds such as leeks, a few beans left, still got courgettes growing, carrots, chillies and spring onions. 

           

I have finished another crocheted greyhound – this time called Ruby.  I have already started the next one which will be a plain fawn one.  In between I have quickly crocheted some hats.

   

Last week I mailed a cheque off to Action for Greyhounds for £1008.08 which was the total of my fundraising from Sep 2008 to Sep 2009.  This was raised selling knitted toys and items, second-hand books, handmade cards and from the collection box at the boatyard.  A big thank you to my Mother and friend Barbara for the knitting help, everyone who donated books, to Wilma for the handmade cards and to everyone else who donated money or purchased something.  The money is going to a very worthwhile cause – campaigning to stop greyhound racing and to promote greyhounds as pets.

It’s supposed to be Autumn

Last week was the start of Autumn but here in sunny Norfolk you wouldn’t think it.  Again today dawned clear and bright and we had lovely blue skies all day and warm sun.  After doing a few chores in the morning (log chopping for the winter) we had some lunch and headed off to Cromer on the North Norfolk Coast.  We had a drink and a piece of carrot cake sitting on the verandah of the Rocket Cafe overlooking the beach.  Nigel took some photos of the crab boats hauled up on the beach particularly the only wooden one amongst them, all the other being made of fibre glass.

                         
There were a few brave souls frolicking in the water, loads of people sitting on the beach, people flying kites and dog walkers.  We walked along the beach which was a bit pebbly as the tide was well in and so not much of the lovely sand was exposed which makes walking easier.  Nigel was very brave and paddled about in the surf but I preferred to keep my feet dry.  Further on towards Overstrand we let Rocky our new foster greyhound off the lead as there were not too many other dogs about.  On the lead he has shown a little aggression to other dogs so we were being very vigilant about meeting other dogs.  Mostly he stayed close by which was good as his recall is virtually not existent.  Tillie as always ran about like a maniac until she wore herself out.  We nearly made it to Overstrand but decided to turn back just before and by the time we reached the parked car we were all glad to clamber in for a sit down.

                          
                        

Greyhounds Galore

Yesterday we picked up our new foster boy Rocky.  He had been adopted 2½ years ago but due to a relationship breakup the lady was unable to keep him any longer.  Rocky is a super, gentle giant, much bigger than Tillie but very quiet and laidback. 


After picking him up we dropped into the summer fair and dog show at Worsted hosted by  Kerry Greyhounds the charity where we adopted Tillie from and who I usually foster for. This time I am fostering for Action for Greyhounds.  I entered Rocky into to the Bonniest Boy category but unfortunately he didn’t get placed.  We then had a picnic and walked the dogs a little way on the Weavers Way, stopping to look at the derelict lock at Ebridge and the also derelict mill nearby. 

               
Once we got home we went about showing Rocky all the garden and house and introducing him to Ali the cat.  Rocky was VERY interested in him so we will have to take that relationship slowly.  He is used to living with a cat but obviously it is different with a new cat.  I had to do some jobs in the garden and Rocky had a lovely time wandering about inspecting and sniffing every inch outside.  The chickens he didn’t seem bothered in at all.  We had a bit of a restless night with him which is to be expected and I had to get up and let him outside twice but on the whole he did really well with his first night away from his old home.
    
Today Sophie the greyhound was also dropped round to the yard for a couple of days by a friend who has to go into hospital for a couple of days, so we have quite a pack to look after for a while. After work (by the way they all come to work with us!) we walked them up the Bure Valley Railway footpath even letting Rocky off the lead.  Once we were home they all polished off them food and are all now comatose whilst I type.