Dolly's Dreamings

A Big Day

Its a big day today for all sorts of reasons - Koda and Indy and Pickleberrypop

 

Koda and Indy were dropped off at the vets at 8.30 for their operation. I know that for boys it is a much smaller operation than for girls but we were still worried - not least because Indy had late descending testicles and he is also so small we were worried there might be an underlying condition. But by 10.30 we had had a phone call to say they were awake and happy and we could collect them at lunch time and they were all microchipped and neutered. We have both been very tense but can relax once they are home. Our poor boys - bless them.

 

It is also a big day at Pickleberrypop as the new releases for the Berry Big Deals are released. Lovely colours and designs again this month and, as always, the kit image is linked to the store if you click it - and I need to be transparent and say I get to work with these kits free of charge as part of the creative team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do go and check out the deals in store available for the next two days.

 

Today I am thankful for

 

• our boys having successful surgery

 

Just another kitty day

We are loving having the Boyz - they bring us great joy - and worry. Indy is so intrepid and puts himself in all sorts of situations. We seem to finally have settled their tummies - long may that last. And today, having exhausted them with play, we saw something we didn't think we would ever see again. About 7 years ago Nigel made bunk beds from two dolls beds and Kira and Fiki loved them. So this was today

 

 

 

 

 

 

They also had their own 12 x 12 album covered today so are lucky boys (they didn't seem impressed to be honest)  It is a beautiful velveteen fur fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

And some new scrapping

I have been playing with Vicki Bourtin Storyteller as part of my DT work for A Trip Down Memory Lane

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 and this one was a challenge I struggled with on UKS but finally amanged

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• lovely days
• the rain stopping so we could walk
• the joy of the boyz

 

 

Happy New Year

I hope everyone's New Year has started well.

Ours dawned cold and frosty but it was beautiful and so we went for a walk in our 'back yard' - the heath next door. We are very good - we allow others to use 'our' back yard!

 

I even scrapped the pictures

 

 

I have also been scrapping the cats of course. The page above was for a UKS challenge I am hosting and so is the one below for another challenge I am hosting. I am determined to do all I can to make UKS a huge success this year.

 

 

 

 

 

and of course we cannot let little Indy be left out

 

 

and finally - as I cannot share the digital pages yet - this is another page made for a scraplift challenge - yes I still have plenty to scrap from our road trip!

 

 

 

 

The cats continue to make good progress, though still nervy and jumpy. we have started a training regime. Indy was exemplary having his tiny needle sharp claws clipped yesterday - no way can we do that with Koda yet. They are also starting to learn the 'come to the finger' command and have the food bell cracked. Little things but they make life simpler for all of us.

 

Today I am thankful for

• a whole new year
• scrap time
• lovely walks
• two beautiful boys

 

 

 

Warming up but more sad news

It appears the cold weather has based and we are back to a mild December.

 

It seems that 2020 isn't quite done with its sadness yet. I had a phonecall on Wednesday morning to let me know that my wonderful wonderful cousin Joyce had passed away. I grew up knowing her as Aunty Joyce because she was only 9 years younger than my Daddy. She was an amazing lady who had a challenging life as she raised 12 children. She had so much love to give though and whilst times may have been hard their home was filled with love. I remember visiting many times when I was a little girl. As I grew up I began to appreciate why my Daddy thought so highly of her and held her up as an example of the right way to live and the sort of person to aspire to be. She was an incredible lady who I loved very much and I also admired her. She was inspirational in so many ways to so many people. I think of her children as my cousins though in truth it was Joyce who was the cousin. She was very much the matriarch if the family and was the keeper of family history, tracing our family tree back and back and back. I was pleased we had been up to see her a few times but the distance made it difficult and I didn’t see her nearly as often as I would like to. We kept saying that as soon as all this nonsense over Covid was over we would go up and see her. Sadly it was meant to be. I feel so sorry for her children and grandchildren as her loss had left a huge hole in their lives and I am thankful that she was healthy until the end and passed quickly with minimal suffering. One thing is sure, Angel has another angel. I love you and miss you Joyce. Xx

Nigl had work on Thursday and I went with him for some of it and we ended up at Lulworth which was lovely and quiet - much nicer than when filled with summer crowds.Today we went for lunch at the beach - a picnic int he car - and then a lovely walk.

 

 

 

 

 

I have new scrapping to share - some for the December daily and others that are just scrapping

 

This one focusses on music and the flap lifts to show pictures of Lulwotrh

 

 

today focusses on food

 

 

This was made for the teal challenge on FTLOPP

 

 

This was a just because it needed to be made

 

 

and this uses a new collection called Boho Christmas by Jumpstart Designs

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• knowing my cousin Joyce who enriched my life
• gentle days
• the ocean - I love that we have not just any coast but an amazing coast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Good news and the Bad and it is all so wrong

 

We have had another very bad week with Kira and we know we are nearing the end. We took her back to the vets and he had two more things we are trying but he agreed with us. She is 17 and has been a loyal, loving wonderful little girl and she doesn't deserve to suffer like this. I think if she looked ill, or couldn't move or was being sick all the time it would feel different. But she looks well - her coat is lovely, she is getting very thin but she just cannot eat. There is nothing obviously physically wrong that he can see, no teeth issues, throat issues etc. But it appears it is neurological. When she was at least trying to eat there was lots of head tossing and spitting and tongue gaging like she just cannot chew. We have tried everything – absolutely everything including liquidising food. But no – she just cannot eat. We are now feeding her the Felix soup which she will drink. She cannot eat any of the solid bits but she can manage that but obviously that is not enough to sustain her. In addition to that she had dementia and there are times she just prowls and howls – really really howls. It is like she doesn’t know where she is or what is happening. We asked the vet if some of it could be she is looking for Fiki and he agrees it is possible.

Our aim now is to keep her going until Monday when we can see our own vet again and we all agree that that is probably the time we have to say that she deserves some peace. It even hurts to tyoe it and most of today and yesterday was spent in tears. We are not stupid; like all responsible pet owners we know that one day we will have to make that ultimate decision for them to let them go if it is best for them. But we are also fur mommy and daddy and she is our little girl and it is killing us. We have been battling this since the end of August and she picks up a little then drops back and each drop is a little worse than it was before. Today she had been out of bed – our bed where she is wrapped up in her blanket on the end of the bed – to drink her soup but goes straight back there which is so unlike her and we feel indicates she is in pain and unhappy. Having lost Fiki just 8 weeks ago this feels like one blow too far and like it is just too much to bear.

To compound it all we had other news yesterday. We have been on waiting lists for two new babies as we know the wait for proper Bengal kittens from genuine breeders can be a year or more. We knew we would never be catless and debated getting a rescue cat or older cats but in our heart of hearts we wanted Bengals and they can be a bit tricky if you don’t have them from babies. Ours have been exceptional in that they are total lap cats and friendly and amenable. There are too many bengals that can’t be handled. So we knew we wanted Bengal kittens. We didn’t care what their markings were like it is the breed temperament we want – yes all that craziness that comes with these very special cats. Well we heard yesterday that just the right cats had turned up for us and it couldn’t have been at a worse time – or a better time. They are beautiful and both boys. They were born the day Fiki died – how odd is that – and just like Kira and Fiki they were from a litter of 6 and had to be handfed as the Mom wasn’t producing milk. Just like Fiki and Kira the breeder lost three of them. We had a long long chat with the breeder and we have seen videos of them now and they will be ours just before Christmas. Yes we are thrilled that we will have a new fur-ever family but we don’t want anyone to think we are just replacing our beloved babies, because that isn’t what it is about. We hoped they might both be here to enjoy the new babies but it doesn’t look like even Kira is going to make it.

I held her in my arms yesterday and told her she could feel easier knowing Mommy was going to be OK because we both feel she has been more affectionate than ever since Fiki died partly because she needed it and partly because she knew we did. So here at the moment our hearts are breaking and we also feel we cannot face being excited about the new kittens as it is too much to cope with. I am sure once we have made the decision about Kira that we know we have to make for her sake, we will adjust and have some joy in anticipating our new arrivals, but just now it is hard here.

Sorry – if you made it through that then jolly well done!

I have some scrapping to share - though I confess I haven't done much as not in a scrappy place - but these were new releases at Pckleberrypop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and a couple of paper pages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

my wonderful little girl Kira who has brought us so much joy and so much worry. 

 

A recommendation and some prettiness

Firstly I want to recommend a book. I am not sure if I have recommended a book on here before but I feel THAT strongly.

I am an avid reader and enjoy a wide thriller is always high on my list of favourites. 

I have just read this... the pace moved continuously throughout the book and I cried - a lot.

 

 

The story of a school lockdown event - it is fabulous and is only 99p on Kindle too.

 

I have some scrapping to share too ... I have been playing with Pinkfresh Studio Days of Splendour which I was sent as part of the Design Team at A Trip Down Memory Lane

 

 

 

An unexpected day outing Shaftesbury - no real reason other than we are retired and that is where our noses led us

 

 

 

 

 

and also this one for the never-ending Coast to Coast album

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• wintery days and cosy clothes
• friends on line
• scrapping goodies - those pizza boxes never fail to thrill

Halloween costumes that nailed it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and more amazing tattoos. Personally I would never want a tattoo but I recognise the wonderful art in these.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and finally I leave you with this

 

Back to feeling OK

It took a few days to get the drugs out of my system (gosh that sounds bad doesn't it!) but I feel far more myself today. I had yet another needle yesterday as it happened to be my scheduled flu jab. I know I had a different vaccine than Nigel as he had the over 65 one (lol at that!) but he had no reaction and my arm came up in a hard sore hot red lump again, but heck, that just shows my body is busy making antibodies. So hopefully I will soon be protected against the flu and in another 7 days I will be happy that I escaped catching COVID in hospital (but sssh don't tell anyone I have been coughing a lot today.

 

I have been scrapping today but I cannot share yet as they are the new Berry Big Deals for next week and oh my, the designers have excelled themselves. Watch out for them on Wednesday.

 

But I do have these to share

This was such a lovely photo of Carly and it shows the love she has for the birds and they have for her

 

 

 

This is an odd photo but is there to tell a story. It was the hotel room where I had my accident, slipping in the shower quite badly. It made me feel very old and very sore.

 

This was a challenge on UKS and showcases the beauty of the lodges at night when we stayed at The Big Cat Sanctuary

 

and finally, another challenge and story page telling of how Nigel met a genuine red-neck out in the boonies.It's not a great artistic page but to me iit is what scrapping is all about - telling a story and keeping a memory

 

 

Today I am thankful for

• feeling more like myself
• a nice walk between stormy downpurs

 

Scrap therapy

Whenever I am worried or stressed scrapping is my therapy of choice. I can lose myself in pretty paper for a while and that is just what I have done today. My teamies and I have been mini cropping and I have had fun playing.

 

This one took ages to find and print the map and draw the route and then sort, crop and print 36 little photos, but it will make a nice title page

 

Another of Chicago

 

 

This was a scraplift and I loved the original so much I pretty much copied it

 

and another travel page - this one on Route 66 and a building they used as inspiration for Cars and Carsland.

 

 

It's been fun.

Today I am thankful for

• the care of a good friend - I am very lucky
• my wonderful husband
• finally finding food Kira will eat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ups and the downs

It's been quite a roller coaster here. I have had more hospital trips than I am comfortable with and more to come.

The test results from the first round were not as positive as I hoped and so I have to have another procedure under a general to determine the next course of action is any. It is all being done under the fast referral for cancer scare scheme and I am hoping the next big tests show it is nothing sinister and I can get on with life without the burden of the worries that are weighing us down at the moment.

All prayers and well wishes gratefully received.

As always I consol myself with scrapping

 

Now we are heading for another lockdown - not that it will change life much for Nigel and I - I am trying to finish the Coast to Coast trip so I can get on with another porject I am excited to start in lieu of a holiday.

 

This is the old Route 66 which still runs through the centre of old Albuquerque and has some gorgeous old adobe motels.

 

 

Murals were a huge feature of Route 66 and many were utterly stunning. These were on the side wall of Big Vern's Steakhouse - a Route 66 icon - in Shamrock and we loved them. We saw the other buildings depicted whilst in town.

 

 

and this last one is no work of art but just had to be recorded. There are 2 old famous 'stores' on Route 66 that you can still visit. We travelled this leg on I40 and the signs, on both sides of the road, stretched for miles and were bizarre. The sold, so it seemed. everything from knives and pottery to girl stuff (what the heck) and fireworks. We expected a huge huge place but it was a glorified gas station in all honesty. The first was Flying C Ranch which this one is about. The other was Clines Corner - slightly larger.

 

Today I am thankful for

• slightly dryer weather though still not nice. Poor kids have had a horrid half term

Stay safe everyone, away from the virus and with your loved ones where possible xx

and some amazing animal photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quite an odd few days - the good and the bad

Well it's been an odd few days here. I had some issues requiring the doctor which flagged up concerns under the two week system. I was waiting to hear when I got a phone call early yesterday morning to say they had a cancellation and could I go that afternoon, which I duly did. It was reasonably painful and unpleasant but I left in one piece and non the wiser just with more tests ordered which I should hear about in a few weeks. However yesterday evening the phone rang and it was the hospital to say they had another cancellation and could I go in for more tests today, which I duly did.

I am hoping that the investigations so far have ruled out anything sinister and I won't have to proceed to the next stage which is more invasive. We will see. However, I am impressed at how quick they were and, as always, impressed with the NHS as a whole.

 

I also had some shocking news that a girl I used to work with who became a friend as well as a colleague died suddenly yesterday. Much younger than me, it was shocking news. Hold your loved ones extra tightly because none of us know what is round the corner

 

But the good news is it is Nigel's birthday and so as well as the hospital - not the way we would have chosen to spend it - we also had very naughty bacon sandwiches for lunch and a starbucks. He says he is having a lovely day and he has new toys to play with so all is good!  And just because I can, pictures of my boy from the past 12 months in no particular order - we have had a fabulous year darling, at home and further afield

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's been quite a year my love x

I have a few new pages to share made over the past few days between hospital visits and so on.

This was using a lovely cut file from Peartree Crafts and also my first ever real genuine flair - the squirrel. #

 

This was a challenge set by my UKS teamies to emboss on vellum - it was actually great fun

 

 

This is another for the holiday album - just showing that not all of Route 66 is pretty or photogenic. At the end of the day it is a road which was bypassed and where whole communities struggled and died. Important to showcase that too.

 

and this one  - though I am not finished with the album - this will be the last page  - leaving! we were so sad it was all over.

 

and finally a UKS challenge - this was a little town we just happened upon deep in Nebraska 

 

Today I am thankful for

• a wonderful NHS
• a wonderful year with a fabulous husband who is now very very old!!!