do you mind if i knit

A little dog who sighs a lot.

Hello! I sometimes think Ellie looks a bit like a cat when she's curled up asleep. Do you think she looks a bit like a cat?!

Miniature wire-haired Dachshunds (which is what our two doggies are), go really teeny weeny when they curl up tight. When they're in this position, it usually means they're concentrating hard on the job of sleeping, but they look so adorable when they're like this, I always want to scoop them up and give them cuddles. Which doesn't go down well, especially with Ellie.

Ellie was doing a lot of snorting, followed by great big huffy-puffy sighs, whilst I was photographing my knitting. It must be very exasperating for her, that I never appreciate just how much sleep a dog of her miniature stature needs.

I swear I could hear her mumbling "this is my sofa so just go away".

Anyway, as a dog owner who in no way (ahem) panders to the whims of my dogs, I carried on photographing my knitting.

Do you get an idea of the OCEAN of yarn ends I've been sewing in, from these photographs?! Feels like an ocean.

I really am having to grit my teeth and get on with it. Well, I don't have a choice, they have to be sewn in if I want to wear my fair isle dress. It does feel a bit like there are thousands to sew in though!

Someone made a comment at my knitting group about the amount of ends to sew in, and I said they wouldn't be a problem, and I naively believed what I was saying. Self-deluded, that's what I was.

Anyway, this is fast turning into a great big long moan about sewing in ends, and that's about as bad as actually sewing them in. So I'll just show you some colourful pictures to whet your appetite for the big reveal, which will hopefully happen next week.

Ellie, my little snuffling flower.

Must be going now, it's my knitting group meeting tonight, and I've got ends to sew in. Lovely.

Before I go, here's a bit of something interesting. Someone asked a friend of mine if I'm pregnant, because she saw me "wearing a maternity oufit". I'm not pregnant, I just like wearing loose smocked tops. Every time I put them on in the future, (and I have three of these 'maternity' tops), I'm going to be a bit self-conscious. I was wearing one of these tops when I answered the door to the postman a few weeks ago, and he said "have we some good news then?"

Look at this blanket, above, it's from anthropologie. I like the freeform crochet going on, it's inspiring don't you think? Linda shows it on her blog, which you can find here. If you go over to her blog, she's got a link to a fabulous must-see crochet blanket that someone has just finished, honestly, it's worth the peek.

Must go. Toodle-loo. Love Vanessa xxx

Twelve hours at sea on the Lifeboat.

So much to show you, but today, everything has to be put on hold, for the RNLI (the lifeboat).

This morning we were woken in the wee small hours (three a.m.) by an urgent buzzzzzing sound, as Hugo's pager, that alerts him to lifeboat launches, hopped about urgently on the bedside table.

When his pager goes off, Hugo stops everything, (as a volunteer for the lifeboat), and makes his way as fast as possible to the lifeboat house.

(Apparently another volunteer was having a bath the other day, when his pager went off, and he literally shot out of the bath, threw his clothes on without drying himself, and arrived at the lifeboat station soaked through, but ready for a launch).

So off Hugo went, and I drifted back to sleep.

When I woke up to the alarm, Hugo hadn't returned, so I knew it was a serious call. And it was, very. Hugo called me on his mobile to report that they were among many vessels searching for the body of a boy in the North Sea, because a ferry had ploughed into a fishing boat and sunk it. There were two people on board, the fisherman, and a sixteen year old boy. The fisherman survived, but the boy didn't.

After about twelve hours searching for the boy's body, it still hasn't been found. The police have been brought in, and the ferry taken back to Edinburgh for the whole matter to be investigated, and the accident has been reported in the news.

Hugo returned about an hour ago, wolfed down some chicken and chips, and then sunk back on the sofa with the doggies.

They both look dog tired, don't they? Ellie hasn't been at sea searching for a body though, she's been for walkies, had some carrot and a chew for lunch, and had a bit of beauty sleep, which might not sound busy to you and me, but may well sound tiring to other doggies, with equally tough lives.

Hmmmm, I'm just trying not to dwell on the tragedy of the boy, still lost at sea, and his horrible death. It's tragic. Must try not to think about it, and his family, whose lives will never be the same again.

I don't think I'll talk about my Fair Isle dress and it's progress just now. I was going to show it to you on Wednesday, but I was so tired, I went to bed. I missed my knitting group meeting on Wednesday evening, which is quite simply unheard of, I never, ever miss it, unless I'm away on holiday, so that shows how tired I was.

I've been reading all your supportive comments about my prints, and want to say a big thank you for all the lovely things you said, I would love to be able to reply to each and every one of you, but I can't quite keep up with my time management at the moment, I'm ever so sorry. I'll let you know when the full selection is finally in my etsy shop.

There's nothing quite like pets to come home to after a traumatic event is there? Just giving them a cuddle and seeing their tails wagging is soothing. Of course, Ellie and Douglas's excitement at seeing Hugo on his return, was absolutely nothing to do with the chicken he brought home with him.

Well, I'm going to pootle off now, or "puff" off, as I once heard a two year old announce as she left the room, which sounds ever so charming, don't you think? Have a lovely weekend, and I shall see you on Monday, fresh as a daisy hopefully. Love Vanessa xxx

My cardi, the library, and my two headed doggy.

I said to Hugo yesterday, "it's a Bank Holiday on Monday this weekend, isn't it?" "Wishful thinking" was Hugo's reply. I was surprised to realise I'd jumped forward a month, speeded through August, straight to the last Monday of August, which is always a holiday here in England.

Part of me was delighted to discover that we still had August to enjoy, and that Summer isn't over yet. Then there was a small part of me that was slightly disappointed to find my weekend was going to consist of two days, and not the three I'd looked forward to filling.

You ever wish an extra day of time off from work was looming?!

Anyway, enough wishful thinking, lets talk about my cardi, the one in the picture above.

I fished it out of the back of my cupboard today, a cardigan knitted about four years ago, and never really worn. Today I discovered why I'd never worn it, that ruched look above, obtained by pulling the ribbon up tight, didn't work, and wasn't comfortable to wear.

I'm trying to get better at knitting things I like to wear. Is it a bit hit-and-miss for you too, in terms of which knitted item looks good on, once knitted?

Once the ribbon had been unthreaded from the eyelets, and snipped off, I realised it didn't look half bad, especially with my ruffle fronted blouse.

Taking photos of yourself with one hand outstretched, trying to hold the camera and press the button, is interesting isn't it? Thank goodness for digital cameras, where shots of atrocious double chins (two) can be deleted.

This cardi was knitted using Rowan cotton glace, and the pattern is "Crinkle" from Rowan magazine number 39.

Wanna see a two headed doggy with four front legs?

Douglas had joined me on the window seat, whilst I was having a cup of tea, and Ellie sidled up, wanting to join in. I had a sixth sense the camera might be needed so I quickly went to find it.

I love Ellie's (on the right) quiff, which wasn't styled by me, she's just a naturally cool little doggy.

I like it when Ellie and Douglas sit close together, it's so endearing. Sometimes they walk side-by-side, very close, it's lovely to watch.

After my cuppa, I went to the library, a one minute walk away.

After listening to 'Desert Island Disks' with Lynn Barber this morning, I wanted to see if the library had the film 'An Education' in stock. It didn't, so I chose the second Nanny Mcphee film instead, and another film I've not heard of, for good measure.

I also picked up a little reading, or "just looking at" material.

Libraries are wonderful places, I love them. All the books to mull over, for free. Those of us who have access to libraries are very fortunate, aren't we?

The book "the White Dress" contains photographs of women in beautiful wedding dresses, and the lady at the check-out desk asked me if I was getting married. I said that no, I'd been married for eight years, and that I just like looking at pictures of wedding dresses. Well, they are fairy-tale concoctions aren't they? Is it just me, or are there others who look at pictures of wedding dresses and think "oooh, now if that had been available and affordable at the time I got married, I'd have worn that". Do women ever stop fantasising about the perfect wedding dress?! Having said this, I still like the dress I wore on my big day, even though, as I recall, I regretted wearing a strapless dress in the middle of winter, especially as the doors to the church were left wide open, and a chill breeze came straight down the aisle. Thankfully I didn't choose to learn my vows, (I just repeated them, line by line, after the vicar, who happens to be my Father-in-Law), because when I get cold, my brain freezes, and thought processes become frozen in the mists of time, till I've thawed out. 

Righty-ho, I must get going, Hugo's gone to get a takeaway, and I think we might watch one of the DVD's.

On Monday, I'll show you one of the sleeves for my knitted fair isle dress, which will be finished. Have a WONDERFUL weekend. Ta-ra! Love Vanessa xxx

Have you ever walked FIVE dogs at once?!

Hello! We've just returned from walking our two dogs on the beach, (but these photos are from last weekend's walk, when we had five dogs with us).

We met Oscar this evening, the Irish Wolfhound. He was there last weekend too.

Oscar is a big dog. When he stands next to me on all fours, he's not far below my shoulders. If he was to stand on his hind legs, he'd tower over me.

The three jack russells above are part of the gang we were walking. Three jack russells. Anyone who knows these dogs will know they're lively. They were completely unafraid of Oscar the Irish Wolfhound. Jack russells actually think they're human beings, and can be quite disdainful of 'dogs'. They think very independently, for themselves, and are often highly intelligent. They're masters at reading humans. And they're tough, tough, tough. I looked after Cuddy (the jack russell in the middle, above), a few weeks ago, for a week, and he's an absolute charmer, with buckets of personality. Though left to his own devices, he can catch birds midflight, and relieve them of their life on this earth, he's like a flash he's so quick.

And Cuddy is into everything. Other dogs trail in his wake. It doesn't seem like that long ago he was a puppy, I had a look through my old posts, and found him here, looking very sweet, very small.

Dogs grow up fast don't they! I wonder what size Oscar the Irish Wolfhound was as a puppy......... probably the size of our miniature wire haired dachshunds.

Hugo has just called me for supper. Quick update on the fair isle dress before I dash. I've set one of the sleeves in to the body of the dress, and it's worked! Have to go. Love Vanessa xxx

Tender Loving Care.

Hello! Lovely to see you, just lovely, after a week of being away, it's just very nice to be back with you.

I've not been well over the last week. Last Monday my sister made the decision to drive 400 or so miles to come and collect me, and take me all the way back to her house for a lot of love and TLC. Being with her and her family has done me a power of good, and if it wasn't for having to get on with a huge work load and a very tight deadline, I'd probably still be there. Yesterday my sister drove me to a half-way point between her house and mine, and Hugo met us at the half-way point, collected me and my luggage, and we drove back home. About five hours it takes. I'm still feeling a little wobbly, but am on the mend, and it's lovely to be home.

And that, my dearest readers, is why I missed doing my last three blog posts, so I'm sorry about my absence, and hope no more glitches rear their ugly little heads, and keep me away from your company.

Oooohhh, it is SO nice to see you again!

Ellie and Douglas, (our two Miniature wire-haired Dachshunds), came to my sister's with me too. That's Ellie, in the photo above, waiting in the hallway for Millie, my Niece, to return from school. Ellie Loves children, just LOVES them.

Douglas (above) is positively and neurotically terrified of children, and hides at the mere whiff of them. My Nephew George wasn't particularly interested in the doggies, but Millie was besotted, and absolutely determined to make Douglas trust and like her. This left Ellie, (who was more than willing to be adored by Millie), slightly out of the loop at times. Millie did win Douglas over mostly, as won-over as he'll ever be by a small child.

There's that special doleful look Douglas does so well (above).

I was just wondering, have you noticed that Ellie, my girl dog, and Millie, my Niece, have similar sounding names?

There's a little story behind that. We got Ellie as a puppy, and named her Ellie. My sister was pregnant with Millie at the time. We announced our news to my sister of getting a tiny little puppy, and that her name was Ellie, on the phone. I didn't expect the stunned silence on the other end.

We'd unwittingly given our puppy the same name my sister and her husband were going to give their daughter. Very gracefully, I thought, my sister and brother-in-law found a new name for their girl, a very similar sounding name infact.

When Millie was younger, she used to get confused when we were calling Ellie, and there were a few tears occassionally when we were shouting at Ellie not to do something, and Millie thought we were telling her off.

Hugo likes to call Millie "Millicent".

Another member of my sister's family is Bob the hamster. (I always want to laugh when I hear Bob's name, it's just such a funny name for a hamster, I do love it). (And I hope Millie doesn't read this, because at six-and-a-half years old she's an excellent reader, and probably won't take kindly to me finding her hamster's name funny).

My sister and I had hamsters as pets when we were children, and I've always loved their tininess and quivery little whiskers. Bob is absolutely adorable. And it turns out he's a born hamster model, the little chap posed beautifully for me, sitting very comfortably on my sister's hand.

Millie was meant to have cleaned his cage out, I hope she's done that.

As hamsters go, and I may be biased here, I think Bob is rather beautiful.

And very, very sweet.

Aren't hamster ears paper thin? Bob doesn't like having his head stroked (my sister seems to know all Bob's likes and dislikes), so I never got to touch Bob's ears, but they look like bits of soft tissue paper don't you think? And he looks like he gets a manicure once a week too.

In my last post, I talked about cutting my knitting in half. Well you'll never guess what. Jane Waller, who wrote the book inwhich the pattern for my dress I was knitting appears in, left me a comment! Slightly embarrassing that. She very graciously avoided mentioning my sabotage of her dress pattern, and instead chose to compliment me on a previous post. Isn't that so nice and polite?

The latest on my sabotaged dress is that I'm keeping a respectful distance from it. I said I was going to continue knitting the top stripey half downwards, to make it into a dress in its own right. Well, I added increases, and went up a needle size, and it looked a mess. Normally I just mumble "oh well", and rip back my knitting, and start again telling myself it's all for the best. This time, I've ripped it all back, and come to a stop. And actually started on a different dress pattern.

You know what? I think the 'stripey dress' will just become a stripey jumper. I can admit defeat occasionally.

Yep, I'm having a break from the dress I was knitting, by starting on another dress. This new one is designed to hide all lumps and bumps, but there are no guarantees in life are there?

Just before I go, I'm just going to start telling you Millie's favourite joke at the moment. This joke was told to her whole school in assembly one morning, by the headmaster (or prime minister, as Millie likes to call him).

"What kind of bee can you milk?"

I shall tell you the answer on Wednesday.         :  )

Lovely to be back, (I know I keep on saying that), but really, it is love-er-ly to see you. Till Wednesday then me hearties. Love Vanessa xxx

They've gone and changed colour!!!!!!

What can you do hey?! My Primulas have changed colour! When I bought them, they were flowering lovely hot pinks and and shades of reds, and now they're coming up all pale and interesting. Hmph.

They used to look like this:

See what I mean about the change in colour?!!!!!

Is it something I've done to them?

Is it psychological warfare on me by the Primys, for not having potted them up sooner?

I'm really sorry sweet little flowers, I know I neglected you terribly, but please change back to your previous colours, because to be honest, I don't find your new colours do it for me.

I'll give them some plant food, that might do the trick.

Hello!

What a start to this post hey?!

I must admit, I do wonder what on earth I've been doing all day, so I'm not only exasperated with my Primulas, I'm exasperated with myself. I don't like days that disappear like smoke, leaving a dismal trace of nothingness.

You see the photos above, the one's with the paper and my abstract paintings? I've been trying out new watercolour papers for my abstracts. I get my paper in large mill packs from a company called John Purcell Paper, and it's much cheaper than buying from art shops, even on-line art shops. They sent me lots of samples of thicker paper, made by different companies, and I've been using them to do some paintings on, to see the results. It's amazing how different the results are, though you can't see it in my photos. Out of all these different samples, there is only one contender, and even that one's not perfect, so the paper company are sending me another sample, something between the ultra smooth and too textured samples they have already given me.

And you see the bright pink primula in the mosaic above? Well, that is my little miracle primula, the one that I bought cheap because it was half dead. Patience has to be classed as a virtue, because after about a month and a half of doing nothing but looking very sorry for itself, it's suddenly started to flower BEAUTIFULLY!

Hugo and I are out tonight, to see a comedy show. Hugo bought the tickets, so I'm not sure who the comedian is. The doggies will be left by themselves, and they are not going to be happy about it. For such small dogs, they can howl.

I'm afraid I've got to go now, as we have to eat before rushing out, which is most unsatisfactory that I have to rush off. See you on Monday my dear readers. Love Vanessa xxx

My neighbour's Narcissi.

Hello! Here I am, organised with my blog post today, no last-minute rushing, and I can give you my attention for the next hour, no interruptions, and no rushing off. Lovely.

I was thinking about my neighbour's window boxes today, and wondering when their Daffodils and Narcissi are going to say hello. I'm not a curtain twitcher when it comes to the neighbours, (I don't peer from behind the curtains, watching for the neighbours comings-and-goings, though I do like to make sure 'Auntie' Anne next door is well).

But I do notice their flower pots and window boxes.

One of the neighbours a few doors down, has a window box, which for a start, I'm amazed stays perched on the window sill, and secondly, I'm always astounded that it has anything growing in it, it just looks, well............... barren and untended, totally neglected. But each year something struggles to appear from it, which makes me want to give the flowers a medal for tenacity, quite frankly.

Actually, I'm a fine one to talk, I've got a very dead Marguerite bush in the pot outside our front door. It never survives the frost, so each year I have to dig up the dead plant, and replace it. I put the same variety of plant back in, and each year we get a huge bush of white daisy flowers, which wouldn't look out of place at Chelsea Flower Show. I like to think!

Anyway, back to the subject of tough and courageous plants in my neighbours window box.

Last year I took a series of photos of the said window box, when taking the dogs for their afternoon walks. We would pass by, and I'd get my camera out, and look decidedly dodgy, photographing my neighbours window box.

A lady walking up the street gave me a very strange look, so I made sure she saw me unlock our front door and go inside the house. I was very close to announcing to her, that I was not some burglar eyeing up the neighbour's house, I was a proper neighbour, who just happened to be taking a lot of interest in their flowers.

Last year there were three bulbs in the window box. Narcissi have a nice habit of reproducing themselves and spreading their sunny goodness around, so I'm hoping that this year there will be at least six plants, rather than the three that appeared last year.

I shall keep you posted on the progress of my neighbour's window box.

I quite like the reflection of the people walking by on the walls, that you can just see in the glass behind the narcissi. You see the figure with the pram?

Wonder what that person thought I was up to.

And now for something which I've been meaning to show you, which has absolutely nothing to do with plants or flowers, or neighbour's window boxes, but which are equally dear to my heart................... no, dearer!

My babies. One fully grown baby, and two tiny babies.

One of them seems to have woken up.

And gone back to sleep.

Douglas, who is outstretched on Hugo, above, spends his evenings reclining on his lord and master like this, if Hugo is watching the t.v.

It's very unusual for Ellie to be snuggled up like she is.

Ellie does most certainly NOT like sharing her space with Douglas, so that is why quick, blurry shots like above are taken, trying to capture the unheard of, before Ellie decides she has had enough, and Douglas is to bloomin well clear off.

It's mostly a case of Douglas having to rely on humans for a cuddle, and he really loves cuddles. If he tries to climb into Ellie's bed with her, there is much gnashing of teeth from her Royal Highness, Queen of all she surveys, Ellie.

Hugo has a theory that they cuddle up together when we're not looking.

Anyway, time to change the subject again.................

You know my Little Squares Scarf? (Pattern in my sidebar to the left). Well, I was excited to get a nice message from Bley, of Bibliosophy blog today, saying she was inspired by my Little Squares Scarf to make a baby jacket! Isn't that fantastic?! Bley is waiting for the imminent arrival of her baby, and has made the jacket incase her baby is a girl. The jacket she made is GORGEOUS, you can see it here. She provides a free tutorial on how to make it, and if I had a little someone to make this for, I would be following it immediately. (Her free pattern for making her 'Pretty Slouchy Bag' looks enticing too).

Gosh, is that the time? Fifty-five minutes has just flown by.

Well, I think I might go and get my knitting together, and hang up the damp washing. It's Wednesday night knitting group this evening, which I always look forward to. Here's to empty window boxes suddenly sprouting lots of lovely spring blooms! See you on Friday. Love Vanessa xx

Doesn't time fly!

I just looked at my watch, and did a double take, it's six in the evening, and I'm just sitting down to say hello to you, where has the day gone!

Did you have a good weekend? I hope so. Ours was a very simple weekend really, just walking the dogs, I did some work on my paintings, and Hugo tried to find things around the house to put on e-bay, to make some extra cash. I had to keep a close eye on him.

I thought you might like to see a before-and-after, with one of my paintings. I showed you the above watercolour a few weeks ago, and since then, I've been working on it. I worried that it looked unfinished, and you can be the judge of whether I've ruined it or not, because this is the painting now:

Personally, I prefer this painting after having worked into it more, it just looks more substantial, but you might disagree with me!

I'm so pleased you all liked my last post so much, I did enjoy that massive shot of colour, and glad you liked it too. So when it came to today's post, I was in two minds about it. It's starting off nice and colourful, with the photos of my painting, but I'm just about to launch into showing you pictures of our weekend walks, which are much less colourful. I prefer to put up colour filled posts, but our walks this weekend were so lovely, I thought I'd show you the photos. So be prepared for a sudden drop in cheery colour, because we woke up to a thin covering of snow on the ground on Saturday morning, so the landscape was quite powdery white.

Even the beach had snow on it. But the day was bright as a shiny new button, and the effect of the sun made us feel happy. The dogs were running round like puppies, I love that happy body language of dogs, it's so endearing.

That was our morning walk.

After going home from the beach, doing some work on my paintings, and having a quick read of the paper, it was soon the afternoon, and the light was beautiful.

And it was still light! The days are definitely getting longer, yipee!

So we went off for another walk, by the river. Inland there was more snow on the ground, but the sun was still warm. The evening light was soft. I love that soft light.

We crossed Chain Bridge, (that's it's name), and walked along the opposite bank.

It was still, you know? Peaceful, noone else around. I love having the countryside to myself. Here in the North East of England, we get deserted beaches and countryside, which must seem like a miracle to people from more heavily populated areas. When I first moved here from London almost ten years ago, I couldn't believe how deserted the roads were of cars, now I take it a bit for granted. Well, until we drive to more populated areas, then I know just how fortunate we are.

On the other side of the river, the footpath is lined with intermitent stone walls, which you can get a nice clear view of, because the trees are bare at the moment. These hand-built walls are extraordinary, don't you think? Works of art I think.

Can you feel the chill in the air, in these photos?!

When taking these photos, behind me was the river, with its banks full of the dried stems of giant, Cow Parsley, I think that's what it was.

Hugo found the most spectacularly large hollow stem of the stuff.

And Hugo did what boys do, he made it into a piece of technical equipment, a Telescope.

Well, I then thought that it would be interesting to see what the dogs would make of it.

Douglas made it perfectly clear that he was very uncomfortable looking down a tube. (Shame I didn't think of using a treat to get him to look at me).

Ellie was the perfect little performer, and I managed to get one photo that wasn't blurred, of her little beady eye looking at me.

Ellie is more of a natural infront of the camera. Douglas would rather hide from anything remotely odd looking, or even anything that isn't odd looking.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the excursion? I'm off now, to do what, I don't know. Maybe some knitting? Yes, some knitting, after I've lit the wood burning stove, it's cold in here. So I'll see you on Wednesday then? Yes? Goody! Love Vanessa xxx

ello fwom woogwas

helo I'm woogwas

im a dawg an i belong to muuummy

jus thatt i see mi muum on thisss thin she cawl a cumpooter awl ther toime      exsept latelwy       not at awll

sow jus thawt i give er a nise supwise and do a bwog post for er

see shee's ad a tuff time las week wot wif ther flood in the owld studio.   

openned ther daw to ther stuwduio she did an lowds a water cwame poorin out   

terrribwle it wos.

los an los of boocs ruwind

muuuummy vey upswet

then compuwer didn worrk      no bwog       mummmyy vey upswet

now she on a twain to lontdon fwor free dawys         back on wennesdway

hooooowwwwlllll     mwiss er

shwee gon ta seeee a hamsstre      an er nees        an sistwa       an pooblishars

me pawws tiered now

bye bye

an big lik

Giving in to "C" cheer.

Helloooooooooo-hoooooo! You there? You well? Yes? Good! No? Awww sorry, hope you feel better soon.

Well, I've just popped by to say a quick hello, because I need to do some more work on the step-by-step tutorials, they're taking a long time to do.

Ever such a long time to do.

The photo above is of Douglas, with his little eyes shut, doing what he does exceptionally well, snuggle up, and have a little doze. And the photo sums up our weekend quite well too. Lots of sleeping, sitting, reading the paper, walking the doggies. And OH! Decorating the Christmas tree! Which is a small miracle, because I wasn't into the spirit of "C" at all this year. Hugo persuaded me otherwise, which is also a small miracle, because it's normally me rearing to get the decorations up. I think it was when I suddenly thought about sweet and tasty Mince Pies, and a glass of Sherry, accompanied by mood-enhancing jolly Christmas carols, that I perked up at the thought of doing the tree. So it's done, but no photos yet.

I always think that the spectacle of a Christmas tree should be shared, which is what we did on Sunday, when our new neighbours came round for a cup of tea, and we had the excitement of the fact that we got on very well indeed. Nice when you can be friends with your neighbours isn't it?

Anyway, will have more in the way of photos and such tomorrow. Just to give you a hint as to what I'll be posting about, I'll show you this:

Yeeees, very mysterious. I wonder what it's going to be about? It's not an addition to our canine brood, no, no puppies appearing, how ever lovely that would be........... no, it's more to do with SPOTS, like the one's on their dog bed! Well, I shall reveal all tomorrow dear readers. Cheerio, love Vanessa xxx