Vintage Linen

On such a cold, wet miserable Sunday, I hope to find a bit of time to gloat over my newly acquired vintage linens.

And then hopefully spend some time in here

starting to make some of them into cushions.

But I suspect I shall be too busy.

Enjoy your day

Whats in a name?

What is it with names and nicknames?

Having spent the week between choosing our pup and bringing him home continually brainstorming about pet names, and having pored over numerous books to try and get inspiration for the "perfect" name, including:-

The Complete Works of Shakespeare

An Atlas

Numerous French Travel and Guide books

(my husband, G, had a thing about the pup having a French name, as poodles always seem very french, although they may have originated from Germany so some say)  

Books about Famous People

Whittakers Almanac

AND having thought about names from our favourite books, our favourite films, our favourite foods (Marmite?) our favourite artists (Dufy was a fav name of mine!), poets, authors etc etc etc

WHY is it that we still can't simply be content with just calling him by his given name, except when calling him or speaking directly to him?

 We had all sorts of names on our very long list, which then got shortened to a still very long "shortlist", and even then, on the way home with this beautiful, frightened ball of fluff quivering on our laps we were still unsure what to call him.

We all had our favourites, but could agree on none!

And then, having finally agreed that he was a Logan, the first thing we did was to start to call him anything but that!

Little Logan, Loganberry, Logie Bear (yes, not Yogie), all sorts of nonsense lovey dovey names, as well as the less flattering but more descriptive names like wee-wee boy (!), monkey boy etc!

Whatever we call him though he's definitely our boy.

It is so wet here today, so before doing the school run am just going to snuggle up in the living room

with this

and this

maybe this

 and even without this which I would love

I will still be content

Logans Run

Sorry, I just had to be allowed to use the title once !!!!

It's amazing how quickly Logan's confidence is growing - only a few days after arriving at his new home, he is now happy to go off exploring the house on his own.  

One minute he's there under our feet, the next there is no sign of him.

But call his name, and he comes rushing back in. It is lovely to see him being braver by the minute, and exploring every where. Sometimes you can tell where he's been by a little tell tale puddle.

He is also being much bolder regarding his dealings with Bessie.

He gave chase for the first time yesterday, provoked by a badly timed leap down from the worktop by Bessie. It all ended peacefully as Logan didnt push his luck once he had her cornered. So she is keeping a low profile today, presumably planning the next campaign.

The two of them did seem to communicate for the first time yesterday too - huge progress. Facing each other, Bessie mewed then Logan did a little bark. Not sure if they were being polite or declaring war. Maybe the start of living arrangement negotiations? You can have the living room whilst I have the kitchen? You can have Dad's lap tonight, I'll have Mums? Who knows?

Puppy Love

Meet Logan

The photos are terrible I'm afraid - having had the cameras stolen, I have had to resort to an old digital camera of pretty poor picture quality (well thats my excuse!)

But poor pictures aside, this little Toy Poodle pup is just so adorable!

He is 11 weeks old today, and is the sweetest bundle of fluff!

He is great fun, loves to play with his new toys as well as Bessie the cat's toys, and needs an awful lot of cuddles and loving!!

Bessie is not at all impressed, and made herself scarce initially. Gradually she has been checking Logan out.

Like some undercover sleuth, she has been silently slipping into the room and observing him from a safe distance, quite clearly taking notes. Once on the move, she slowly and carefully sniffs everywhere he's been, all the time acting as if he is not there, looking everywhere but at him. Occasionally she casts a reproachful look at whoever is holding or playing with him, and remains unmoved by any attention and stroking we give her.

After a day or so of this observation and rumination, she came into the kitchen yesterday with an obviously pre-planned new strategy, jumping straight up onto the sideboard, and then on to the worktop - from her careful notes and observations she has found a weakness, and deduced that Logan stays low and cannot reach her if she is up high!

Ha!!! From this lofty position of strength, she has gained confidence, and now when they meet at floor level, instead of slinking off when he comes toddling towards her she stands her ground, facing him as he wags his tail hopefully as he tries to entice her to play. But Bessie is not a lady to be turned, and is now hissing at him in a rather inelegant manner until he gives up, looking rather baffled. Bessie then stalks off. Strike 1!

Logan is showing signs of wanting to chase after her, so that will be the next stage which will, unfortunately, so I have been warned, probably end in fisticuffs. Or fistipaws to be more precise. Not looking forward to that stage. Poor Bessie, must be terrible with this intruder coming into her ordered life.

But at the moment all is calm.

Puppy is sleeping on my lap as I type, and after a cosy weekend of puppy cuddles I am now adjusting to carrying on life with this lovely new addition to our family. Its a bit like having a new baby in some respects!!!Toilet training, feed time, cuddle time,sleep training, play time, cuddle time, feed time, cuddle time again..........Phew!

Hope to post some proper pictures soon, when I can be organised enough to think to take photos whilst he is not actually on my lap at the time!

Enjoy this glorious sunshine!

(Sorry, my photos are of the spontaneous kind  including background detritus, rather than the beautifully composed artful arrangements seen on other blogs that I so envy and aspire to!)

Something in the air

Outside this morning there is a feeling of spring in the air.

The birds are singing, the sun is out, but it is still cold.

But the promise of spring is definitely there.

Hooray!!!!!

Inspired by recent visits to both Attic 24 and Rose hip blogs, I am crocheting again, this time more trims for cushions and pillowcases. The cushion below is one of a pair I made from an original 1950/60s fabric, beautifully soft through decades of washing and wear, and edged with a soft green cotton crochet trim.

My last crocheting spree also resulted in this cushion, which I made to tie in a new painting to the living room in our old house.

And in this, my first scarf, a real labour of love for my sisters xmas present!

After the crochet pillowcase trims are finished, I must then try and finish off the crochet blanket I started last time, before starting anything new. But its so difficult isnt it? You get an idea, an inspiraton, and you just want to drop everything and get on it with it regardless of everything else!

By the way, a huge Thank You to the kind folks who visited here and left comments! It's so exciting to hear from you!

Have a great day wherever you are!

Gillx

The Lemon Tree

A very dear friend of mine, Julie, bought me a beautiful gift the other day as a house warming present (although I suspect my lovely kind hearted friend gave it as a cheer up gift after we were burgled!)

Complete with three REAL live lemons hanging from its branches I was absolutely thrilled and amazed to be presented with a lemon tree!

Now I am quite a reasonable gardener, having over the last few decades tended several modest sized gardens with a little success and not too many deaths (except I have NEVER had any success with Clematis Montana. You know, one of those amazing white or palest pink abundantly flowering spring clematis, which for other people just seem to flower effortlessly and with gay abandon all over their sheds, walls and fences...sigh....I have killed off quite a few of those I'm afraid to say) BUT when it comes to indoor plants..........look away now Julie!!!

The number or potted plants that have bit the dust in our house are sadly too numerous to list. Even the beautiful bright yellow Chrysanths that I bought only a week to two ago are starting to show signs of unhappiness - wilting leaves turning brown, the flowers seem healthy enough though, and the soil is plenty moist.... I think I probably over water them. Killed by kindness. Murdered by Mum.

So I feel a huge sense of responsibility with this beautiful tree which is sitting in my living room now, and I peer anxiously at it several times a day watching out for signs of leaf drop, or lemon drop or .....well, just any kind of drop or signs of unhappiness.

It came from a local nursery complete with a large double sided leaflet on caring for your Citrus plants, which is a little daunting as those leaflets always seem to dwell on the negative, on the many things that can go wrong, but very useful for the anxious owner. And Mr Italian, who runs the nursery, surely must know what he's talking about, there being lemon groves in Italy and all. In fact, we had a lovely holiday at Limone on Lake Garda which had terraces of beautiful lemon groves growing along the steep sides of the lake, so I know they like the warmth and sun.

So the question is, how will this poor unsuspecting tree manage to survive the winter in our cold house? Does anyone out there have a pet lemon tree overwintering indoors? Any advice???

I know come the warmer weather I can put it into the greenhouse and then in the summer it can stand outside on the terrace..........if its still with us that is :(

Anway, still blathering on about lemon trees, I didnt realise there is a film called the Lemon Tree. And a book. The film was made in 2008 and is set in Israel, and is about a widows fight to save her lemon grove. And as Amazon is so scarily easy to order from I have just ordered the dvd. I hope its good. Has anyone seen the movie?

So. Apart from the lemon tree, I should really be worrying about the next event about to take place in our household this weekend. The Arrival of the New Puppy!!!!!

This is not He, but hopefully what He will look like after a few weeks - how cute is this!!!!!!!! The above little pup is an apricot poodle. We are getting a Toy poodle of similar colour from a kennel club approved breeder, together with another care leaflet (gulp)
Our main concern will be introducing said He with the other furry resident, who will most certainly not be amused. In the slightest.

This is Daddys precious, who will most certainly have her pretty little pink nose put hugely out of joint.

She rules. She will not appreciate competition for the sofa, for the bed, but mainly for the Daddys lap in the evening.

Have to end up sleeping in the bread basket again then.

Have a good day wherever you are!!!!
Gillx

Whitening and lightening

Having moved into this house only a few months ago, there is a tremendous amount of decorating to do. So much dark brown woodwork everywhere, which in a house which only gets the sun in the front rooms is somewhat depressing. Strong colours on the walls too add to the gloom, so I am currently in the process of whitening everything. Already one room has been transformed from dark terracotta walls and gloomy yellow paintwork to white, and this has made a huge difference!

The above is before decorating, although the colour in real life was a lot darker than it shows here - believe me it was so so dark and gloomy!

This is after, although looking a little cluttered as the xmas stuff was being put out/put away - sadly still no change in the very dark and very navy blue carpet - it will be a while before that goes, and when it does and is replaced with a wooden floor it should make a huge difference again.

Meanwhile, having made a good start on "whitening" the hall before xmas, I'm having a little play with a smaller painitng project which is much more fun!
Being a bargain hunter by nature, and no stranger to second hand stuff to transform, I'd been keeping an eye out  for some balloon backed chairs to refurbish. My patience was finally rewarded a few weeks ago with 4 solid hardwood chairs for under a tenner! Thats what I like, my kind of price!

One chair had already been painted a pale Farrow and Ball colour, and last week I re-upholstered the seat in a Laura Ashley stripe, which I can't show you just yet as we were unfortunately burgled a couple of weeks ago and they took the digital cameras!

Chair No.2 is now Farrowed and Balled and ready for covering, then two more to go! I just love the elegant shape of the chairs, and as I'm a huge fan of pale Scandinavian interiors these seem to be perfect!

Am going to attempt to get some "after"photos in the next day or so using an old digital camera the burglars missed, or maybe passed over as not good enough for them!

Anyone else working on a refurb project? Would love to hear from you!