Some Scrapping

So SBO has had this GOK inspired competition running. Most of the challenges have been way beyond my abilities (thinking fabric, sewing, lace, etc, etc) and also the last three weeks of term have been really busy, not to mention the stress with Sally. Now this week was different - lots of Keeping it Simple Scrapping so I managed quite a few. There was lots of "white" space, "cheap" ie under $5 (now that I can do!) and then to do any scrapping but must use inking or glimmermist. Here are my l/os:

All three

Cheap: around $2 - all our Senz l/os and us in the middle

Another less than $2 l/o

Inked (and also less than $2) The paper was hideous on the right side but the "wrong" side was perfect for this l/o. It came with the stitching on it

Another cheap one: two pieces of white paper from refills, the paint from the paint tins that we used, and half a piece of black bazzill for the colour consultant's recommendations

Then this morning I heard what sounded like a duck quacking outside. I went outside and this is what I saw:



How she got into our courtyard I have no idea and we are nowhere near a river or lake. We opened the gate for her and off they waddled. I hope she got somewhere safe!

And today is the start of Daylight Saving! It's just gone 7.30pm and the light has just faded. So for those in South Africa, we are now eleven hours ahead of you

Photos

I used to resize photos using Photo Shop and then I got lazy and just printed all my photos at 6x4. I printed over 100 a few weeks ago and in planning some page kits I realised that I have way too many photos for the number of l/os I want to do. So I'm off to have some more photos printed that I have resized using Photility which is a very easy resizer. I'm annoyed with myself because I have to make another trip to Harvey Norman and pay more money for the photos. And that's funny because the photos only cost me 10 cents print in the first place!

Tomorrow is the start of two weeks holiday - YAY!! I am off to a Maths Teachers' convention in Palmerston North. I'm a little bit worried as I am sharing a motel unit with some colleagues. As many people know, I don't share spaces very well. I'm fine with my family and with my scrappy friends. We don't share bedrooms, but we do share the living spaces and I know them and they know me. Now these other people only know me from school so I'm a bit worried. I will have my own bedroom but it's sharing the rest of the spaces that worries me.

Ooooh didn't it get cold today? There was snow on the Rimutakas and we could certainly feel it down here.

As for Sally - she's doing fine. She's still on medication though. Next week she has to have a blood test to see how things are going.

Quick update on Sally

I took her back on Tuesday for a followup visit. The vet could feel that her liver was enlarged but not hard and certainly wasn't causing Sally any pain. From this, the vet suspects that Sally does indeed have a tumour and we have between one and three months with her. I was a mess as I'm not sure how I will cope with a space on my desk (and in my heart). All we can do now is offer her a good quality of life and not let her suffer

The oven

Reading Michelle's post about throwing the chook in the oven reminded me of our oven/chicken event on Thursday


Our lovely friends from National Park were coming to visit us to see Busting Out (hilarious) and stay a few nights. I took some chicken pieces out the deep freeze on Thursday morning and put them onto a large green plastic tray in the oven safe from marauding cats. I usually leave the door open, but hubby, who goes to work after me, decided that he'd close the oven door so that the cats couldn't get in. (How they'd get in I don't know, as it's a eye-level oven and I usually have a towel and an oven mitt hanging over the door handle.)


Anyway, Ross came home and as is usual on a Thursday afternoon, turned the oven on and then started getting things ready to bake his chocolate cake. He said he was mixing and out the corner of his eye he saw a light in the oven and looking closer it was a flame! He immediately switched the oven off and left the door closed. He phoned me and I could hear the smoke alarm going. I rushed home but there was nothing for me to do other than remove this:

Oh what a mess! The chicken had to go in the bin so we went out for dinner and I got fish and chips for the boys.

Saturday

It's a wet, miserable day here today and I really need to go out! I need to have some photos developed and I have to get shoes and socks for Ross. He is off to Auckland on Monday for the Barbershop Nationals and his shoes broke on Friday! He also needs enough black socks for three days and only has one pair .... did he tell me? Of course not, I had to work this out. Oh and of course we need some kind of headset thingy for the PS3 - and that is the most important shopping of all .... isn't it?

Hubby is in Akl so I have to do all the laundry - three loads done already but I can't hang it outside so the garage looks like a Chinese laundry and the tumble drier is working hard.

The update on Sally is not good: she had blood tests on Tuesday when she went in and again on Friday when she came home. After being on a drip with fairly strong antibiotics her blood tests results were worse. She could have necrotising pancreatitis, or hemolytic anaemia or possibly a tumour. She has strong antibiotic tablets and a steroid tablet. I have to go back on Tuesday for more blood tests which I suspect will show a further decline. We could have an ultrasound or a biopsy but I'm not sure all those many tests are worth it (both financially or emotionally) when the outcome will all be the same.

I have decided that I am going to buy expensive food for her (Hills Science Diet), give her all the little treats she likes as I think her decline will be quite fast.

However, I could be wrong .......

Sally

Now as some people know, Sally is my girl , my baby, the princess of the house. The boys will tell you that "Sally only loves Mommy" and it's true. She talks to me, calls me and generally lets me know what she wants. She has a corner on my desk that is her mat and that's where she sleeps. She even understands "Get on your mat"

I have been noticing that she has been getting thinner and on Tuesday night she was sleeping quite happily on my desk but got up all of a sudden and threw up on the floor. I then couldn't find her when I went to bed which created a huge search outside; I even went for a drive in my car in the hopes that she would be waiting at the door fo me when I got back. She does that when I go out and if I'm out for the day/weekend she waits patiently at the door for me. Anyway back to looking for her - I couldn't find her anywhere and finally I found her curled in a ball downstairs under a chair.

Tueday morning I took her to the vet and the diagnosis was liver/pancreas disease. They put her on a drip with some anti-biotics and upped those when one of her blood tests came back with a very high white cell count. She is still in the cat hospital and will probably only come home Friday afternoon. It could have been a tumour but our lovely vet said she had a feeling that it wouldn't be that serious

I miss her so much! The space that she takes up on my desk is so empty and I can't wait to have her home

Quilt

Well, the quilt for our godson is finished! I am so pleased - and these are the daylight ones. I had it professionally quilted by Sue Burnett who has two huge industrial quilting machines. I would have been happy with straight up and down lines but I am soooo pleased with the stars etc she has put in. I finished the binding tonight so that we can give it to him tomorrow when everyone comes for a Father's Day lunch. I hope that he loves it as much as Colin loves "Quilty" given to him in 2000 by our friends in the US. "Quilty" goes every where - in fact, as I type he is sitting cuddled up with "Quilty"

The complete quilt

One of the panels

A closer view

Here he is snuggled under it - he is now so possessive over it - Adrian was trying to

take it from him but he wouldn't let go - I am so pleased