My Managerie!!!!

Couldn't resist taking this picture of all my most precious things!!!! Bill , Paddy Sparky and all the tropical fish on one photo--dosent happen very often!!

Sparky is doing his party trick of begging when he smelt the chicken come out of the oven, he should have been a dog that one, he fetches paper balls from where ever Bill throws them , brings them back and drops them in Bills slipper!!

Wellesbourne , Stratford Upon Avon

We are off to Wellesbourne,Stratford Upon Avon, later today( cant belive the time) to do demonstration for art society.
We are booked into a B+B because of the distance we need to travel, my daughter is staying here to pet sit, so Sparky and Paddy will be spoilt rotten!!

Exchange is no Robbery!!!

we had some unusual guests at the class first thing today--Sharleen breeds Tuxedo Platies and we had agreed to swop some for a new blank canvas! We had restocked our large 4ft tank with various fish, but we still had room for some of these delightful lively fish. They arrived at the class safe and sound in a plastic bag contained in a bag designed to keep cans of drink at the right temp-which also works great at keeping tropical fish at the right temp!

I had also promised her some canvas for designing the ''from small acorns''exhibition 'private view invites' and the posters, so we had a swopping session! Me and Bill would have been on the computer for days trying to do them so a great big thanks for that Shaxx

Sparky AGAIN!!!

I swear this cat knows when I sell a painting-without fail he goes out and comes back injured in some way! we should have our own personal parking space at the vets!
The day before yesterday he came in with 2 mice , within an hour of each other,and let them go so Bill could have go a catching them--Sparky thinks that Bill enjoys mousing as much as he does!! Then he walks in around the living room door holding up one leg.Couldnt find any obvious injury on him, no cuts, or swellings, so kept him in and took him to vets yesterday. Another jab for him, keep him quiet(easier said than done) and fingers crossed he will be ok!
He looks so sweet in this pic-you would never belive what a monster he is sometimes!

Sparky

Just look at this cool cat!!!!

Cat

I mentioned here while we were away on the painting holiday that I had bought a limited edition crazy cat from the boot sale at Blue Anchor, I just had to share this with you!

You can see who it reminded me of!!

I knew Sparky was model material!!

Onslow Park Steam Rally

We are off at the weekend to Onslow Park steam rally.
For more details take a look at their website http://www.steaminsalop.co.uk/
We are taking the new caravan and can park it behind the marquee for the weekend.
We are looking forward to it a lot--just to get away from the hard work going on here!
Must get the house a bit straight though before we go for my friend whos coming to pet sit again!!
We have a class on Saturday morning before we set off for the steam rally, although we will get everything ready to go on Friday, just have to pack up from class and go.

Who Wanted Mosaic Tiles!!

I didnt realise when I chose the tiles for the kitchen walls, just how much work was involved in grouting them! 2 days Ive been at it, but what a difference its made, the whole lot looks much lighter than before, I will take some more pics tomorrow so you can see the difference.

I decided to tile behind the dishwasher and the cooker, or rather I wanted Bill to tile behind the dishwasher and cooker, so this has made more work for him-hes very patient with me bless him!

Getting On!!

As you can see-the tiles are taking shape very quickly-Bill satrted them at 11am and has finished that wall already-there have been a few swear words uttered here and there, and he says he will be seeing squares in his sleep-but I just love it.

I will have the job of grouting them tomorrow I expect-there will propley be a few more choice words then!!!

Sparky

Been to the vets again this morning with Sparky for another long acting antibiotic and more painkillers.

He has been fighting with another cat and managed to get bitten on the other side of his rear end to last time-so he has had a matching pair of scars now!

He has been shaved off and you can see the teethmarks very clearly.

You would think he would have learnt by now.

He isnt too happy about being kept in the house, have got him another Felaway plug in to help him feel better-they are expensive but worth every penny!

Sparkys done it again!

I swear the cat knows when we have a little extra money--without fail he gets into a scrape and needs the vet!

Today we got back to find him very sore on the back end and blood all over the spare bed.

He has been fighting again with something.

He will have to go to the vets again tomorrow for anti-biotics and pain-killers.

He is feeling very sorry for his self at the moment!

Moving!!!

we have spent the afternoon helping my daughter Becki and Wayne her partner to move house.Luckily the new house is about a quarter of a mile away from the old one, so not far to lug the stuff!

We had shifted most of the stuff yesterday, but its surprising how much more there was to get today!

The picture is of their cat Lila who is trying to get to know the goldfish Magnet and Steele a little better!!!

She couldnt get near them before-looks like they have to find another place for the tank!

I decided not to do the craft fair today, my back was a bit iffy after yesterday, but I will be there next week--weather forcast permitting!!

Paintings

After finding myself with a free morning after all the floods, I decided to do some tweaking of some of my previous paintings.

There was just a few bits annoying me in each of these Winter Walk paintings!

I just altered the paths a little bit and added a bit more snowy foliage and Im very please with them now!

Bills Painting

I thought Bill was winding me up today at the craft fair-he picked up the brushes and started to paint one of my small canvas that I use for my 4 minute paintings!

Within 10 mins he had produced this lovely painting! Not bad for his 3rd attempt at painting ever!

He has cleaned hundreds of brushes but he surprised me big time by using them to paint with today!
Several people watching thought he was the artist with all the work on display!

I am going to be able to let him do the craft fairs and classes on his own if he carries on at this rate!

He is a real help in my classes as he knows what is suposed to happen with each brush stroke at each stage and if he see's anyone who does not look sure about what they are doing he can advise them what to do, while I over see the others and get round everyone.

I have a full class this Saturday and I am looking forward to see if Carol from Leominster has done any painting at home since the last class, she bought a knife from me at Shobdon and said she was going to have a go on her own.I am going to take Bills painting to show them all, what a clever hubby Ive got!

Unfinished

This is my latest in my monochrome collection.It is called ''unfinished ''because that is what it is!

I usualy add detail of bluebells or foxgloves in melted wax to make them 'almost monchrome' but after painting one at the Three Counties Show and adding bluebells, deciding I prefered foxgloves and painting over the bluebells-then of course someone wanted one with the bluebells in it!

So I had to paint one all over again!

This gives you your own input to the finished painting-let me know which you prefer and I will add them for you-you can even have the choice of what kind of varnish you have on the finished piece! I have both satin and gloss-the choice is yours!

The price is £120 including P+P to the UK if you are outside UK please get in touch.

Cats--Who'd Have Em?

I knew Sparky had caught something this morning as I could hear him yowling as he came accross the roof with his catch.
Although he has a perfectly good cat flap, he prefers to come in the hard way--up onto the wishing well--onto the fence--onto the sloping roof--in through the en-suite window-down onto the loo and down the stairs!!!
This morning he had another baby black rabbit--it was already dead by the time I caught up with him.
We have more black rabbits wild in the fields behind us than normal ones, and Sparky seems to catch more of them than the others.
He ate every bit of it when I put it outside on the lawn, and is now sleeping it off on my bed!

Paddy

Im not the only one in the house who likes Weight Watchers yogurt! Just look how he turns his head right round!He licks it out clean with his huge black tongue--I have tryed to get photo of his tongue but hes too quick!

Birds

Bill spent an hour in the garden yesterday filling up the various bird feeders and tying some fat balls to the washing line.We were rewarded this morning by this woodpecker who loves the fat ball!

We alos have a family of bull finches who come down to feed at the one bird table-its beautiful to see the more unusual birds here.

Bill and Callum

Our grandson Callum was bought round to see Bill on his birthday yesterday-as you can see little Callum was engrossed in watching the tropical fish.
He is such a happy little baby and so knowing-he laughed his head off at Paddy the parrot-who didnt find it very funny being put back in his cage for safety's sake.
We cant take any chances with Paddy-he is so jealous of everything that comes here--he attacks poor Sparky on a regular basis, you would not belive how scared of cats he was when we bought him 2 years ago!