I went into town today despite knowing that I will have to go again tomorrow. Little Miss Bossy-Boots needs new shoes and I promised to take her. Have you ever gone shopping with a very active three year-old? Forget looking at anything that might interest you. If you do she’ll either a) be gone, b) put something in her buggy and try to smuggle it out or c) run around half naked because she wants to try on a pair of shoes. Oh, yes. It’s all happened in this household.

To cut a long story short, I went into town on my own and came home with a couple of things I neeeeeeded (oh yes, I can be three years old, too, sometimes):

I cannot tell you how happy I am with my newest toy, courtesy of Master. That’s right, not only did he sort out my blog he bought me us a new camera. Is there no end to his greatness?

Check it out:

I have so many things I haven’t been photographing because I was getting frustrated with the quality of the photos. It’s a good thing I’m blogging daily this month, I might explode otherwise….

By the way, do you remember my little mystery? It will be revealed tomorrow.

My post today was going to be a reveal but it will have to wait till tomorrow as I just have to boast about Master first.

Have you seen my new look blog? I love it! I had problems posting pictures on the blog. Sometimes they were too small other times squashed into strange shapes. I resized, turned, reshot all to no avail. In the meantime I was getting very frustrated and a bit angry. Ok, a lot angry.

Last night I was complaining again that I just couldn’t cope with this blog anymore when Master jumped to the rescue and sorted the blog out with a new theme. Love it!

Thank you, Master!

I was really looking forward to having a few hours to myself today. Plans were made, a list was written, the first tutorial was to be finished but a telephone call the day before took the steam right out of me.

Two years ago we re-homed two cats, Charlie and Lola. Well, Lola is a sensitive little soul who gets very stressed out by other cats. Couple this with chronic cystitis and a tendency to pee in Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ room and you have an unhappy cat and unhappy parents. For two years we have been trying to make her life better and turn her into a happy cat. She is the most loveable, gorgeous cat you can imagine and we really wanted to be able to keep her. After the last peeing incident we contacted the shelter, explained the situation again (we had been in contact with them previously) and said that we thought that Lola should find a different, more stress-free home. They agreed and she was put on a waiting list. The day the telephone call came to tell us they now had room to take her in was very distressing but we knew we were doing the right thing. I packed her bed, her food, her toys, put her into the transport box and set her in the car. Then, Master got into the car to take her to the shelter. I was waiting for him to leave but he didn’t. After a few minutes he got out again and said that he couldn’t do it. We got Lola back inside, opened the box and let a bemused cat out.

The shelter offered to come for a home visit to see what we could do to improve her life and ours. Notes were taken, discussions were had and then came the phone call I was dreading. The experts thought it would be better for our little girl to be re-homed. We bow to their wisdom and tomorrow I will once again pack her bag and Master will have to find the strength to let Lola go.

We will miss you, Lola, but I hope you will have a wonderful life in your new home. Thank you for coming into our lives and into our hearts. We love you.

Tomorrow is the day! Yes, tomorrow pre-school is starting again and this mummy can’t wait. Although I really love spending time with my daughter we sometimes just need some time apart to make the heart grow fonder. I have started on many posts but haven’t been able to finish them. I have three tutorials in the pipeline which just need a little bit of work on them. The time has come. Tomorrow.

Here’s a peek at the first tutorial:

I’m having a non-sewing week as I’m studying for my driving theory test. Oh, yes, I’m learning to drive at the ripe old age of 41. I’m sure it makes it more difficult for the simple reasons that I know what can happen (I’m not invincible), I’m a mum and I don’t have the memory or reactions I used to have. So, I admit that I have been at it for a while but once I have my theory test done and dusted I can really step on the gas and go for the driving test.

The world will be my oyster and I will easily get to fabric shops (I wonder if Master thought this through when he organised my first driving lesson?) and be able to get Little Miss Bossy-Boots to all her activities. Bring it on!

I wonder if I’m the only Elisabeth who doesn’t fit with the above description. For years I have been trying to be more organised, writing lists that I promptly lose, stacking papers in the order they should be dealt with, writing birthdays in my calendar….but I’ve still got a very long way to go. I do have a hidden talent, though. I’m ace at packing suitcases. That’s organised, isn’t it? Maybe I should start treating life as a suitcase?

Poised, me? Ha ha ha!

Confident I am not but I’m definitely better than I was when I was younger. I have found that both ups and downs can be great confidence boosters. Being mobbed by my boss and his mother, my failed Latin exam, fighting cancer, moving to a foreign country, the love of my family and friends and especially Master, travelling on my own and my crafting have all been boosting my confidence over the years. The biggest confidence booster, though, has been becoming a mum. I love it and I can feel like a lioness whenever I look at Little Miss Bossy-Boots.

Now I’m one of these lucky girls who has been blessed with two names. Look at this:

Please, call me Marie!

This is a post for dog owners. So if you don’t have a dog feel free to go make a cup of tea and come back some other day for a crafty post.

Today I was really excited because this arrived in the post:

It’s a Dicky Bag, the “No.1 Answer to Dog’s No.2’s” according to the box. I’m one of these people who have doggy bags in every pocket and bag and always picks up her dog’s poo. Why? Firstly because I hate the sight and smell of dog poo on roads, grass verges and pavements, secondly because I’m Swiss. We Swiss believe suggestions are laws. I always joke about the fact that signs in Switzerland are polite recommendations not to do something rather than a ban.

Anyway, I brought it on my walk this morning to test whether I bought a good thing and let me tell you it’s fantastic. The doggy bags fit into the lid and there’s an air freshener that you put into the bottom of the bag. I put Little Miss Bossy-Boots in the pushchair, put Aron on the lead, attached the Dicky Bag to my bag and went off to the local garden centre to buy a stepping stone. We didn’t get very far before Aron had to go, so I scooped and bagged and knotted and then put my doggy bag in the Dicky Bag. No smell!

Even though there is a bin in front of the garden centre I decided to test the Dicky Bag even further and took it inside with its smelly content. Still no smell! I love it. We’ve had our dog for almost 9 years now and have bought lots of things for him that we thought were going to be really practical. Some are very handy and are used on an almost daily basis, some very quickly ended up in the second hand shop. The Dicky Bag will definitely stay with us.

PS I know, I know, it’s pink. I didn’t mean to get the pink one, it just happened. They do them in lots of different colours.