An Update On A Cat and A Dog

Posted on June 20, 2014 by thecontentedcrafter

I knew I was long overdue for a post. It was on my mind to write one, but so is getting Narf77’s organiser finished and off to her. Time for these things can only be snatched in small increments it seems when you have a puppy. And a petulant cat.

But Laurie over at Life On the Bike and Other Fab Things asked how we were all doing this morning and spurred me into action. So immediately I had cleaned out the potty, petted the cat, cleaned up the accidental pee from over excitement at the thought of getting at the cat – [Siddy, not me!], bathed the dog, dried the dog, brushed the dog, petted the cat, washed the floor, retrieved and put my shoe away again, fed the cat, thrown a ball for the dog and carried/danced the cat around the house with Bruce belting out on the stereo just because he likes that and retrieved the torn up paper scattered about the house by the dog whilst cat and I were dancing, played with the dog again because he obviously felt left out, IMMEDIATELY I had sorted all that, I sat down to write this post.

It’s nearly mid-winter here at the bottom of the world. The days are short. The weather is variable. Four seasons in one day is common place – those Finn Brothers are after all from here, they knew what they were talking about!

I’m looking forward to the return of longer days. My mantra is ‘When it’s spring Siddy will be able to ……..When it’s spring Siddy won’t do …….. When it’s spring Siddy will be ready to ….. When it’s spring Orlando will be able to cope with Siddy’s energy!’

Siddy has lived here for three weeks. Just three weeks.

This was Orlando and me before

This is us after

Siddy still hasn’t had all his puppy shots and my vet strongly recommends keeping outings to a minimum until he is fully protected. Isn’t it odd – I don’t believe in vaccinating babies – and didn’t – but I am doing as I am told with a puppy. I live in an urban area and I don’t want to take any risks. No dog parks or beach walks for us yet, just surreptitious little outings around the block when the coast is clear.

Also, our puppy classes have been delayed due to illness. So I have to be creative in keeping my puppy exercised and happy and busy. Luckily for me, Will over at Marking Our Territory got himself another new pup just recently and, as it was mostly his fault that I stopped thinking about it and actually went out and got my own new pup, I shamelessly follow along and copy everything he does.

Will is an excellent dog owner and he does ‘training’ sessions. So we do ‘training’ too.

‘Training’ works really well. Siddy can ‘sit’ on command, ‘stay’ and ‘come’ when called. He has learned to ‘lie down’ with the movement of my hand – no voice – and almost has the idea of ‘rolling over’ also with just a hand movement.

He is brilliant at training, possibly the cleverest little puppy in the whole world and we are both most pleased with him!

Then someone else enters the house and it all goes over his head straight out the window, through the door and down the street! We just have a mad whirligig of a leaping, yelping, whimpering, bum waggling, cannon ball of white and black fluff.

We also do ‘leash training’. Leash training works quite well too. We do it in the house, up and down the hallway, round the living room, out into the courtyard and the car port area. We walk beautifully together up and down the path between the two houses that share this section. I walk along with a loosish lease, head up, a certain briskness in my feet and puppy trots along beside me. Head up, close in, neither ahead or behind.

It is textbook perfection. Someone should video this to show everyone else how easily it is all done. Siddy and I are one, trotting happily up and down the pathway, a brief rest at each end for a treat and we head off again for another twelve metre stint.

When we do actual ‘leash walking’ it is entirely a different story. There are smells, lamp-posts, distractions galore. This photo is from the day he came home, nothing much has changed.

Siddy is now 11 weeks old. He has almost doubled in size. In no time at all he will look like a real dog and less like a stuffed toy.

Before he was unaware of anything except what was in front of his nose, now he is aware of outside sounds and noises and comings and goings. He stands on alert when a car pulls up, a voice is heard. He told me when a pot in the kitchen was boiling over. How’s that for smarts?

He loves to steal my shoes from my bedroom and refuses to believe I mean ‘No!’. Probably because I think the sight of a small rotund puppy, head held high, red suede shoe firmly held aloft, scampering down the hallway as fast as his little legs will carry him is hilariously funny.

He has been stood on a hundred and six times and still doesn’t get that being underneath my feet in the kitchen is not a good idea. Every time he gets stepped on he yelps loud and long. I expect to get arrested for puppy beating at any moment.

Siddy LOVES Orlando. Siddy wants Orlando to play with him just as Mr Fox and Ms Bunny do

Orlando is still living in hope that Siddy will disappear as suddenly as he arrived.

“Oh, good heavens – it’s STILL here?”

Orlando has come a long way though. Whilst still preferring high places, the top of the fridge and the top of the hutch have all been cleared of their pretty and useful things in order to make them pet friendly areas, he does come a bit closer to the floor from time to time:

Sometimes he allows his rather luscious and luxurious tail to droop towards the floor, which drives a little pup into a frenzy of leaping and whimpering and scrambling about for a foothold. Yes, there is a bit of teasing going on because – well after all – there is always a wee pup not too far away………….

There is a nice morning ritual that has been in existence for about ten days now. Orlando is on his kitchen bench, I pick up Siddy and hold him, waiting for him to become quiet – or at least quieter than moments before. When he is satisfied at the energy level, Orlando stretches his head toward the quivering, barely controlled puppy and they touch noses.

Puppy usually explodes with joy at this point and is quickly replaced on the floor before he bursts and Orlando quietly sets about partaking of first breakfast.

The first time it happened my heart burst with joy too – it was a small miracle. It felt like a forward movement – maybe not peace, but at least a cessation of armed combat. It’s been getting better and better ever since.

I no longer have to go and search for Orlando outside and carry him to his eating place or resting place. He comes in the door now despite the capering, happy puppy standing right there. He simply jumps over him and up onto a higher place. He asks for hugs and dances and cuddles again and even acquiesced to a brushing, provided I did it on the table top and not on the floor. I used to have a rule about Orlando and table tops. It has been slowly eroded over the past year or so and now has vanished entirely out the window along with all Siddy’s cleverness at tricks when visitors come calling.

I feel my life organisation skills have been all out of sync lately. I did a lovely make-over and then got a puppy. Something is truly wrong about that progression! So much for being an example to my clients 🙂

Yesterday when I was conducting ‘training’ with Siddy, Orlando lined up for treats too. Despite refusing to ‘sit’, ‘down’, ‘stay’ or ‘come’ he got some.

Time in the creative room is severely curtailed. Last time I managed a couple of hours which pleased me greatly, but that was four days ago and, between pets, visitors and clients, I haven’t been back since.

One of my mantras is ‘When spring comes I’ll be able to spend more time creating’.

I live in hope that one day soon I shall publish a one photograph, no word post on this blog. It will simply be a cat and a dog sitting side by side.

Thanks for coming by today, I love that you did!

A Short History of Siddy and Some Other Things

Posted on June 6, 2014 by thecontentedcrafter

There was life BS and now there is life AS.

There exists a photo taken the day before I met Siddy for the first time in which I am lolling back on my chair with a large, sleepy cat purring and wuffling softly on my lap. My YD was checking out her old camera prior to passing it on to me as she had just purchased her lovely posh new one. Despite this being her old and now not good enough camera, it goes better than mine ever did. She took a photo and shot a short video on a day that we did not then know was the last day of life BS.

I’m not going to show you the photo or the video as neither is the least bit flattering and I still have a modicum of vanity about my appearance! Suffice to say I don’t loll well!!

I shall forever treasure that shot however for it records life BS and that may well be the last time I loll any where or indeed have a large and heavy Maine Coon purring and wuffling contentedly in my lap!

Yesterday Orlando stayed inside for the first time – though never in the lounge – at least on the kitchen counter or [poutingly] in his window or in my work room. Every time he moved Siddy bounced joyfully towards him and we all went back to square one.

Orlando decided his window seat was the only place he could be

You would have to be pretty insensitive if you do not recognise that this is not a place he is staying because he wants to, but a place he must be because he is a put-upon cat and has nowhere else left to go – this is all that is left to him!!!!

It is very sad! But then this afternoon there suddenly appeared to be this option too – which has a slight irony to it………

I spent an hour this morning re-housing containers of embellishing items and various photos from the top of the tall dresser in my work room and laying a sheepskin rug there instead. After much coaxing I got Orlando to look at it and even to step onto it – but it wouldn’t do as the puppy was bouncing around on the floor whining that he was missing out on something and Orlando felt the need to exit the building again.

It is a week today since I first met my little black and white ball of fluff and went ‘sqeeeeee!’ The ‘sqeeee’ hasn’t stopped – he is totally gorgeous and when he turns those bright black eyes on me I just melt all over again. I am sad about my big boy though, as I hate to see him so discombobulated and tense. I really thought his natural tendency to zen out would see him through, aided by loads of extra attention and reassurance and all those good things – but now I wonder if he is just being bloody minded!

Despite all this tension in our normally content household I have begun a painting:

I hadn’t painted anything except organiser covers since February – I hadn’t even used my lovely new pencils that I purchased in Wellington at the end of March – I was worried I had forgotten how to draw and paint…….. But no, she’s got potential and I just have to become enlightened about what to do with her next.

And I have managed to finish this gorgeous thing as well, working away in the few quiet moments I get in the evenings – though I may decide to put another white double-row of scallops around the edge to finish off my finishing off 🙂

Its rather large, coming in at 1.30 m [approx 50″ for you imperialists] and it is a square, despite the camera making it look like a rectangle. It is texture rich, reversible, and weighty. If I ever get my bedroom done up the way I would like to, this will look fantastic on my bed!

In the meantime I have to keep it safe from puppy love….

“Are you really, really sure you don’t want me to pull it? Tug it? Shake it? …. I can you know, it’s no trouble at all….. You don’t? Unbelievable!! What on earth is it for then?”

If you want to have a go [and I don’t mean ‘a go’ in a Sddy kind of way – I mean in a relaxed and crocheting kind of way] at this gorgeous Bavarian Rug for yourself check out Dani’s tutorial. I am just going to keep right on making things using this stitch – I love it to pieces!!

Siddy went to make friends with the folk at our Veterinary Practice on Tuesday. He was very happy to be there and went from person to person most amiably – I was happy to have a break quite honestly. He had put on 800 grams in 8 days. That’s 100 grams a day – in no time at all he will be a giant! His big sister YD dropped in to see him after her shift last night and said she thought his tail was longer and thicker. I hadn’t noticed, but this morning on really looking, I think that is where the 800g has gone! I also wonder how much weight he would put on if he ever sat still………

As I have never given you the full details – and some of you want to know I’m sure 🙂 here is the background and story of how Sid-Arthur arrived in our lives.

Siddy is short for Sid-Arthur. Sid-Arthur is a play on ‘Siddhartha’ the prince who became the Buddha. The name came about because the first time we met the wildly energetic ball of fluff, I was allowed to hold him and he settled and became still and quiet in my arms and the pet shop owner observed that ‘he looks just like a little Buddha….’

Siddy’s mother is a Maltese Terrier X Shih Tzu, variously known as a Matzu, Maltzu or a Mitzu. Dad is a Lhasa Apso. All I know is there’s an awful lot of terrier in this boy!

Both the Shih-Tzu and the Lhasa Apso began life as Temple Dogs and are named after Lions, who are revered for their courage and large hearts. Both these traits are easily seen in my little fellow. Being just a babe he is courageous to the point of fool-hardiness, but time and experience will temper that. His large heart is seen in his unabated joy and enthusiasm for EVERYTHING!

Sometimes I just stand and watch pure joy in action. I thought I was good at living in the moment – I discover I still have much to learn!! Courage is seen when he lines his tiny body up to get down steps or in the past two days, off the chair. He jumps. All four legs work at it, the front two go up and out and the back two propel him high into the air and he sails bravely forth with more speed and height than is really required and lands, increasingly gracefully, on the spot he set his eyes upon. It is impressive, it is courageous, it is funny!

Siddy was born on Friday April 4th 2014. I found him on Friday 30th May when he was exactly 8 weeks old. He came to live with me the next day. The moment my daughter knew he was coming home with me was a moment I missed.

I had met him and cuddled him and returned him to his pen with his two brothers. We walked off with the pet shop owner to look at equipment that might be required if I was going to commit to a puppy. Still deep in conversation we returned to the front of the cage where YD observed the pup stop still in the midst of his playful brothers and with a look of pure joy launch himself happily towards me, his eyes fixed on my face.

I thought he was the most gorgeous bundle of energy I had ever seen – but I was intent on getting an older, female dog – and I preferred a Bichon or Bichon-Shih-Tzu X; the ‘Teddy Bear’ dog, or a Labradoodle or a Spoodle. I thought a girl and the more mature energy would be easier for me and Orlando to cope with.

Three weeks previously I had had an odd experience regarding an older Bichon girl who had been picked up by the pound. I had made inquiries and been told she was not suitable for re-homing. Three days later I found out the Dog Rescue people had taken her. I made contact, saying I was interested, but heard nothing back. Ten days later I discovered a message in my facebook message box which had somehow got buried beneath others and had been there for a week, advising me the dog would be re-homed and asking if I was interested in applying formally. Of course I had responded immediately, but it was too late – she had found her forever home.

I was puzzled – this was the perfect scenario for us, why had it not happened? Obviously she was not meant for us – but she had fit my order perfectly!

I wrestled all night long with committing to a puppy – a huge undertaking, no matter how cute he was! Full commitment came when I was delivered a waking picture in my mind of a little black and white puppy all alone in a pet shop cage after his two brothers had gone to their forever homes and his intended forever home had said no.

I was In! YD told me he was already In! and she saw the whole thing as being Inevitable! And so Sid-Arthur came home.

My postcard prints of ‘Choose Joy’ finally arrived today. Time to get those organisers made for those of you who are waiting – and then into the Etsy Store too!

Thanks for coming by today, I love that you did!

Meet Sid-Arthur

Posted on June 1, 2014 by thecontentedcrafter

The pet shop owner said, as he cuddled into my arms – “He looks just like a little Buddha!”

Well, that was his name taken care of then! He came home the next day.

We went for a walk before coming inside – he ran like crazy for the first quarter of the block, walked the next quarter, was carried the third quarter and managed the last quarter at a slow pace.

He had a little something to eat, then settled down for a nap. Orlando was not amused. While I was trying to post some photos on face book this happened:

We did five minutes leash training this morning, adding in ‘sit’ and ‘come’ to his name [which seems to be Siddy!]. Then I got this:

I may not have slept, my cat may not be talking to me, but isn’t this the cutest little bundle of fluff you ever saw?

Thanks for coming by today, I love that you did!

Contented Crafter Organisers – Are You Ready For A Give-Away?

Posted on May 26, 2014 by thecontentedcrafter

It has been more than ten days since my last post and STILL the organisers are not quite ready for the give-away…………. nearly, just not quite there yet. However to whet your appetite [and to see if I can raise even a modicum of interest after all these months of delay and prevarication] and because there are a number of new readers popping in and I need to be a nice hostess and show something………. here is a wee look at where we are at.

I am making three different covers using postcard sized prints of these paintings:

and there will also be a fourth featuring this painting, postcards are being made as I write this

(And PS:- This large, original mixed media painting has just gone into my Etsy Shop – there will never be any prints available of this painting, just some postcards)

The organisers are entirely hand created by me using hardboard, grunge paper, notebooks, printed paper and paints, modelling paste and gel medium. They are finished with charms and beads and ribbon because I like a little bling in my life and these books are supposed to be useful, fun and pretty too!

Because they are hand made there are imperfections in every one and every organiser is unique. They come with blank tags so you can label them however you wish and they are designed to be reusable. When a section is used or no longer of use all you need to do is purchase another notebook from your local stationer, preferably at sale price 🙂 and slide it carefully into place under the elastic. Personally I would remove the cover of the notebook, but you don’t have to.

Here’s a peek at where we are:

As Meatloaf should have sung, three out of four ain’t bad!

Please forgive the quality of the photos – winter has arrived with a stark bang these past two days and it is dark and gloomy and snowing and windy and sleety and we are not amused!

Luckily we have this to keep us warm, thanks to the remarkable Dani’s tutorial

It is almost finished – just another three rounds to go I think – maybe four – it depends how the yarn holds out. Here is Orlando at 8 am this morning

“Whatcha doing Mumma?”

But I digress – back to the BIG GIVE-AWAY!!

To enter this is what you have to do:

*Follow on the Contented Crafter Facebook page

*Leave a comment here – every comment gets an entry. Multiple comments=multiple entries

See how simple I make it? I learnt this from Dani over at Teddy and Tottie Every Facebook ‘follow’ [I know if you already do, so that gets you an automatic entry] and every comment here gets one entry into the coffee mug. I should like my coffee mug to be full to the brim this time please. This is what it looked like for the last giveaway:

That’s a bit sad don’t you think?

The winner gets to choose which cover they would like from the four possibilities.

The giveaway will close on the 31st May at 8 pm my time – so go on chat away amongst yourselves in the comments section – or even to me if you like and don’t forget that facebook page – it doesn’t have many likes yet and I should like to get it up a bit…… Ooooh, a new idea: If you introduce a friend to fb or the blog, and they tell me you sent them you will both get another entry 🙂

Now, note to self, better get on and finish those organisers! Next I might even get around to doing a new painting!

I’ll leave you with this wee gem taken just a week ago by the lovely YD:

Ah, memories!

Thanks for coming by today, I love that you did 🙂

Making It Cosy With Nothing

Posted on May 15, 2014 by thecontentedcrafter

When I moved into this tiny flat in May 2011, it was with a great deal of relief that I had found somewhere affordable to live in and a wee dash of trepidation regarding the size of the place and the urban area.

The day before I moved in we went in to clean and hang my curtains and light fittings.

It looked like this before we started work

and like this a couple of days later

Orlando seemed not to mind as long as he knew where dinner was

There was also this – [remember this wall paper you will see it again later]:

I began immediately to dispose of my accumulated stuff. What I couldn’t give up yet eventually became part of a meticulously stacked and sorted, packed and piled wardrobe and storage cupboard and linen closet……….

I made the best of it – but in reality I was secretly just camping there, waiting for the day when my beach cottage would miraculously appear. It took a while for me to catch up with reality. I had chosen to not work for monetary reward but to work for free for those who would otherwise not receive help. A beach cottage was not high on the list of probabilities. One of the first laws of contentment is to be content with where you are.

After receiving that wee pearl of enlightenment I set about making my small lodgings into a workable home that would meet my needs as comfortably and prettily as possible.

You know the saga of the past two months – disposing of some and then disposing of more and eventually disposing of it all. I let the dream go and discovered I could be happy right here, right now – and man, so much lighter!!

I have been delighted with what has transpired. I feel as if I have gained double the space. It works for us all.

Do you remember the fridge that sat for a while in the middle of nowhere? In order to make this seating nook happen I had to build a faux wall that extended the space. I did this by hanging a length of fabric behind the previously open kitchen counter area and placing the TV and this ‘hutch’ as if they were on a wall. The fridge is behind the hutch.

The ‘hutch’ is an old chest of drawers and two of my inestimably handy free standing shelves – It does the job and we have one of our favourite friends perched there keeping an eye on everything………. can you see who it is?

You are looking at the side of the hutch and the side of the fridge. The magnetic words are on the fridge waiting for me to make them into a poem. The chest that these pretty gifts from friends-far-away are sitting on, came from my bedroom.

This is the view the other way where I have set up a long table so that I can have my sewing machine out when I need to and still eat my dinner and/or read my book. Indoor Sidd went there quite soon into the rearranging chaos and has stayed there. I quite like having him so close. My table therefore has a threefold reason for being – nourishing, creating and contemplating. Perfect!

There is also an extra canvas leaning up against the wall – it is waiting for its two mates to be finished and will eventually hang behind Indoor Sidd instead of that old painting.

Here is a peek at the kitchen where my gorgeous Serendipity spoon stands ready to spring into action the moment it is required. To the left you get a glimpse of the faux wall and to the right is Orlando’s favourite ‘keeping an eye on the neighbourhood’ spot

Remember that room stacked to the ceiling with boxes – the one with the horrid yellow flowery wallpaper? That wall paper is the bane of my life! It is in perfect condition and is the original wallcovering for this flat which was built in 1971. It cannot be stripped off without some skill and cannot be wallpapered over except by a professional. It is shiny vinyl so cannot be painted over with ordinary water-based paint. It requires sealing with that stuff that kills you and painting with enamel paint, the fumes of which will also kill you. I have racked my brain to come up with a way of ridding myself of this stuff to no avail.. Part of this exercise is to make what you have work – so I did this

It is a tiny room – that is a double bed. Because the big bedroom is my creating room, this is where I sleep. I got rid of one whole wall of yellow flowers by hanging a roman blind and curtains all over it. I placed a large painting on the other wall. I took a bed set that is not really the kind of thing I like, but which works well with what is there and has the added extra effect of taking the eye away from the yellow flowers.

I took off the wardrobe door and hung more curtains. I swapped my chest of drawers for a smaller, taller one from the creating room:

And here every night Orlando and I say thanks for this wonderful day and thanks for our crazy tiny pretty home and thanks for all our wonderful friends and family. And thanks for the creativity that makes it possible to make living here work for us 🙂

And we are looking for a tiny doggie friend to join us too. Now that will be a happy dance day!!

Thanks for coming by today, I love that you did! 🙂

On the Busy-ness of April

Posted on May 5, 2014 by thecontentedcrafter

Greetings friends, on a cold, grey, wet Monday morning – a wonderful time to sit down and write a long overdue blog post!

April turned out to be a very busy month that saw me spending very little time in my ‘Create Joy’ room. I mostly entered it to sort through the stuff that was being temporarily stored in there while the sort out and make over was going on.

I returned home from my trip to Wellington on the 4th of April and threw myself into my make-over with zest. These things usually take me no longer than a few days but his time it dragged on for the rest of the month.

Having had my appetite whetted for sorting and decluttering with the first garage sale I found I went to the next level. I became ruthless. Anything that lived in a box or the back of a cupboard because one day it might be useful, or if it was being kept for the day when my beach cottage miraculously appears, was sent to live somewhere else.

The sort out is complete. The make over is complete. Orlando has laid claim to his new favourite sleeping position. The kitchen is burbling away happily producing trays of alfalfa sprouts, bottles of kombucha and milk kefir and even water kefir which turns out to be a remarkably tasty, fizzy, ginger-beer like pro-biotic drink! Who knew!!

The garden has been tidied and sorted to survive winter’s sun-less days and to keep the lettuce and spinach coming for as long as possible.

The wardrobe has been halved, the shoe supply though has doubled….. really cute red suede ankle boots, grey calf length boots, brown lace inset boots [my favourites] and some cute little house shoes…..

The month was not without it’s challenges. Good Friday saw a huge downpour of rain hit us and my conservatory quite forgot its reason for being and thought it was a sieve. For 48 hours there was a big noisy cool air dehumidifier blasting the heck out of the place to dry it all out. Never-the-less two woven cotton rugs were ruined along with several items that were being stored there while the indoor chaos was in process. Still, the upshot was that got rid of more stuff – and the conservatory is now pristinely empty except for one treadmill machine waiting to be listed on Trademe! Anyone want a treadmill? 🙂

April was also the month that saw my hours on Skype skyrocket with fun international blogging friends get-togethers, and even more Happy Mail arrive.

Linne at A Random Harvest has recently opened an Etsy store where she is selling the lovely silk, hand-dyed scarves she makes and I decided to shout myself a couple because the colours are so gorgeous, and because I wanted to support her new enterprise. In her inimitable fashion Linne added a few extras to the package and made me wait while she made a little something extra. The package arrived early on the last Monday of the month and, as we had decided to Skype for the opening of it, I had to wait a further four days while Linne got herself ready to Skype. Anyone who follows A Random Harvest will be aware of the ongoing practising of ‘Anticipation’ that Linne conducts in her blog posts – I am now a graduate of her classes!

Even Orlando got impatient “It is ever going to be opened?”

But eventually, the following month, 🙂 the big day arrived

Here is Linne, after inspecting the seal on the package and pronouncing herself satisfied that no undue tampering or peeking had taken place

Now that was pretty much the end of my photographing of the process – I was far too busy unpacking and oohing and aahing over the contents. I also got to have a chat with Linnes 92 year old mother – an amazingly young and vibrant being who had contributed a hand knitted bag holder for the kitchen. One of those super-dooper handy little things that you never knew you needed until you have one 🙂

Here are a few photos of the contents laid out a day or two after the visit with Linne when I realised I had nothing to show you:

There were originally two huge Canadian chocolates, but one got eaten 🙂

And here are the scarves. I ordered the green and blue ones and was completely surprised to see the beautiful amethyst one also included. Made of silk, tie-dyed by Linne and with handstitched edges. Just beautiful!

And here is the ‘little extra something’ a beautifully made cushion, Linne’s contribution to my make-over, being canoodled up to by a sleepy kitty

And now it is May. I know because Kris Kristofferson has been and gone and I was looking forward to that for over four months. As YD said, we have now seen the last of our legends and can die happy 🙂

The weather is decidedly wintery, the house is ready for anything, I have shoes to go anywhere in and there can be no more prevaricating. Work can begin in the Create Joy Room. One Contented Crafter Organiser will be up for grabs soon. Stay tuned folks.

Thanks for coming by today, I love that you did!

All Our Christmases

Posted on April 15, 2014 by thecontentedcrafter

Hel-looooooooooooo!!

Today Orlando and I received a package in the post

I set about opening the extremely well sealed package wielding knife and scissors carefully and several minutes later

We were very excited!

Orlando was especially keen to see what was inside for him

“C’mon Mumma” he is saying “Let’s open it!”

While I was trying to enjoy the pretty packaging and practise ‘Anticipation 101’ my cat was nudging my hand and insisting the box be opened. Once opened the contents were thoroughly investigated and then he went looking – he knew there was something else, he just had to find it ………..

The whole thing went something like this

Then we got to the really exciting part – his present!

The package was, of course, from the absolute Queen of beautiful gifts, the wondrous Ms Boomdeeadda. While King Orlando snuffled and nudged, I oohed and aahed at the gorgeous packaging, the envelope, the letter, the sweet smelling pot-pourri…… Then I settled down with the gift bag – truly the most impressive gift bag I have ever seen in my life. So pretty, so detailed, so impeccably put together in terms of colour and combination and detail. The woman is a genius!

I wish the photos could convey the texture and subtleties better

The front of the gift bag

The back of the gift bag

Bearing all the wonderful signs of my dear blogging friend – I felt it really didn’t matter if there was anything inside the gift bag or not – in itself this is such a treasure. But there were several more little treasures and tea bags and chocolates wrapped in aqua foil [of course – if you follow Boomdeeadda then you know how much she loves aqua! If you don’t, go on over and say I sent you – you will love her blog!]

I knew Boomdee had sent me this wee container of pot-pourri as I had squee’ed over it last December when she posted about making them. With her big heart all aglow she had obligingly wrapped one up and sent it off via a nice postal person who hiked from Alberta, across British Columbia to the sea and then swam southwards across the Pacific to my door.

And here it is at last. A beautiful, woody, piney, spicy, rich smelling wonder which in 24 hours has wafted through my home filling it with the memory of my Northern Hemisphere Christmases – with perfect timing as Father Winter has just begun to rap loudly on my window pane here at the other end of the world!

This amazing package also contained a little something from Alyster – see the specially packaged little porcelain toadstool surrounded by some of the gift bag contents – thats especially for us, from Alyster 🙂 Next thing I’ll be making fairy gardens!!.

And to end, this is this mornings shot of a boy and his new best friend, who have just been woken from a sound slumber by a crazy woman with a camera.

This was a lovely break from my house cleaning and tidying – the job has grown and grown. The bathroom has been re organised and given a good seeing to. The laundry has had the same treatment and my bedroom is also getting a redo. My ‘Create Joy’ room is inaccessible as that has become the place where everything gets stored until it is ready for relocation, either here or elsewhere…….. YD is still selling stuff on Trademe and other sites. Various charity stores have been the recipients of trunk-loads of stuff and other bits and bobs are making the giveaway rounds of family and friends. I am so light!! My wardrobe has been halved, my ‘one day it might be useful’ pile has all gone. My ‘cottage by the sea’ accoutrements have also now all gone. I have left only what I need and use.

And, of course, my arty-crafty stash 🙂

And please, do pop over and visit Boomdee – I know you will enjoy her, she is a lot of fun!

Thanks for coming by today, I love that you did! 🙂

Still NO ART – Just More Life

Posted on April 10, 2014 by thecontentedcrafter

I caught myself this morning standing over a kitchen sink full of hot, bubbly water, clapping my hands with joy! Life is good dear friends – life is very sweet right now!

I had a wonderful week with my ED. We spent quite a lot of time in her kitchen playing with her new toy – a most fabulous Vitamix Blender – which is really the kitchen appliance version of the Bissell vacuum cleaner I purchased, do you remember that post?

Here’s my girl holding down the uber blender case it takes off:

That’s almond milk in there – two seconds previously it was almonds, now its milk! Well, it will be as soon as it is strained through the nut milk bag.

Here is the view from her kitchen window:

If you go outside onto the deck this is what you see:

Beautiful New Zealand Bush – Rain-Forest to some.

I used to live in the house next door and take full credit for these two finding themselves there the year after I left.

I don’t have a photo to show yet – but I have some Kombucha living in my hot water cupboard and getting ready to give me a pro-biotic blast of goodness and tastiness in another week! ED and I went to a morning workshop and learned how to make Kombucha and Water Kefir. We came away with little jars, one bearing a Kombucha SCOBY and the other kefir grains. I don’t want to make water kefir – I want to make Milk Kefir which I can use as a replacement for, or addendum to, my organic yoghurt making practises……I left the water kefir grains with ED and she is happily percolating those.

I am still searching for milk kefir grains if you are reading this post and live close by – please let me know. Don’t try to send me any if you are overseas. Fran already tried that and the customs people snaffooed them and wouldn’t give them back!

Ooooh look – I made that – it’s a memo holder and lives on ED’s fridge, bearing a message from her sister:

Here is ED and SiL enjoying the Belgian Beer while waiting for the Mussels to arrive and keeping me amused with a photo shoot- if you were paying attention in the previous post you may remember what this was all about

And here is ED about to have a pre dinner snack

They won’t thank me for these – but I do it for your eddification and enjoyment dear readers!

Here is something for Linne and anybody else who enjoys a touch of Middle Earth

This is what you see now when you fly into Wellington Airport – Wellington being Hobbit Central with Weta Workshop just down the road from the airport and Sir Peter himself calling it home – Wellington, not the airport, silly! We all went to see the first Lord of the Rings here at the made over [by the wealth of Peter* before he was Sir] Embassy Theatre – where incidentally I saw my very first grown up movie a hundred years ago called ‘Exodus’ and fell madly in love with Sal Mineo. Hands up any one who remembers him……….. Any one?

All New Zealanders used to refer to ‘Peter’ and we all knew immediately which Peter was meant. Now we all reverently and rightfully refer to Him as ‘Sir Peter’.

Another bit of personal family history will, a couple of years later, see ED and SiL walking alongside some glittering movie stars on the Red Carpet to that same theatre for the World Premiere of a book that ED had on her publishing list which Peter, before he was Sir, made into another film called ‘The Lovely Bones’.

But I digress!

I am happily and slowly recreating my lounge. I got a bargain in curtain fabric off Trademe – scoring almost 9 metres for a paltry $29 featuring [fasten your set-belt Boomdee] gorgeous aqua flowers on a cream background.

I mentioned to some clients that I would be hanging up my shingle come September when the big birthday number was reached that would allow the government to take care of me in the style to which I am slowly downgrading my living standard to accustom myself to … This was maybe a foolish thing to do for they have suddenly decided that they must now do the work they have been putting off doing for years and my normally tranquil existence is being booked out from under me. I am blaming my clients for the slow eventuation of my give-away which now looks like being held over til after Easter.

But please do keep an eye out for the chance to win your very own Contented Crafter Organiser!

I took part in a Skyped International Tea-Party with some other Blogger friends at the behest of the aforementioned Boomdee. We all wore hats and gloves and brought a poem and told a story that hadn’t been told on our blogs – which was a great deal of fun despite us all talking at once and hardly anybody seeing any one – and me not seeing any thing at all! There was a small glitch in that we didn’t know we all had to have the latest version of Skype and at least one friend had to have a premium account ………. but we know now and are ready for the next available date!

Any how, there I sat in my hat and aqua fingerless gloves completely in the dark viewing wise – I didn’t mind so much, but poor Orlando had his hat on and was on his best behaviour sitting up beside the computer ready to say hello to all the other fur-friends – and not a one to be seen. He still hasn’t got over it!

Here’s me in my hat, cracking up over something Laurie had just said

Boomdee and I have decided to have a play with Google Hangout and see if that works any better for us – blogging may take on a whole new dimension folks. We’ll all just get together and have a chat instead of all this tedious writing and uploading of photos……….. What do you think?

Here are links to the posts from the other bloggers who took part

The delightful Ms Dani at TeddyandTotty based in Victoria, Australia

The delightful Ms Alys at GardeningNirvana based in California, USA

The delightful instigator of the whole affair Ms Boomdee from Alberta, Canada

The delightful biker chick, explorer and photographer Ms LB from Virginia, USA

And the lovely Ms Julia of Defeat Despair, who hasn’t posted about this yet.

And me.

This morning after the little happy dance at the kitchen sink which is where this all started I received some lovely Happy Mail

Apologies for the quality – it has become dark and threatening rain whilst writing this post!

This delightful collection comes courtesy of Patricia Awapara, a most delightful and talented artist and blogger friend from Miami Florida, US of A! We did a swap and once again I feel I got the better part of the bargain! I love the original of the boat painting and Pati kindly made a copy for me. That was all I was expecting and would have been thrilled to receive. But – I also received a small original! The flower vase is an original Patricia Awapara 🙂 And a postcard and a tiny print of the so cute half avocado……. Aren’t they gorgeous?

Have a wander over to her blog and marvel at her colourful and vibrant art works. I just love what she does!

My courtyard garden turned blazing red while I was away. I waited too long to take a photo and the weather turned – this one is from last year when Sidd could still be seen through the flaming Boston Ivy. This year he is a bit more elusive.

Here is my indoor Sidd – residing peaceably on my table awaiting his new home when the makeover is finished – though I quite like having him here too

Well dear friends, that has more or less partly caught you up with why there is still no art appearing on a blog which purports to be all about my arty and crafty adventures – so I shall fall back onto an oldie but a goodie

LIFE IS ART

Thanks for coming by today, I love that you did! 🙂

No Paintings – Just Life!

Posted on March 24, 2014 by thecontentedcrafter

I haven’t posted for some three weeks – some of you have even messaged me 🙂 Those of you who follow along on the Contented Crafter Facebook page are kind of in the loop…… briefly put it’s been a little bit crazy with not much going on in the Create Joy room that can be shared.

First off I decided – completely out of the blue – to give my tiny house a wee bit of a makeover, a do-up, a preparation for winter if you like …… in my usual inimitable fashion and with not much spare cash I began a one woman crusade to find how best to gain space, colour, comfort and energy into a room measuring roughly 3.20 x 5 metres [or for you non-metric types: 10’6″ x 15′] It’s a challenge!

Then other activities began to intrude – there is my ED’s birthday gift to finish. I’ve been working at it on and off [mostly off] for a year now and you can follow it’s earlier progress here and here and, if you are really interested, here.

I dislike leaving things unfinished and so it must be completed even if I wish I could have a complete re-do. I’ve discovered [again!] that you learn so much from an activity and get better at it the more you do – hence the wish to start again! But I can’t as the original idea was to recycle a box in an unusual and worthwhile way and the box is now no more and we have what we have. So on I went with my project, all the time backtracking to add in, embellish up and do over. Like Topsy it has grown and grown and developed and evolved and is ending looking nothing like the original idea. Isn’t this the way of life?

Intruding into this work came several more activities. YD is on a five week long vacation from her job. She spent most of the first three weeks taking me out shopping with her – just for fun she said, and I am always up for some fun! I never ‘go shopping’ any more and found it fun, but quite exhausting. Several items have found their way into my room makeover stash.

With all this time on her hands and nothing but good ideas in her head, YD turned to me as we drove home from one of our shopping trips and said “Let’s have a garage sale on Saturday!” It was Thursday afternoon.

We have been talking about having a garage sale for months. We have stuff to get rid of. I have a tiny house and can’t keep stuff like I used to. I have too much stuff. I have stuff in boxes and cupboards and in the way. I would like to get it gone. And it would supply me with some much needed cash for my beloved redo…….. But, like, in 36 hours time?

“But we haven’t advertised it” I said. That was no concern to YD, we would put up some big notices on lamp posts and attract all the Saturday morning strollers who would be heading to the Esplanade for their Saturday morning Latte’s……

“But, we haven’t sorted” I said. No problem! We would do that this very evening and transport all my stuff to her place, where said Garage Sale was to be held, tomorrow.

I don’t seem to have the word ‘no’ available for use with either of my girls and so we were off and running! Cupboards were emptied of boxes, sifted through and piled into cars. Cupboards got a quick once over, drawers were emptied out and resorted. The bookshelves were relieved of some of their burden. The boxes of stuff that had already been set aside for our garage sale day were loaded up and disappeared. My house felt lighter immediately.

Over at YD’s house on Friday we did the same activity for her and the piles of stuff accumulated in her carport. I discovered my inner hoarder and pulled a couple of items back, strictly with the living room makeover in mind….

Friday night, and again at 6 o’clock on Saturday morning, we drove around the area and stapled notices to lamp posts exhorting any one who could read to come to YD’s house and spend their money on our unwanted stuff. What we were both blissfully unaware of was that my neatly handwritten invitations – black Sharpie on brown cardboard – were far too dull and small to be readily seen by all the latte seeking hordes……….

Our Garage Sale was a fizzer. The fact that we made $60 was a small miracle according to YD’s best friend tLK who had driven around looking for the signs on her way to help fend off the hordes of bargain hunters.

What I was really pleased about is that all my junk is now at YD’s place living in her guest bedroom and YD and tLK decided they would have a second go at a Garage Sale – and do it properly this time with advertising in the media and readable lamp post signs and everything else required for a successful day on ED’s birthday – when I will be in Wellington celebrating said event with the ever-so-lovely and aging ED!

It all worked out rather well I thought.

While all the above activities were going on I had discovered that my vacuum cleaner wasn’t actually doing any more than picking up the minimal amount of dust and debris it could get away with. I had cleaned the floors vigorously with it and when that activity was over got down on my hands and knees with a lint brush and brushed up a rather remarkable amount of dust and debris – and hair from one Orlando King. The cleaner, despite its roaring and puffing and vigorous movements, had done minimal work and was due for a sideways promotion.

I spent several days perusing my options online and armed with my new found knowledge and requirements set off to visit three stores and see what they had on offer. Imagine my joy when, at the very first store I was approached by a tiny young woman with a friendly demeanour and an extensive knowledge of vacuum cleaners! Imagine – there she was, working in the appliance section of a store and knowing her subject! Fantastic!

I spent a happy ninety minutes with her, discussing so many different aspects about cleaners in general and three in particular that I am now a walking encyclopedia regarding the pros and cons of the things! Having educated me enough we began to play with the possibilities. I happily cleaned large areas of floor for the department store, scuttling customers and servers out of the way with my vigorous brushstrokes. My friendly and capable retail person scuttled about too, finding more dirt and debris to scatter in front of my searching motorised broom while I oohed and aahed at the sight of all that muck disappearing up the pipes despite her valiant attempts to rub it into the carpet and scatter it about in inaccessible places.

With two cleaners tried out and my back beginning to get a bit stiff from the bending it was on to number three. Now to be honest here, I was a reluctant trialler of this model. It was an upright – the ones that look like they used in the UK pre-war days and I have always been a girl who uses a lowdown cleaner – you know, the ones modelled on the electrolux in days of yore – there are still people in the world who refer to ‘luxing’ when they talk about vacuum cleaning their floors.

My friendly, but determined sales girl really wanted me to try it and honestly, I was just doing it to make her happy as she had been such fun to play with.

She plugged it in, showed me where all the switches were and I dutifully turned it on and ………..Wheeeeeee! It dragged me around the store at a rate of knots. If I was cartooning it for you you would see me hanging onto the handle, airborne like a para glider, grinning like an idiot!

I couldn’t find one of those but this may give you an idea:

Of course it came home with me! The absolute bonus on a fun afternoon was that that particular model was marked down, for that weekend only, by $100. How much better does it get?

Here is a picture of the box, newly emptied of it’s goodies, proudly posing beside Orlando’s metre high wardrobe cat:

And here it is a moment or two later – look carefully:

Do you see that hovering bird of light in the photo? It’s a complete mystery to me how that got there!

As we are on Orlando, lets finish this post with a bit more about his latest obsession.

Due to my imminent room make-over the refrigerator has been moved to a fairly unlikely place, [but there is a good reason for it of which more later.] This allows his little kingship full access to the back of said fridge, where the motorised bit lives and which gurgles in a most enticing way apparently. He spends hours watching closely:

Morning,

noon

and night:

Sometimes he falls asleep watching it. Then it makes a big gurgle, or the motor switches on and he jumps. He does that four feet off the ground, backwards leap that cats do when they get a scare. Sadly for him, this makes his mumma laugh!

Thanks for coming by today, I love that you did 🙂

A Mostly Pictorial Walk Through My Week

Posted on February 18, 2014 by thecontentedcrafter

It sure has been a busy week! I thought I’d share a few of my little adventures with you all …..

First up, I’ve been taking a class with Claudia Rossi. [Don’t, whatever you do, Google her – you will get a million listings for a porn star of the same name!] If you know of the mixed media Claudia Rossi, you will be familiar with her ‘pretty girls’ and her art journals. I’ve been watching her on You Tube for at least a year on and off, she is verbose and funny and real and I enjoy her random prattling and gorgeous artwork. Claudia’s girls are kind of opposite to mine – I draw big eyes – she draws big mouths……. I decided to take her class, not because I want to draw a ‘Claudia Rossi’ pretty girl – though I have – but because I think that learning is important and the more skills you pick up and add into your kete [a woven bag] the better, it all helps define your own style. Besides I got a discount coupon offer and so couldn’t resist!

It’s been slow going for me as I have so many other things I am busy doing. But when I can I work in the evenings and use my TV as a giant computer screen while I watch her and then work on my own version. I still have to finish my girl – but here is what I’ve done so far. This is the pencil sketch, following a quite complex grid pattern:

Here she is with her shadowing in place – you may notice I made the mouth smaller as I made it much too big in the first place:

And here she is with the skin-tone glazing done, the eyes and lips and hair too: for once underway I could not stop:

You can bigify it by clicking twice if you want to see all the minute detail – shes not too bad for a first attempt.

I think Claudia is a good teacher and I enjoyed taking this class – if you happen to be thinking of it – or just want to learn how she does her faces – I do recommend her class!

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Next I got some more happy mail this week too – only this time it was something I had bought for myself. I splurged big time and bought myself a present that I had lusted after for a long, long time but never thought would be available to me – then ‘Fishpond’ one of our on-line book-and-everything-else-you-could-ever-possibly-want-or-need stores came up with an Ikea Raskog. An IKEA RASKOG people!! It was one of those moments when while the voice of reason was saying ‘Oh dear, what a shame you can’t afford it’ the impetuous bohemian artist had already stuck her fingers in her ears and was singing “La-la-la-la-la!” at the top of her lungs whilst hitting ‘Buy Now’………..

So, many, many weeks later and after a lot of restrictive belt tightening, on a wet and gloomy day this arrived:

I’d already ripped into it with a knife before remembering to a) take some photos and b) practise ‘anticipation’ – but blow that – too late, sorry Linne 🙂

His Little King-ship had already retreated to a safer place

And there he stayed until ….

the clanging of metal on metal became too much for his sensitive sensibilities and he is about to do his Elvis impersonation and ‘leave the building’….. I am about to put something together with just a pictorial diagram:

And I did – thirty minutes later:

And off we go to the Create Joy room and fill her up – here she proudly poses alongside my other indispensable – my pretty bucket of paints

Everything I use on a daily basis sits in the top within easy reach

Middle shelf holds containers of coloured pencils, pens, glazes, mediums, tapes and watercolours

Bottom shelf holds a selection of my favourite and regularly used stamps, stamping paraphernalia and masks and templates:

And of course the Day Card commemorated the event:

It’s fabulous, I not only have everything to hand beside my work bench – and more free space on my work bench – but when I want to play around in the evening and watch a You Tube video, or a movie, I can wheel it in to the lounge. Well worth going without a few meals for 🙂

And His Little King-ship also gets a wee treat:

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If you are a relative of mine and go by the blog pseudonym of ED stop reading and go away now please. [Yes Joanna, it’s you!}

Some of you may remember my ‘Box to Book’ project which is now into its second year – the beginning of the story can be found here and here and, sigh, here. It was put aside when I went back into mixed media painting, not altogether forgotten though – I had made the decision to keep it for a birthday gift rather than the Christmas it was originally planned for. I’ve been working a bit on it whenever I can find a decent block of time:

Still got heaps to do – must keep at it, must keep at it, must keep at it ……….

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And the week has concluded extremely happily with the unexpectedly early arrival of more ‘Happy Mail’ of the real variety. From the lovely Fran and the even lovelier Steve at Serendipity Farm comes this bit of gorgeousness photographed on my table in the early morning sun:

Can you see that heart shaped point on the handle end of the bowl? It is just exquisite and makes my heart sing! It is like the point of a heart so I will think ‘Love’ every time I go to use it and all my cooking will be done with an extra added ingredient and we will all grow lovely, just like Roald Dahl said we would!!

Look at the bowl of the spoon – it is exquisite craftsmanship!

It feels smooth and satiny, it looks beautiful and it smells good too – how can I possibly use this to stir my pot of rice or my cheese and oat cakes?

Here it is sitting in the broken plastic jug that serves as my utensil holder beside the newly made weeks supply of cheese and oat cakes, which I had just finished making when the mail arrived [and which is my bread substitute, just in case you are interested].