Raindrops and potted gardens

We've had a week of cold, wet and bleak days

The rain finally let up yesterday much to my delight

If rain hangs about for any longer than two days

I'm usually pulling my hair out
or feeling quite depressed!

We either had a light shower throughout the night

or the dew was mighty heavy this morning.

Check out the water/dew drops on this dead leaf

As soon as my eagle eye spotted it
I ran for the camera!

The veins on the leaf were pretty darned amazing too!

I haven't done much sketching of late as
I seem to be lacking motivation or
could it be that I just procrastinate way too much?

So in an attempt to keep myself on track
I've joined the Artist's Play Room group where
each week we are given a subject to work with.
The subject for this past week was
"In the Garden".

I chose to sketch the leaves on my potted Dracaena plant
which lives under the pergola with my other potted plants.

Pencil-free sketch using only Faber-Castell Artist's PITT pens 
in my large Moleskine sketch book.

I'm hoping to sketch daily in July
so there should be a lot more posts
coming your way.

Have a great weekend!!!


~ Love, light and peace ~

A dog, some crochet and a sweet video!

Goodness, time has managed to slip away quite quickly since my last post.

I just had to show you this photo that my son, Reece, took of Cody last weekend. I had popped out to the shops and Cody propped himself up on the chair closest to the front door awaiting my return. So nice to know someone misses me when I'm gone.

How cute is he?!!

I've been fairly busy with handicraft projects....

Another puppy coat for my grand-puppy, Abbey.
She has almost grown out of the last one I made.

I also started another ripple blanket...this one is for Aaron.
I LOVE working those ripples!

Like me, Aaron likes the greens and blues together.

OH and I just had to share this sweet video that I came across on Facebook.
Just in case the video doesn't work, here is the link - Animal Love
Isn't it the cutest thing?

On the health front - The inflammation of my chest wall lining has eased dramatically and only hurts occasionally.  However, I've been getting A LOT of strong pain in my hands and feet.....the kind that wakes me up in the middle of the night. I think is related to the osteoarthritis. Anywhoo.....


Wishing you all a great weekend!!!


~ Love, light and peace ~

Oh, the pain, the pain...

Sorry I haven't been around much.

I ended up in a nasty way with inflammation of the chest wall lining. It may have been due to the angiogram I had just over a week ago....seems too coincidental for it not to be.  I've been in a great deal of pain every time I cough, sneeze, take a deep breath, or move a certain way.  It's at its worst when I'm lying flat on my back and then I go to get up.....makes me scream out loud in pain.  I'll be glad when it clears up. Doctor's orders are rest and pain-killers.

So, while resting on my comfy lounge chair, I have been busy with the crochet hook and the knitting needles.

I finished the Granny stripe blanket throw AT LAST!!

I finished it off with a simple picot stitch border.

Jack hopped up on my bed to inspect it.

Cody and Jack LOVE to sleep on my crochet blankets.

I can't say I blame them because these blankets are so warm and cosy.

I've now started another ripple throw blanket for Aaron.
I LOVE working in ripples!

I also knitted the first pair of bootees for my next Grandchild due in November. Aren't they darling?!!  For now, I'm sticking with neutral colours until Michelle and Alex find out the sex of baby in a few weeks. I still have to sew the seams on this pair and add the ribbons.

What an amazing cloud formation we had in the sky on Friday morning!

I was totally mesmerised by all those bobbles!

Same morning, I spotted this butterfly resting on the fronds of my potted fern under the pergola.

I think it's called a Common Crow butterfly. We get a lot of them around here.

By the way, if you go to leave a comment, you may notice a new addition which I added today.  On top of the standard Blogger comment form, there is now a Facebook comment form too which will give my family and friends on Facebook the opportunity to comment if they wish. If you don't have Facebook, simply scroll down and use the regular Blogger comment form as you would normally.

I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone but, for now, I'm only allowing myself short stints at the computer until this rotten chest inflammation clears up.

I hope you're all having a great weekend!!

It's a long weekend here with tomorrow (Monday) being a Public Holiday in celebration of the Queen's birthday.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Puppy goodness!

Hi everyone!

GEEZ, I can't get over how the time has flown since my last post!

Can you believe it's June already?!!

I have been recuperating at home the past couple of days since having my Angiogram (Coronary Catheterisation) on Thursday. There were a couple of hiccups during the procedure but all is good and, after spending most of the day in hospital, I was sent home to recuperate for the crucial 48 hours. The best news is that my heart and arteries are CLEAR!!!  It was sweet music to my ears, I can tell you.  This means that I can now go ahead and organise a date for my Hysterectomy.  However, I'm not looking forward to the 3 to 5 day stay in hospital because I'll be very worried about Cody who suffers terribly with separation anxiety even when I'm away from home for just an hour. He will have the boys at home with him so I hope that will calm him enough to cope without me for a few days.

I've been busy hooking while I've been absent from Blogland,

Crochet hooking, that is!

Can you guess what this is??

I'll give you a hint....

Meet Abbey, my Grand-Furbaby!

Isn't she adorable?!!

Michelle and Alex added a doggy to their family and Mikayla, my Granddaughter, is totally smitten with her!

We are officially in our winter DownUnder and little Abbey was feeling the cold, particularly in the mornings.  The puppy coats in the shops were huge so I made her a little coat to keep her warm and cosy.  There's room for adjustment too so it will grow with her for a little bit.

Abbey is a Cavoodle which is a cross between a Cavalier Spaniel and a Poodle.

Here she is sleeping like a baby.

Of course, I just HAD to do a quick sketch of her in my journal.

Pencil-free sketch using Faber-Castell Artists PITT pens in large Moleskine journal.

All in all, things have been going well in my neck of the woods.

Bradley and I have been watching episodes of Little House on the Prairie and I cry with each one.  I've always loved that series.

I hope you're all having a great weekend!

It's a wet one here so perfect for recuperating indoors in my PJs.

Love, light and peace to you all