Thank you, thank you, and thank you again Susan!

A few months ago, I was picked to be one of the 5 follower winners in the giveaway that Susan did when she did her "fanciful twists mad tea party". There was a moment where I thought she'd have to pick someone else, because for some reason my e-mails weren't getting through to her... we never did figure out why (after a few days though, I got a message saying there were errors and the messages couldn't be delivered, which we'd already figured out by then... Stupid e-mail delivery system). But we got there in the end, and I was able to claim my spot as one of the winners... YAY! Then, just as she was about to send my package, we got the word we'd be moving soon, so I asked her to wait so I could be sure not to miss the package in the move. Moving took longer than planned, but eventually we were moved, and I was finally able to give Susan the go-ahead to send my package. So, as soon as she was able to do so, she sent it. My "small token gift" arrived last week, but I'm sorry to say that it took me until yesterday to send Iggy the photos to sort out, which is why it's taken me so long to sort this post. Anyway... How it's grown! My original prize contained the following: *Knitting stitch markers *Card kit *Candle *Note cards *Notepad *Snow writer But Susan said she'd put a few extra things in there for me. A few? OMG! Look at all this stuff... Susan was beyond generous with this package; I swear she couldn't have gotten more in there if she tried! In fact, how she fit it all in there is beyond me! There are so many wonderful goodies that I didn't know what to investigate first when I opened the package! And I can't begin to list all the things in there; there are things for all the crafts I told her I do... Things I can use for card making, bits of fabric I can use for sewing projects, and so many more wonderful things that if I listted them all you'd be here for ages reading this post! There was a beautiful Christmas card and note in there too; I forgot to get a photo of the Christmas card, but it's up with the others I've had so far so I will get a photo of it some time in the next week or so... Ready for the cards to be included in my holiday post that I usually do after the holidays are over each year. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, and thank you again Susan; you're a very generous person, and I'm so glad we met! :)

A birthday, some bad weather, and mobility lessons

It's Nikki's birthday today; happy birthday Nikki! :)

***

The weather was very nasty yesterday and last night; extremely bad winds (bad enough that several trees are now minus their branches around here) and a lot of hail. It's calmed down some now - just a bit of rain on and off - but it's meant to start back up again later. We're meant to have this kind of weather on and off all week.

I told my mobility officer when we first started the lessons a few weeks back that I didn't mind going out in bad weather. When she came today she asked if I would have called and cancelled if that weather had continued. She sounded relieved when I said I would have; I think she thought I'd have been happy to go out in that weather for a mobility lesson. I added that, "though I'm happy to go out in any weather, there are limits to the kind of weather I would intentionally spend an hour outside in," and at that point she didn't even bother trying to hide her relief. LOL!

Lessons are going pretty well; she's impressed with my memory for the route, and also with the fact that even with the rather nasty wind we had last week I was able to accurately tell her when the road was or wasn't clear (which wasn't easy, let me tell you). There are a few things I need to do to brushh up on cane skills (like the fact I either don't bring the cane around enough to cover my left side - because of being so used to having Kero or someone on that side - or do it too far, which isn't good for anyone trying to pass me, and is painful for my arm after a bit) but for the most part if we could just get me to the point where I can find my gate then I would be able to do the walk myself; well, in theory... Monsters permitting! I did "sort of" find the gate myself today, but it was with a little bit of prompting from her with landmarks, hence just "sort of" on my own.

***

I'm tired, so this will do for today; stay safe and warm!

My holiday decorations 2011 - trying again

Now then, will this work this time?
















I didn't redo the text; you'll need to read Saturday's post for that.

Attempts at reposting yesterday's photos

I've tried twice to repost the photos that were in yesterday's post. I'm not sure what's wrong with them. The first time I had Kelly check them and they were the same as in the post from yesterday. The second time Blogger wouldn't even add them to the post; just kept giving me error messages. Maybe something happened to the photos while they were travelling through cyberspace after Iggy sorted them for me? *Shrugs*

Local tree lighting ceremony and holiday decorations 2011 (LBE and FD)

On Friday December 2nd there was a local tree lighting ceremony.

I was really excited; I always loved holiday lights, and there were to be carolers and a town cryer. Plus, there were to be roast chestnuts and mince pies; I'd never had proper roast chestnuts before (just ones dried out on a tray in the oven).

Anyway...

It was originally meant to happen at 4:00 pm - according to the flyer we had about it - but then we discovered (when trying to find the exact spot it was happening at) that the time had been changed, and it wasn't until 5:00 pm.

We'd already been walking about by the seaside for almost an hour, but we figured we'd hang around and walk around the park it was happening in.

But, then, 5:00 pm was only a few minutes away, and nobody else had appeared. By now we were cold, so we went home. There was a website on the flyer, and we'd check that and see what happened; maybe it was happening later? Or maybe we were in the wrong area and had missed it? We decided we'd check, and if it was happening later then we'd come back later.

While checking the website we discovered we must have just left as people arrived to start setting up for it; they'd changed the time again, and it was happening at 5:30 pm!

There was still time to get back to it, but I wasn't in the mood any more.

Besides, taking the time to calm the very hyper dog that was Kero enough to get him back in his harness and lead would mean we might miss the start, and since it wasn't meant to be very long I didn't want to go if I was going to miss some of it.

So I sent Kelly to it by himself with my camera to get some photos; and I told him to bring me back some roast chestnuts, lol!

There wasn't much light; the only light was the light from the tree lights, but he did his best with getting photos...

The lit tree:


An attempted shot of the carol singers and town cryer:


The photos might have been better, only I forgot to tell him how to work my camera's flash, and it doesn't have an automatic flash (which I think is weird, but there you go).

I think next year we'll check the website before we go. The good thing is though... We know we had the right place; just the wrong time, LOL!

And, if you're wondering... I enjoyed the roast chestnuts!

Now for my own holiday decorations...

I don't have many these days, but those I have are filled with memories, and I can tell you where each came from; in fact, that's just what I'm going to do.

This is my window display in the dark:



Still in the dark, but now from inside:


And here it is in daylight:


And from inside in the daylight:



My tree is now four years old; it's an artificial tree. I'd love a real tree, but it seems so mean to cut the tree down to just use it for decoration. If I could use it for firewood afterwards then it wouldn't be so bad, but since I can't then I feel it would be a shame to cut it down. Anyway, my tree is a fibre optic one; those who have followed my blog for several years may remember when I got it. My sight was really starting to go, and Kelly got it for me because it goes through so many colours when it's going through its colour sequence, and at the time colours were the only thing I could still see (well, colours and lights... And this is both).

I'm not sure if you can see the little bells around the bottom of the tree? They're small plastic ones wrapped around the lowest branches. They're a set from one of the many sets my Mam owns; she has quite a selection of little plastic bells on plastic chains, and she let me have these ones several years ago; I think when I first left home, or maybe a year or two later.

The little blue lights are snowman lights I brought a couple of years ago; I got them because they were shaped like the heads of snowmen.

The Santa with the candle I brought my first Christmas after I left home; I saw it at the post office when I went to post some cards, and I knew I had to have it.

The reindeer in the hat with a steering wheel plays, "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer," when you touch its paw, and I got it a couple of years ago. My Mam has one like it (we got them at the same time when we were out shopping).

The little angel by the wooden ornaments was one I found a couple of years ago. It was brough the same time as the, "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer," reindeer; Mam showed the angel to me, and I immediately put it in the trolley to buy it.

The wooden decorations... The little tree and the other one - which I can't remember if it's meant to be a bird or an angel, and can't make my mind up when I have it in my hands either - came from a place in Canada two years ago. I brought them because they have braille on them. I did have two more of each, but Mam has them now.

The angel in the red dress used to be on our tree when I was really young. She was evicted from her spot when my Dad found a wizard to take her place, but I thought it seemed a shame for her to be shut up in a box, so I asked if I could have her. She's been out on display every year since. And the reason she isn't on top of the tree is simply that I just decided not to put her on the tree; it seemed kind of odd to do so when the tree isn't really decorated properly. She had to be near it though.

The flickering candle is a new addition to my decoration collection; I got two of them, but one is set aside for another use while this one is being used for decoration. They're battery powered, but made to seem like real candles. That's why I got them; I want to do a ritual that involves walking around with a lit candle and a bell (more on that at a later date) and we didn't think it wise for me to be doing this with a proper candle, but I wanted something that would be as close as possible. When I saw these I knew I had to have one for my ritual, and thought I'd grab two so as to have one as a decoration too (since I don't want to use a ritual candle as a general decoration; it doesn't seem right to do so).

OK, on to the rest of my decorations...

This bird is one of four identical birds that Iggy sent me last year. By the time they arrived I was nearly ready to pull down my decorations, so I didn't see any point in adding them to the tree last year, but I knew immediately they'd be added to my tree from this year onwards; they have little bits of wire on their feet that make them perfect to tie to the branches of the tree, and they just seem like they belong.



This small apple decoration that's hanging on one of the hooks for the curtain tie is one from the ones my Mam has had for as long as I can remember; she has loads like it, and this one found its way in to my collection somehow.


This little stocking - which is hanging on the other curtain tie hook - was on a card I had from Iggy a couple of years ago; it came off the card, so I kept it as a decoration.


I brought this snowman wind chime a few years back; I don't remember how many. I had a couple of them - not all snowmen - but I gave the others away. This is the only one that remains. It's atatched to the hook for our washing line outside our door.


My Mam gave me this bauble a couple of years ago; it plays music when you gently shake it (or do something else to make it move... Like clap right by it, knock against it, etc). It's hung on our living room door knob; it would be playing every time I passed it but I have it turned off most of the time. As much as I love the thing, it does get a little annoying when every time you walk through the door it plays a tune. Of course, I have to turn it on sometimes though... Don't I? *Winks*


I did a post about it - complete with a short video clip - when I first got it; it was three years ago. If you want to check it out, go to this post.

This picture of Santa being climbed on by puppies has been on my door since I was a child; it's looking really battered, but I can't bring myself to throw it away.


And that's all of them.

***

Today I'm joining in with the first of the three blog parties I've signed up for this holiday season. Join in the fun by clicking on the button below:

src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOOfLXK8BHlfhoNk0MbBHjD_krZr49M7EzOdz40VleLtM8QSzknMF2HOuFWciF3I-qQi0ZzFcqbQFcYXgUZo6gwMFpdb4ROLXPfh3IHt6bLD4CYWNIcx1dTlyVvbZmA7G099pF/s1600/Yuletideball2011witchbutton2eaw.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5676961077944481442" />

Furkid thoughts: Dear Santa

Dear Santa Paws,

I've been the very best behaved dog I possibly can be this past year, so I hope you're planning on bringing me a load of great presents like you usually do? You do know that we moved in October, right? We live by the seaside now... I hope you can find where. I also hope you can figure out where Gwydion moved to, since Gwydion moved to a different place that I don't know. Mami says that you're magic so can find anyone no matter where in the world they are; I hope she's right! She also says you have a magic key to open any door; I hope she's right about that too, since our fireplace is very firmly bricked up (even more so than it was in the old place) so there's no way you could possibly get in that way!

I don't have any spacific requests for presents; just bring me plenty of toys and treats, and I'll be happy with that!

Licks and sniffs,
Kero

Furkid thoughts: the story of the cat and the squirrel

Hi there humans, this is Kero here.

Today I have a story for you of what happened when I was out on walkies recently.

There's a squirrel that hangs out in some trees at the end of the street, my humans want photos of it, but it's really quick and sneaky so they haven't managed to get any photos yet. From what I can tell squirrels are rather tricky to get photos of.

Anyway...

We were just setting out on our walkies when the squirrel came in to view, ran across the road, and disappeared in to the bushes before we could get a photo. But it didn't just run like normal... It was throwing things over its shoulder as it ran.

We were confused, until we saw this...


The squirrel was throwing things at the cat, which was chasing it.

When the cat saw us it sat down right in our path, daring us to come any closer.


The squirrel got away while the cat was busy eyeing me up (and while I was trying desperately to persuade my humans to let me go to it to try and make friends).

After a bit the cat got bored and left, and we continued with our walkies.

And that's the story of the cat and the squirrel.

Licks and sniffs,
Kero

The sea before a storm

I said I'd get photos when the sea was rougher still than it was in the last batch of ocean photos I shared. I kept my word, and here are the promised photos:








No, that isn't snow on the beach (unfortunately)... It's the foam from the water.

There was a nasty storm soon after these were taken; not that the weather was all that calm at the time, since the huge wind beast was enthusiastically blowing its icy breath on the land when these were taken, but it got much worse.

Also, this bird was wandering around in the park, so we grabbed a photo:


Iggy's pretty sure it's a "Water Rail" (based on the best match he can find in the bird book I sent him), so that's what I'm calling it.

Furkid thoughts: the Christmas mouse

Hi humans, it's Kero here!

What does Mami have there?


WOW! It's a mouse teddy that plays, "we wish you a Merry Christmas," when you squeeze its tummy! I wish I had a mouse like that!

What?

Oh, WOW! It is for me!

Hey, come back mouse... You're mine!


Don't you just love unexpected presents?

Licks and sniffs,
Kero

The eagerly awaited birthday package

Ever since my birthday I'd been waiting impatiently for a spacific parcel to arrive in the post. I didn't know exactly what it would contain, but I knew who it was from, which I knew would be enough to identify it when it arrived.

Finally the day came when the parcel was put in to my hands.

Excitedly I began clawing at the tape around the box to try and open it.

My attempts were unsuccessful.

No matter, I have ways of dealing with troublesome tape; I grabbed the nearest pair of our kitchen scissors and carefully cut through the tape, using the gapps between the box flaps as a guide to know where it would be best to cut. Once I was done, I set the scissors aside and lifted the flaps.

Suddenly, something leapt from the box.

I grabbed the thing before it could escape, trying to hold it down long enough to discover what it was. It was small and furry; what could it be?

Ah-ha! I had it!

It was a squirrel, brandishing a nut and dragging some socks behind it:


I stroked the squirrel to calm it, and it is now my newest animal friend; never have I known a squirrel more eager to be friends. I suppose it was the couple of weeks spent in a box with only a couple of pairs of socks for company?

The poor thing is clutching its last nut as though its very life depends on not letting go of it. I've made no attempts to seporate it, and wouldn't dream of doing so, especially not after the possibly traumatic long journey the squirrel has had to endure.

I've never known a squirrel be so easy to photograph before either, LOL!

As for the socks...


My feet very much appreciate the two pairs of socks that the squirrel brought with it; not only are they warm, but - being proper walking socks - they are the perfect socks to wear with my walking boots, making my feet toasty and warm, and much more comfortable when walking than they've felt in some time.

I suppose now you'll be wondering where this package came from? Well, I'll tell you...

This package was my birthday present from Iggy; thanks Iggy! :)

Cards, cooking, beds and birthdays (FD)

I made a couple more holiday cards; I was short a couple for how many I wanted to send. Anyway, here are the two most recent cards I've made:


On the subject of cards and such for the holidays...

Last week we got most of the items sent out that I'm sending. There are a few things we haven't yet (which we're hoping to send tomorrow), but for the most part if I send to you then you should be getting post from me soon. How soon will depend on several things, but I'm hoping I've sent things early enough that everyone the other side of the world will get their stuff before the holidays, but late enough that nothing arrives before it's actually time to start holiday celebrations and such.

***

I wanted a pizza yesterday, so I made one:


This was my first time making a pizza completely from scratch. It was a very tasty pizza, if I do say so myself! Also, it was filling enough that I ended up having leftover pizza for today's dinner. So not only was it minus all the greasy oils that cover take-away pizzas, but I only had half of it each of the two days (actually, a little less... Kero had some too).

***

Never underestimate the joys of having a bed!

I'm not even half joking here!

Our old bed wasn't in great shape; we got it second hand about two years ago, and it was looking very battered. So we decided we wouldn't take it when we moved, and when moving looked to be happening soon, we arranged for it to be disposed of, thinking we'd spend a week or so without one at the old place, then maybe a couple of weeks at most without one when we moved. We had blow-up matresses though, so no big deal; we could handle two or three weeks on those.

But first the moving dragged out, and it took a month to sort it out, so we spent about a month without a bed before we moved. By this point sleeping on blow-up matresses was losing its appeal, but the bed was gone, and until we moved there would be no new bed for us, and we would have to continue with the blow-up matresses.

Then we moved, and it took us ages to sort things out because people in high places don't communicate. But, finally, everything was sorted and we ordered our bed.

We ended up spending close to three months with blow-up matresses, so when we finally knew the bed was coming it was as though my birthday was coming all over again!

It arrived on Wednesday; I've never been so glad to see a bed in my entire life!

Here it is:



It's nothing fancy, but it's our bed, and we get to sleep in it!

Oh the joys of having a bed!

My side of the bed is the side with the cone nearby; it's one of the Conas brothers... Iggy sent him to meet me, and he came with us when we moved. He has a thing for hanging around near money boxes; my Charlie And Lola money box is near him (not sure if you'll be able to see it though).

***

November 29th was the birthday of one of my friends named Tom (the one who has Lucy).
November 29th was also Kati and her husband Scott's 14th wedding anniversary.
November 30th was Shireen (one of my Mam's Goddaughter)'s 13th birthday.
December 1st was Betty's little dog, Koda's 7th birthday.
And today (December 4th) is my Grandad's 77th birthday.

So... Happy belated anniversary Kati and Scott, happy belated birthday to Tom, Shireen and Koda, and happy birthday Grandad!

It will most likely only be Betty and Koda who see this though; Kati isn't around the blogs these days (though she's on Facebook; I miss her blog posts though), and Tom, Shireen and Grandad use Facebook but not blogs; there was a time Shireen read my blog, but I don't think she bothers to do so these days.

***

I have just one more thing I want to say today...

Christmas day is exactly three weeks away!