elly in amsterdam

Here she is again

2012-02-19T14:09:00.000+01:00

My lovely sweet little lady!

I had taken some other pics of Fluffy and her in a wrestling match, but then the batteries of that camera died on me.Have to reload before I can post them or wait for another wrestling match :-(
This really is a nice warm place to stretch out, since the radiator is nearly cooking beneath her !

Dutch version ready to go

2012-02-15T17:34:00.002+01:00

Some people asked me about a Dutch version of my humble booklet on the mouse house. It came today ( Blurb is fantastically fast )

If you read Dutch , you can read it here .

The English version can be viewed here

BBB delivered

2012-01-29T18:32:00.001+01:00

Today I delivered he Big Bugger of a Rugger to my client. She is obviously delighted ( and so am I, having seen the last of it, and after studying it, she happily shoved it into her dolls house !

The lady of negotiable affection...

2012-01-27T11:03:00.004+01:00

Claire from Morecambe sent me this lovely lady... She is a perfect companion to my grumpy gouty colonel, I think, and in case you are wondering : yes,she is sitting on his rocking horse ....

She has a wonderful flushed face and beautiful hands ( notice those rings ?? And the fine fingers???) and a MIGHTY cigarette. I love her to bits.So does he, methinks.
Thank you Claire !

(PS yes, that blessed wall sconce is again leaning down..sigh)

OK, ready, finished, finito, ready to go...

2012-01-13T15:00:00.001+01:00

Thsi morning I finished the Big Bugger. I mean, finishing the stitching is one thing, finishing a carpet is quite a different animal altogether. Last week I had to whipstitch all around the edges and this morning I ironed on vilene on the wrong side. That was something that had to be done quite carefully, too.

Then I laid it out in my Kendrew House, in the music room, just to see how it looked.
And before you ask: no, I won't mind seeing it go ! I have seen quite enough of it to last a lifetime :-) And I know my client will be very happy with it (and it will bring a nice couple of bucks for pet rescue).

I DIDDIT !!!!!

2012-01-08T14:33:00.001+01:00

Hopping up and down. Excited . Manic !!! Did you hear that big big shout in Amsterdam? Well, that was just me.
I finally made it, this afternoon the last stitch went into the big Bugger of a Boria 1029, and unless I have forgotten a stitch, they were 242,653 stitches altogether . Sigh.
I needed two years to get it done ( witha RL job, of course ), and I assure you it is not for the faint hearted :-) Several times I thought this thing would beat me .

Last month, though, I finished the last motive in the corner and afterwards I filled up the background. Now look how we did that...

Of course, as you can see, it still needs some blocking before I can finish it.
A big thank you to the members of PetitPointers, the Yahoogroup, who have given me lots of encouragement and cheered me all the way through, while I was whining big time :-)
HURRAY !!!

MORE pickling !!!! And a fun pic of my little girl...

2011-12-26T21:22:00.002+01:00

I did not have as much time as I would have liked today, but I still managed to fill some more pots and to finish some others

The onions got labels. Anyone with more than my two brain cells would have hit upon label making in Word loooong ago... well, I did so, finally, today.

The cherries were labelled and got little covers (brrrr fiddly)

The bottles had dried and look nice, I think. They are solid acrylic, painted with glasspaint.

And I filled some marmelade jars, chopped orange canes by Angie Scarr, colored scenic water. The color is a bit VERY orange, I am afraid :-) and at least two of the pots are going to burst- bubbles are developing! There will soon a marmelade-bomb exploding in the Kendrew house,I think :-)

and while I was at the computer yesterday a little girl was playing acrobatics next to me:

Added some more pickles to my stash

2011-12-25T18:52:00.001+01:00

Today I had a play day again; I made labels for my "honeypots" that I painted some time ago. These are solid acrylic jars ( can be bought from Debbie , so cannot be filled, bu if you use glass paint and let them dry thoroughly, they do look nice. I also made textile covers for the pots.

( they are more amber colored than it seems in this picture, honest!)

In the same way, I also made a load of little jars of jam and curd:

( hmm, I am still think about very tiny labels, I am afraid that is beyond me, but maybe....Textile covers are absolutely out of the question, I am afraid ! )

I also filled some pots with mushrooms

In case you think I can make these, forgeddit right now. Angie Scarr made those beautiful canes, I just filled the jars :-) I am also adding a layer of glass paint on the outside, as part of the scenic water was too pale to my taste.

Also did cherries ( seed beads ,on the left), yellow scallions ( small pearlized beads ,middle). Hm, I seem to ahve lost some of the covers for the cherries, so probably will need to make some covers for these.

And these were meant to be red onions ( purplish beads), but since I did not color the scenic water, these came out too pale for that, so I did a re-think and am calling them plums. There.

They will all go into the very big rack in my Kendrew hose !

In the meantime kitties are very happy!

Tiffany's first Chanuka

2011-12-21T18:32:00.001+01:00

Today is the second night of Channuka, two candles. I have got a cat-like Chanukiah ( that is the candleholder) and I love the combination of two kitties :-)

Isn't she sweeeeeeeeeeeet ??

Stitched labrador

2011-12-20T22:01:00.000+01:00

Meet Buster

Buster crossed over the Rainbow bridge not long ago. A friend of mine ( Thelma fron Arizona) asked whether I could design a chart for her to stitch; Buster was the dog of one of her friends, a well-beloved and loving companion .
I did ,and Thelma stitched it and framed it. The pic was taken with a phone, which discolors it a bit, but the colors are OK in real life, Thelma assured me. Thelma did a GREAT job and I am very happy to have been instrumental in giving the lady a memory of her friend.

My little retriever

2011-12-16T13:04:00.002+01:00

Tiffany loves one game that Floris did like, as well: playing fetch !! She jumps off and tears through the house when I throw something ( anything will do, wads of paper are favourite, though, but a small rubber ball will do quite nicely) ,she brings it back to me, drops it near my feet or in my lap and wants to repeat etc ad infinitum- well, until the gas runs out, that is.

Update on the BBB

2011-12-11T12:40:00.000+01:00

And here it is again...The Monster....

But we ARE getting somewhere!! I can see it, I can see it....

In the meantime, Tiffany is growing fast and she is still a happy kitty, every day dreaming up something nice or naughty. She is a lovely girl and all of us are glad to have her in the house. This morning I even saw Jojo start a bit of playing with her- which means a lot, since Jojo never learnt to play with other cats while she was young ( I suspect, I adopted her as an adult stray)

And here is the first part of the harvest...

2011-12-09T11:53:00.002+01:00

Some of them may still get gingham covers, but that is later!IF I am adding them, that is.
The labels are from printimini's , the well-known site :-)
Euro in the back for size.

Pickled eggs ( I can do eggs in Fimo, hah !) and raisins in brandy (partially ochre painted mustard seeds)

Cucumbers sliced off an Angie Scarr cane, and green beans :

Apples ? Or peaches??? Well, yellow spilt peas :-) They do look impressive enough !

Cherries ( again painted mustard seeds) and carrots ( painted points of cocktailsticks, some lichen for parsley)

Gherkins ( painted cumin seeds )

Prunes ( pepper seeds. yes, I know these are biscuit jars, but I like them better this way, and it is MY house!!!)

More jars and bottles to follow, I think !

Still in food-mood

2011-12-06T17:35:00.001+01:00

Since I had been going happily in food modus , and- while I was rummaging in my stash yesterday to find some plates for the jellies and some canes, finding a load of blanc pickling bottles, I decided on a pickling day !

Recently Marianne Colijn wrote an article in American Miniaturist about pickling without Fimo. Of course, me being the best Fimo-impaired person of the world, that was something I felt even I could do.
So I am already proudly looking at the first results. If you don't look too close, they look convincing enough. I do hope I will also find some nice fake labels.
I do feel, however, that I could have pickled away a whole RL size harvest in the same time:-)
I have made some more jars since taking the pic, but it is dark now and I am too lazy to make an EZ setup just for now. Maybe later, when they are finished .

( Front: apples, made from yellow split peas, second row: cherries, painted mustard seeds ; third row: cucumber pickles, made from painted cumin seeds )

Tried some kits

2011-12-05T16:01:00.001+01:00

by Linda , of Milton miniatures . Of course, me being a non-Fimo person, it was a bit hard for me to do the breads, but Linda's mixes were really good, as are the instructions. I always loathe conditioning the clay, as, for some reason, my hands are always cold when I even think of doing Fimo.

I also filled a fishbowl, with some greenery, a fishie and scenic water ( now that is something quick and fun to do !). It will move to the cat-lady's house, where about 80 cats will be awaiting its arrival

And- here I blooped BIG TIME- I also made some jellies from molds. Nearly destructed the mould ( it is still functional, though), did not fill up well when pouring mould no 1. That was outdone later,however, when I decided to use the rest for a bicolor jelly. Being creative, it is called :-)
Those in the background will either be heavily decorated or remain in the background for the rest of their natural lives.

Some new flowers

2011-12-04T10:15:00.001+01:00

It has been a long time since I made some, but I decided to do so again this week. It is obvious that I am out of training, I am afraid, and the first set were even worse, but here are the final ones :

Amaryllis and geranium.

The first picture shows a euro in front, for size.The geranium is tiny, I mean tiny ! It is a bit scraggy, but then, all my plants tend to be scraggy....

The Amaryllis was fun, though. I did apply a coat of varnish,since I was not enamoured of the dullness of the paint, even after havingbeen mixed with Sobo.

OK, more Tiffany

2011-11-29T12:30:00.001+01:00

Although,having taken a week off to do some mini-ing, there is not much to be shown for it, I am showing off my little baby again. She is so delightful that I cannot resist.
I do miss my old analog camera here, though, the digital one is much slower and it makes an annoying sound when I put it on, so that kitty immediately stops whatever she is doing.And she is quick as water, anyway!

Still, I have these shots for you:

(a slight disagreement over the chair)

( good place, near my head , and an excellent view of the room)

(also a good place, excellent view of birdies and very nice and warm to snuggle!)

In memoriam: Bobbie Schoonmaker

2011-11-20T00:06:00.000+01:00

Today I read the sad news of the passing of Bobbie Schoonmaker, the lovely lady who had the needleworkbusiness of microstitchery . She died after a long and brave battle .

We stitchers are going to miss her; many of us ,me amongst them, have stitched her charts and kits, and have learnt much from the tutorials on her site.

RIP Bobbie, I am happy that your fight is over, but we will all miss you.

The following lines are from the message that Joy Perkins sent:

"In closing, I would like to let you know messages of condolence can be
sent through the following Web site:

http://www.beinhauer.com/obituaries-2 "

Here are some of the things I stitched :

The business will be taken over by Joy Perkins from Canada, she hopes to catch up on outstanding orders and the other work soon.

Latest update on the Big B of a Rugger

2011-11-09T20:51:00.000+01:00

Yes, there IS a definite difference between last month and this! But ohmy, it is very slow.....

More Tiffany- and Fluffy

2011-11-08T23:47:00.000+01:00

Some very happy kitties playing about. Fluffy is really happy to have a new friend after Floris died, he has started eating again ( the poor thing had lost a lot of weight simply refusing to eat adequately and was depressed).

Every night they play together before plopping down on my bed.

And Tiffany is a BIG MONSTER :

and she loves my miniature needleworkshop, of course.....

Back from Arnhem

2011-10-30T20:38:00.005+01:00

Now this was a BUSY day.

I went to Arnhem and talked to a LOT of people and bought home all kinds of goodies. I did not photograph all kits; I bought two microkits from Petite Properties ( hope to be able to show off the small thingies once I have abit of time to make them up).

I did meet with Linda, of Milton Miniatures:

Brought home several kits to make them up and I promised to translate the instructions.

I akslso bought several battery-operated lamps from The Little Dolls House Company ( Canada) and gleefully lit up my kitchen in the Kendrew, where I could not hang any lamp till now, since there was no accessible wiring, unless you count the hearth.

Went along to Victoria Fasken , where I bought two loverly urns

( those blue things on the mantle):

Bought a little pullmouse for the critter house from Shirley Scheibehenne:

went To Karon Cunningham and bought a beautiful rack of copper pots ( by Lara Copper from Oz)

Here they are in place in the other kitchen ( in the corner):

And a little porcelain bird (by Victoria Guerbos, no website, sorry) with flowers.
NB: you see centimeters here, not inches!

Which found a place in the hall

And a couple I could not resist :

THE KISS!!!

Went along to Jens Torp and bought a wonderful honeypot and breadbasket for my teashop

PHEW. So that is it for now!!! ( well, actually, there are more things, but will talk about those later on)

( Well, while I was typing this post, litle Tifany threw the Mouse House over. Fortunately there is no big damage done, only mr Skunk seems to have lost his bottle and little baby has lost a spider, but I think I have got some spare). Otherwise the family is OK, I am happy to say)

Still busy attacking the house, I am afraid!

2011-10-26T23:45:00.000+02:00

Here she is again, sitting in front of the palatial mansion. And yes, she wants to climb it and yes, she wants to get inside. Since the front door is still wide enough to let her in,I must make a barricade asap!!

But, not having got that far today, she decided to make do with my big bag ( purse for our US public)

busy beastie

2011-10-23T13:51:00.000+02:00

Attacking the rattan chair ( where Floris stopped the good work...)

attacking the laundry, surprising Jojo with her dedication to the task...

And finally going to sleep in the windowsill, a lovely warm place to be-with a view!

Tiffany playing

2011-10-22T23:55:00.001+02:00

She loves teasing the other cats and Fluffy, for one is highly intrigued!

She also listens best to Fluffy- the moment he calls her, she will be coming along, hopping after his tail. He also rescued her recently- she had accidentally been imprisoned underneath the kitchen cabinets by my cleaning lady. For an hour I was searching - then called for Fluffy. He did some searching, called here and there and then stopped in the kitchen, right in front of where she was sitting. Clever Fluffy! So I let her out and I was very happy about my sweet b/w brat.
But they DO tease each other all the time :-) And even Jojo, who has never taken to other cats, seems to like her.. I think my devious plan to brighten the days of my older cats is working out right now.

Happily purring lapkitty

2011-10-18T22:26:00.001+02:00

Today she landed in my lap ! Baby is happily dancing around the house. This morning Fluffy was lying in my lap- they are becoming friends as far as I can see. Fluffy was purring loudly , she came along and thought visibly "I can do that"- so she jumped next to me on the sofa, started purring , then Fluffy jumped off and she took his place in my lap.

Usually she is rather busy, and I am doing household chores, but when I finally sat down this evening, she came along again and did the same thing, a lot longer this time.I think the shelter did a great job since she is so happy after just a week in here.

Now she is asleep on the back of the sofa....

ASLEEP I said!

Tiffany getting around

2011-10-18T00:16:00.001+02:00

Although Tiffany was very shy and hissing and cussing yesterday when one of the other cats approached her ( the other critters are curious), she was in a happier mood today, kindly rolling over on her back when Fluffy came over to talk to her and making ouvertures both to him and even (gasp) me. She even went as far as rubbing her nose against my hand for some seconds :-)

Here are Tiffany and Fluffy

Fluffy is really intrigued by the little lady !

(Oh dear, I spoke too soon- I hear some growling in the kitchen...but that will be Jojo,I am afraid.)

My new furbaby!

2011-10-16T09:48:00.003+02:00

May I introduce to you : ( drum roll):

My new furbaby, taken from a nearby shelter last Tuesday. Her name was Spirou, but somehow I could not quite wrap my brain and tongue around it, so I have renamed her :
TIFFANY

It is not quite a good picture, I am afraid, but although since yesterday she is dancing around in the living room (she was hiding in one of the bedrooms during the first three days) she has not a second to spare to sit and pose for a photo. It does not quite show up yet, but at the shelter she was a swooning lovely little lady, so I fully expect her to become a lapkitty,too.When she has got time, that is!

Here are some better pics that I took tonight ( I am trying to get her in my neighbourhood; her conversation consists of hissing right now, though :-)

She IS a beauty, though !!!

The secret is out....

2011-09-27T17:58:00.003+02:00

During the weeks /months before I went away for holidays,I was working on a little present for Kristy, Peter and Kate, Mags, Linda and Carol, all people who had contributed to my mouse house.
When I came back I posted it out to them. Of course Kristy was the last to receive it, as she lives in the USA(all the other contributors live in the UK), but hers has landed,too.

So taadaaa! Drum roll .... Here it is!

If you want to see and read it, go here , click on preview. Let load a bit. In the lower right hand corner you will find a button "view full-screen"; this looks really impressive!! ( much more impressive than the real one, hehe)

But I love it to little bits and I am rather proud of it, if I say so myself!!

Update on the Big Bugger

2011-09-19T12:00:00.000+02:00

While in Switzerland, I did some stitching, too. Well, a lot, actually,but given the lots and lots of little stitches one needs for this, it looks less:-)
Anyway, I did fill out the central medaillon field, hurray! I also did some work on those endless borders.

Back from Switzerland again !

2011-09-16T17:25:00.003+02:00

I have been away , holiday-ing in Switzerland (my favourite destination, as I always really recover and de-stress out there.
Here you can see part of the view from the terrace in front of my apartment, it is part of the garden, actually and adjacent to the woods(on the back of where I was standing while taking this pic). It is really quiet, the only sound one usually hears is that of the two loud "brooks"-actually rivers in their teens and as noisy as any teenager- and the light being clear, at might you can see the Milky Way. It is lovely.

This is Pontresina, where I usually stay with a glacier valley behind it.

One of my favourite digs,Gasthaus Spinas,seated in a small valley.It is only open in summer, nobody lives in the valley, there is only the brook (the Beverin) and the woods, quiet and lovely, good for a nice and easy walk if one is so inclined.

Filisur, North of the Albulapass, is a very pretty village. This is how it looks from the railwaystation. I usually make sure to have a coffee out there each year( can't always make it, of course)-another favourite dig!!!

If you want to see more pics , just go here (I am afraid they will look much like 2010, but never mind, one can never have enough of a good thing,can one?

I am back home now, washing has been done and I will soon be in normal mode again, I suppose. I am awaiting something by post which I hope to share with you in some weeks(sorry.., giggle)

In the meantime I took loads of foodstuffs (well, actually chocolate and other nice thingies) with me-bless the car- and the kitchen is LOADED!!!!

bread and cheeses for the meece

2011-08-26T18:56:00.001+02:00

Last week Linda sent me some lovely little cheeses and breads for the meece. As you can imagine, fruits and vegs are "life size", but things they make themselves, are certainly mouse-size, so had to be small!!

This is Lindas pic, before she sent them off/ As you can see, the mice HAD already been nibbling at them, even before the food got here....

This week I distributed them over the house; some of the kids made off with hot cross buns to the bedroom; the guys playing in the attic nicked some bread and cheese; mousketeer will be spearing either cheese or an apple as soon as he has made up his mind and the little jam thief has also taken some cross buns. What is the world coming to....

This is the breadcar, full of breads !

Goodbye my little friend

2011-08-22T17:01:00.004+02:00

This afternoon Isaid goodbye to my beloved little furbaby, Floris, the brave little kitty who held out so long against his sarcoma. I had him on heavy painkillers because I suspected a nerve problem in his left front paw, but when I noticed yesterday that his right pupil was bigger than the left one, I suspected a cerebral metastasis, too. He did not have much of a problem with it, but I know I could not have kept it in check much longer.

He still ate relatively normally and just before the vet came he drank a load of my milk :-)
(Thank heaven my vet makes housecalls for this sort of thing)

Again I want to thank the vets of Utrecht for their dedication and help; we all did the best we could for him and I think he had an extra year free of trouble because of his treatment at the faculty. Thank you Jolle, thank you Bas,thank you to Ilonka, Willemijn and others who took care of him, and also thank you to the kind vet who took her time this afternoon to see him out

Goodbye my friend.

The scullery is working ( I hope)

2011-08-14T17:18:00.002+02:00

Momma mouse got nearly desperate! So much cooking to do for a big family and nowhere to wash the dishes. So after much asking now she has her sink and it has been installed and is fully operational. I also gave her a set of bins for soda, soap , sand and salt, indispensable when you need to wash up.

Still, I am afraid the little guy with his chemical experiments will be in trouble any time now if/when his mom gets wise to what he is brewing out there.

OK, sink will be drying

2011-08-12T19:55:00.001+02:00

in the scullery; I decided it could be done. I also stuck up some little shelves , also courtesy of Petite Properties( or do you think I am so handy????) Will fill those up later, the glue that keeps them on the wall has to dry thoroughly.

Since the sink does take some place- and it is rather dangerous out in the scullery , anyway- I decided the little clown had better evacuate to to the attic.

Little baby werewolf is waiting for him there, so the two have stuck a friendship. Werewolf hasn't really got the worst deal, since there is loads to eat in the attic, too! Besides, clown brought his peanuts and popcorn , so they will be having a great time together.

Scullery sink for mouse house

2011-08-12T17:17:00.000+02:00

Heh, finally , my mamma mouse can wash up her lots pots and pans! Yesterday a lovely sink kit from Petite Properties arrived and yesterday evening and today I spent with Floris making up the kit. His contribution exists in opening one lazy eye from time to time and happily purring away. The whole assembly is drying right now and I will be able to put it in on Sunday or so.
I filled the sink with dirty plates and dishes , and then with liquid fimo, after which the whole caboodle went into the oven. A piece of cotton is hanging over the side and a cocktailstick suggest a brush.

The Big Bugger again...

2011-08-10T20:33:00.001+02:00

Here is the latest update on my Big Bugger of a Boria . As you can see, I have half of the ginormous rug behind me by now. Meaning I have stitched about 100.000 plus stitches (and frogged many of them , too). The chart is not that hard, but sometimes one gets a blind spot and one has to make the same piece over and over, because it does not come out right. Sigh. I am counting impaired....Yes, right, I am whining big time over this baby!

Re: my patient: yesterday I had a heart-to-heart with Floris's vet; I needed some input from someone who knows him, his history, and who knows me, too. He advised me to have a go at painkillers and look if the guy still enjoys life. Floris took the painkiller rather graciously ( he does not dislike them and they work quite well).Well, he obvioulsy still does- he stole my salmon pate last night.
Of course, we do not have much time together any more, but I do honestly not think he is really suffering right now.If/when I think he does,I will let him go, of course.

My little patient

2011-08-07T21:44:00.001+02:00

Floris is going downhill fast by now. He is very thin, but that is not the worst news ; I saw him walking lopsided last week and now I have discovered why this is so- there appears to be a lump ( possibly a lymphnode metastasis) underneath his front paw . I can't move it from his ribs, so either he is in pain already or will be soon.
It will be time to think about saying goodbye to this lovely sweet and brave furkid of mine in a very foreseeable future. Well, I knew this was about to happen, of course, but that doesn't make it less hard. And the real problem, of course, is deciding when enough is enough- he still loves lying and sleeping in the sun, comes for his food and for his cuddles.

But there is also trouble

2011-07-31T23:14:00.001+02:00

on the other side of my room, where the mouse house is situated.
Somehow the neighbour, a mr Skunk, who regularly looks deeeeeply into his glass, has shown up on the doorstep and is singing loudly. That wouldn't b so bad, but he has a bad voice and is off- key all the time. Still, I suppose he is enjoying himself....

One of the little meece disappeared and has gone to the swing in the garden.

Grisly character in the Kendrew scullery....

2011-07-29T15:32:00.002+02:00

I recently found this guy in Patricia Pauls Etsy shop. I mean,honestly- I did resist him for a day or two - and then caved in. He might have had ideas of going to my Highwayman, but no way- he has gone to live in my really posh Kendrew . Poor Molly, who had already jumped on a chair because of some small furry critters ( mice and rats) does not even know she is in BIG trouble.....

The Kendrew kitchen again

2011-07-22T19:44:00.001+02:00

Last week I saw a wonderful site, the one of Jason Getzan. He produced a DVD of "Morningside Cottage" , the Miss Marple house of Sarah Salisbury, one of my favourite miniatures. It had been in existence since a long time, but as a video, which I could not see( as I live in PAL country). The DVD opens well, actually and is absolutely worth the 20 bucks spent on it.

BUT while I was there, I saw these wonderful copper pans and things and I have a thing with copper, well, in miniature, that is. He also sells very nice miniknives !
Today I hung the rack with its pans into the kitchen of my Kendrew house. It is a bit hard to drive anything into that ceiling, as it is hard wood and a narrow space, so please do not tell me I need to use a nicer hook or something or I will shout !!!

Since I was fighting with ceilings now, I also decided to hang a bird in a cage into the "beautiful kitchen"; that is where the butler has his writing table and the upper staff have their coffee/tea.

I also hopefully hung ( for the thousandth time ) a spice chest that for some reason ALWAYS follows Newtons apple. Plonk.Sigh. Now I hope it will remain hanging for some time!!!!!

Two more little meece

2011-07-05T18:54:00.000+02:00

Today they turned up on my doorstep: two more meeces from Kristy. One is a little warlock. I ahve sent him into teh scullery, where, unseen by his parents, he is brewing something dangerous. I expect to hear an explosion any time now.

With him came a little brother, who dressed up as a clown, bringing his own popcorn and peanuts ( it always helps when newbies bring in their own food). Since they had travelled together, I left them hanging out there for now, but I will probably evacuate the little clown soon. I mean, he is in real danger....

I am going to have a photosession real soon, as these pics are lousy- but you get the idea!

This is SCARY

2011-07-01T19:37:00.000+02:00

Months ago, before I had the mouse house I was webshopping in a bead shop and I came upon this Fimo pendant.
The mouse settlement immediately came to mind, of course, so I bought together with the other supplies I wanted. I had to grunge it, it was too neat, of course, but today it was ready to go into the house.
Since it is next to impossible to pound a nail in or even make a hole, I simply decided to glue it in with heavy industrial glue- hoping it will never have to leave place again.

Of course, I hung it next to the kids' bunk- that will teach them being naughty. I mean, see that big spider on babys bed??????? Poor little girl....

Kitty post again

2011-06-30T22:08:00.001+02:00

In case you are wondering..

Floris is still alive, against all odds. If I am honest, I did not expect him to tough it out this long. Still, he seems to be comfortable, he sleeps a lot, though ,and is quiet. But he is still purring, drinking from the faucet, stealing my milk and eating regularly and he loves to be cuddled- gently.

The other two, guy and gal, are fortunately still in robust health, I am happy to report.

Fluffy ( usually called "little baby by me) on the sofa.....( he is shy, cuddly and very naughty, I am afraid, usually planning some kitty-naughtiness and teasing Jojo out of her wits)

And Jojo, laying on my needlework shop, from where she has a commanding view both on the street and inside....Also, she feels reasonably safe from the little b/w brat here.

Playing with pots and pans

2011-06-29T22:08:00.001+02:00

Being in a baaaaaaaaad mood because of a rather stupid vote that passed here yesterday ( parliament wants to forbid rirual slaughter in this country), I decided to treat myself to an evening of playing with the mouse house.

Of course I have got so many pots & pans now that they are spilling everywhere! Here they are standing on the stairs...

If you look closely to the overmantle, you can see a little pan hanging on for dear life on the edge of the overmantle. I only saw it when I viewed the pic, but decided to leave it for now.It is hard enough to get things in back there !

And here I decided the chair was doing nothing useful with its time, anyway, so it could easily be used as a parking place for pans. Handier for mom.

Now I do really need to get on with the little quilts (but to be honest, it is a bit boring)

Elga's presents

2011-06-26T20:25:00.001+02:00

And look what I received from Elga:

All of them were made by herself. Often home-made minis don't take very well if you look at them closely,esp painting can be a pain in the neck for any maker (and don't ask how I know that!)but you can see that here is a master-in-the making at work!!! Thank you so much Elga!

Visit from South Africa

2011-06-26T16:50:00.000+02:00

Yesterday night Elga from SA flew in for a short visit to Amsterdam. Elga had been to Castine last week ( she will tell you all about it when she is home, I think) and she broke away from a visit to her brother in Norway to visit here, so sweet!

Here you can see what she had taken for show and tell. Her work is exceptional, outstanding, gorgeous !!!! I especiall loved the combinations of PP and woodwork, that she excels in.

She also gave me some presents for my miniature home, I will take pics of them later on. Just now I am busy washing etc.

Thank you so much Elga coming to visit here and I hope to see you again!

a bit of grunging added

2011-06-19T23:56:00.003+02:00

And now they look like this...
I absolutely overdid it here and there, it is hard for me to get the paint as fine as I want, but will cover those with food or other pans :-)
In case anyone wonders: I first washed the metal minis with simple detergent,then I sprayed the whole caboodle (on my balcony, I might add) with spray paint, like they use for cars.Well, it actually IS a car product.
Then I started with acrylic paints. Oil paints will not work very well on this primer :-) I could have used carspray for the yellowish glazing, of course, but did not have that and I was too lazy to go out and buy it...So I simply made layers upon layers of acrylics and lastly used a glossy varnish to give the enamel effect.Only the basket escaped glazing, of course.

Lots of little kitchem items

2011-06-19T22:02:00.000+02:00

for the mouse house...

As you all know, mice have mighty big and hungry families, so mammamouse needs lots of pots and pans !
I had bought a lot of white metal miniature items and have been busy painting them. Most of it is done by now, I need to repair some edging here and there, but basically it is done
Now, I need to have a good think about where to leave all these little buggers!

Also, I am quite sure that I saw two paella pans. Do meece eat paella??? Hmm, Kristy's meece might :-)
Now sometime soon I will put it all into the little house!

Two stitched kitties

2011-06-17T12:56:00.001+02:00

This is Maikel, a cat living in Belgium. You can see I had to phantasize a bit on his eyes, but I think it has worked reasonably well.

And this is Junior, the b/w kitty living with the same mom.
I hope she is happy with the portraits.

My client and the half (less or more) Boria...

2011-06-12T18:02:00.003+02:00

Today I drove to the lady who I am stitching that big monster for. She loves it!

And here is the room where it is going to live in a very far future, I am afraid.....

In this house:

An article about this house appeared in Poppenhuizen en Miniaturen, a Dutch dolls house magazine(issue 105):

Here it is again...

2011-06-10T12:07:00.000+02:00

The Big Bugger of a Rugger....
Slowly, slowly I am seeing at least the centre of the thing unfolding. Still a massive load to be done before I will be half way through the monster, but there is a chance I may be getting there in my lifetime !!!

mouse house bedding and a little new friend

2011-06-05T14:00:00.001+02:00

Friday and today I made some bedding for the mousehouse. Bedding is one of the things I usually avoid as much as possible. I can do it, but it is so booooring...
And somehow I thought I could have a shortcut and just glue the textiles. Bwahaaa! I should have known better!!!! I am OK with textiles, but only with a needle in my hand, Glue goes everywhere, especially on my fingers- which get grubby big time-, but the stuff does not stick textiles. So by the end of several frustrating hours I just started afresh, took out the silk threads I use for mini-sewing ( YLI 100 in case you wonder) and sewed the whole caboodle together. Much easier and more effective.
Well, this morning I finished the beds for the time being, that is ( they will get some little quilts, but it is still summer, so they don't need much quilting, as yet).

In the attic, a little stranger has moved in , my baby werewolf with his voodoodoll. I think he is dying to play with the little meece, and his mother has assured me that if you get babywerewolves young enough, they can be house-trained , so he may yet move in into the bedroom. He is looking so sad and lonly right now....

Decorated mouse house

2011-06-02T12:20:00.001+02:00

For safety reasons KITTIES!!! ( and to try and make my RL living room less crowded) I had moved the mousehouse to a bookshelf. After having shifted around and dumping loads of books. (In case you are worrying: I have hundreds of books left; the discarded ones went to charity, or I bought them on Kindle) I created a nice niche for it, but it looked very much out of place..
Anyway, I dove into the cellar and came up with some artificial ivy that I draped around the house. I find it looks a lot better now, but I do plan to paint a background when I get round to laying my hand on a piece of painter's board.
I am also working on making miniature ivy to clad the front with.

miniatures and minicats

2011-06-02T00:01:00.006+02:00

This is a golden oldie from when my black and white little brat was a baby. He loved walking into and out of dollshouses, neatly using the door.And the stairs in my bigger houses. Later on , he also tried sleeping on a dolls bed. Bed did not survive. Cat did, of course, I mean : what can one do? He looked so happy and innocent ( and still does, for that matter...)
The shop eventually did not survive the cats' interest, too, They used the roof to bask themselves in the sun , but the plexiglass crashed down when they grew older and heavier and the shop did, as well, around their ears. That is why I bought a sturdier shop, which will eventually be moving into the new Kendrew house !

Ancient work :-)

2011-05-25T19:02:00.001+02:00

When we were recently talking samplers at Petit Pointers, the international stitchers'group, I remembered some miniatures samplers I made years and years ago.
I cannot pretend that I design samplers- I don't. I do the "collecting"of the motifs, though. These motifs were stolen from RL samplers and the colors are pretty much the same of the old ones, as they look now. Reds and black kept up nicely, but yellow, blue and greens have faded over the years.
I stitched them on 54 hpi silk gauze with DMC\. That seems to be impossible, but at the time nobody told me, so I simply made them .

If anybody who likes stitching ( x stitch, Petitpoint, crewel) and would like to join, please do! We stitch in all sorts of ways and nobody has to be ashamed if you do 22 hpi canvas; we are all happy to cheer you along the way and to help you if you want some help.

We do not exclude anyone working on lower counts. We do not exclude anyone who wants to join us and have fun, period.

One of our rules is that stitching is supposed to be fun.
We are chatterers big time, though :-), so if you are looking for a quiet time on the web you are out of luck there.

Two little dolls

2011-05-25T18:48:00.002+02:00

(Quarterscale) arrived yesterday. I bought them from Jan Stockwell at Ebay and , of course, I put them into the garden of Flowerpot Cottage. Like DM in CAMP said- there is going to be trouble, baseball next to that window????!!!!

OK, more pics of the Kendrew shop !

2011-05-24T19:45:00.002+02:00

As promised , here some pics of the Kendrew shop. The downstairs room is basically one, so I can have a go and have a REAL BIG SHOP here. I mean , really....One can plonk some needlework in here, can't one?!
Several parts with false stairs were included, which is really nice....
I am dreaming of a genteel needlework-shop ( "fancy work") right here...:-)
Oh , and if you MUST know : it is about 84 cms wide, 48 deep, 80 high.(=33 x 19 x 31.5 " for you lazy gals...) And heavy , I mean heavy.

A new house....

2011-05-22T21:31:00.000+02:00

Oh heavens, I did it again.
I will probably have to live outside my own house, but I really could NOT resist this beautiful house, a Kendrew!!! It is still in its original condition, but wired.
These houses are exceptionally well built and very beautiful.
It just fitted into my car and when I came home I borrowed my neighbour to hoist it into my house :-)
I will need to shellack it first before doing anything more to it, but isn't it a beauty??!!

Molly in the kitchen

2011-05-20T16:40:00.001+02:00

This is a doll by Viola Williams,Molly, who rashly went out into the scullery, needing something, but not realizing the scullery is already lived-in and home to a great many small furry crittters!

So she climbed upon a chair, hollering for help....

Not good

2011-05-18T17:47:00.001+02:00

Today I went for another check-up for Floris.
Although the little guy is still quite happy, it appeared on the Xray that he developed a mediastinal mass, tumorous probably(95 %). Probably this is the one that will be the decisive tumor, as it will compress the trachea. I will need to watch when he will be in discomfort ( esp breathing problems are to be expected) and take it from there.
Still, I am happy and grateful he got another year (at least) with an excellent quality of life and also that we will be able to make the most of every day as long as we can It so often happens that illness overtakes one of our beloved furkids and we feel guilty because we did not see it coming (been there, done that).
In the meantime he is still stealing my milk!

The Big Boria

2011-05-15T08:26:00.000+02:00

Well, there is some progress, at least! Very slowly, but still....
As you can see, I can see the centre looming at the horizon. It will be some months of stiff work to get there, though....-)

bedroom furniture for Flowerpot cottage

2011-05-12T18:43:00.000+02:00

And she soldiered on...
Today I made up some kits of a bedroom set and a washstand ( bought from BJ MIniatures ). The kits are really excellent, even for a hamfisted and impatient animal like me :-) I still need to drape the quilt, of course; it is printed fabric and looks very nice, I think!
I also love the washstand, but I need a pitcher and basin. Anybody?

Doll arrived today

2011-05-11T19:46:00.000+02:00

The postie brought me a lovely doll,made by Marie-France Beglan ( it is a pleonasm, really, since all her dolls are lovely and I have been coveting one since years).
I think I will employ her as a flower seller in my tearoom, which is illegal, I think, but she is too young to work, anyway, so a bit more illegal makes no difference to speak of....

Mouse house, further accessories in place

2011-05-06T19:05:00.003+02:00

Long time no see...Sorry, I am still busy with my dear little Floris ( who is still happy at the moment, though) and RL things.

Today, however, I decided to bring more accessories into the mousehouse. First I filled the pudding bowl Mamma mouse was facing with filler ( you know, that white paste that is used to fill holes in a wall when you want to get rid of them for redecoration). It looks very convincing right now, if I say so myself :-). Then I dug out more pots and pans, some goodies like seed cake, bread , and, of course, cheese. Babymouse got a hanging moon over her head, made by Shirley Scheibehenne ( Germany) to help her overcome the trauma caused by Georgina Marfels's ( also Germany) giant spider!. The wonderful mushrooms , made by Mags have been hung to dry in the kitchen. I also put chamber potties ( Elisabeth Causeret) in place and hung the beautiful little spice cabinet that Peter and Kate made, next to daddy mouse after having placed some pots (also by Elizabeth Causeret) into them.

And here is the little patient; excuse his shorn appearance !

Three happy kitties

2011-04-18T17:21:00.000+02:00

They are all happily roasting in the sun right now, even the little patient, who obviously has a great talent for enjoying life as much as he can while he is at it. He really had me worried last week, but since then he picked up and today he wolfed down his food. I did not really think he needs his painkiller today, he looks really content.I am so glad !!
The others are also enjoying the sunshine:-)

OK, some mini today MOUSKETEER!

2011-04-15T18:05:00.001+02:00

Today the little mouse that my friend Kristy called the "mousketeer" got into his new home. That rapier was begging for some action, so I have put him in front of one of Mags's apples with clear intent of stealing!

Isn't he adorable ?

Floris, though , has me worried. He is keeping underneath my bed most of the time and has hardly eaten. I do hope it is just the after-effect of the operation and the anaesthesia, otherwise it is getting bad by now. I will just have to wait and see, though. Poor little brave guy.

Operation went well, kitty happy.

2011-04-14T17:59:00.010+02:00

Today my little tough guy was at hospital again, to let his tumor to be removed ( after it had been irradiated ). Although his general condition is getting worse, he is still very lively and was rubbing his nose against my hand whenever possible on the way home ( I was driving , so a bit of care was indicated). He is walking around now, still a bit dizzy , of course, but otherwise fine and enjoying being home again, it appears.

I must thank the devoted team of the Utrecht Veterinary Clinic again for their care of my little guy. They are kind and wonderful all the way.This goes for the main treating doctors, J. Kirpensteijn ( left) and B. van Nimwegen (right) , but also for all other people who are part of the team ( anaesthesiologists, radiologists,nurses, receptionists, etc)

I made a pic of a grey parrot while in the waiting room. The girl who had her on her arm was there to have an opinion of how to train her and wean her from a rather destructive habit ; she is picking her own feathers off, because the last owner neglected her. I think it is very sweet of her ( she obviously is not one of our richest gals) to make such an effort. She spoke very sweetly and quietly to the bird to get her in her box again.

Hungry tiger

2011-04-13T17:20:00.002+02:00

( Sorry, much cat, hardly time for minis right now)
Today we were at the faculty again to have Floris's lump seen to. It has decreased in size , a bit, but it is best to remove it right now, as it will probably be relatively "quiet" ( shortly after the radiation). We suppose his pulmonary metastases will have grown, but the immediate threat to his well being is this tumor, so that is the one we choose to treat right now.
Tomorrow I will bring the guy in to be operated upon again and I will take him home ( if all goes well, he has become considerably weaker) the same afternoon. Still, he looks rather happy and content and cuddles whenever he can :-) I even get his Glivec pills in without too much fuss and he is not even mad at me.

You know how to give a pill to a cat? Feed the pill to a goldfish and goldfish....
( Or , like a friend elaborated : feed pill to goldfish, goldfish to duckie, duckie......NOOOOO )
Very bad. Nope , I wouldn't dream of it.

Floris : follow up

2011-04-06T18:45:00.005+02:00

Today we went to Utrecht again for the first check up after the radiation of the tumor on Floris's back. Unfortunately, the thing did grow slightly; on the other hand, we do not know how malignant the remaining tumor is at the moment. Soooo, next week again and if the bugger has not reduced in size, it will be taken out locally, as it is worthwhile to have a go. In the meantime, I am starting him on Glivec; he is the third cat to try this ( worldwide, I mean); we do not know whether it will work, but it has few side affects and we will monitor him. The UK cats who pioneered this medication, ate it in peanut butter- unfortunately Floris doesn't care about the stuff :-)

Flowerpot cottage again

2011-04-04T21:39:00.003+02:00

When I was in Arnhem, I discovered a lady who had several wonderful small scale accessories for sale, even 1/48th ( which is not a popular scale here). Most things were, alas , too refined for my little cottage, but I managed to nick a kitty( sitting on the left, on the floor), some flowers in pots, a coffee/tea set and a wonderful grey-and-blue kitchen pot.
Today I finally got to actually photographing them.
I have started now on some kits to furnish the bedrooms. Problem is, it is not really my scale and I have trouble thinking up the accessories, which I find EASY in 1"scale!

Home again!

2011-03-30T18:19:00.002+02:00

After a week the little patient is home from hospital. Of course, he had to take possession of the house again, and of me, cuddling big time when I came home from work ( if the vets read this : my brain won't really suffer from damage by Xrays- nuf said) . Now we will have to wait and see what happens. Probably the tumor is not going to get smaller, but if there is a reaction it would be , that it would not grow bigger in a short time. He has this shaven footballfield on the back again, of course, but it does not worry either of us- or any of the other kitties. They are happy he is here again!

More mouse house

2011-03-28T17:30:00.001+02:00

For those who want to see more mice and house pics,you can see the lot here in my photobucket album.

First things in place !

2011-03-27T20:49:00.001+02:00

Here we are!
For some reason the blog refused to take my pictures, but I think it will work now( I hope)

During some hours of hard glueing I have placed part of the crockery in place and part of the food; the micies are playing and cooking .
Harley the motormouse is ready for a race against the turtlemouse( outside); Dad is working on his contraption , the cat beller;mom has got a pudding bowl ( pud to follow), underneath the table is a little mouse that partook of jam; upstairs the kids are playing and the baby is less or more asleep.
Do you see that wonderful apple core next to the apples on top of the dresser ( Mags made the apples and also the blackberries on the table and mushrooms drying in the attic ; they are gorgeous, exactly the right size!) ? I mean, if apples are lying there, it might be very reasonable that one of the mouse kids climbs up from time to time for a nibble...

First pictures of the Mouse House

2011-03-27T19:25:00.003+02:00

Today I fetched the house for Kristy's micies at the Arnhem Fair. I had brought some mice with me. Kate and I put up some mice and furniture inside, and then they called Janet Kirkwood ( editor of DHMS), who took a photograph of it. After which, of course, I took a pic of Peter and Kate posing proudly next to their house!
(sorry, I just discovered that the pics had mysteriously disappeared; have retrieved them via my photobucket album now)

Floris in Utrecht again

2011-03-24T18:57:00.002+01:00

Today I delivered my brave little guy in Animal Hospital again. The first pic was obviously taken at home, yesterday when he was happily asleep on my bed.
The second ( the little kitty- turtle ) was made when he was in his hospital -bed, awaiting anaesthesia and treatment.
The third pic is another patient brought in- some patients are bigger than others!
Floris is awake now and seems happy enough , according to Ilone, the student who will take care of the radiation patients this time. We do miss him, though! Big time!

working on the Kendrew railings

2011-03-21T12:38:00.001+01:00

The big Kendrew house has got lovely iron railings with originally golden-colored tops. During the years, however, these are becoming dull.
So yesterday I decided to take my pot of gold paint and re-top them with golden color. I think it is working.
Now that I am at it, I have also taken the grand stairs of the terrace off and repaint these. My dear Floris throws his food around when he is really into it, so remnants of kitty food are all over it, it seems, in spite of regular heavy duty cleaning :-)
Stairs are drying outside now !

Of mice and their food...

2011-03-20T18:05:00.004+01:00

Today I retrieved a package from Mags Cassidy , who made me some wonderful mouse fodder, some nice big apples , that look wonderfully realistic, including an apple core and a very big apple that has been bitten into:-), some lovely mushrooms and several blackberries, which look quite great, too.That gal is a wizard !
One set of mushrooms came ready to hang for drying- aren't they great !!! The house should have some hooks or so on the ceiling, so after next weekend they can be hung somewhere...
This is just a set-up picture to show how they look together with the mice, as I asked Mags to work out of scale ; I needed bigger apples etc than 1/12 to visualize it "in scale". If these were real micies, the apples would need to be carted in, as would the mushrooms. No 1/24 perfection for me in this project, I am afraid!

Stacy again

2011-03-18T15:40:00.002+01:00

Some ( well, a long) time ago I partly dressed the doll I called Stacy after Stacy Hofmann, who made her and partly decorated her.
Trouble is, she is a wonderful, beautiful doll and her hair ornaments(that Stacy made) are exceptional, so I wanted some dress to go with it. I finally found some brocade which I thought would work, and I tried- it doesn't , not for me, at least.
She and I have been staring at each other for months now while I sought to find an answer for the question how to finish the dress nicely. The answer is : it won't work, whatever I do.
So I have bit the bullet , cut the clothes off and am now trying for another dress, only partly brocade, combined with , probably chiffon. I hope. Well, I do hope it will work...
Some parts have been cut out by now and are drying.

The race can begin!!!

2011-03-17T15:53:00.001+01:00

I just unpacked the mouse driving a turtle, made by Kristy, and he and Harley have met.
Like Kristy wrote to me : itis going to be an interesting race , as Harley cannot reach the pedals of his bike and the turtle evidently has no plan to move, at all :-)
The cats look at the racing-team with benign eyes, I think they must be getting used to mice running around here,,,?

update on Floris

2011-03-16T13:04:00.002+01:00

Today I went again with Floris to the Utrecht Veterinary faculty for a check-up

The local tumor is growing big time, but is not growing through into the vertebrae. The Xray showed, though, that his pulmonary metastases had hardlly grown , at all. So the primary concern is now this local process.

Jolle (Kirpensteijn, the professor) is willing to have a second go with the Holmium therapy locally. Of course, we cannot hope to cure him, but we might be able to get some new control on the local tumor, before he gets into pain. We might also try Glivec, a "soft" chemo, used for similar neoplasms in humans, which probably won't have too many side effects, but Jolle will try to glean some info from a colleague who tried that.

Anyway, here is kitty at home again, basking in the sun! He is still his own sweet selfie, jumps onto the counter when I scoop out kitty food and yesterday, one of the first sunny and mild days ( spring is finally here), he played around on the balcony. Clearly he is still enjoying life.

birthday present

2011-03-14T18:08:00.005+01:00

Look what I found when I came home...

A lovely lovely bedspread, crocheted ( not knitted, as I thought at first) by my clever and sweet friend Petra (You may remember her as the lady who also stitched those two Tasmanian critters for another friend). The bedspread is for one of my minibeds; I think the lady in my Victorian house could use it.
The card is lovely, too. The kitty bears a real resemblance to my dear Floris.

Big thank you to Petra!!!!

Remember Harley

2011-03-12T21:07:00.004+01:00

the motormouse?

Recently Kristy made the perfect companion for him....

I hope he won't get lost while travelling here, because Harley is looking forward to have a nice litle race in the house! I would love to have them racing outside, but I am afraid my cats will make of with the pair of them. Mouse-life is hard enough as it is, even without cats prowling about....

Amanda Skinner doll II : Nother pic of the little girl

2011-03-11T17:18:00.001+01:00

looking sideways, te seems...:-)

Amanda Skinner doll

2011-03-11T17:04:00.004+01:00

I just saw my postie , who brought a lovely doll ( Elizabeth), made by Amanda Skinner ( USA). Usually I buy kits , I love dressing dolls, but her children are plain irresistable!!! I love it how the little girl seems to be looking in other directions, whichever way you face her. It is very cleverly done .Thank you Amanda!!

New update !

2011-03-09T20:27:00.000+01:00

Here is the March update of the Big Bugger of a Rugger, the Boria 1029.
14 pages done fully, total 49 pages :-)

mouse made it

2011-03-03T20:45:00.001+01:00

This little mouse travelled all the way over the Big Pond with his own jar of jam, as he ( she?) was happily nicking some. Since s/he is going to meet mouse-mamma soon, I am not quite sure about his/her immediate future..

I am planning to unpack some mice and some accessories this weekend and have a go at photographing the family. Without their house, as yet, but they will be able to move in in about three weeks.

Kristy also sent me this little walnut shell, it will be great to have an extra bassinet in case some new baby might arrive, mice are prone to that, I have heard....

Of kitties and Kendrews...

2011-03-03T17:21:00.000+01:00

Tuesday last I saw a guy who works in our hospital ; he is one of the technicians and very helpful. He is well liked by everyone, he loves his job.
I had asked him before to help me sort out some dolls house problem. Now I had annother one : my big "posh"house has ginormous stairs. However, after they had been painted ( and it is MDF, staining won't work), they had simply become just a shade too high, so that the door was always jammed tightly and it became hard to open the front properly.
So I asked him whether he would be able to shave a part off and today I took that thing ( only to be taken in the bag of a well-known scandinavian store ) out to the job. And now, after he has spoken to it, it sits much better!!!
And Fluffy , my little brat, loves that bag, of course... :-)

The mouse family reunited

2011-02-18T17:18:00.000+01:00

And being inspected by a very curious cat!!!

The kids did not want to stop playing, I am afraid, for the first official family pic. They are all of them lovely, though and I hope they will like the house when I come home with it!

A basket of blackberries

2011-02-13T21:45:00.002+01:00

That mouse house left me in a flurry ! So today , instead of stitching, I went out shopping here and there (on-line, that is) for loads of goodies, esp utensils and other accessories in half scale.

BUT I want to have the things that grow naturally in at least 1/12th , slightly bigger if possible.No halfscale carrots or potatoes for me. So today I attempted making blackberries in a basket ( the basket kit is by Barb Lewis, bought from Debbie) ; the blackberries are mustard seeds, painted and glazed with nailpolish.Usually mustard seeds have the right dimensions for 1/12 grapes, but I need the contrast here, I think they will do nicely
The basket handle, though, was too big for little mice, so I had to make some small handles on the side , so that two can shlepp the loot !

Mouse house ready, a sneak peek

2011-02-12T22:28:00.001+01:00

I just received some pics from Peter and Kate of the mouse house. It is absolutely STUNNING!!!!!

February 2011: Update

2011-02-10T22:33:00.000+01:00

On the Big B... of a Rugger! Well, I have finished the first 6 pages of the chart by now( of course, I have stitched more than that, as most of the motives of the borders have been stitched already, and these take a page in width and height , too).
Still, finally it is possible to see that I HAVE been stitching, at all.....

Mouse parents ready to be shipped...

2011-02-07T22:01:00.003+01:00

Kristy sent me these pics of mamma and pappa mouse . Mamma wil probably be hanging around in the kitchen ( I am planning to give her LOADS to cook and bake, of course), pappa has decided to find out how to attach a bell to a cat- any cat.
As soon as I have got my house , I will probably stitcha rug by Anne Ritter, a design of little abstract cats. If I use autumn-clors, they will loook as if they are leaves- until one looks closer, that is!

Since I am not a real quilter and silk ribbons sound really a bit overdone for a woodland-house, I will probably stitch a little "quilt"on their beds , too. When I have time, that is ( sigh...)

Arrived in Tasmania

2011-02-04T15:32:00.001+01:00

I recently showed you the cushions my friend Petra stitched for her friend in Tasmania. Fortunately the thingies arrived hale and healthy .
Petra's friend proposed donating to animal rescue in Australia , given the recent disasters, whcih also affect the animals, of course. Great idea!!

ALAS

2011-01-26T18:35:00.001+01:00

Today I went with Floris to Utrecht for his CTscan. Bad news: the poor guy has developed pulmonary metastases. He also has a local (though small) recurrence of the tumor. I had felt that last one, but, of course, the lung problems are not visible unless one uses CT or Xray- or unless the cat has breathing problems. Which he does not have. Until one week ago I really thought we had got away with it and he would be disease-free.
It will be a question of weeks now, I am afraid, or some months at best. The faculty will keep in touch with me each week to keep posted about how he is doing.

Still, I am glad I did try this therapy. Feline sarcomas are killers, and Floris is one of the longest survivors known. And the year since the operation has been a happy one for both of us; he had an excellent quality of life, and still has, for that matter. It would have been far worse if we had tried operating again and again with each recurrence worse than the previous tumor.

Still, I am really sad; I had not really reckoned with this- although the possibilty was in the back of my brain all the time, of course.

At the moment he is sleeping off the last vestiges of his anaesthesia, nicely above the radiator :-) I expect him onto my bed again tonight, where he slept since he was a baby.

Uh-ooooh

2011-01-23T20:35:00.003+01:00

Trouble big time!

In two days ( Wednesday) we are due at the Veterinary Faculty again for Floris's check-up. I had felt the irradiated spot on a regular basis, but left it after last December , some 6 weeks ago. I thought we were getting away with it and was ready to de-cork some kitty bubbly to celebrate.
Too early, it appears- last week I palpated again and suddenly felt a little pea-sized tumor in his neck. Floris will have a CT scan, anyway, but I have immediately sent out an alarm- mail to the vet; however much we are scanning, the pea is there and feels very suspect. I am not a happy camper right now. Fortunately the patient has no problems ( as yet).Sigh. Hard days coming again for this little sweet guy, I am afraid.

About to begin

2011-01-14T16:06:00.000+01:00

Peter sent me the last sketch before he starts building the mouse house. On the left the tree will be incorporated into the house, and the house will look more wonky than it appears by now, of course. I am looking forward to it!!!

Tasmanian critters

2011-01-09T20:05:00.002+01:00

My friend Petrajust mailed out these two cushions that she stitched for a friend in Tasmania, after me and my PCstitch had had a go at charting them. She is an outstanding needlewoman !
Now let us hope the friend will like these , too.

Two little barnaby's

2011-01-02T12:48:00.001+01:00

Ready and framed ! The frames are straight, not as wonky as they seem in the pic; I am going to try and make a straight picture later on , when I have some more coffee inside. I feel very nice now, since I will be able to post them off to that sweet lady in the UK who lost this furkid last summer.
For your information : she "adopted"another chihuahua Benji, who settled straight in and they are very happy together. I am really glad for her!

our favourite doctor

2010-12-30T20:04:00.001+01:00

In Medisch Contact, the journal of the Dutch doctors society, there was a very nice feature on the veterinary faculty in Utrecht, also featuring our hero , Jolle Kirpensteijn ( in this picture on the left), the guy who treated Floris, my kitty ,with this Holmium treatment.
I sent him some pics of my little guy to wish him ( and those who took care of Floris during his stay in hospital in March ) the best for 2011; we will shortly visit Utrecht again for a check-up. Floris is a very long disease-free survivor by now.

Genius invents wheel

2010-12-28T22:48:00.000+01:00

Recently I suddenly realized that I had several empty videocases laying around wasting their time and doing nothing productive, so I decided that they are ideal for small projects-in-progress. Since I can hardly ever finish any project in one session and need to tidy everything up before the cats gets hold of it, I am always on the lookout for easy solutions. Well , here is the latest.
I know, everyone knows this already, but I am rather happy with them!