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A few months ago I attended the quiz night held by 9 Lives Cat Rescue. Our table came dead last, but I was a winner in the charity auction. I snagged a shoot with Claire of Petography, to have a photo shoot with my animals and choose a canvas too!

After a false start last week, we met up yesterday at my mum and dad’s house to exploit their beautiful home and garden. Here are a few of the preview pictures Claire has sent me. I will receive the edited gallery in a couple of weeks. Aren’t they beautiful?

Gary decided that Claire was the best person ever for bringing bouncy balls with her. He didn’t stop barking the whole time.

Old Barney who is almost 12 you know!

About 5 years ago Barney got into some trouble with a cat at my grandfather’s house and ended up having to have his left eye replaced with a silicone one…

Barney hates being near Gary so this picture was a miracle.

My little man and I.

Lately I’ve been making a fair bit of jewellery for my Mum in exchange for groceries, some op shopped Doc Martens, and other bits and bobs. I’ll have a new amethyst necklace to post fairly shortly, but for now, here are some of the necklaces I’ve made for Mum.

Stone from my Pop’s rock club exhibition – probably jasper. Wrapped in crocheted wire.
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I feel privileged to be able to contribute to the 100 Beanie Drive which Jess Van Den from Epheriell Designs is running this month. The drive aims to donate items of warm clothing like beanies, scarves and mittens to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Not only do their lose hair from all over their bodies, their body temperature regulation often goes awry because of the chemotherapy, resulting in these folks being colder than usual! Not the best in winter.

Jess’ own father is currently undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma. My grandfather Harry suffered from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in his later years, and seeing him turn from a healthy, active man into a frail walking skeleton was heartbreaking. Thankfully he was surrounded by family during his two bouts of cancer and he retained his cheeky sense of humour. He was endlessly generous with his time and savings, a great teacher and a keen golfer. The hundreds of people at his funeral were a testament to his spark.

It pleases me greatly to be able to contribute to this cause. You don’t need to be a crafter to donate; visit your local op shop or donate some yarn to a friend. Or even pick up the hook or needles yourself and use this as an incentive to learn.

The donation drive finishes at the end of July, but I’m sure there are many chemotherapy centres around the country that would be grateful to receive donations at any time.

Below are the two beanies I’ve sent along to Jess, created with 100% wool given to me by Mum.I hope they’re enjoyed!

I’ve been crocheting heaps lately! I’m so glad I picked up this craft as it’s been fairly easy to learn, and I love the versatility of it. I’m learning to make my own freeform things without the use of a pattern, as well as starting a hexagonal granny square blanket – pattern here at Attic24.

I started off with this cute dog jumpers. These first ones are for some of the puppies currently in foster with Staffy and Bully Breed Rescue (SABBR). They’ve had several litters come in recently, some born to mums just out of the pound, and others rescued from backyard breeders or pet shops in very poor shape.

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On Saturday the 2nd of June, we ventured into the main area of Albany for the around-the-houses racing. This involves various groups of cars, based on time period, competing in regularity events throughout the day. The aim is to nominate a lap time, and then drive as close to this nominated time as possible.

We experienced a huge storm on Friday night with 100cm of rain! But by Saturday mid-morning, the sky was blue and it was as warm as can be expected a few miles from the Antarctic.

Looking down the hill towards Mt Clarence.

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