Felting, Sewing, Cemeteries, etc.

Life is going on quite normally here. Elizabeth and I have been spending quite a lot of time working on sewing and felting dolls for the Etsy shop. I've got two felted dolls that I'm making for a special order, so while I've been working on those, Elizabeth has been finishing little Minikin dolls --- all but the heads, which I will add later. The felted dolls are really coming along, and I am almost ready to start their heads, which means that they are really looking like characters!

We made three new Poirot Minikins for a special order. They came out SO cute! There was Poirot in a dark brown suit, then Poirot wearing his smoking jacket (we were almost tempted to keep him!) and, finally, Poirot as a young man in his Belgian Police uniform. Elizabeth even made the tall hat and sewed it to him like he is holding it. Wow! He was pretty precious. Here is a picture of them, as words cannot do them justice. Well, to get technical, the picture doesn't really do them justice, either. You just have to see these in real life to get the real feeling. ;)



We had a laid-back Saturday. Dad spent the day at a fishing event with other members of his Fly-Fishing Club, so it didn't exactly have the feel of a Saturday. Elizabeth and I just worked on some more felting and sewing. Yesterday afternoon, Mom and the two of us went out to Chester Baptist church to take some photos for Find a Grave. This is where Elizabeth first got started researching the Swetlands, inspired by the grave of a nineteen-day-old baby --- Truannie Swetland. So, Elizabeth had her picture taken by Truannie! It was a beautiful day. We only had to wear light jackets, and the sun was shining. Can't beat that with a stick.

We watched The Hobbit again the other night. Boy, do I like that. Bilbo is so fabulous. Not to mention Thorin. Elizabeth has made a Thorin Minikin. I get to make the fur piece on his jacket and make his head. He is going to be one of the cutest things ever. I've been trying to talk Elizabeth into letting me keep him, but she says not. :(

Well, better get going, but I'll have to post more later.

Happy 7th Birthday, Kittens!

It hardly seems true, but Max, Avis and Iveta are seven years old today. Wow! It seems like just yesterday when their Mommy was in the dining room in that little box giving birth. She had seven kittens on the night --- seven years ago. One was stillborn, but the other six came out full of energy. They were all short-haired kittens, but totally different coloring. Let's see:

Manly -- Orange Striped
Max -- Black & White Tuxedo
Cadfael -- Dove Grey Striped
Aline -- Tortie-Tabby
Avis -- Tortoise-Shell
Iveta -- Solid Black

We had only rescued the Mama Cat, Olivia, a month before. She wasn't healthy and her kittens weren't very healthy, either --- not to mention being rather inbred. You couldn't ask for sweeter, better pets, though. Cadfael lived five months, but he had an enlarged heart. Aline lived three-and-a-half years, and just four months ago, we lost Manly. :( The picture on the left shows the six babies when they were just opening their eyes. Have you ever seen cuter bundles of fluff? Well, alright, so Samwise was probably the cutest kitten ever born. But his birthday is at the end of September, so you'll have to wait to see his picture until then!

Max and Avis and Iveta don't seem to realize what a special day it is. In fact, the only one that I could even snap a picture of was Iveta --- and we had to wake her up to do that! So, I'll post older pictures of the other two.



So, we're wishing "Happy Birthday" to our sweet, precious kittens. And we're a little bit sad, because we're missing Olivia and Manly. :( More later.

Concerning Our Normal 'Goings-On', etc.

Life is just going on quite normally around here. We had a fabulous Easter. Went to church in the morning and went to Keultjeses in the afternoon. Had so much fun gabbing and catching up that we weren't home until after 10:00pm!

Unfortunately, it seems that we picked up a cold on Sunday. In fact, the few times that we've been to church in the last couple of months --- we pick up a bug (hence the reason we've only been a few times). This time, though, it was a pretty bad one. Dad got it first with an awful stomach flu, which ended up lasting three days, instead of the typical 24 hours. Mom got it next, but her cold has been the sore throat and head cold type. Elizabeth has had it really bad --- both kinds. Thankfully, I got away with just a touch of the stomach bug.

This has kind of put everything at a bit of a standstill. Haven't gotten much sewing or felting done, but today looks like the first time that we'll get into full swing again!

I've had some Eliot Family wills to go through over the past week or so, and that's been fun. Dad went to his first Fly-Fishing Club meeting this week, which means that Spring must be just around the corner. We're having warmer weather this week, so it looks like all the possibilities of snow are over. Dad spent Saturday working in the yard (better man than me, Gunga Din --- it was cold out there!), and he has gotten things ready for me to "beautify" the kitty cemetery. Elizabeth and I are going to make a little garden out of it, as that will keep it from being weedy like it always is --- and make it easier to mow around.

That is about all of the fun news that I can think of. Not even a picture to go with anything. Let's hope that I'll have something fun to report in the next few days. :) More later.