There's Mischief in the Air!

Well I'm blaming the weather anyway.  All this rain is playing havoc with the routine of two little cats who can look as though butter wouldn't melt in their mouths.

Brother and sister from the same litter so they do look quite similar, but Samba is bigger than his sister. Normally very well behaved, well, they are for cats, they know that when it gets dark they are supposed to be inside.  Luckily this is helped by the cat flap having a sensor that locks when the light levels fall and then doesn't open again until morning.  However, Suki did manage to stay out late one night this week and bought home a present for us.

Perfectly unharmed, she is very good at this having practiced lots by bringing in butterflies!  Fortunately she seems to have grown out of last year's craze of bringing in LIVE bees and dropping them on your feet!  Anyway, having got out the Butterfly and Moth book, the closest image I could find is that of an Elephant Hawk-moth.  Having read a little more  and discovered they feed on grapevines and then watched Suki having a mad moment this morning, I am very sure!

 Two little cats were chasing each other at high speed round the garden, and then one disappeared by the grapevine.

I spy a stripey tail...

and now a little head...

 

Samba's looking interested...

 Ah, there she is...

 Samba to the rescue!

Well he made it this far and then gave up!  

I haven't seen Suki do this before but this arch with the lovely seat is a new addition to the garden this year, a replacement for the old arch that had partly collapsed under the weight of the grapes last year, and was extremely rickety. 

Samba had his own 'mischief' moment earlier in the week when he had vanished at bedtime and couldn't be found anywhere.  He turned up at 4 a.m. purring very loudly in middle son's bedroom having been sleeping in his wardrobe.  I think he might remember to close his wardrobe doors in future!

Sunshine and Showers

I've been meaning to write this since Sunday but other things have been jumping in the way!  Despite it pouring with rain all day on Sunday I had lovely sunny thoughts in my head from the day before and my day out in London where I was able to meet up with fellow bloggers.  So with the lovely company of Floss, Ang, Sarah, Stephanie, Seranata, and Lisa we started at the V & A, and enjoyed 'The Cult of Beauty' before going on to the Festival of Britain exhibition at the Southbank Centre.

Lots of memories from people visiting the Festival in 1951 really gave an insight into the impact it had on them, especially after the austerity of the war years.  There was lots of photos and memorabilia but if I had to pick a favourite item it would have to be the large quilt, 'Patchwork of the Century'. This was originally from the Women of the Century exhibition in Twickenham and according to the information panel, the 100 squares were made by 80 women who had no previous experience in needlework.  I was surprised by this as I thought most women at that time would have learnt to sew either as a necessity or for the wealthier as it would have been a usual leisure activity.  All the materials used were from old tablecloths, airforce uniforms and blackout fabrics so sticking to the traditions of patchwork. Each square shows a different historic event starting from the Great Exhibition of 1851 at Crystal Palace.

and the first successful sewing machine in 1852

and finishing with building the Festival Hall in 1950.

 Thank you Floss for organising this splendid day.

Catching up...

It was our wedding anniversary on Sunday and in readiness for us to celebrate this beautiful rose bloomed!  Aptly named it was a present for our Silver Wedding anniversary, 4 years ago now.

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There is bare fence behind where we took out two large bushes, I'm intending to make this more of a flower bed and hope to plant a climbing rose at the back to cover the fence.  I can't decide what colour rose but definitely want one with a lovely strong scent.  At the moment you can just see some tomato plants and sunflowers as I thought we might as well make use of the space.  They have noticeably  grown since I took the photo as we actually had some rain this week!  I'm doing a battle with the slugs though, they are munching their way through marigolds and petunias and find marguerite petals a favourite treat!

These gorgeous roses are from my wonderful husband.  

Apart from gardening, what else has been occupying me?  Do you remember the trouble I was having with crochet?  Well, for attempt number six I altered the pattern by eye, so didn't do as many increase rows as suggested and....

this was my daughter's lunchbox for the first day back at school after half term!  I am pleased to say that not only did she think it was cute but apparently lots of her friends thought it was too  and asked whether I would make apple jackets for them as well!  These are  all 16 year olds!  I'm not too sure that will happen in view of the time it took, and it was probably luck that it worked out in the end, but I was pleased with it.  A challenge to myself was met and I think I can say that I now have the hang of double crochet!

What else have I been doing?  Here's a little peek.  I can't reveal any more as it will be a present for someone who has a birthday very soon!