Ooo er.... haven't written on here for ages! Ooops! Oh well, I guess that means that life has been a tad busy of late, which is a good thing really. I've been back in Blighty for 4 weeks already and I can't believe how quickly those 4 weeks have gone. It's been absolutely fantastic being back home, I didn't realise how much I missed the place until I came back. I missed my friends so so much, it's been so great spending time with them again. My very good friend Charlie, who I am very lucky to have as a friend because she is just so wonderfully lovely, got married this weekend. The wedding was stunning, and Charlie made a beautiful bride. She had asked me to be one of her bridesmaids along with my other wonderfully lovely friends Isi and Kate, and I felt truely honoured. Many congratulations to the fabulous Mr and Mrs Rollingson! Love you guys!

Most of Sunday was spent recovering from the copious celebratory drinks, but my Monday a big adventure for me! While down in S.A. I decided to enrol on a course at the London College of Fashion. It's a week long course in learning to "drape on the stand" - basically how to create patterns for dressmaking by pinning to a dummy.... or something to that effect (I will hopefully understand it a bit more by the end of the week). I was a bit nervous about doing the commute into London as I have never done it before, but I actually really enjoyed it! I was just so excited to be going to the London College of Fashion! I love London, I love its hustle and bustle and eclectic mix of people and cultures. While riding the tube to Shoreditch I had a certain buzz in me, I felt like one of those girls in one of those movies about the small town girl with big dreams moving to the big city to persue her dreams, I even had my own 80's style soundtrack running through my head, for some reason Journey songs seemed to be heavily involved... aaa, Journey.... "Don't stop believin', Hold on to the feelin'", that song gives me goosebumps.
Sooo yeah, in summary, its a very exciting time for me at the moment, South Africa really does feel far away and not just in miles......

spiders and snakes and frogs, oh my!!

AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!! I'm going back to England on Saturday and I'm so frickin excited!!! But, alas also a little glum because I will be leaving Louis here in SA. I just can't wait to see my family and friends again, I have missed them so so much, and just don't seem to function quite so well without them. I never thought I would say this, but I've missed England too, even the British winter! Spending Christmas in 40+ heat is just plain wrong! For me Chrimbo is all about staying in and spending quality time with friends and family, all cosy. Eating too much, but loving every bite as its all such lovely comfort food. I missed wrapping up all warm to go out and appreciating the warmth when I came back home. I was seriously home sick over Christmas and new year here, its just wasn't the same. I can honestly say I love Christmas purely for the time it gives me with those I love, and its those people that make Christmas so special. Without those people, Chrimbo just isn't Chrimbo.

I'm also looking forward to a few home comforts (like hot water on tap rather than having to build a fire each day to heat the water) and not having to be so paranoid about creepy crawlies and slimey things, all of which seem to be intent on causing pain, injury or death. I always liked the Buddists philosophy of not hurting a single living thing, but here its kill or be killed!! Litterally!! Today there was a spider in the kitchen that if it bites you the venom attacks your cells and you flesh starts to rot. Just the other night, while innocently sitting here and exploring the tinterwebmadoodle a red roman spider decided to come and play with the cats. Gizmo jumped up on my unsuspecting lap with the bloody thing in his mouth causing me to jump up and squeal and shudder. They inflict a painful bite which Gizmo soon discovered, poor thing. I stood and flapped and freaked out for a second or ten before getting my act together enough to arm myself with Louis boot and a can of Raid. After much whacking and spraying in between running and squealing the thing was dead, but I was left traumatised and did indeed have nightmares. They are just so yucky!!

We also had a snake in our bedroom a couple of months ago, a pretty scary venemous one! We had to blugeon it to death, it was too dangerous to try and catch. Well, Louis blugeoned it, again I just stood and squealed.

As well as the snake in bedroom, I have encountered one in the garden, one in the log pile,
one by the dogs bowls, and a mamba cossing the road in front of me.

All of which could kill me, and Ive been far too close to them for comfort. In England I used to be scared of bees, but they don't seem so bad anyomore....

As well as encounters with spiders and snakes, we seem to be popular with frogs. We seem to have a strange frog vortex in our coffee table. Louis built us a lovely coffee table with a man draw in it (a place for batteries, fuses, manuals and the like). You can pretty much guarantee that everytime we open the man draw there is at least 1 frog in there. The most we have had so far is 4 in one day. The most at anyone time was 3. Its weird, I have no clue where they come from or how they manage to get in there!!

goings on, handmade pledge, patchwork and doodles

Behind our teeny tiny house in the middle of nowhere stands a mountain. A rather large mountain. Not too high, but very long and wide. Louis loves the mountain. He grew up with that mountain on his horizon and apparently has climbed to the highest peak more than once. I was lucky enough to be taken on a surprise helicopter ride to the top for my birthday this year, the view was spectacular, and from way up there our house looked exceptionally teeny tiny.

A few months ago while Louis and I were building the chicken coop in the garden, we heard a rumble... then the rumble got louder, then there was an almighty crashing sound, and then silence. "Hmm" though we, "what was that?". Turns out a big boulder had broken free and decided to go for a roll down the side of that mountain. "Weeeeeee" went the rock. "Ouch" went the trees in its path. You can now clearly see the path that boulder left behind as it went for its joy ride. Scary thing is, it was fairly in line with our teeny tiny house, luckily it came to a halt before it rolled over us! Well, last night that mountain was feeling mischivous again... a bush fire started last night on its slopes, the mystery is how?!?! It was a warm day yes, but not so hot to cause spontaneous combustion.... it is not a place where people can walk so couldn't have been started by a person, my conclusion is that the local baboons have learnt to smoke and they tossed their butt in the wrong place. Naughty baboons. The fire was spreading fairly rapidly, making a beeline for our house. It hasn't rained for a few weeks so the grasses are very dry, perfect for bush fires. Needless to say, I was rather paranoid we would burn in our sleep and I got myself into a flap. A very sleepy Louis tried to reassure me that all would be ok, and if not I now have experience in fighting bushfires so should wake him if it gets close. Nice. I had one of those moments when I woke up this morning where you sit bolt up right in a slight panic and check your still in one piece. The fire is still burning, but luckily is losing momentum. Phew!

On to other things..... This year I have taken the handmade pledge, this basically means that you can all expect your gifts this year to be handmade. Its not that I'm cheap (although admitidly I am uber skint), it's just I personally believe that handmade gifts are so much nicer. Our world is too production line and mass produced, and the little things are often over looked. I have treasure the cards that people have made for me more than the shop bought ones, its more personal. Last christmas I made a toy elelphant for Amelia, my loveliest of lovely friends little girl. I really enjoyed making it, despite a few fudge ups in the process. It was Amelias first christmas so I wanted to give her something a little bit special, but was completely broke at the time. I sadly missed her 2nd christmas as I was here in SA, but have been busy creating a monkey to keep her elephant (named Elamy) company. I hereby name it Monkamy ;)

Kate, Amelia and Elamy :)

Monkamy - nearly finished!

Ive had a desire to make a patchwork quilt for quite a while now, well, since watching "Kirsties Homemade Homes". Before I left for SA I bought myself a couple of books to teach me how to make one, but they had to stay in blighty as I was already way over the weight limit when I did my packing. The past 6 months I have been so desperate to get cracking with my quilt, and after reading lots of quilting blogs I am itching to get cracking. I am determined to complete my first quilt while at home in England next month. I have found some amazing fabric companies online, and am so tempted to sell a kidney and snatch up all their lovely fabrics, but I will refrain, and so will my debit card.... for now anyway. I have decided that the quilt will be monotone, nothing but black and white prints of various designs, so if the perfect fabric jumps out at me, I'm afraid Mr Bank Manager, I will be taking advatage of my overdraft to purchase them, with full intention of making some cash when I'm home, and then more fabric will be purchased. Ooooo, I love buying fabric!! Its a guilty pleasure of mine.

Don't you just love thigs that make the world much prettier?

I have a problem. My name is Amy and I am a blog-a-holic.... There are so many wonderful artists, crafters, creaters, writers out there in blog land and I just love exploring what is out there. Each blog I look at gives me a key (well, link) to yet another beautiful blog. But the gem of them all for me is an artist-creater type person who goes under the alias of "the black apple". Emily Martin's work is stunning, and I want to buy all of her prints for sale at the Etsy shop, f only I had some money.... grrr!!!! I've spent a rather considerable time on the internet exploring crafters and artists blogs today, but I have got a poorly foot, so can't do much else! Somthing bit/stang/mamed me last night on my left foot, and now it has swollen to epidemic proportions and gone all pins and needles-ish. Louis has been an angel, bringing me tea and coffee, and even making dinner and doing the washing up - despite the fact that I have been too preoccupied finding inspiration in others peoples art to pay him much attention, my long suffering fiance, he's a gem xxx

http://www.etsy.com/shop/theblackapple

http://theblackapple.typepad.com/

PlushYou!

PlushYou!

It's a sad sad day :(

Rocky (big one) with Weeble (little one)

A few months ago, Louis came home with a teeny tiny white Bantam chick. He was ridiculous levels of cute, and I fell in love with the little fluff ball. We called him Rocky; actually we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl really, but we always referred to it as a boy. He wasn't like the other chickens that we have, those are for eggs and *whisper* (meat...)... Rocky was a pet. He slept in the house in a little box, and we tucked him in every night to keep him warm. As he got a bit bigger we built him a little nursery pen in the big chicken pen. Louis would drop him off at nursery each morning and I would visit him frequently in the day. When he saw me coming he would get all excited, peeping away like a goodun. When I reached down to him he would jump into my hands. A good little chicken that always ate his worms and veg. I loved Rocky. One day, I decided the time had come for him to run with the bigs boys. Our other chickens get let out of the pen every morning and they run off free range, putting themselves back in the coop when its dusk. Rocky was so little compared to the big chickens, but he wasn't afraid. He stood his ground even when the bigger chickens tried to intimidate him. After a few days he seemed to be doing so well that I let Rocky run with the bigguns full time, just bringing him in when it was dark. He would however make a bee-line for me each time I went in the garden. I'd be hanging out the washing and suddenly I could hear Rocky peeping excitedly and running in my direction from wherever he was. But one fateful day, tragedy struck. I had to go and fetch Louis from work. It was only 5pm, not near dark so I left Rocky playing with his new friends and jumped in the bakkie (pick up truck to you poms ;-)). Louis had a few places to stop on the way home and we endedup coming back after dark. As we pulled into the yard, I suddenly panicked, where was Rocky?? All the big chickens had gone to the coop, and we nestled on their perches, a place much to high for Rocky to reach. I called him, and I could hear his peeping, but I couldn't pin point where he was. Then, I noticed Lola playing with something in the bushes. She distracted me for a second, but then I went back to looking for Rocky. I was getting worried. I looked everywhere, then Louis called me over. Basjan (pr: Bas-y-an) our biggest dog dropped something at our feet. I was Rocky. He was in a bad state, Lola had tossed him around like a ball, and he was dying. I cried so hard when he passed away a little while after. We buried him in the yard, and planted a tree on top.
I missed Rocky loads, he was a funny little thing. A few weeks later, Louis brought me home Rocky 2. He looked exactly liked the 1st Rocky, and soon took on the same personality, excited to see me, running over to me etc. But this time, I played it safe. I would take Rocky to nursery, but then shut the big pen behind me to keep him safe from the dogs. Rocky 2 loved running around in the big pen, exploring the long grass in peace. This morning was a lovely day, so I took Rocky out like usual to let him play in the pen and enjoy the sun. Louis and I went to town. I checked the chicken pen gate before we left and all was well. That was until we came home again. The chicken pen door was open! I paniced, "where's Rocky?". I went to the pen and called him, but he didn't come running like usual. Then, Louis found him, all his feathers where off and he lay still in the grass. The dogs had killed my little Rocky 2, too. I'm so sad. I'm going to miss that chicken. RIP Rocky dude, enjoy the big farm in the sky. xxx

aarrgghh, so frustrated

My head is buzzing with ideas of things I want to create to take home and give to friends and family. Louis grandma and mum kindly donated all their scraps of fabric to me, and I had a great time sorting through them and deciding what to make with them. Unfortunately there is still alot I need before I can actually start. I have a habit of starting things that don't get finished, usually because there is something I need to be able to finish it but don't have. Today was a classic example; I found a wonderful tutorial at sewmamasew. com (http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=4778) for making a valentines card from fabric. I was so excited about making it, today was my last opportunity before Valentines day as Louis is off work from tomorrow till the 15th. I cut all my fabric to size, was just about to start sewing when I realised I needed interfacing. So, I tried substituting it for other fabrics, but all that did was make it too chunky. I tried melting a plastic sack to the fabric, but all it did was shrink the plastic and make a horrible mess. So I had to admit defeat. Now I'm uber bored, and frustrated, and don't know what to do with myself. Living in the arse end of no-where means I can't just pop to the shops when I need something. I'm so used to living in a place where shops are just 5 mins down the road. Doing the grocery shopping once a month took some getting used to, and I don't mind that so much anymore. But, when it comes to being creative I like to act on impulse, when the mood takes me. I must make sure that when Louis and I go to town next that I stock up on sewing supplies.

On a lighter note, Margaret the chicken hatched 11 eggs! well, 10 actually....I hatched the last one in my cleavage! Most of Magarets eggs hatched on Sunday, and by Tuesday her little babies where running off all over the place so she left her nest to follow them. There we 3 eggs left unhatched. I thought the were probably never going to hatch so went to discard them. As I picked up one of the eggs I heard a very faint peeping coming from inside, I couldn't believe it! The chick inside was alive! The egg felt cold, and I was pretty sure it wouldn't make it without my help. Without really thinking about it, I shoved the egg in my cleavage to warm it up. My quick thinking worked, slowly but surely the egg started to hatch. It was quite humbling watching the little chick hatch. He was so tiy compared t his brothers and sisters that I kept him with me for a couple of days to let him get a bit stronger. He lived in my pocket, and if he seemed cold and shivery, I poppedhim back in my cleavage where he seemed very content. I named him Bubba. He's doing really well now, I'm so proud :) All 11 chicks are running around in the pen, and as crazy at it sounds, each of them has their own little personality.