SP Question 8

What is your favorite supper for a hot summer evening?
Salad, salad and more salad! A variety of baby leaves, sweet baby tomatoes, olives, avocado, smoked ham, swiss cheese, seeds, perhaps some mayo, perhaps not. And strawberries and cream. :-)

SP question 7

We are all creatures of habit and when it comes to sitting down to knit, it's no different…
What is(are) your favorite place(s) to knit?
Anywhere comfortable! My living room couch is the usual place. I also like to sit and knit at RTT where there's good company too! I would love to sit outside in the garden but it's rarely the right kind of weather here - either too hot (my garden is very sheltered) or too windy or too cloudy and midge-ridden!

What supplies (besides yarn & needles) make the setting perfect for knitting?
Well, there's a hint in the last reply... good company for a bit of craic! or a good film on tv (preferably Hollywood's golden age - Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis or Katherine Hepburn!) or a decent 2 hour episode of a decent whodunnit like Inspector Morse! Plus a pot of good tea and a nice biccie!

SP question 6

Question #6
What is your favorite type of project to take along on holiday/vacation?
Er well, er... I don't have such a thing, not being one to take many holidays, if any...!
Not very helpful, am I?!

Lookee wot I got!!!

My first SP parcel arrived today - all the way from the States. I came home to find this behind my front door (name and address disguised!):

Look - my Secret Pal even has her very own SP address labels (address disguised again!). What a clever cookie!

Even the girls were excited too!

Here's the reason why - the first thing I pulled out of the parcel was a packet of doggy jumbo dental sticks! What a lovely lovely thoughtful thing for my SP to do. Thank you SP!!

I thought - what's that smell?? Oh, it's peppermint! Breath freshner doggy sticks! Great! Just what they need (if you get my drift)! They were a bit dubious at first, as if they too were thinking, "What's that smell?" but they then ran away into the garden with them!

Jet "got tore in" (as we say) straight away:

Jazz was a bit more unsure and sniffed it for a while at first:

Back inside, I unpacked the rest of my goodies and here they all are, some still unwrapped:

I am gobsmacked! What a lot of stuff. Look at the gorgeous colours of the yarns!! The first thing I pulled out after the doggy sticks was the lime green Tofutsies!

It's GORgeous! I am so thrilled. When I got to the Lorna's Laces yarn - look how clever my SP has been with the lime green and purple theme! - I could have cried! I wish I'd taped myself!

It is soooooo beautiful. Who'd have thought they'd do a purple and green yarn?! My Sock Wars III instruments of death were knitted in Lorna's Laces so I know how just beautiful this yarn is. How lovely...

And look - an American knitting magazine that I've never heard of! And LOOK - a book on cupcakes!! LOL How lovely, it's full of really fun recipes and ideas!

You can see the two little parcels, each wrapped in a cotton scarf! What a lovely touch. One green and one purple - of course!

Here is what was wrapped inside the green one:

A lovely little delicate tin box. And inside it was:

A set of five handmade (by my SP) stitch markers, in a yummy lime green! They are positively edible! How perfect!

I want you all to see how beautifully those wee parcels were wrapped:

And nestling inside the purple one was:

A little butterfly candle! So here's the whole stash, unwrapped (including my big toe):

I forgot to say I'd opened the card - that's it on the left, from my very own Special Pal. :-) But WAIT - I found something else I'd put to one side!

It's the cutest thing! A Fergie the Frog Kritter Craft Case!

"Fergie the Frog can store your favorite [US spelling of course!] sewing, quilting and crafting tools..." This is just perfect for me as I'm always looking for needles and things that I've put down somewhere. It's already housing my lovely new stitch markers.

So here now is the total parcel contents:

What a truly wonderful generous present. What a thrill! I really am so touched and grateful.

THANK YOU, SP!

Doggie update

Here's an up-to-date photo of my girls:Jet, the mother, on the left, Jazz, the daughter, on the right. Jet had 3 teeth taken out this week and a wart removed from the pad of one of her back paws. She's a new girl! Seriously, she's a quite different dog from when I first got them. I noticed a difference last week when the antibiotics from the vet kicked in but now the teeth are gone she's much more energetic, fun-seeking and affectionate! Clearly the teeth were hurting her badly.
They are really lovely girls, even if not always as obedient as I'd like! I'm working on it and have now got Jazz returning the stick so I can throw it again. That feels like quite an achievement, I must say, having never trained a dog before. Jet being more affectionate is a lovely development - I had felt she was a bit distant and perhaps not happily accepting me as top dog but clearly she was simply in pain!
Here's another of them in the water: