As the title suggests it sells hand made dolls houses but not for children – these are definitely for grown ups!!!

Chris, the owner of this business has a workshop where he creates these beautiful houses, some with brick facia and some without – they are truly amazing and without the modern influence really take you on a trip to times gone by.

hand finished and beautifully furnished – this house is lovely

I think they have the look of one of our stately homes in miniature, exquisitely decorated and furnished.

with a choice of bathroom suite

and bedroom accessories – its all there

This is a finished dolls house from the outside – and below is one under construction

each of those bricks has been placed by hand – true craftsmanship.

I thought they were lovely – what do you think?

His name is Harry Thomas Patrick and he is beautiful…..

my lovely son and daughter in law have come from this…..

to this…….

I had my first visit just a few days ago and spent very special time with the new family.

Isn’t he gorgeous?…..

All 8lbs 8 ounces of him- 7 days old on this picture!

Just beautiful – well done Keiron and Emma – enjoy every minute!!!

One of my colleagues at work got engaged and asked me to make a cake for her party, here it is during the making stage:

just before I added colour to the names piped on the top and wrapped the ribbon round….. no
I didn’t get a photo of the finished article as it was whisked away just as I added the ribbon…. But, I did try a piece at the party and it tasted really nice!

Grace, our new rescue greyhound neighbour called in for a visit while Hippie was here and for a while it was mayhem with long dogs everywhere – none of them stood still long enough for a picture – well apart from Hippie that is:

but even that was fleeting!!

Alfie thought it was great fun having visitors and after a moment standing and looking at the two girls:

…… he played chase for quite some time…. and they tore up most of my lawn!

Here is Grace with Hippie – a rare quiet moment……

And here is Grace’s finished knitted coat…..

I can’t wait to see her wearing it!

And the surprise? Well – Grace’s owner said she would make me a collage painting of Alfie, Max and Hippie because I wouldn’t take payment for the coat.

Just look at this…..

It is beautiful – I am so pleased with it – they are all captured perfectly and no photo will do it justice but I just had to share…

I ordered all my items on the Tesco website – it took half an hour from login to checkout and it will arrive at around 11.45 this morning.

Then I made pies…… Sunday dinner pies – roast beef with all the trimmings under a shortcrust pastry top.

One for my uncle and his wife – he will soon be 94 and still enjoys a pie….. one for me and some friends who were coming over for dinner yesterday…..

a nice big one so nobody was left hungry……

And, one for the freezer – for an evening when I want an easy dinner…

Much better than shopping -  what do you think?

Oh and on the subject of pies – look at this one that my daughter in law and i made when I went to visit…..

Cornish Pasty pie – it was yummy!!!

It started well – Hipppie’s hackles were up and she was very nervous – but I kept giving her chicken when she was calm around Alfie, and things started to get better.

Of course Hippie could see the chicken on the worktop – little Alfie was oblivious!!

He had his blue bone!

They went outside for a play and I was pleasantly surprised at how well they got along.

Then Hippie rushed for her place on the settee – I had delusions of keeping Alfie off that particular piece of furniture but I had no chance on this day.

His new best friend was lying there and he wanted to join her..

Hippie just ignored him….. but Alfie needed a snuggle…

In fact he likes all sorts of snuggles..

In his 40 winks bed..

Any patch of sunlight….

Can you see him?

Ah – there he is..

Then a quick roustabout in a box…

Before my daughter came round after work! And then the best snuggle for Alfie…

My daughter loves to cuddle him – says you can’t do this with Hippie …. well you could but she’d crush you!

Aren’t kids wonderful?… When they’re asleep!!!!

I flew back on Saturday and on Sunday morning I fetched him to his new home… this photo was taken in the first five minutes of arriving back here!

Alfie is 14 weeks old and gorgeous!

He is a Whippet with a little bit of Bedlington Terrier in there somewhere!

He started off cowering when he was being touched and had runny eyes, itchy ears and a tummy problem.

He also had a strange smell about him so first of all – a bath was needed…

and a cuddle of course..

He was introduced to his crate which he is quite happy with, thank goodness

And 3 days on after a visit to the vet for ear and eye treatment plus first vaccination – he is feeling a little better..

He had some presents that squeaked – they scared him at first but this morning he felt much better about them..

Chasing them round the kitchen and the garden – no photos there I’m afraid – he’s far too quick for me!!!!

So…… I will finish the Singapore story and add my Tenerife Tale but at the moment a smaller waggy tail is taking over my home and I might have to do some dog blogging again!!!!!

I have had a busy time, both at work and  at home – so I thought a quick catch up post was in order….

I visited my son and daughter in law for a weekend and arrived wearing my new jumper (from a previous post).

My daughter in law’s parents were also there and within minutes her father appeared wearing my jumper!!!

I think he looks rather fetching – don’t you?

Then last weekend my daughter bought me lots of bunches of daffodils – my very favourite flower!!

I ran out of vases and had to use jugs and one little one that had arrived with pretty wooden tulips in – they soon got removed to make way for the daffies!

Very pretty!

I even had some in the kitchen – they were lovely!

Well I thought so anyway!!!

Yesterday was Mother’s day here and I received more presents from my lovely kids…

Some Lushly bath bombs and a Chinese table setting from my son and the book ‘Its me or the dog’ from my daughter.

Yes I have decided to get a dog of my own when Hippie moves out – won’t be for a while though so a little planning has to be done!!!

Just as an aside I received a letter on Saturday from a company trying to sell me home insulation – the picture on my letter had a supposed thermal image of my house – its supposed to show where the house loses heat – I am a little confused….. have a look…

So – is it being lost from the roof , and of course the block paved drive – or is it pouring out of the new double glazed windows and door?

And why do I feel that big brother is invading my privacy?

Well at least the snow has melted (for now) and I can walk normally again. I really don’t like the stuff and even though my new snow boots stop me from slipping over, they make me walk differently and I now have a problem with my knee – so today is a rest day and a chance to catch up with my blog.

Hippie is taking full advantage of a quiet Sunday.

Just chillin with her favourite Hippo!

I am taking advantage of these dark days by using up some of the tea lights I have been given and enjoying the effect

Isn’t this lamp lovely? My daughter brought it back from Turkey for me – I have so many different holders and I love candlelight!

I have also started to knit again – not easy with my hand problems but I have always loved a challenge.

It started with a cleaning session on the things in my glass cabinet..

Most of the things in there are treasures from my late Mum’s childhood – my Grandmother’s tea service, and many very pretty hand painted plates and bowls that my Mum won at local fetes when she was a small child in the 1920’s – her collection of Siamese cats is in there too, plus some very pretty glass fronted greetings cards from the 1930’s and 40’s – mostly anniversary cards from my Dad….. I treasure these memories and I hope that one day someone else will too..

But, do you see on the right hand side on the middle shelf? That little doll is from my childhood – I played with her over fifty years ago so that makes her a treasure too.

When I first got her she was dressed in a complete baby outfit – she also had a wicker cradle but that got broken a very long time ago..

I decided that if she was worth keeping i would dress her again the way she looked when I first got her – she is only 6 inches tall so it was definitely going to be a challenge.

First I had to find the patterns. I knew they were from ‘Womans Weekly’ magazine in the 50’s and I was so lucky to find people selling PDF and laminated copies of the patterns online so I ordered them and the very fine 2 ply wool needed to knit the outfit.

It took quite some time to make the whole outfit but determination won and now my Rosebud 6 inch doll looks very presentable in her dress, matinee jacket, shoes and carrying cape – i really thought the elastic bands holding her arms and legs in place would have perished but no – her limbs stayed in place while I dressed her…

So now its back into the cupboard for her..

My next project is a sweater, again the wool is a legacy from my Mum – some brushed chunky yarn and it must be about 40 years old but with a little more yarn added there will be enough to make myself a warm sweater with nice stripey sleeves to keep the February chill away….Its half done and I will post a picture when its finished!!!!

Well, please excuse me I must get on with the second sleeve……

So I have… and yes I am just as disorganised with my pictures as everybody else!!

But here it is:

Many of you will already know about Hippie and her dog blog which is featured on the right of this blog, and the ones who have read the early chapters will know how out of control this beautiful creature was when she came to stay.

But after the initial mayhem she became quite easy to train and here is an early shot of a ‘sit’ and ‘shake a paw’ moment.

These animals are so beautiful and intelligent and it should be remembered when adopting a retired greyhound that:

They have never lived in a house before….

And… they can learn so much given time, love and a lot of patience.

Believe me – they make it all so worthwhile!

So I have to pass it forward with the same message……

I have to choose … Baino – cos her photography is something else, Daddy Papersurfer … go on lets see your 4th photo …… and Don’t Bug Me …..for the penguins and other stories

Find the fourth photo in your picture folders and explain it!!!!

When we got there my ‘adopted Mum’ had made lunch for us and after that had gone down we headed for the beach.

I was a beautiful day, hot sunshine and no wind. I just had to have a paddle..

And guess what… the water was warm!!! People were actually swimming in the sea!!

Ade and his Mum stayed by the edge though – not for them sand between their toes!

We stopped at a local pub for a drink and decided we would go back there for dinner later on as they had a band on at weekends.

Well I think my glasses suit you young lady….. very Harry Potter!!!

The meal was wonderful, the band were good, amazingly so – we sang along and had such a good time!

The boys were happy…

And so were the girls…

And this morning we travelled back – it was too short a visit really but very special!!

So now I’ll get on with the ironing ready for work in the morning!!!

Thank you Vera and Mal – you are lovely people!!!!