Designing, Making & Visitors from Canada

Better blog what's been happening these last couple of days, while I've got the chance. Emily's gone "design and technology" mad - she's always loved doing any kind of crafts, but she spent all day Sunday working very hard on making lots of bits and pieces, completely independently (we were in here, busy trying to catch up on deadlines and packing). She made a fan with straws and material, stitched a felt loveheart with sequins on it and beads for M & D (Mum and Dad, bless), and made a fantastic tabby cat mask, and various other bits and bobs too. Oh yes, and she practised her cross stitch, got the hang of threading a needle by herself and clearly put a lot of thought into what she was doing and how she could achieve the effect she wanted with it all.

On Monday morning she helped me make lasagne and berry baskets for Uncle David and Aunty Barbara, who came to visit from Canada to pick up Grandad and take him back over there for a few month's holiday. We don't get to see them very often, so Emily was thrilled to show off all her project work and introduce them to Romeo and Juliet. They brought Emily a gorgeous book on Tudor Dolls Houses, so when my Dad gets back from holiday he may find himself being pestered....

This morning Emily typed a Tudor story in Word - a whole page of it, and finished it off nicely with some clip art she'd found, and some fancy fonts. Romy and Hazel popped for a few minutes this afternoon so we got to meet their very cute new piggie Willow. When David, Barbara and Grandad got back from their trip to the antiques centre, Emily helped them repack their cases to include their newly acquired spoils, and then just had time to write a letter to Aunty Barbara's niece Elise, telling her about Romeo and Juliet, and including a photo for her. We waved them off - house seems awfully quiet now, lol - and Emily went back to yet more design-and-make with some of the crafty bits D&B had brought for her.

Kittens are *frantic* to get out and explore the big wide world, lol. Juliet has taken to standing up on her hind legs to look out of the big cats' cat flap. She looks like a meerkat, rofl! It's a good job the flap's lockable! She also likes sitting on our windowsill in the upstairs sitting room watching the traffic go by. Rather alarmingly, both kittens seem to be regarding the cars as giant mice. Gulp.

Oh yes. And Jon has just discovered several marijuana plants growing wild underneath one of the bird feeders, among a forest of other seedlings which have self planted there. Okkaaayyy. I can quite picture the scene. "Here, Mr LEA Officer, Emily has been doing some lovely leaf rubbings and has cultivated these cuttings in the greenhouse too."