I've just been awarded the Libester Blog Award!

Liebster Blog Award

I am honored and have been awarded the "Liebster Blog Award" by
ANGIE OUELLETTE-TOWER author of two blogs

God's Growing Garden (which is the one I follow) and Gourdonville

The Rules:

1. Share 11 random facts about yourself

2. Answer the 11 questions asked by the person that tagged you.

3. Tag 11 people

4. Ask them 11 questions

11 Random facts about Myself

1.  I was born (a long time ago) in Pakistan, when it was still British India.

2.  Orphaned at 10 months, I was reared and loved as a full family member by an Aunt and    Uncle, who happened to be tea planters in South India.

3.  I am half-English and half Scottish, so thoroughly British.

4.  I have lived and worked in Alberta, Canada (1975-1987) and South Africa (1968)

5.  Recently widowed (after nearly 43 years being married).

6.  I have two wonderful daughters and a marvellous son-in-law, so am still a very lucky person

7.  I also have one canine and three feline grand daughters - who all give me cause for great laughter by their actions

8.  I loathe spiders, snakes and most creepy crawlies.

9. Enjoy meeting new people - both in real time or virtually.

10. Like " playing" on the internet, but don't always know what I'm letting myself in for

11.  Blogging is a fairly new interest, but do enjoy sharing my craft stories with those who kindly follow me

  The 11 Questions that Angie posed:

1.  What is your favorite Jane Austen book?  Pride & Prejudice

2.  Pick just one:  chocolate, hard candy or licorice?  Chocolate

3.  What is your pet peeve?  People who moan, without cause

4.  Can you speak a different language (other than English)?  (If so -which one?) French, but not fluently

5.  Do you have a garden & if so what kind (veggies, fruit or flowers)? Veggies.

6.  What is your favorite artist? (visual artist)? Don't really have one

7.  What kind of perfume/cologne do you wear? Eau de Cologne mostly

8.  What is your favorite "Great Lake"? (If you are not from North America then just pick your favorite lake) Once could draw all of them on a map, but not now.  My favourite British one has to be Lake Windermere (used to live close by until 4 years ago).

9.  Who/what motivates you? My family, without a doubt

10. Skiing:  down hill, cross-country, water or none?  None

11.  Without looking this up on google - what is the quadratic formula?? - quick!!! Have not got a clue - does that make me an ignoramus?

The blogs I tagged:

1.  A  View from the Furry Side

2.  Absolutely Kismet

3.  All Things Tangled

4.  Beader Bubbe's shop

5.  Created By Laurie

6.  Custom Teddys

7.  DeeDeeDezyn

8.  Island Buzzy

9.  Living Vibrations

10. Riorita - Handmade Jewellry Designs

11. Sher's Creative Space.

Many were fellow members of the BESTeam Bloggers - and I miss our regular contacts.  The rest have given me immense pleasure in reading their posts.  Long may our contacts continue.

My questions to those I have tagged:

1.  Your favourite colour?
2.  Your first memory of that colour?
3.  What's your summer been like - weatherwise?
4.  Your favourite holiday?
5.  Your first mistake?
6.  Has it been repeated?  (Bet it hasn't!)
7.  Cat, dog or other? - choose one
8.  Their latest trick?
9.   Looking forward to ....?
10. Looking back at.....?
11. What next - if you're a crafter:  or if not?

The Rejuvenation of Fred Bear - Part One

In our post dated July 30, 2012, Cy Bear introduced one of the new Patients who had recently arrived for treatment in the ColdhamCuddlies Soft Toy Clinic (Etsy Listing #79124185).  His name is Fred Bear - and just to remind folks as to what he looked like on arrival, here he is as his treatment began.

Stuffing from Fred's left arm

 When  first introduced to him I was told that PatC, his long-time Forever Friend, did not really want him to be changed too much.  However, she did feel his paw and leg pads did not look right in blue, his face required some attention, and although his ear was about to fall off, if it could re-attached at a somewhat similar angle, she'd like that.  She'd got used to his lop-eared appearance.  As Fred is nearly 100 years old, I felt that those instructions were more than reasonable, particularly as given his age, his condition was pretty good.  Besides, the customer always prevails, do they not?

Accordingly, I got to work with the Quic Unpic and began to remove his stuffing.

This is what I found when I unpicked the left arm pad area.  The stuffing he arrived with was a mixture of Kapok and sawdust, which made me suspect he had been given some treatment in an earlier attempt to smarten him up.  Somehow, he has had problems with his limbs extremities - which did indeed need attention:  whereas his body, head and limbs were perfectly acceptable.  The Kapok had been packed ever so tightly, which, with the sawdust combined to make him feel very hard, rather than cuddly and firm.  

When I arrived at his legs, my suspicions that his current rejuvenation therapy is not his first was reinforced.  In this picture, you can see at least 3 or 4 previous treatments have been undertaken, plus a clear view of the wood chippings/sawdust used to stuff his legs. 

Here is another shot showing the three previous paw pads which also includes a cardboard lining which is still in remarkably good condition - but likely to have been involved in his last treatment, since it was immediately under the blue felt pad.

His head was almost totally filled with sawdust, with only his nose had some Kapok within the cavity, and when I came to his body, his original growler had completely collapsed.  Both the growler and stuffing have now been removed, and I now await instructions as to which fabric PatC would like his new paw pads to be made with.  

In a telephone conversation this afternoon, I've been advised that PatC's elder sister - who is equally anxious that Fred should not be changed too much - is expected for a visit at the week-end, and a sisterly consultation will take place as to what colour fabric will be utilised to make his new paws.  After I had prepared Fred for his rejuvenation, I found three suitable fabrics for repairing his paw pads and sent swatches for PatC to select.  I've been told to expect their decision sometime this Sunday. 

In the meantime, I've taken the Black Gorilla Golf Club Head Cover to pieces and think I can figure out how to make some of my own versions using Toy Heads already at my disposal.  I've prepared  Bear,  Fox, and Rabbit Heads by enlarging those used for the dressed Cuddlies and my Teddy Bears. Templates have been prepared for all three, and I've made a template for the inner lining of the proposed Club Head Covers.   Have also measured the dimensions required for the knitted handle cover as well.  Now it's a question of having a go and making one.  Wish me luck!

 I think it would be nice to have some to offer when I take some of the smaller Cuddlies to my first Craft Sale of the 2012 Autumn (Fall to you folks over the Atlantic) Season which is coming up on August 18.  Folks who attend this event are the sort who either play golf themselves, or know someone in their family who does.  This event is a weekly Produce/Cake Sale held each Saturday during the summer in our Village Church - the funds raised going towards the Church's upkeep.  The residents of the Hospital of St. John have been appointed to run the event on August 18, and I've been invited to take a table - as I did in 2011 - to offer something different from the usual produce sold each week.  

Will keep you posted as and when I have anything more to add - about Fred Bear, the Golf Club Head Covers and/or the Produce Sale on August 18.  Meanwhile, good night and God Bless!  Isobel

Another New Friend - and a potential new Branch of the Cuddlies Family.

There are two more Friends who have joined us recently, one of which needs to be re-stuffed and then a new Forever Home found for him - his name is Blue Teddy.

 

He too belonged to Alan,  (Isobel's son-in-law) but when he arrived, Alan considered himself too grown up for Bears (as boys sometimes do!) and was not sure about his colour scheme.  He was thus hardly, if ever, played with - and actually looks like new.  In addition, when held,  he's not a very cuddlesome armful either - he wriggles - and bears should not be like that.  And, thinking about it, I'm not too sure that a pink ribbon actually does him any favours.

 So, Isobel is going to re-stuff him, as she believes he has polystyrene balls as stuffing at the moment, and she is not keen on them.  In her view, they are an inflammable hazard and not as soft as a cuddly Bear should be.    Thinking about it, he looks a little like Golden Teddy to me - wonder what you folks think?

When Isobel has given him new innards, I'm sure we'll be able to find him a Forever Home where someone will welcome him with open arms.  I'm absolutely sure he will find a Forever Friend - particularly as Isobel is thinking of giving him as a Raffle Prize to the Journalists' Charity of which dear Peter used to be a life member.  His colour is not as unusual as it might have been when Blue Teddy first appeared on the scene, and cannot really be considered a true Coldham Cuddly - as we cannot be sure that he was truly hand-made, even though Isobel will be re-stuffing him. She'll also be giving him a new ribbon - or, maybe, not!  Bears don't really need ribbons, do they?

Finally, and by no means the least of my new Friends, please meet The Black Gorilla.

 

He is already a finished piece of work - and is actually a Golf Club head cover and the story of his arrival in our family goes like this.  While staying with daughter Clare recently - before she broke her leg - Isobel was shown a Tiger Golf Club head cover - and it was suggested that if she could make a similar product, this could prove to be a productive new line of toys for inclusion in our shop at www.Etsy.com/coldhamcuddlies.  Having closely examined the Tiger Head, Isobel excitedly agreed, so when she got back to Heytesbury, after Peter's funeral,  she checked on the internet to find one she could examine and copy for future use. (The Tiger Head was needed by the Golfing Lady who showed it to Isobel). She then discovered Black Gorilla (BG for short) for sale.  She was successful in her bid, and he arrived the same day she returned to Nottinghamshire to look after Clare.

Those of you who follow that game called Golf, or those who participate in this form of exercise, may well be familiar with these animals that cover  golf clubs.  They can be seen being carried around by the Caddies that accompany the players in various championships. While watching the recent British Open Golf Championship on the television,  Isobel witnessed a Tiger Head in the golf bag owned by  Mr. Tiger Woods - appropriate, don't you think?)  as well as Bear Heads and other toys in other players' golf bags.  Why he was for sale is not clear, but Isobel feels it is because  BG  took up too much space in a player's golf bag.  But how he is made can now be carefully inspected, when Isobel takes him apart.  She is particularly interested in how the black knitted handle cover actually fits onto BG's  body.  Then she will take the consitituent parts, create a template and then make Club Head Covers using all the other Toys' heads already at our disposal.  Golf is a popular pastime in this part of the world, if not nationwide - and even worldwide come to that - so that's why we believe they will become a worthwhile new branch of the Cuddlies Family. 

We wonder what our Followers think - and do they know of anyone who would like to have one as a Christmas present, maybe?

What will become of BG once Isobel has found how he's made?  Well, the plan is that he will be sewn up again, stuffed and become a proper Cuddly Toy - looking at him, he's about the same size as one of our Panda Bears.  He cannot really be considered a full member of the Cuddlies Family, as he has not been hand made, but I'm going to suggest he be treated as an Associate Cuddly and be given the same opportunity to find a Forever Friend as the rest of us are by being offered for sale not in our shop at www.Etsy.com/coldhamcuddlies, because he won't be handmade.  But he could come with us to local Bazaars and/or Craft Sales we attend and someone might like to give him a home.  He looks a friendly chap, doesn't he?


With that thought, I'll close for now.  Think I'd better stop posting so that Isobel can take over once more!  Meanwhile, thanks for being with us again, and here's to the next time we get together!  Cy Bear.

Introducing New Patients for the ColdhamCuddlies Soft Toy Clinic - Part 2

Good evening folks!  Cy Bear returning, as promised a couple of evenings ago, with some more new Patients for the Soft Toy Clinic (Etsy Listing  #79124185).  As I explained in my last post  (Part One of this two-part instalment), although they've been accepted as Patients, not all of them will require full therapy, and some, if not all, may well become new members of the Cuddlies Family once Isobel has assessed and treated them.

Little Brown Bear (in the background in this picture)  is yet another friend from the Toy Box belonging to PamL, mother to Isobel's son-in-law, Alan.  He really doesn't need much doing to him, except he will be taken to pieces so that a template pattern can be made of him.  He's much smaller than many of us Bears in the Cuddlies Family, has a lovely cheeky face - if Isobel can replicate it - and she's got plans for him.

 I'm told that he is a smaller version of a very favourite Morrell Bear belonging to Isobel's older daughter, Philippa.

 

He's known as Sleepy Teddy, has had  three make-overs in his life, and has been Philippa's Forever Friend since she was about 18 months' old.  He's a much travelled bear, having accompanied her everywhere she went while she travelled around the world while working in the mid-1990's.  Isobel wants to give him yet another make-over, but so far has not been able to persuade either Sleepy Teddy nor Philippa that it is a good idea!  The latter doesn't want him to be changed from what he looks like now.  As Isobel freely admits to not being able to replicate any of us Bears, that would appear to be that!  So, Isobel will concentrate on Little Sleepy Ted as I think he will be named and perhaps a change of heart may occur?

Here's another picture of Sleepy Teddy at home with some old friends of yours and mine, both of whom have been Patients in the ColdhamCuddlies Soft Toy Clinic in recent months - Rusty, the Giant Bear and Tommy Teddy.


Then, we've got the Sleepy Kitten - again from PamL's Toy Box.  He is not quite as White as he looks in this photograph and will need to given the luke-warm bath treatment if he is to regain his former glory.  Actually, Isobel thinks she may already have a pattern very similar to Sleepy Kitten, so he may not have to be cut to pieces in order to make a template so he can become a proper Cuddly.

When all these toys have been washed, templated - if there is such a word, but it does described the process these new Friends of mine face, and remade and stuffed, they will all be returned to PamL so that  she can have plenty of Toys for her visiting Little People to play with.

Isobel has a lot of work ahead of her in the next few weeks - which is all to the good.  In addition to these two new potential Cuddlies, she already has several commissions for new Wombats (4 of them) and another Gentleman Fox - all needed before Christmas, and there are the replacements for the Gentleman Foxes (Hunting and Country types), Coyotes and Rabbits that have found Forever Homes over the last few months.

Introducing New Arrivals in the Soft Toy Clinic - Part 1

Greetings one and all - Cy Bear once again being permitted to contribute!  While Isobel has been away and going through some incredible difficult moments, I was left behind here in Heytesbury sitting where I usually do,  on the bookshelf in the hallway, wondering what on earth was happening.  Hopefully, we're now getting back into the blog-posting groove once more, because Isobel has suggested I tell you about the new Patients who've arrived for treatment in the ColdhamCuddlies Soft Toy Clinic. Some of them are not only patients.  Isobel has been told to use them as templates for possible new additions to the Cuddlies Family and then listing them at our shop at www.Etsy.com/coldhamcuddlies. 

So, without more ado - meet:

Fred Bear:  He belongs to a very dear friend of both Peter and Isobel, whom they have known for about 20 years and who lives in Lincolnshire, England, UK.  PatC is her name and she and Fred have been together for a very long time.  Fred was not new when he came to be PatC's Forever Friend but it is reckoned they have been together for nearly 80 years - give or take a year or two and as this picture shows, this is not the first time he's been mended.

 PatC has asked  for Fred to have  his paws repaired for starters.  No Bear worth his salt goes round for ever with blue paws, so Isobel has said she'll change them for Brown Pads.  PatC likes the way Fred's ear has become crooked over the years, so has asked that when it is sewn on more firmly, it remains as near to it's present position as possible and his facial features need some touching up.  Finally, over the years, Fred has lost his voice:  so Isobel will be taking out his current growler and replacing it with a modern, deep voice, and while doing so is going to replace his stuffing, as she suspects it is not as safe as the polyester fibre stuffing she now uses for us Cuddlies.

 PatC does not want him to be re-covered as all the other Bear patients have been since the Soft Toy Clinic was opened in 2011:  she feels that treatment will be just too much of a change.  As he's already been away from his Forever Home for much longer than intended (as a result of what happened while Isobel has been away since May - see her last post:  "The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men:  Part 3)), he will be the first to undergo the Coldham Soft Toy Clinic therapy.

Next comes Long Legged Tigger:  He has lived for ages in a Toy Box which comes out at PamL's home every time Little People come to visit.  PamL is mother to Isobel's son-in-law, Alan and while everything happened in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire where Isobel has been staying, Tigger and some other friends were introduced to Isobel - to see if they could help her create more Cuddlies for sale in our Shop (www.Etsy.com/coldhamcuddlies).   

Tigger was handmade by one of Alan's cousins, who alas died after an illness a few years ago, and PamL wants him back because he is very special for that reason.  He does need an ear sewn on, but does not really require too much more attention, because, basically,  he's in pretty "good nick".  Isobel might give his present collar a soak overnight in luke-warm water to see if she can get it to look a bit whiter, but that will be it.  He may, or may not, be used as a template, but he's very welcome among the rest of us Cuddlies while he stays here.

Then there's Lop-Earred Rabbit:  he'll have to be given another name, because Isobel is definitely going to use him as a new Cuddly - because he's actually an Arm Puppet and therefore rather an unusual Toy as a result.  Isobel has never come across anything like him before, and Alan - who used to play with him a lot when he first arrived after being  spotted on,  and purchased from, a Market Stall - (actual site long since forgotten) - has never seen another one like him either.  Isobel will give him a wash - living in a Toy Box and being played with by all and sundry for several years is not an ideal environment for keeping pristine clean.  Once he's been washed, he will be taken apart and templates taken of his various parts.  He will  then  be re-made and sent back with Tigger to PamL.  She has pretty well denuded her storage box of toys by sending these two and some more toys which I'll describe in my next post.

It's rather difficult to let you see how he is made, and how he works.  Once he's been washed, cleaned, copied and re-made, Isobel will take pictures of him with someone's arm inside him.  Basically, he works like all our Hand Glove Puppets, but with a whole arm instead of just a hand.  His long leggy bits are joined with elastic, and then they are wrapped round  the operator's body.  Anyway, you'll have to wait and see what happens once Isobel has worked it out for herself - unless Alan, Clare and Dotty come down again soon, so that Alan can once again demonstrate how it should be done!
 
It's so good to back posting to you all again.  Long may it continue - we've had enough family shocks and emergencies in the last couple of months!.

Bless you all - and Good night!  Cy Bear

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men - Part Three

At the risk of seeming repetitive in my choice of titles for posts here, when I completed Part Two on June 26th it was with the intention of sorting out formalities connected with Peter's recent death and trying to get on with my life.  The first few days went relatively smoothly, but four days in a telephone call from son-in-law Alan, informed me that Clare - whose home I had only left June 21 - was in hospital following a serious fall when walking their newly acquired dog, and was being investigated for a suspected broken leg.

Circumstances having dictated that I am now a  free agent, and having obtained the agreement of the Trustees of the Hospital of St. John where my home is located, by the end of the week, I was once more back in Nottinghamshire and being a full-time Mum. Residents of Almshouse properties can be subject to limits on the number of days one is away from one's home and until recently, that did apply to  those of us currently at St. Johns.  However, these rules were often dreamt up when such institutions were first formed (in our case, we've been in existence since 1472).  They have thus become redundant and inappropriate in the 21st Century!  However, having been away for 3 weeks and only home for 6 days, seeking such permission did seem correct in this instance!

Having disposed of our car - which was in Peter's name and subject to a contract that required it's return if he was no longer able to use it - I boarded a train at Trowbridge Railway station,  travelled to Newport, Gwent in Wales.  (That was only the second time I have ever visited the Principality.  Listening to station announcements in Welsh, followed by the English version, was indeed an interesting experience!)  There was then a 20 minute wait for another train travelling direct to Nottingham via Birmingham.  Four hours later plus a further change, I dis-embarked at the station closest to Clare and Alan's home.  I beat Clare's arrival home, after a night in hospital for observation, by some 20 minutes!  The journey was a real novelty after years of driving around the UK, Canada and elsewhere, taking 6 hours in total - with someone else doing the driving and allowing me to enjoy the countryside.  Alas that was not at its best:  most of the way we were surrounded by heavy rain - a feature of our so-called summer season this year till then.  With the benefit of both a Senior Person's 'Bus Pass and a Rail Card (which entitles one to free travel with the former, and discounted prices with the latter) - I  am looking  forward to more such adventures in future!

Plans for re-arranging the Shop at www.Etsy.com/coldhamcuddlies had therefore to be once more put on the back burner until my return to Wiltshire while we all learned to cope with Clare suffering a suspected fractured  tibia just under the knee cap and hobbling with the aid of crutches and a fibre glass Rickards Splint (I believe that is what it is called!).  She  faced a 10 day wait before being re-assessed at the Fracture Clinic.  That visit ended with her being encased in a cast (fortunately not a plaster one) from ankle to hip, in order to assist the bone to knit properly, and an appointment for another X-ray on August 1.  Alas, the first cast (a plain, cream one) was not firm enough and required another trip to the Fracture Clinic a week later.  She is now in a bright pink variation on the cast theme and  hoping to have the current support removed, as arranged, on August 1.

Future treatment is likely to take at least another 5-6 weeks before she is properly mobile once more and may consist of another temporary cast until a specially made brace contraption is created which will both support the injured area as well as enabling Clare to increase mobilty in her joint.  She is not a person who takes kindly to sitting around doing "nothing" - but has been knitting furiously, while planning future craft creations in the meantime.

She was sufficiently improved, however, to be able to accompany Alan and I - plus the cause of the problem, Dotty my Canine Grand daughter (see photograph below) - a couple of days ago.

Dotty - parentage subject to conjecture, but a darling nevertheless

We returned in their mid-sized saloon complete with all the paraphenalia associated with a puppy unaccustomed to long-distance travel and visits to a strange house!  Dotty proved not to be the best traveller, but despite that was more than happy to participate in the adventure.  She and Clare stayed in the flat the next day, while Alan and I completed the clearance of  a storage unit where Peter and I had kept items for which we had no space while two of us lived here.  It included two large plastic bags of plush fabrics for future Cuddlies - which are now safely stowed away for use by me in future creations.

Clare, Alan and Dotty are now back in Nottinghamshire, I have resumed an Executor's administrative duties while combining such activities with organising my Cuddlies business.  During my latest sojourn in Nottinghamshire, I've acquired three new Patients for the Coldham Cuddlies Soft Toy Clinic,  have received permission to use four toys as templates for new Cuddlies, and will be following up a suggestion for a completely new line of Cuddlies.  I shall be posting about these new developments shortly, but in the interim will close this post - as I  have waffled on long enough.

Hope to be back soon - barring further family emergencies - and look forward to welcoming more Followers shortly:  We just need seven more to reach our second hundred:  just wonder where they will come from and who they will be?

The Best Laid Plans of Man and Beast .....Part Two

To complete the post about the new Light Brown Bear member of the Coldham Cuddlies family, here are a series of photographs of Determined Bear.  He's now comfortably sitting with his friends William White Bear and the Silver Brown Bear - all waiting for their new Best Friends to come and meet them!