I have had a very successful (or as Mum would say naughty) day.  Harrier left some of his breakfast so yours truly did the decent thing and polished it off.  Bang goes the new years resolution to diet.  This was followed by me destroying a dog toy - acceptable as I am a terrier and scattering the stuffing all over the ground floor of the house, apparently less acceptable.  I did try to blame the collie but it didn't work.  The squeak in the toy ended up a little chewed.

Having studied Aunty Amber doing beaded cross stitch I wish to present my theories on it.  The beads are very small and a little disobedient. I suspect they are inedible but too small to even bother testing .  Good eyesight or a magnifying implement is a must.  Magnetic strips are handy for marking where you are on the pattern.  Two different needles seem to be used.  The first one is an ordinary cross stitch needle, this has a bigger eye. This confused me at first as I couldn't see any eyes but it seems to refer to the bit that the thread goes through.  I was also a bit confused as Aunty Amber was talking about floss which I thought was the pink stuff from the seaside but Aunty Biscuit said no, its an American term for embroidery thread, hhmm.  The other needle is a beading needle which has a small flat eye.  We eagerly await with Aunty Biscuits attempts to thread one of those!

Well, with one thing and another I haven't managed to keep anyone updated with my inactivity and everyone else's activity. 

Aunty Biscuit has been wrapping Christmas presents and I have been helping her with some of them.  I have managed to avoid sticking any sellotape to my feet, trotting over the wrapping paper or chewing a gift tag so it’s going well.  I have tentatively identified a couple of presents that I’m hoping will come my way as a potential dog toy and a pack of my favourite dog treats.  I did briefly wonder about wrapping the collie up and posting her to our cousin in America, but abandoned the idea when Aunty Biscuit noticed every time any paper was rustled, so I reckon she would definitely spot a walking parcel.  Mum in the meantime has been putting up the Christmas tree.  I have left Harrier to help with this although I think he is doing so in a paws off capacity.

I found this most marvellous pile of leaves to snuffle about in this morning.  I ended up almost covered.  Harrier was slightly embarrassed by the fact that Mum had him on the lead in one hand and a straining lead of foliage in the other.  I'm not going to tell you what was in there as it is my little secret.  As well as being a great source of smells and rustles leaves can provide inspiration for crafters whether by shape or colour for instance.  Holly is popular for making wreaths this time of year, if a little prickly.  Aunty Biscuit and Aunty Viv are both fans of using holly motifs when making christmas cards.  I think Mum should think about doing her Tiny Tears christmas jumper with a holly motif next year.

I’ve had a lovely snooze (one of my favourite inactivities) on the sofa thus I have been unable to closely supervise the evenings crafting activities.  I have however managed to wake up long enough to have a quick check and report back at what they are doing.   Aunty Biscuit has just been putting a blue edging on a blanket.  I have just inspected this and thoroughly approve.  I think it adds that certain something and finishes it off well.  She has a few loose ends just to finish off and it will be ready for me to test.  Mum has been writing a pattern up, this tends to be a lengthy part of proceedings.

I’m wondering who first invented names for the colours and assigned them to the relevant ones.  This deeply philosophical musing has been brought about as Aunty Biscuit has a ball of turquoise wool that she is casting on with.    

I can confirm that the items out of reach are definitely not onions.  This was discovered without having to resort to sending in Harrier and the trampoline but by listening carefully to conversation.  This evening Mum is knitting and Aunty Biscuit is organising her new bag of mixed stick on wiggly eyes, I decided best not to even ask…..

The Christmas shopping is progressing well.  There is a pile of items out of reach, even of the collie cam.  I can only conclude that these are any or all of the following.  Chocolate - which we are not allowed as it is very bad for dogs.  Onions - also bad for us.  Presents for us that we’re not allowed until later.  Much as I’m desperately hoping its presents for us, I think the most likely contender is the chocolate as I believe that onions are not generally considered a suitable gift.  We may have to send Harrier and a trampoline in to find out more.  Failing this I will have to ensure that present wrapping is closely supervised.

Grey pony has now been reshod, Mum hopes these will stay on longer.  Aunty Biscuit has just finished the blanket from oddments that she had been working on, complete with edging.  Presumably she will be starting on some new project shortly that will generate more scraps, although the run up to Christmas can be very busy craftwise with things like cardmaking, gift tag  making, present wrapping etc.  Mum is still working on the green bag.  The collie has now been demudded, so any remote bath danger has been averted.