Its bonfire night so Mum is keeping a close eye on all of us to ensure that nobody is being distressed about all the noise.  As a distraction we are watching a programme about bridges for dormice of all things!  They seem very small (dormice that is).  This also ensures Mum can’t do any knitting as Harrier and I are curled up next to her.  Aunty Biscuit is finishing off sewing up a childs hat that had been requested.  It is quite pretty as it has a tiara and a plait on it

Aunty Biscuits red glaze pen has nearly run out!  I had two options for responding to this dreadful news.

Whilst in Northallerton yesterday Aunty Biscuit spotted two border terriers in matching orange Halloween fleece coats which looked really good.  We are now trying to persuade Mum that we would like one each making for next year.  If the fleece is reduced now Halloween is over we may stand more chance.  The village children who came round trick or treating had made a real effort with costumes and makeup.  The collie was a little unnerved by fireworks in the neighbourhood but everyone survived.  This evening Aunty Biscuit made pumpkin soup which had chilli in it.  It had a thin texture and more of a kick than she anticipated; needless to say none of us canines tested it.   

Mum has been doing a fringe for the edging of a character scarf that had been requested.  To do this she used a DVD case to wrap it round and round.  It can be quite intriguing when everyday items are used for craft purposes.  Aunty Biscuit collects empty yoghurt pots and puts small amounts of acrylic paint or glue in them, they can then just be thrown out afterwards, tin foil can be used in a similar fashion.  Cocktail sticks or skewers can be used to apply glue to very small items.

Mum roasted some chestnuts last night without exploding a single one, according to Aunty Biscuit this is an impressive feat.  Apparently you have to cut into them before putting them in the oven.  Aunty Biscuit tends to use one of those grill things now to cook hers which she says works very well, although she did have an experimental go with a microwave once, it didn’t go particularly brilliantly but she doesn’t have a timed to the second model.  Needless to say we didn’t get to sample it, but Aunty Biscuit brought us some chicken for tea to make up for it.

The tea cosy project I mentioned earlier as having quite a way to go has now had a pom pom fitted and looks better for it.  The next stage it would appear is to adjust the front end of the dog motif on it, change the colour of its coat and move it forward a bit, then knit the updated version.  The difficulty with these things is generally finding a pencil.  Pencils it would appear have a secret life and move around unexpectedly, it would seem they are everywhere when you don’t need them and vanish when you do.  Given the drama of a missing mouse (computer not furry) the other week I am not even going to suggest that they try putting the patterns straight onto a computer in case it vanishes too.

We had quite a week last week which didn’t leave a lot of time for crafting or reporting on it.  Thankfully things are almost back to normal, although I’m a little concerned that Mum has the human equivalent of kennel cough still hanging around.  We have celebrated by mending one of grey pony’s rugs yet again.  Mum has done a very neat job of stitching zigzags across the front using a very strong thread.  Should they have a Halloween party in his field I’m sure he’d win a prize as Frankensteins pony and definitely win the apple bobbing contest. 

Mum and Aunty Biscuit have been working on a couple of teacosies today.  By this I mean viewing the samples they have made and looking at what is viable, which needs improving and which is a no go.  In summary it would seem that one of the projects is going to need a little tweaking whereas the other has a long way to go and needs a pom pom.  I just practised my stretching skills whilst all this was going on.

The sugar has now dissolved in the sloe gin so it looks marginally less sinister and has disappeared into the garage.  Mum has been blanket washing, marginally disappointing as they had just reached the correct aroma level.  The humans are having a piece of chocolate sponge each for tea.  We’re not allowed any but have had a dog treat each.  We’re now settling down for an evening snoozing in preparation for a busy weekend

The new batch of sloe gin has been set away.  As the sugar is not yet dissolved and the sloes are vaguely visible through it, I’m thinking it looks like something from the lab of a mad professor from one of those type of horror movies.  It turns out that the sweetie measuring by Aunty Biscuit is related to a trial Christmas project, which may or may not prove viable.  She has however also just managed to trail some unused yarn into her cup of tea whilst colour selecting.