The Four Donkeys of The Apocalypse.

Ever fallen in love, in love with someone ever fallen

How do you like my new avatar? A self-portraitDonkey!

But that is not where the love is, oh no. There is more.

Do you remember last year my friend had a wee, early baby, Baby Will? He was not very well at all but she breeds them tough and now he has even started walking :-) A couple of weeks ago she rang and asked me if I would be his godmother! So in all godmotherly haste I considered just what would be a suitable Champagne and Races Godmother gift.

Way back at Christmastime I bought a selection of prints to do a quilt for my oldestfriendintheworld's new baby boy but I am slack and crubbish and suffer very badly from 'finishitis' and thus it never happened however I still loved the fabrics very much so I pulled them out from the many hidey-holes around Trash Towers. This was when I discovered several other fabrics purchased in the intervening months that toned in fantastically so they got thrown into the mix too. One six inch square template, one large cutting mat courtesy of Sylv's horror at my weeny one, a new blade on the cutter and a vague idea of what I was doing resulted in this.

Last night I laid it all out and pinned it and now have to think of how to quilt it. I am guessing probably 'in the ditch' because that is a really good idiot-proof method. The backing is the Ikea hippo fabric in green and I shall bind it in the dots.

It is not perfect. The lines are not 100% matched. The cutting errs towards the wonky side of things and dare I suggest some fabric is cut across or against the grain but I am truly and deeply in love. I love the colours. I love the dots. I love the different textures but most of all I think I love the turtles bestest.

It is a quilt for snuggling under, for making dens, for dragging into the garden and pulling up into trees. It is for feeling sick under and getting better under. It is for storytelling and playacting. It is for hide&seek and for quiet times.. These were my half-formed thoughts while I was making it and I know that Will's parents will understand this and appreciate the handmade aspect of it. It is a joy to give to people who 'get' that homemade is handmade, it is not cheap in terms of labour or effort, it takes time in both planning and execution but that all of this is done freely with joy and love.

I hope Will spends many hours under his quilt laughing, reading, chatting and playing.

Aloha Ladies and Gentlemen ...... all the way from Hawaii we present ...

... well actually not ElvisDonkey yet because as we all know any good concert will offer at least one performer before the main event. Here today we offer not just one, not even two but THREE support acts.

First of all we have BikerDonkey and NurseDonkey.

These were not deliberately placed together to bring back memories for Missus Moog, honest. And for all non-UK dwellers and any who are aged under 10 let me state that Yes, UK nurses really did used to dress like that in the last millenium!

Then following on from that we have that fabulous combination of ZZTop and The Harlem Globetrotters. Not many people in London know this (nod to Michael Caine) but the only member of ZZTop not to sport a HUGE beard or any kind of beard is in fact called Frank Beard!

And as our final support acts takes the stage let me ask you to put your hands together for those two stalwarts of Sunday teatime telly

(I think I love PhilDonkey.)

Finally now ladies and gentlemen would you put your hands together and give a fabulous Hawaii welcome to the one, the only

ELVISDONKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elvis hasn't left the building!

However my camera battery is DEAD and so while it does the whole Lazarus thing (can you believe there is a child in this hilltop town who is actually called Lazarus!) let me just say that not only do we have an ElvisDonkey circa 1974 but also a ZZTopDonkeys, D'artagnanDonkey and two UK TV archeologyDonkeys. These last ones done at my daughter's request.


Is it wrong to be in love with a 2D donkey?

A finish!!! (edited for clarity)

Some little few weeks back Kootooyoo came up with a plan. A cunning plan to do a blog redwork quilt. She had 5 bazillion pieces of edged cloth that were distributed among 5 bazillion of her best friends and one came to live up here on the hill.

The brief was to create a design in redwork. A design of all of my very ownsome. Somewhat daunting. But then my favourite quote came to mind. That rather special Baudelaire number that speaks to my heart and also I think the hearts of many bloggers.

"A multitude of small delights constitutes happiness."

At which point the memory of a picture I quite liked hidden in the depths of one of the Donkey sketch pads sprang to mind. Add in a few flower/tree-type things and then we have my finished piece. Wanna see?

It is a little bit wrinkly around the edges but I guess any of us would be had we spent several weeks crammed into an embroidery hoop ;-) The angle of the picture is a little wonky but as a piece of work I am really pleased with how it came out and have loved having the opportunity to take part. Thanks a million Kootooyoo for letting me join in with your gang and take part.

EDIT!
dear Bloggers, I have reviewed the above post with particular reference to the seventh sentence of the second paragraph.
"At which point the memory of a picture I quite liked hidden in the depths of one of the Donkey sketch pads sprang to mind."
On reflection and rereading the above seventh sentence of the second paragraph I will clarify for those unsure that while the sketch pads may be called 'Donkey' ones they in fact house several many different types of creature, most notably giraffes, cows, my assistant and some monkeys and (of course) a rhino.

I do hope this has relieved the brain ache of anyone attempting to track down the scientific names of the totally mythological rhinodonkey.


OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! That just sparked something. Rhino. Donkey. RhinoDonkey. Rhinestone. Donkey. RhinstoneDonkey. ELVIS DONKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(all my thought processes are equally simple and disturbing;-)

The rewards of The Good Samaritan.

My front neighbour, Granny, came around today with a tech question about the new laptop she was considering buying. Obviously our collective knowledge meant that we took a relatively straightforward query and spent 3/4 of an hour searching for answers. Answers that CK took no more than 5 seconds to identify when we sent him the hyperlink (honestly it was no more than 5 seconds). I also rang the company on her behalf and placed the order.

Sounds simple yes? But no. It involved several phone calls, lots of being on hold, a three hour wait to ring back and a few repetitious explanations of the issue. However all was resolved and Granny can expect her new laptop tomorrow sometime between 0700 and 1900 hours. With the advertised extra money off paid back into her account within three working days.

It was rather lovely to feel like I was doing 'real' work. You know the kind that involves phone conversations and dealing with adults and having a task to complete in a set period?

This afternoon Granny came up the drive to collect her bank card (and get the update) and as a thank you brought with her a fabulous selection of fabric from her volunteer job at a charity shop in town.

Wanna see?

These are a mix of cottons, slubby acrylics, flannelette and what may well be silk (bottom L). I have no idea what I am going to do with them but oooo, aren't they luvverly????

Now to the sad part of the post. As part of the Donkey's Birthday Week Giveaway Bonanza Julie at Little Cotton Rabbits was the intended recipient of birthday cake.

Mmmmmmm... cake.....

But sadly when I finally got to putting it into the correct sized box I noticed this.

It is a little fuzzy and out of focus but there is a chip in the rim of the cake body:-(
Julie I am so sorry but there will be something cakey in the post to you soon.

DottyCookie, WMK and KerryAnne I promise there will be something birthday partyish to you as well. surely I get points and kudos for being a Good Samaritan, right? Right?

P.S. Assistant's stitches out today as a small infection has taken residence. Bleaurgh!

My word! What a week!

Bit of a rollercoaster ride at Trash Towers this week.

Birthday parties, single-parenting, CK on a date with an international glamour queen, even had to put out a few fires!

d/Boy and Pr.C-W both had their ballet exams last night. Both were thrilled to take their trophy and medal respectively in to school this morning. Each also received a certificate outlining good points of their dancing and areas that may be improved. My boy and my girl came home with Distinctions. :-) So after a scrappy dinner (fish&chips followed by scrambled eggs and toast three hours later) and late bed yesterday they were both a little edgy by bedtime tonight.

Having washed ceilings and cleared and sorted the plastics cupboard (believe me a HUGE job!) this week I treated myself to a little crafting time.

Getting changed after school Pr. C-W asked if we could finally applique her t-shirt. Guess what she wanted? Yep, my assistant! I had some denim shapes excess from the back of the picnic blanket sitting there so she drew a pattern and when it was done she stitched on the eye herself.

I like it :-) and the edges will just get shaggier with washing and wearing.

It has been an amazing week mailwise this week. I was the winner of Paper&String's monthly giveaway. How gorgeous are these?

My kids are beside themselves that Oucho has released a range of accessories ;-)

The doorstop is in situ with a heavy thing inside to stop it becoming 'the worst ever doorstop' and the bucket has discovered its purpose - it is now the home of my mobile phone. Oh hooray! I shall never misplace it again. (Apparently I am remiss in not letting the world know my mobile (cellphone) is sparkly and purple - now you can all see ;-)

I was the very lucky recipient of a gorgeous P.I.F.gift from Jo in Tas this week. Gorgeous silver tissue and ricrac. that would have been enough to put a smile on my face but then ....

... I opened it!

This is such a clever bag. Loads of room on the inside PLUS four (well really eight because they are all divided) external pockets. I used it today on a day out with WonderWoman.

Jo this is such a cute bag and I love it. Thank you so much.

As mentioned above CK had a hot date this week. The glamourous and rather lovely WMK took pity on my husband and after a whirlwind tour of all the hotspots in Washington (ie flicking through a guide book at Borders ;-) they went out to dinner. Unsurprisingly he was flashing his English accent at every woman crossing his path, he seems to think that impresses foreign girlies.

Given that he was flying across theAtlantic for a blogmeet I thought the least he could do was take over some goodies for me. I made this bag to put them in. I thought it was quite nice but CK insisted upon putting it in his case rather than carrying it - Woos!


I was quite chuffed with this as there was no pattern, I made it all up as I went along! Am hoping WMK liked it to. Thanks for looking after my boy.

As it is STILL Donkey's birthday week there have been giveaways with every post and Julie at LCR won the birthday cake and (honestly - d/Boy watched me do Random Integer Generator thingy) WMK won the surprise prize tonight!

Finally I got an amazing package in the post today but there will be more about that later in the month. Trust me - it is worth coming back for.

mmmmmm... we had cake last night

What with it being Donkey's birthday and all

destructoBoy had planned dinner on the way to school yesterday - lemon grilled lamb chops with mint dressing, pepper (capsicum) and red onion salsa and new potatoes . Not birthday tea or anything just that my seven y.o. is turning into MasterChef. Seriously the boy has the makings of a great T.V. chef - I did all the prep, all the cooking and serving. He turned up at the last minute, arranged a potato on a plate and took all the credit. Glory Hound!

Then with all my free time I made a cake. Simple little chocolate cake but I gussied it all up with some fresh raspberries and chunks of Lindt 70% dark chocolate stirred through. Mmmmyum.

Had to grovel a little yesterday so Donkey helped.

(embarrassed that I can't even spell properly!)

There were loads of fabulous suggestions yesterday about career options for Donkey. After much discussion we picked out the new ones then praecied it down to a final two. So we drew them to see who worked bestest.

Princess Genevieve's 'Beekeeper' and DottyCookie's 'Apprentice' . In the end it all came down to how it looked on paper so .........

Beekeeper? You're fired!



Congratulations Missus D/C. After reading all the suggestions and pondering how I might draw them d/Boy said 'You're fired!' and I knew how to draw 'The Apprentice.'

May I present to the world Sir Alan SugarDonkey!

Happy Birthday Donkey!

Have you ever flicked through your own archives? I did last week. I was hunting through trying to find a particular post to link to and guess what I found! Yes my dearest and beloved Donkey is one.

There has been very little sighting of Donkey on this blog for quite some time but don't think he has been quiet. Oh no! As well as the pictures shown on the original post we have (some have been posted before)

row one- Russian Doll Donkey, Ghostie Donkey card sold in a REAL shop, d/Boy's birthday card last year (obviously NOT b/c it was 10pm and I didn't have one)
row two - FrankenDonkey card, Halloween donkey and Witchy-Poo Donkey card.

We have Bandelero Donkey, Surfer Donkey, Santa Donkey & for Missus Silver Pebble a Mr. Darcy Donkey while Domesticali got a Laundry Donkey . There was some stitchy work for Missus Locket as well as a congratulations card . You will be pleased to hear I actually crumpled up and threw away the Donkey I drew after hearing about Mr. Moog headbutting a car. There has been Astrounaut Donkey, Wizard Donkey and Chicken-feeding Donkey, Jane Austen Donkey and more.

We boarded the plane for TGTH with pad and pen in hand and Donkey kept a wider audience entertained. For a wee girl fed up with flying we drew a Rapunzel Donkey. Sadly when we got home Donkey was quite poorly received :-( They just don't get talent.

Then back in May there was surprise package came to my door. Well, I was surprised, I don't think the package was. Look what was inside!

This is the amazing work of SilverPebble as commissioned by Lucy Locket. It is a birthday present for me - how lucky am I?

In our house birthdays are extended to last a whole week (longer if I can get away with it when it is my turn ;-) and Donkey's special day is no exception so to keep the party atmosphere happening all week there will be a present given away everytime I post. Today's wee giftie is a personalised drawing of the Donkey himself. Leave a comment with a suggestion for a picture and I shall choose one that hasn't been drawn before (believe me the list exists and it's long) so get your thinking caps on and let the ideas flow!

maybe really, really interesting