Phew!!

"Perhaps she'll take a little more notice of me when she's finished THAT quilt!!"

It's okay Marvin.

It is all done and photographed ready to send off to my tutor.  

My first proper quilt, although only a small one.

"Now will you pay me attention!"

I'm very preoccupied with family at the moment, so keeping a low profile, but enjoying looking at everyone's posts.

Have a great weekend.

Jill

Time Marches on ...

I am a bit tardy getting my March calendar pages posted, but I have actually started it, I have just had an adversion to going through the process of scanning the pages etc.

 I am glad to say good-bye to February - it has been not only a dreary month, but one of restlessness, especially the last couple of weeks.  Every few months I feel as if I am turning another corner in my creative journey so hopefully March will be the beginning of the next phase.

I rather slopped this page together in my new journal - I love filling in the little squares, but my creative energy has been focussed elsewhere. 

Thanks to everyone who was so encouraging after my last blog, ` I quickly came to a decision after writing it.  I have decided not to registar on a college course, but to try to follow my own path taking part in as many workshops as I can, buy books, build up my  local contacts and set myself goals.  When I began this blog with the sub-heading "chronicles of a mature learner" so that is what I am going be doing.  Watch this space.

I took advantage of the sun this afternoon,  so join me and Marvin in the garden.

Have a great weekend,

Jill

Who knows what the year will bring?

Here is my calendar page for January. As you can see I have featured Marvin, my ginger and white cat.

The reason I didn't post this before was I wanted to tell you about Marv. He has been poorly for sometime with an inflammatory bowel disease, which we have got under control with steroids and hypoallergenic cat food. But when he went for a check-up the week before Christmas the vet was concerned about his weight loss. He was a very large cat, weighing well over a stone (14lbs) and I had to buy an extra large cat container to transport him! So I just thought he was looking leaner and healthier under his new food regime. However a blood test confirmed the vets fears that he has diabetes. So we were faced with a horrible dilemma - do we start to treat it, or let nature take its course?

Treatment for cats with diabetes is exactly the same as for humans, twice daily blood tests and insulin injections. Committing yourself to such a regime is not to be taken lightly, so we took a couple of days to make a decision and talk about it with friends and family who know our situation and the cat's personality. we took the sad decision to let nature take its course as I felt I could not commit myself to pinning the cat down four times a day, twice to take blood samples and twice to inject insulin.  My husband would find it difficult to help especially as he is in need of some care himself having had a stroke some while ago as well as not being physically robust. Also Marvin was named after the paranoid android in 'Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy' as he is of a highly paranoid nature. I have given up trying to get a collar on him, and treating him with a spot flea treatment is a nightmare.  He is also inclined to ''wet his pants' when he thinks he is going in the cat basket - and then runs whenever he sees me for the next couple of days! I cannot imagine having to go through the routine needed to treat him. We would all be nervous wrecks. Also I asked myself, what would happen if we wanted to go away, who would we find to go through this for us?  So I am writing all of this, because I feel so bad, Every time I look at poor ole Marv I have a little lump in my throat, and I want you to understand that I am not being unkind - am I? At the moment he is fine ( see the photo below)

 

Marvin expresses his opinion of New Year's TV

His coat is a bit scruffy as he has bad teeth and dribbles - (the vet doesn't want to treat them and they aren't effecting his eating). The vet couldn't predict how long it would be before his quality of life is affected, but at the moment you wouldn't know anything was wrong, I've had enough cats over the years to know you can tell when that moment has come.  So please excuse me my maudlin over my pet. I know he will continue to pop up in my posts frequently. Reading this thorough - only a pet lover could imagine why anyone keeps such a cat in the first place!

A page from my Marvin sketchbook when we first got him

Marvin came from the marvelous local Animals at Risk Shelter(no web site), which has accommodation for all sorts of unhousable cats as well finding cats' homes. The couple who run it are devoted, and when we visited there were lots of resident cats sunning themselves in an immaculate garden with not the tiniest 'whiff' of cat. The cats waiting for rehousing were in a very homely, light and airy out house, and 'Rusty' as he had been called just rolled over at Mr T's feet for his belly to be tickled, so that was that!

He had been brought in by the security guard from a local Iceland store. We think he must have been well fed because he was rather fat, but totally paranoid at being shut in.  He goes mad if he is in a room with the door shut so goodness knows what had happened to him. Which was why we re-named him.

My nephew made us smile when my sister overheard him telling a friend that his Auntie had a cat that had been rescued from Poland!! Well Iceland...Poland what's the difference!

Thank you for sticking with me through this, I feel better for getting off my chest and I sure you will understand why we are making the most of Marv while we've got him.

Something different - again!!

Marvin mini-quilt

I thought I'd try something different - a bit inspired by Cathy's embroidery on Menopausal Musings, I thought I'd satin stitch a Marvin. He has taken a good couple of weeks doing a bit most evenings. I then sewed him with a thin layer of wadding onto a postcard size piece of heavy-weight vilene practising my free stitching on the sewing machine. Outlining him was easier than I thought and made him stand out. I embelllished him with a bit of lace and some mini heart buttons and voila Marvin in his favourite spot - on the duvet. I have failed to embroider the muddy footprints. I popped him in the scanner so it is not a very good rendering.

Mr T looks at me as if I am mad - he can relate to my more practical projects.  I'm into a bit of machine stitching at the moment - so watch this space!

Starting again...

I have bought myself a couple of bargain books on needle-felting, just to get me started, and decided I would have ago at some other projects before relaunching onto animals. So here are three ATC sized pieces I made yesterday, sewing the beads on this morning when there was a good light. They were very quick to do and a quick press with the steam iron seemed to help.

There are quick and not very sophisticated, but just what I need, bright and colourful. 

The trouble was I found these cats on flickr, by gifted felt artist Helen Rogers. If you like these, then do browse her flickr site here for more views.

 

Thank you Helen for giving me permission to use your pictures

Dreams

I have to believe I am living my dream.

I can spend as much of my time as I like here...

 ... my work station with my four journals - the A4 'Pink Pig' spiral bound, large and small moleskines and my little handmade book. (More of that another time)

The sun shone this morning and Marvin called me into the garden to play, but like most cats was quickly distracted by the birds on the feeder for which I am grateful, for I really do feel the fool turning in circles on the lawn with a garden cane for the cat to chase!!

and here is Marvin wishing he could fly

Roll over

My cat, Marvin is a rather large ginger and white cat who arrived at our home in 2005 from the local cat rescue charity.  I have always enjoyed  sketching my cats over the years so I thought I'd keep a Marvin sketchbook. He always prefers lying stretched out - I think his belly is too fat for curling up - he is on a strict diet, but it's not making any difference. You may have noticed him cropping up before. I thought I'd share these with you, I'm sure he'll crop up again.

Other things in my life

Now I am coming to the end of my second Open College of the Arts course I am thinking whether I want to start another one straight away. I feel I have gained a grounding in photography and perhaps can make my own way for a while. I also want to explore my other creative skills. The internet via flickr and blogs are a constant source of inspiration so at the moment I have many avenues to explore. I have started to keep an "Art Journal" which is really a sketch book-come-art diary, but with more completed works than a sketch book alone. There seem to be thousand of Art Journal keepers across the net. I have found it a great way to be able to experiment with ideas and by doing it in various books I am not left with umpteen pieces of art work to store. Also with a freestanding piece of work there is the question of whether it is worthy of framing and hanging whereas that never arises when it is in a book. Often in a journal the artwork is combined with words. some people use theirs as a diary to record their lives, others as a means of expressions. So I shall see, I haven't got to decide about OCA yet - just follow the flow.