mother's day 2011

 i had the loveliest laziest mother's day today - breakfast in bed 

 followed by presents and more lazing.

i was very pleased to see that one of the present chocolates is 70% valor - that will come in handy....

and my room smells gorgeously of warm vanilla, thanks to these lilies

 and of course, today i also thought of my own Mother, whose parenting years were a hard row to hoe.

sitrep friday

• reading: maggie grey's 'textile translations' for inspiration
• listening: to the music of my distant youth - right now the b52s as it has an instant chirking up effect
• eating: a warm hot cross bun from the freezer stash
• planning: the next phase of my life

• wearing: melbourne black - jeans, jumper, fur collar, purple bamboo socks and green birks
• learning: to take risks
• recovering from: resigning from my dream job on a matter of principle
• looking forward to: my next job
• tending: the still convalescent billthedog
• trusting: my instinct and the universe

dog in the doldrums

poor billy went off to the vet today to have his x-rays and came home a sad and sorry puppy.

he has hip dysplasia and arthritis and will need painkillers, glucosamine and regular injections of some kind of joint spackfiller for the rest of his life. and there are strict instructions that he be kept warm and free of anything strenuous - which really suits a dog of his labrador extraction....

all the joint manipulation they did while he was under the anaesthetic left him very sore and the anaesthetic itself clearly made him feel groggy and erky. he didn't even fancy his dinner which is very un-billthedoglike behaviour, although he did manage to force down a sausage a little while ago.

right now he is tucked up on the sofa wrapped in a blanket and looking very invalidish. hopefully tomorrow he will spark up a bit...

working

although production seems to be at an all time low, i am working on some projects. last week i registered for the festival of quilts which will be held in birmingham in august and now i have to think of a piece and make the damn thing... nothing like a deadline to force you to create :)

i have been thinking of making a bigger version of this

and over the weekend suddenly conceived the idea of making a piece based on the inside of my head. i started with the idea of making a map outlining the escarpments, jungles and especially the very deep pits is seem to keep falling into - hoping to be able to see the pits before i am suddenly at the bottom of one. here i am at kind dog's apartment

 sketching out some rough ideas for such a map

and then this evening i found the right piece of fabric - dyed by the lovely dijanne, it is perfect. now to think of the shapes and contours.....

billthedog sitrep

for the last few weeks billthedog has clearly been in some discomfort - a bit stiff in the legs, reluctant to leap as much as in his youth, generally awkward and just a bit more doleful than usual.
and then over easter he became much worse - he limped and didn't want to leave his basket or climb the three steps up to the back door.  he didn't caper and wasn't interested in treats.

so we took him to the lovely vet who confirmed what uncle google had hinted at - billy has hip dsyplasia and probably has had some level of pain all his life :(  which accounts for a few things including his very awkward stance - his legs look like they were attached by a committee in a dark room and when he sits down his legs splay out in all directions.

so he is booked in for an xray under the anaesthetic next thursday and in the meantime has been gulping down some lovely drugs.

the involvement in his mood and demeanour is so marked that i feel terrible - he must have been in so much pain and we didn't know :(

within 24 hours he was this happy

and even climbed into my lap for a cuddle

 

 and a kiss (i know i look like the dowager duchess of crap-on-toast but i had just got up and was unwashed and unhevelled - billy didn't care)