Oliver update :)

Mr Oliver is fitting in wonderfully! He still nips at toes (especially Chelsea's), and occasionally does a wee inside (but only when we forget and shut all the doors to the backyard cause its so cold here at night!), but for the most part he is a wonder dog!

He comes when called. He sits and stays (mind you these are very new tricks), he wears his collar without fuss. He eats his food - both wet and dry. He sleeps on his own in the garage at night without crying. When he's tired during the day he just puts himself to bed. If i need to go out during the day, he happily lays in his bed until i get back. He travelled in the car today 40mins each direction to visit Nonna with no fuss - actually slept the whole way there and back! Didn't wee or poo in Nonna's house. Happily has baths and is fine with being towel dried. Happily greets new people, adults and kids. And MOST importantly - keeps Chelsea occupied when she would otherwise be crying at my feet!

This is the scene I found this morning. It was too quiet. And both of them were missing from the lounge room. I spotted them in the far corner of the garden, so quickly grabbed my camera and snapped some stealthy paparazzi shots! They are so gorgeous together, and I'm so glad we decided to add a puppy to our family :)

With names like Bazzoka Blue...

...and Twizzle Stick Goblin, you can begin to get some idea of how original these little characters are.

I was savouring my greatly treasured 'down time' while Chelsea has her afternoon sleep, and browsing through the etsy archives to try and get some inspiration for a new direction for my bears... when I found these guys!

They are made by Tangle Wood Thicket Creations and are just incredible! I've never really given needle felting much thought - but am totally in awe of the level of skill needed here! So much so that I can feel that itch I get when I 'just have to have one'! l

Just hanging around!

One of the bonuses of moving house is that you find a lot of stuff that was put away 'somewhere safe' and subsequently forgotten about...

... these four sweethearts are the last of the bears I had set aside to 'reborn'. Clean, re-stitch, tighten joints, re-set eyes etc. Basically to give them a new chance at finding a home to be cherished. These four are actually really nice bears too. I think with a bit of a scrub and polish, they'll come out beautifully! And I must say they do make a handsome foursome too don't they.

(and for those wondering - the original maker is aware that I am restoring her bears, and is totally ok with this, otherwise I wouldn't even attempt it!)

Taking some time out

It has been one crazy week! I will never be moving house with a 13month old, a 7 week old puppy and being 4 months pregnant again! (at least I can't think of a possibility when that might happen again!).

After we got over the initial shock of having to move into a less than clean house, we started noticing other less than perfect things. I won't go into detail - but basically over the last week we've had just about every trades-person imaginable out to our house, and have quotes for work needed to be done that add up to well over $10,000! I think there is something to be said for building and moving into a new house! :P


I've also got one room fully completed - Chelsea's room. It was even painted purple already which was a bonus.


But today I'm taking a break from all that. I've tried to get back into a semi-normal routine with Chelsea. So this morning we did our weekly grocery shop, had lunch on the back patio and played with Oliver. She is having her afternoon nap right now, and Oliver is asleep by my feet.

We've had some good days and some bad days with Oliver and his toilet training/teething. He hasn't done a poo in the house in a few days now, and tends to take himself outside when he needs to go. I still feel like i have to watch him like a hawk though - the last few inside-poo's were done right next to Chelsea's toy box which was not a nice find. Oh, and his sleeping at night is amazing. No crying at all. He sleeps in his little bed in the garage all by himself and we don't hear a peep from him!

He and Chelsea get along for the most part - but they too have their moments. Oliver, being 7 weeks old, is very enthusiastic (and bitey!) and likes to chase Chelsea and nip at her feet and bottom! Luckily her nappy gives her bottom some padding, but her poor little feet have been nibbled on quite a bit! She cries and pushes Oliver away, which just seems to make him more excited! He's responding more to my voice now when i tell him no. But sometimes he needs rescuing from Chelsea! This morning she tried to pick him up by his tail! Lets just call this training for baby number two!

A brighter day

Today was a lot better. Thanks to everyone for your support. I totally didn't expect that, and it made me feel a lot lighter about the whole experience of moving house.

It rained all day, which made moving stuff a little tricky. But we still got a fair bit done. First thing this morning we headed off to meet and collect our puppy. So that was a nice start to the day. I must say, as excited as I was about meeting him, I was really anxious about how I'd manage keeping an eye on him, toilet training him, keeping him safe from Chels, watching Chelsea, feeding Chelsea, feeding puppy, helping organise boxes to be moved, organising having two of my brothers around helping move things and fix the house up a bit along with a bit of last minute packing... but I did it! I am so proud of myself. And we didn't have one puppy toileting accident!

We've called him Oliver. And he's a real sweetheart. He was one of the more placid of the puppies from his litter, and had spent the day just following us around, and playing with Chels. He loves following her like a shadow and trying to grab hold of her nappy. She thinks it's hilarious, and they both come running to my lap and launch themselves onto it in a pile of baby-puppy giggles!

He's currently sleeping in his little puppy carrier with his padded bed squished inside so its nice and cozy. He actually goes in there willingly too which is awesome. I wasn't sure if he'd like it. Lets hope we have a good night with him now!

A little disillusioned...

So today we got the keys to our new place.

At the moment we live in a little 2 bedroom villa in a complex of 13 other villas. We have a tiny little backyard. A scrappy garden, blinds that are falling apart, a kitchen that needs a good scrub and a bath tub that sinks down when you stand in it. Not to mention the termite damage in the roof and skirting board in our bedroom...

But it has almost brand new good quality carpet that we put in about 18months ago, reverse cycle aircon, ceiling fans, a good size garage and clean walls!

This afternoon, after Mark got home from work, we loaded up some boxes in our cars and took a drive to the new place to check it out. We'd only seen it twice. Once at the open house. Again a few days later, just before we put the offer in. And it had been fully furnished. It seemed so tidy and neat.

Now that it is empty - EVERY mark, scratch, dint, and grubby spot stands out like a sore thumb. The carpet is OLD, and grubby as hell! The railing near the door is wobbly, the cupboard doors feel like they're about to come off when you open them, some of the switches are a bit loose, the backyard has a very distinct smell of wet dog, there are old (and new) dog poo's over the yard, the patio light actually lights up the garden - not the patio, there is no aircon, no ceiling fans, the garage is tiny and is actually the laundry as well...

I suppose I'm just a bit annoyed that the owners sold it to us like that. And hid the grubbiness and damage behind furniture. I know our place isn't perfect, but we're in the process of fixing all damage and getting professional cleaners in BEFORE we even put our place on the market. And it will be sold empty so there is nothing to hide.

I know this doesn't have anything to do with bears. But I really felt the need to vent. Mark is currently at the new place with a 24hr hire carpet cleaning machine he picked up from the local supermarket, attempting to make the place a little more sanitary. I just feel like we shouldn't have had to do that. We definitely shouldn't have had to pick up their dog's crap either! I just feel like we've downgraded instead of upgrading. Which wouldn't be so bad if that was what we'd set out to do... but it wasn't. So it has come as a bit of a nasty surprise...


And that's my vent! On a slightly happier note, we pick up our new Beagle cross Cavalier puppy tomorrow. Maybe he will add a happier spin to this whole transition period!

Our friday the 13th adventure

It's Friday here today. Friday the 13th. As I am sure it is for many people right now, or at least it will be shortly depending on your time-zone.

Anyways - Chelsea decided that she wanted to be extra painful this morning. I was trying to do the washing up, put loads of washing on the line, and pack some more boxes for moving, yet no matter what I distracted her with - it just wasn't cutting it!

So after sacrificing a perfectly good box of tissues for 3mins of washing-up time (she likes to pull each tissue out one by one and scatter them around the house), I decided we both needed to get out of the house.

So we drove the 5mins down to the local waterfront, got some fish and chips, and sat by the playground to eat. Chelsea made some friends with the 'bigger girls' (maybe 2-3years old) and happily followed them around. And a little 2 year old boy called Jacob took a liking to her too and tried to make her play with him - she wasn't really interested though. After half a dozen attempts at escaping from the playground in the direction of the road, Chels got bundled back into her pram and we walked down to the water.

It looked so beautiful.


I let Chels out, and took off her pants (thinking that i didn't want them sandy), and let her toddle through the sand. Stupidly I didn't foresee the fact that she'd be drawn to the waters edge - not just walk on the sand near it. This was ok - until she sat herself down in the FREEZING cold water!

After a particularly enthusiastic lunge, she was completely soaked. She didn't like this. Neither did I! I had only bought my handbag with one spare nappy - no extra clothes. And she was clinging to me like an icy, drowned koala bear!

With a bit of quick thinking, I stripped off the soaked clothing and nappy. Dried her off with my skirt. Put the clean nappy on. Took off my long sleve shirt (i had a singlet shirt on under it - so no nudity from me!) and wrapped that around her. Put her pants back on, stripped the lambskin I had lining the pram out, wrapped it around her torso, and strapped her back into the pram. She looked a little odd, but it seemed to do the trick.

Then we had to make the rather embarrassing walk back to the car! Both terribly inappropriately dressed for the middle of winter! :P

At least the car was nice and warm!

The latest beary addition to our household

Meet Kaspar - the latest bear to come out of the Emma's Bears studio (which is really just my lounge room ;)).

I think there might be something special about Kaspar. Miss Chelsea loved him from the moment he was just a piece of fur! I pulled it out of my already packed up craft box (I was very organised and got all my crafting stuff packed away for our big move - then decided I still wanted to make bears while we moved - so had to un-do some of my work!), and as soon as Chelsea spotted it she held it to her face, like she does with everything soft. I gently took it off her and explained that it wasn't very soft! (mohair isn't very soft - and this particular pile is a tufted texture - so extra not-soft!).

Then after I had just stuffed his head, and he still had no eyes, nose or ears - Chelsea claimed him again. Holding him to her face and running off with him!

At each stage of his completion she had to give her approval. Which for Chelsea comes in the form of a cuddle. I did some work on him while she had her sleep this morning, and when she woke I had him sitting on the couch. She giggled when she saw him, and dragged him into her lap by his ear (luckily I foresaw that he may have to contend with her lack of gentleness, so he has very securely sewn ears!). She gave him a few pats, then seemed content to leave him alone.

I really wish she could talk sometimes, just to tell me what is going on in that little head of hers!

So Kaspar is finally done. And Chelsea approved. He is now available on bearpile.

Another Blog Give A Way!!!

Its time! Lets do another giveaway!

This one is in celebration of my ever-growing, rapidly expanding belly, and the baby wriggling around inside. We plan on finding out the gender of 'Number Two', and should know this exciting bit of information by the 12th September - the date this giveaway will be drawn.

I've chosen the Onion Skin Twins to be the Giveaway bears - as there's a boy and a girl twin. (so seemed appropriate!). There will be two winners of the giveaway. The first winner will get first pick of their favourite twin - either Molly or Cuthbert. The runner-up get the other twin. There will be no costs involved to either winners with full postage paid anywhere in the world.

To enter the draw, you just need to leave a comment below this post with your guess on the gender of baby 'Number Two'. All those who guess the right gender will be in the first draw for first pick of the bears, while everyone else will be in the draw for the remaining teddy. You'll get an extra entry into the first draw regardless of your pick of gender if you post a link to this giveaway on your own blog/facebook page etc.

For any further information on the Onion Skin Twins - Molly and Cuthbert - click on their names.

The most gorgeous 8-day old in the world!

I just had to share this picture of my friend's gorgeous 8-day old son that I captured today. He is the sweetest, easiest, calmest newborn I have ever met!


I whispered in his ear that I was putting a request in for one just like him when my baby is due in January! Lets hope it works!

What it looks like when you're a bear maker AND a hoarder!

Chelsea and I worked our little butts off today, packing and sorting through all my craft stuff. As quickly as i was sorting, Chelsea was 'un-sorting'! I hesitated when it came to my precious stash of mohair offcuts - all the little left over bits you get after cutting out the pattern pieces. I've never been able to throw them away. Especially the bits that are of a potentially usable size. So this is what i had after a decade of hoarding - almost 5kg of mohair!!! (and this photo only shows half of it).

I've split it into two boxes, and have them on ebay now too. They're probably not much use to any of my international readers - but any aussie readers feel free to head on over and check them out.

Guinea Pigs on eBay

Following on with the 'moving house' theme I have going in my life right now, I've decided to pop a couple of guinea pigs on ebay - the mohair kind, not the running, squeaking kind!

Chilli and Milo would love you to check out their listings. Hopefully they'll find new homes before we have to move into our new home!

(I actually have a HEAP of other stuff listed on ebay now too. Books mostly so far. Not much use if you're not in Australia though - but my fellow Aussies, feel free to check it out. I just need it gone!)