Dolly @ 3.

If my calculations are correct, Dolly turns 3 this month. It's a bit lame that I can only guess her birthday rather than know it but I figured she deserved another update all the same.

At 3, Dolly now enjoys making herself less white and sleeping on the sofa. She still loves playing with paper bags and string, trying to steal donuts and following me into the bathroom every morning.

She's now really affectionate and as needy as she can be for her, especially if you're first home from work - not something that's going to happen for a little while. Our biggest milestone in our relationship is that she now purrs and comes when she's called (sometimes). She's still breaking Moon's heart by ignoring him when I'm around but I'm now so much more tuned in to her selective hearing.

I wouldn't be without her and it's great to see that she's still maturing and what she's like as a grown up.

Wake me up.

I've had a nice couple of days, and weirdly both have been spent almost completely on my own. I don't really mind as it's meant that I've been able to get things done. I'm so pleased that I'm basically over this flu, here's hoping it never comes back.

Saturday evening was a fairly non-eventful one, although I did finally get around to making one of my cat-cushions. Hand-sewn, with a zip and everything, I'm really not too shabby at sewing. Admittedly, I did have a little help from this tutorial, but in my defence, it was showing you how to do it with a sewing machine and I did it completely by myself. I have no clue how to use a sewing machine, but can definitely see how it would make this 10 times quicker/easier, it took me a few hours to make my cushion, but if I'd had a machine I reckon it probably would have only taken about half an hour, if I got my skates on.

I picked up a metre of this stripey fabric from Fabric Land as I thought all cats might not look as good, and I'm happy because I think they really go together. I've since realised I'll have a ton of fabric left over whatever I do though.


I picked up this pin wheel from this eBay seller, it's so pretty, but I've messed up the pattern and even lost a pin already.


I used to make cushion covers a lot when I was younger, I don't remember it being as fiddly as worrying about seams but I'm glad I took the time to do this because it looks so much better for it.


Once I'd finished sewing the zip in, I placed the fabric so it would be inside-out and pinned it, before overcast stitching the two fabrics together and then turning the cover back out and inserting the cushion. I forgot to unzip the zip first so I had to re-do the last few steps, but I now know for next time. All while my 'adult 18 year-old' sister went out drinking with her pals...



The rest of Saturday evening was spent with Doll being a hunter, and booting up old-favourite, Theme Hospital. Might have done a super nerdy thing and worked out how to boot it using a DOS programme... It's just as much fun as I remember.

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Today was a lovely day too, it's been quite productive, I've applied to around five jobs, which I think is enough considering it's a Sunday - one inbox was even full so I think it might have been better to hold off until Monday anyway. I've tidied my room and just generally been quite relaxed, it's probably good prep for tomorrow when The Apple store is going to tell me I'll need to fork out £101 for a new battery for my Macbook and I'm going to have to pay a visit to the Jobcentre. It's just been one of those days, and the weather warming up makes me feel so positive, it also meant I could let Dolly into the garden without freezing to death.

This is what I started the day with, really hit the spot, I'm not even sorry, this is what Sundays are for. I'm pretty sure I've shrunk a bit anyway as the leggings I'm currently wearing didn't fit me and now do.


Here's a quick Photobooth of what I wore today. I love this t-shirt but I always seem to lose it, and not wear it for ages. I picked it up when Lazy Oaf had their pop-up store off Brick Lane back in November.
T-shirt: Lazy Oaf
Skirt: H&M
Leggings: Dorothy Perkins


Am I bit silly to like this photo? It was intentional, not an 'oops autofocus' moment so I think I can think it's quite good. She was stalking my neck strap, sometimes she really is a great cat, but my sister and I have been discussing that she wouldn't make a very good human.



One thing I did today was sort out the flowers that Moon bought me last week as they were looking a little bit sorry for themselves. I saved the ones that still had a bit of life in them and transfered them to a smaller vase and I've turned most of the roses into home-made pot pourri. I've also pressed a few of them, so I'm looking forward to seeing what happens... fingers crossed that it works.



This is a bowl that Moon bought me for Christmas a couple of years ago. It had the worst candy in it, but I've since mainly used it has a trinket bowl. I thought that I could temporarily rehouse those trinkets just for this, I'm pretty happy with this choice.

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Here's finished cushion number one (I'll be working on number two this evening), sitting pride of place with all my other cushions. It's a bit ridiculous, I think when I have my own house these will be much happier on a sofa than on a bed.



Did I mention I'm pretty pleased with myself, I think this has turned out pretty damn great.


Doll seemed to be very happy that I've moved these to the windowsill, I'm very paranoid about her knocking them off, but she seemed pretty happy just sniffing them.





I'll leave you with this one. I'm printing off a few CVs to hand out tomorrow, but any time the printer does anything she's suddenly right there, I think it's because it makes a similar noise to the hoover but isn't as big or mobile.
I hope you have a lovely rest-of-Sunday. x

Family Finds.

Last week I was having a huge clean out of drawers and under my bed (making sure there wasn't hidey-holes under my bed for the cat to poop or throw up in) and I found a mass of old family photos that I haven't seen in a long time. They were great to add to the hundreds more that I found a couple of weeks previous to that when I cleaned out a box in my wardrobe that I haven't touched since we moved here.

I thought I would share them with you because I thought some of them had a lot of photographic merit and were really nice on top of just being good family photos. My sister also dug out a few of my Dad that my Gran gave her before I moved home and they're so great, as well as some letters that he wrote to my Great Grandma thanking her for Christmas and birthday presents, it really made me feel close to him again. There were also a few of my Grandparents before they were my Grandparents and back when they were just my Dad's parents. I don't care what anyone says, Grandparents are the coolest.


Papa, Gran and Dad, Belfast, June 1960

See? The coolest.

Santa and Dad, Belfast, 1964

This is a photo of my Dad visiting Santa at around the age of four, apparently he was taken there by a neighbour, I don't blame his face. I'm particularly fond of the sinister hand to the left of the photo. Someone actually thought that this would make a great child portrait, and it does in way I suppose...

Dad, Fairways, Dorking.


Papa & Mum, Fairways, Dorking.


Dad & Benny, Fairways, Dorking.


Grace, Grandma, Papa & Me


Dad & Me


Me in Snow, Fairways, Dorking & Brockham


Being read a book by Papa, Fairways, Dorking.


Me, Fairways, Dorking.

Always in the best outfits, and the worst hats.

Left: Me with my first and only hamster, Sassy. She was really old for a hamster when she died and Suzie was sad and alerted everyone when it happened; despite the fact that Suzie had tormented her for almost the entire time we had her.
Right: The first time I dipped my toe in the sea, Newcastle, Northern Ireland.

Lucy, Me & Gran.


Lucy & Me

Both, Legoland.
Left: Being a total boss.
Right: Someone involved in the making of this image didn't know their left from their right.

When Suzie was as ridiculous-looking as Dolly is now. Nowadays she's still a beaut but is looking a bit more mature.

Lucy & Uncle Barry, The Rayburn Room, Cyprus Avenue, Belfast.

I wonder if it looks like I've had a menagerie of pets, because that is simply not the case. We've had a hamster, two rabbits and two cats, three if you include Dolly. All of them were ancient and Suzie is still going now. Sadly, Felix, the cat pictured, either ran away or was taken from us. He was the best cat and used to hang out around my shoulders, he was massive but was such a softie and would take a helluva lot of guff from Suzie when she didn't fancy playing mother to him.

Felix, The Coach House, Capel.

This is probably the weirdest photo I found, the more I look at it the more things I notice and the stranger it gets. I like it but mainly because it's weird.

Lucy & Dad.

This is probably my all-time favourite family photo, everything about it is perfect.

Gran & Papa, The Coach House, Capel.


Lucy & Rebecca the Rabbit, The Coach House, Capel.


Lucy, The Coach House, Capel.


Dad, Fairways, Dorking.
I perhaps realised three things during making this selection to share with you.
1.) I was nearly always grumpy when I was younger, or very serious at best.
2.) My Gran takes some of the best photos; most of the ones she's handed down to us are rejects from the ones she keeps in frames or albums at her house and they're still awesome.
3.) I'm quite glad that my life so far has had such a mixture of normality and oddness.