Author: Clare at CatsEatDogs

Philomena and Ruth

Philomena and Ruth is the name of a newly opened shop close to St Louis.  They specialise in hand made and local products, everything from clothes – new and vintage – to soap, accessories and jewelry.   It is in the lovely town of Waterloo in Illinois and about a 30-40 minute drive from St Louis.  I have never been to south Illinois before and I enjoyed seeing the countryside on the way and checking out the old barns and pretty towns we passed. We stopped on route at the fastest drive through McDonalds ever!  Filet o fish ordered and eaten within 10 minutes. We were hungry and on a mini road trip!  This time warp speed set the theme for the rest of the afternoon because we were on a misson, a mission to plant. Elizabeth the gorgeous owner of Philomena and Ruth, needed us to fill and plant the enormous planters she has installed outside the shop on the sidewalk. You can see the empty planters in the above photo.  They were crying …

One + Four = Life 18/52

  Joining in with the ever gorgeous Pip at Meet Me at Mikes for this week’s ‘One+Four=Life project – one week, four photos! 1.  Pablo the French Bulldog came for a walk to school and found himself a tennis ball! 2. It was Field Day this week and a lovely day was had. 3. and 4. At the weekend we went to a sale at a local antiques mall and picked up a couple of bargains, left the cow there although she was pretty cool! Have a fab week!  Happy Star Wars Day.

Six Word Saturday

I am granny square-ing up a storm.  I am not sure how many I will need for a blanket, but I am fairly sure it is more than five!  I have an evil plan to granny square all summer and it will be my ‘on the plane’ activity when we fly over to Cape Cod for our summer holiday.  So, yes, I will be the crazy lady on the plane crocheting pretty squares! Post your Six Word Saturday here in the comments, or join in on Instagram using #sixwordsaturday. Happy weekend!

Through The Lens Thursday 18/52. Upside Down

  I took this prompt very seriously indeed.  I thought and thought about what I could take for upside down and ended up laying in my back garden with my head upside down and taking a photo of the grass and the white flowers which currently reside there. Let me tell you, it is not easy trying to set camera numbers and settings and look and press buttons while upside down in grass which really needs mowing.  Yes, my grass needs cutting, but the white flowers are all over it and so pretty, I can’t do it (or won’t do it, I will leave judgement up to you!). I suppose I could have made it easier on myself and just taken the photo right way up and flipped it afterwards, but no, I wanted to fully experience the upside down and bugs eye view (if you are an upside down bug) of the world! There were some shots which were a mite more in focus than this one, but I slapped the f stop right …

One+Four=Life 17/52

I am joining in with Pip at Meet Me at Mikes this week for One+Four=Life, a snapshot of the previous week using four photos. Bit of a cheater cheater pumpkin eater on this one as all of mine are from one day. We went to the State Capitol at Jefferson City with school on a beautiful blue sky day and toured some of the capital buildings. The kids were well behaved (phew!) and we had a lovely day full of information and fun. On the way back I snapped a few pictures from the bus window, I do love Missouri countryside, there is always so much to see. 1. I wanted to get more photos of the magnificent capitol building, the white against the blue sky was a stunning contrast. Remember Mum, you are here to look after the kids, not snap photos! 2. The corridors all looked like a scene from a TV show! 3. Amazing murals in the lounge depicting Missouri history. 4. Closed gas station caught with a tanker speeding by, taken …

Six Word Saturday

Thankfully the rain today was warm, so although the kids playing outside got soaked to the skin, they were not cold. I wonder how long it will take for the shoes to dry!? For this week’s picture, I used Snapseed, Brushstroke and Word Swap apps. Join Six Word Saturday on Instagram if you like, #SixWordSaturday.

Earth Day DIY Upcycled Necklace

This week I saw a lovely necklace made from painted wooden beads and decided to make one for myself.  I have some wood beads which I bought from the Upcycle exchange here in St Louis and they are ideal for this little project. A spot of upcycling and DIY on Earth day, don’t mind if I do! I grabbed a few colours of the new ‘Hand Made Modern‘ craft paint in Target. It took me a few minutes to decide on a palette, there is great range of colours.  Once home, I ripped open a used paper shopping bag to protect the table, cracked open the paints and got painting. To keep hold of the beads without getting  myself covered in paint, I put each one on a cocktail stick so that I could hold it to paint and then balance it across a narrow necked jar to dry. Just be sure that the stick reaches each side of the jar or beads fall and paint is ruined and swears burst forth.  I may have …

One + Four = Life 16/52

1. I went on a Goodwill Outlet field trip with my friend (who knows the way!) on the train.  I got a few bits and bobs including some snaps of the old St Louis Armory which stands next to the Goodwill building.  Of course I am the person that stands to get photos in a rather dodgy area of the city.  I couldn’t resist this great old building and I was quick!  St Louis seems to be chock full of old impressive buildings which are left to ruin, hopefully this one will be developed without destroying it. 2. While mowing my neighbor’s front grass – yes, it is that time again, mow mow mow – I smelt the lilac before I glanced up and spotted it.  So beautiful, I finished the mow and went home to get my camera to get a snap. 3. ‘Record Store Day’ was Saturday so we headed to The Grove in St Louis, for a coffee and a wander around and while we were wandering I spotted this amazing art …