Author: Clare at CatsEatDogs

Weeky Photos 46/52. 2014

          1.  Clover flowers I picked this week from the side of the road! 2.  Great clouds with red trees. 3.  My first mail from the Sew Crafty Snail Mail group. 4.  We started to make a snow man in the little bit of snow we got yesterday,  then paused for a quick snow/mud angel! 5. Snowy leaves taken on the Hipstamatic app for iPhone. Happy Monday!  Let’s make it a great week.  

Questions four you!

I picked up these questions from Alison at the fabulous Writing Wishing blog.  So here is a bit about me.  Grab the questions at the end of the post and play along if you want. Four names that people call me, other than my real name. Clara (most times this is what people seem to hear when I tell them my name in this country, I blame accent confusion) MUUUUUUUUM! Clare Bear was the nearest I got to a nickname. Clack (I honestly once got a coffee in Starbucks and this was written on the cup as my name!) Four jobs I have had (not counting current jobs) Usher at Nottingham Playhouse. Saturday girl at Lincoln Box Office. Bell Ringer at the village church (I think we got 5p per practice and if we rang for a wedding we got 10p!) Directory Enquiries at British Telecom. Four movies I have watched more than once The Incredibles A Bug’s Life The Nightmare Before Christmas Cinema Paradiso Four books I’d recommend Where’d You Go Bernadette? Tell the …

‘I like’ Fridays.

Happy Friday!  I hope your day is going wonderfully.  Here is what I am liking today – Stocking/Advent calendar fillers. I was very happy to find these cool arrowheads today which I can pop into the Advent calendar for the boys or use a stocking filler. Making jewelry. This is a lovely long, wood necklace I have just made, all ready to go into my Etsy store. These really long necklaces are one of my favourites at the minute, they go with everything and can be worn long or wrapped two or even three times around your neck.  I picked the flowers as I walked home this week from doing some Christmas shopping.  Pretty weeds! DIY lip balm. I am looking forward to making some lip balm soon, I want to use herby flavours like Basil and Parsley and Lemongrass.  Sound good?  I think so!  There is a recipe to follow in this fab post by Tiny Rotten Peanuts.  I always see the DIY ‘beauty’ products, but never actually make them, I fancy whipping up some …

Through the Lens Thursday 46. Shine.

This week’s Through the Lens Thursday prompt is ‘Shine’, so as soon as the sun started to shine through our stained glass windows I grabbed the camera and snapped away.  As I was looking at the pictures, I got the feeling I had done this before.  So I looked back at previous TTLT weeks and there it was, week 8 ‘Window‘.  Time to re-think this week’s picture then. Sunshine I thought, that will be a good ‘Shine’ subject, look up at cloudy skies….. The shower was dripping, so I went to make sure it was properly turned off and there it was, all shiny!  So I gave it a quick wipe over and made sure it wasn’t still dripping. I got into the shower, assumed a strange lunge position directly under it, said a little prayer to the plumbing gods that it not drip onto my camera and snapped this picture.  I like that I am reflected in the shower head and I like that you can’t see the pained look on my face as …

What I am wearing in the cold today.

  It has got cold this past couple of days, November has shown us a glimpse of winter and there is a rumour that it might snow on Saturday, how exciting!  I love snow, as long as I don’t have to go far. So, I have pulled out my trusty coat with the furry collar and cuffs, again.  Now, this smashing coat is a winter staple in my wardrobe and has been for fourteen, yes fourteen years!  Which tells you that it is a classic or that I have not moved on in the clothing department and I am still stuck in nineteen ninety somewhere. When I bought it, I was pregnant with my now thirteen year old and I had some jewels on sale at the local University student union.  I was no longer a student, but they had stalls every Friday, so one week I booked one and here I was.  I felt sick and pregnant and didn’t want to be there one tiny bit, but I had seen this coat in a …

Let’s talk about Advent Calendars.

Do you have an Advent Calendar and do you manage to get it all set up in time?  I am pretty convinced that the days speed up right after Halloween and the 1st of December creeps up with little notice.  A simple flip of the diary and boom, there it is, the month of Christmas celebrations and the first day of Advent right there, at the beginning.  Did you remember the calendar?! I always like the chocolate calendars with the chocolate behind the window whose appropriate number takes about 20 minutes to find every morning.  I really think the numbers move every night, maybe it is the Elf on the stupid Shelf who is responsible…. Just remember not to shake up the chocolate calendars, just in case all of the chocs fall to the bottom on the inside of the lovely calendar and they will not make an appearance behind the window and the foil when required.  All the chocolate treats will be languishing in a heap at the bottom of the calendar. When I …

Weekly Photos 45/52, 2014

        1. The leaves are nearly gone from this tree in our back yard. 2. Some feathers I saw on the woodland floor this week. 3. The morning frosts visited this week. 4. Carved pumpkins look so much better when they are starting to go moldy. 5. Hanging out at the creek. 6. Always remember to look up.  The leaves look so gorgeous against the blue sky. Have a great week! x

An Afternoon in the Woods taken with Hipstamatic.

  Do you still use Hipstamatic on your phone to take photos with an instant funky look?  Hipstamatic was one of the first photo apps I got for my phone and I still really like it.  You never quite know what you are going to get, but it usually a fun photo.   I love all the films and lenses to mess about with. I downloaded the new Dalston Hipstapak this weekend and used it to take some photos while we were exploring in the woods today.  We donned our wellies and trudged about in the undergrowth and the creek, we made a dam and picked up some old creek glass and pottery shards which have been worn smooth by the water over many years. We stood and watched a little woodpecker make his way up a tree pecking out bugs as he went. I hope you managed to get outside for a while this weekend.