Doggie update

Ok, so I found out that the doggie with blue eyes is a pitbull, not suitable for a person like me at her first dog experience.
So I browsed another site, saw the pic of a doggie I liked and wrote a presentation email to them asking if the doggie was still awailable for adoption.
No reply.
I called them this morning. The lady said she hadn't got any email, anyway that doggie had already requests, I told her that there was another doggie I could be interested in, and she replied to fill in the adoption form, which I did immediately. I also resent the email.
No answer.
I called again asking if there were problems and if I had to keep searching....and she replied: KEEP SEARCHING!!!!

Now, I'd like to know why........I'm quite mad at this.
You see all these heart tearing ads, you call because you wish to rescue a doggie from a dog shelter, you call and do all the stuff and they say keep searching.....ARE YOU KIDDING????

I am a good person and wish to have a dog, but it seems like I'm trying to adopt a baby.....this is a nonsense....how many poor dogs out there and not able to rescue one.......... :(

New doggie?

Lately my attention has been focused on the search of a dog to keep me company. I cannot think about anything else. I never had a dog in my life, been always a cat lover, but in this period of my life I feel the love of a dog is what I need.
My life has dramatically changed in the last 2 years, I lost my mom and my beloved cat Max in 6 months, had to move..........
Now I feel ready to have a companion, and I think this will be a turn in my life.
I went to the local dog pound, and there I fell in love with such a cute beagle, unfortunately she was already "booked" by another family. There weren't many dogs there, I think max 15, and all were quite old. Coming from the loss of my family, and being at my first experience with dogs, I'd like to get a puppy that I can fully enjoy.....

So I started searching websites that put up ads from different dog pounds all over the country, and I saw a doggie that was really adorable, but when I called....it had already been adopted...... :( great disappointment!!!
I didn't know it was so difficult to rescue a puppy!!!!

Then I came through this cutie......so adorable! <3

What hit my heart was that incredibly sad look and oh, the color of his eyes. I called immediately.....

Thanks God he is still available for adoption.

I filled in the adoption form and sent it back. Now I'm waiting for the next step, that should be someone from the dog pound coming and checking where I live,

I'm so impatient and I'm sure that when he finally comes home, I will paint more than one portrait of him.... <3

Will keep you up to date, and please send me your positive thoughts so that my dream can come true.....

What a great afternoon!!!!

Spring is blooming everywhere, so I felt like painting in the open today.

I just drew a couple of ovals for the flowers, then I started painting very freely.

The sun was warm, there was breeze, how could I not stay in the sun???

I wanted to do this because, due to the sun and breeze, paper was drying quite quickly, not giving me the time "to think".
I had lots of fun, did not think about the final result.

Here it is, fresh and joyful! :)

....Note to self: do this more often!

Sewing

Here's a little project I did to recycle a duvet cover I had done some years ago in patchwork.

Here it was, on my old bed that I had painted and decoupaged








As it was not easy to put the duvet inside it, I decided to find some other use for it.
The first thing I came pu with was a cover for my mom's sewing machine. It originally had a wooden cabinet where it could be stored with all the accessories, but when I had to sell her home, I did not have any space to keep the whole thing, so I got rid of the wooden part and actually store the sewing machine in my cabinet.

Here I am cutting the fabric. I used a piece of fleece I had laying around as backing

Doing some quilting....

My sewing machine, time to see if I did the measurements right..... :)

Luckily it seems I did!

The other side

And here a close-up of the quilting I did, very easy, but that's what I can do! :)

I did a hand sewn puffy edge with a jeans blue thick silk thread.

Et voila, done! :)

I am a sweet tooth......

I really have a passion for sweets, and I try to experiment with unusual combinations whenever I can.
Here is a compilation of jams, they were a success among my friends too!!!!
I usually use a 3:1 ratio, 3 parts fruit 1 part sugar, and pectin to jellify.

This one isn't very appealing to the eye, but the taste is just fab!!!!

I had lots of persimmons and many kiwis, I would have never been able to eat them before they went bad, so I decided to try and put them together. I also added some vanilla seeds.....delicious!!!!!

I am lucky enough to have a small peach tree on the terrace......

and a wonderful big vase of strawberries......I usually pick up the ready ones, freeze them, and when I have enough I can make either marmalade or liquor...







The following one is just that: my strawberries, my peaches, an apple and mint!

I also like making strawberry glaze, perfect for filling cakes and cupcakes....

It's longer to make compared to jams, as you have to squish all the fruit through a sieve, but it's rather beautiful and smooth looking, and oh, so delicious!!!

These were mixed berries: strawberries, blueberries and raspberries with lemon juice








last year I went with my "sister" (she's my best friend so we call each other sis) to a small village up the mountains. There you may find lots and lots of elderberries, they are a gift of nature, and they are free, so we picked up quit a lot of them. getting all the berries off the stems is a bit of work, but the result was great! I mixed them with strawberries

....perfect on scones!!!!










Here I experimented with pineapple and mangoes, with some ginger for a twist!

Absolutely fantastic!!!!!






And here's the one I did a few days ago, pineapple and strawberries with ginger