Nayu's Craft Time #307 Cat Tales

Found a friend making herself comfortable!

My cat Belle frequently creates a lot of enjoyable entertainment, and last week was no exception. On one day she was what I can only describe as clingy. Whatever I did she came with me. I was mostly relaxing on my bed, but had to get up a few times. Each time she would steal my place. I made her move off, only for her to come sit on my lap. This happened at least 3 times. 

Thursday was quite a different matter. I was out all day seeing a friend. My family also happened to be out all day. Now on a usual day all Belle does is sleep in various locations, so really she doesn't need someone home. Apparently she does. She was extremely annoyed with me for not being around, so much so she ignored me most of the evening on the sofa, not coming onto my lap which has a heated blanket, but sitting with her back to me on a dining room chair. 

Taking into consideration that she had been given preventative flea medicine (she never has any) which meant she couldn't be stroked for a few hours, add in me shutting my door while seeing my friend so she was denied access to look hungrily at my birds, and her grumpiness is understandable. I can safely say she seems to have forgiven me and at least started off sleeping last night on my bed with me. She spent all of this morning on a dining room chair that was in the sun, then migrated to her usual morning spot on a bed that wasn't mine.

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Belle doing her best to ignore my return

I would love to hear if your pet ever gets in a mood with you!

Nayu's Craft Time #305 Craft Day!

As spring slowly creeps in from the depths of winter, I am waking up from my annual hibernation (not literal, unfortunately). On Thursday I spent the day with my friend and instead of cross stitch, which is my current craft project, I did a bit of crochet. Haven't done it for ages, had forgotten how easy it was and how fast it grows. 

I did basically all from the blue part of the inner square. I'm going to make this a blanket for me from odd scraps of yarn in similar pale colours. Hope to do more soon! However I'm having my mega strong meds tonight that send me loopy for a few days, so will be enjoying being horizontal and mostly gaming and reading. I am pre-scheduling a couple of posts for you to enjoy so check back soon! Several short and sweet posts is a bit better than one long post ^u^ 

Got to love Snoopy's happy dance!

Nayu's Craft Time #277 Snow has gone (again) & Spring cleaning

This picture says it perfectly!

I don't know how many of you had more snow this week (in England, but I guess anywhere in the world can have snow again!), but mine has all melted. I didn't make another snow angel or snow bunny - it probably wasn't the wisest of things to do the first time it snowed so I wisely stayed inside. 

Today is a rainy day, but I managed to coax my cat outside for a few minutes before both our breakfasts while it was dry. It takes quite a while to get her out, and she fled inside after a weird noise (to her). She spent the rest of the day snoozing on a bed! 

My wardrobe is a built in one, otherwise I'd love a pink one like this!

I've run errands and done laundry today (dull and not interesting) but tomorrow's activity is a little different. A friend is coming to help be my hands & energy to finish sorting my room from moving house. It means that I'll be a) able to get to my wardrobe easier & b) actually open my wardrobe without fear of what may fall it out from the various boxes and items stacked in it. Books will get on shelves-yay! 

Imagine having a wardrobe this big...or bigger! To be honest I'd rather use the space for books & toys...

It would have taken me at least a few months if I'd done it all myself, and while my family sweetly offered to help I asked my friend so that there's no chance of any disagreement while sorting through things. I've got some extra yummy cookies, tasty soup and rolls, and a choice of either bread & butter pudding or rice pudding to keep my friend going. What I can do in a day my friend will do probably in minutes, so her help is very much appreciated. 

Saturday I have an errand to run and then it's time for mega strong medicine again! Cue several days lying down with lots of gaming (or whatever I can handle). That means blogging will be sporadic but I'm pre-scheduling 2 posts so you'll have something to read! I'd love to hear if any of you are spring cleaning or sorting things after moving. It's the time of year for it and usually feels good afterwards - getting rid of items is extremely hard but most can be reused by others via charity shops which makes me feel somewhat better about saying goodbye to items. 

Nayu's Craft Time #274 Spring is coming!

The flowers on my window sill certainly think warmer weather is on the way (let's ignore the fact they do flower all year round when I remember to water them regularly - that's why leaves are brown! I'm always amazed they flower at all).

Apologies for it being much longer than expected before this blog post. The cold I had during my mega strong medicine dose the other week has lingered - thankfully I no longer need tissues, my throat isn't sore and I can breathe just fine. My body simply takes forever to get over germs - while gaming and watching dvds all day may sound fun, it can get frustrating at not being able to do anything other than food and bathroom breaks. So long as I take things slowly I think I can safely say I'm on the mend! 

The mega cold spell we had in England last week including the not so epic snowfall also made my body go on strike further. I love snow so much! But mostly because I don't have to go anywhere so can stay safely inside. We haven't had snow like this for a couple of years, so I was mega excited even though I wasn't feeling well. Unfortunately a friend had way more snow than me (over 30 cms...), we had a few centimetres which was enough for me to do...

You can sort of see it's an angel...look closely!

..a snow angel!!! Has to be done ^u^ If you aren't sure what a snow angel is, you carefully lie in the snow with legs straight, then do a scissor action with them to make a skirt, and do the same with your arms to make the wings. I didn't feel great when I did it (snow always makes me unwell) but I knew the snow was due to melt later that day (it did) so I took the opportunity to do it. I also made...

 ...a demented snow bunny! I say demented because it was harder than expected to make the right shape without the snow crumbling away. It took over 6 tries to put the eyes on (currants - some lucky bird had an extra yummy meall that day), but it looks fairly like the Japanese snow bunnies that I see a lot in anime (which exist in real life and are the equivalent of snow angels for Japanese children). 

This one is far better than mine - hence why mine is demented!

The excitement from those two activities were worth the effort! I'd love to hear if you had any snow, what you did in the snow, and if you have any snow traditions. I'd love to live in Canada near a maple farm and make 'sugar snow' from the syrup like they do in the Laura Ingalls book series including Little House in Big Woods, that sounds so tasty and great fun! ....and it's only now as I type this that I realise I could have done it because I have some authentic maple syrup!!! The link takes you to my post about this delicious better than honey treat. 

Did you know maple syrup is about 3 times sweeter than sugar (& possibly honey) so you need less to get the same sweet taste. I like it in milk!

The next few days will continue to be full of resting with gaming and some more crochet (I've done a bit over the last few weeks), I'm working towards going out maybe Friday for errands and groceries, and doing a few bits & bobs slowly so as not to over do it. I hope you have a good day and there should be another blog post in a few days! Thank you again for being patient with blog inactivity, I have zero control on both the weather and my body throwing tantrums.

Nayu's Craft Time #263 Condensed Milk With A Pea

Passing time can be marked by a sundial  I love this elaborate one! It's so colourful.

I hadn't realised it was that long since my last post (maybe 2 weeks...sorry!). I know I had a week being away with the fairies thanks to my strong meds, then it was mega cold so I wasn't up to much. I did visit my craft friend on Tuesday, but didn't do much crochet! Well, I sort of did, but for once I couldn't talk and crochet at the same time which led to mistakes, undoing, and redoing of a few squares.

The cold weather is here to stay, unfortunately, so will be unwell a lot until Februry - my body hates it being under 10C, and under 5C I don't really function. I have a handy weather app to look ahead on when there might be a rise in temperature. It uses a term called RealFeel which calculates how we perceive the temperature according to wind/sun/other factors. So sometimes it may be 7C but it feels like 3C (or in the minus figures). Feeling like I'm fighting a virus all winter isn't fun, but all I can do is rest lots and pray for an early Spring.

My current passion

When it's cold I like curling up and gaming, occasionally reading, but often watching dvds or listening to audiobooks with simple handheld gaming rather than console gaming. If you follow me on Twitter you'll know I've been busy jigsaw puzzling - I'll be doing an update in the next post which will be in 2 days time (I've pre-scheduled it!!!).

You are probably trying to get your head around this post's title. It's an amusing incident that happened the other day. Me and my family freeze mostly any food. They'd put a partially used can of condensed milk upright in the freezer. They were getting something else and saw the tin of condensed milk had tipped over and there was a sticker mess in the freezer drawer-apparently it doesn't freeze solid! There wasn't a lot of it left in the tin so I took it, had it with frozen berries and even made delicious hot chocolate.

Not this guy...

...one of these!

It was doing the latter that I made the startling discovery of a green blob. Initially I wondered if it was mouldy, but it didn't smell and it tasted fine. My family took a look and instantly knew it was a pea - it must have got in accidentally when it was set upright after it's fall. So no, I don't eat peas with condensed milk - or, as the famous nursery rhyme goes, with honey. That doesn't sound at all appetising to me!

Have you heard this poem before? It was common when I was young here in England.

Today's food issue is to do with the brand of tonic water I use changing it's recipe to have sweetner instead of sugar, which shouldn't affect the bitter taste but it has so I need to investigate another brand that tastes like it should instead of like the same brand's lemonade (without the lemons). 

Nayu's Craft Time #263 Peaceful day

Say hi to Timmy! A friend's new rabbit - he was stray so after being checked out by a vet she took him in. An adorable Dwarf Lop with a very large attitude!

Right now I'll probably be relaxing on my bed after taking my lovely mega strong medicine on Friday, which takes a good 5 days to fully recover from. This is a pre-scheduled post (go me!). I suspect I'll be doing a lot of gaming and maybe some craft, but that's not a definite activity as I usually need to be horizontal for a few days. I need to be sitting to do crochet! Hopefully my cat will keep me company as she does if she's in the mood. 

I'll be enjoying listening to my birds tweeting away, and yelling at them if they fight (they do occasionally, poor Hibiki is missing a few neck feathers thanks to Tomoya being a bully). 

Taken when I first got them so all feathers attached (Hibiki's the white Zebra Finch, Tomoya's the more traditional coloured one)

Whatever you're up to I hope your day is going well!

Nayu's Craft Time #245 Not quite a cat post

Time does fly by sometimes

I know I promised the next post would be about my cat, but while I can show you how cute she's been on my bed this week, this post isn't all about her, no matter what she says! 

Sorry for having a 10 day break without posts, which sounds like forever, so let's say it's been a week and a bit. I'm still recovering from my trip to Norfolk (mega long trip for me ordinarily, plus went out while there & trip back = very much over extended my body's capabilities. Plus the trip to London,, and the routine pain appointment trip to London, which I couldn't reschedule as I'd already rescheduled once (for some appointments if you reschedule too many times you have to be re-referred which I do not want happening).

That trip was unexpectedly a bit stressful, which I may have already mentioned. I'm not going into details, but I do want to give the advice I was given that where medical issues are concerned you are always allowed to get a second opinion. Always. I knew that but had forgotten it. The issue is being sorted, and all should be fine for next year's appointment. 

I'm a proud kitty carer of this adorable fluffball! No one ever owns a cat, less so my family as technicaltly she still belongs to the rescue centre we got her from.

If you want the latest on what I'm up to I'm usually on Twitter several times a day as @Nayuleska , chatting about my adorable cat (who really does practice cute poses), I chat about books I'm reading, general other stuff, oh and l chat an awful lot about gaming.

This is You, got her special card this weekend!

FYI gaming talk will be reduced during Ramadan (starting next week, yay! I don't fast for health reasons but will do a post or 2 about what I do do) so if you aren't into Love Live School Idol Festival rhythm game, have no idea why an SSR card is special or why it can be transformed aka Idolized into a usually cuter version of the girl,  there is respite for 1 month! After that, no promises can be made.I love gaming!

Regardless of whether you want to know this, this is what the previous You card transforms into after certain criteria are met.  She's cute, which is saying something as she is one of my least favourite characters in Aqours team (9 girls, also 9 girls in Muse team).

This weekend I possibly had a virus as someone in my family had similar symptoms (extreme exhaustion & feeling bleh), which didn't help my recovery from my holiday. I've mostly been gaming as it's a great distraction for me, and requires little effort. Lying flat was a necessity, something my cat is a pro at, and she sometimes stayed with me. I read a bit too, which was also fun once I had the energy for it.

My bag won't be this full today, but I will have salad bits in it!

Yesterday I managed a short errand, today I'm doing another short-ish errand, slightly further. I'd wanted to do groceries today, but I'm still not 100%, so I'll pick up essentials today & do the rest on Saturday. Yes it means 2 trips to Sainsbury's, but I've got 2 unavoidable errands (picking up medicine and supplies for my birds) so I don't want to get all I need on my shopping list today as it is going to be too much. It's all about balance! 

Tomorrow will be a restful day, filled with reading and (hopefully & finally) some craft if I'm up for it. We'll see. I'm looking forward to being back to what equates to normality for me hopefully in a few weeks of taking things easy. Don't worry, I hope to blog every few days from now on! 

Anyway, time for quick rest before I head out on errands. I hope you're having a great week, and are making sure to balance out your life to your needs! 

Nayu's Craft Time #245 The Packing Mountain

Taking more than just 1 bag! (which isn't mine...)

When staying with my friend in Devon I can pack pretty fast as I know what to take. In theory Norfolk should be similar, with more clothes etc. In practice I'm taking a bit more, including my laptop, so have to factor in where to put everything in my car. Bear in mind I sleep like Princess and the Pea (several duvets to make any bed soft), so that's most of the back seat taken. . Going away for a week is somehow different to 5 days! I'm loading what I can today, and the rest tomorrow. Getting there slowly.

Nayu's Craft Time #239 Crafting tomorrow!!!!

Feels like it's been a bit of a crazy weekend. Saturday there was no craft because I went grocery shopping so rested after. I ended up with less than 3 hours sleep Saturday night so Sunday was a gaming day as I was tired. Within the games I played I got some cute outfits including Disney's Stitch onesie on Disney Magic Castle #1. 

I've yet to have the items required to make the head. I slept great last night, but am hungover from being so tired yesterday so apart from a few blog posts I need to preschedule on Nayu's Reading Corner I'm having another quiet day gaming & watching stuff. Craft probably won't happen as I don't have the energy for it.

My sewing box - it now has sewing in it, rather than the crochet but this was the only picture I had on file. I love my koala ballerina which my family gave me when they visited Australia a few years ago. The sewing basket was from John Lewis and I got it from some friends as a joint present.

However, as the title of this post declares I'm doing craft tomorrow! I'm seeing the friend I craft with once a month, although due to various things on both of our sides we didn't meet in February. We're both really looking forward to catching up, and doing some craft. I'm not sure what I'll be taking, possibly some sewing of a new project because it's straight forward so I don't have to do much multi-tasking during talking. Hope to update you on Wednesday about that! 

Belle sleeping on my lap with her back to me

In other news I've a slightly grumpy cat because some unexpected home renovations cropped up at the weekend. My family are staying put, but I'm staying with a neighbour until Wednesday. I'm home all day, just go there at night, but my cat hates me not being there at night (she usually sleeps on me until I go to bed then relocates herself to me again). She sat with her back to my family on the sofa last night, on the blanket I use. Usually she faces the other way round! 

It's entertaining and she does forgive me for going away, it's just my family who have to deal with the fallout. Grumpy animals are hilarious!!!! I do feel sorry for her because she doesn't understand what's going on, but she bounces back fairly quickly so it doesn't negatively affect her in the long term. Have a great day!

Very true for me!

Nayu's Craft Time #237 Fantastic time in Devon!

All unpacked! (mine aren't this pretty)

Sorry I'm later than expected in posting - it's taken longer than expected to recover from my busy but fun Devon trip. Still not quite back to what counts as normality for me, but getting there slowly. Managing a small bit of blogging and checking emails today, hoping to do a bit more tomorrow. Today's the first day of doing online stuff and I didn't want to leave in you in limbo any longer. 

Entire phrase should read 'Thank you for looking after the cat" It uses the same chocolate mould I've used for a cat in the past!

I had a brilliant trip, it was so fun seeing my friend again. I made it to a chocolate shop, full of chocolate & they made chocolate on site (none being made when I went). I got this chocolate for my family - I live with them, but our cat is rather attached to me and becomes an Extremely Grumpy Madam whenever I'm away. I saw a rose garden (minus roses as they weren't blooming yet), had a yummy ice cream (blue bubblegum and blackcurrent with clotted cream), found an elusive M&S cafe (the store is huge!), watched lots of dvds and chatted lots too. 

I'm hoping to start craft again today, not been up for it, but it depends how I am once I've done today's chores (sorting laundry is a large effort activity for me and I usually do it over 2 days (sort 1 day, put away the next). 

Hope you have a good one!

Nayu's Craft Time #236 Holiday time!

It's that time again! (Sadly not my suitcase...)

Today I'm leaving to stay with my friend in Devon for a few days! We are planning on watching a lot of DVDs so I'll be finishing this cute sewing while I'm over at hers, 

Not much left to do...

and working on some other sewing which I'll show you when I get back. I'll put a cute picture up while I'm away for you to see (not the one below) ^o^ 

The buttons add a craft theme to Pooh Bear!

Nayu's Craft Time #203 Goodbyes and Hellos

My much loved crested bengalese finch Tanuki and normal bengalese finch Ushio (right)

So Monday I did get some craft done while I visited a friend, but it's not quite neat enough to show you yet (ends need sewing in), so I'll do that another day. This is a quick post detailing what happened when I got home. Please skip the next paragraph if you don't want details of some sad news. 

I got home to some odd chirping from my birds. Found Tanuki (funky hair bengalese finch) dead in the nest, with Ushio beside it (still no idea who is male/female). Poor Ushio died a few minutes later in my hand. I'm not sure why they died, but they did. It was totally horrid having no birds in the cage when I went to sleep and when I woke up. Even when they sleep I get the occasional chirp and shuffling about. It was a bit of a long night. 

Fast forward to mid-morning the next day and I have 2 new feather babies! The silvery traditional looking one is Tomoya, and the paler one is Hibiki. They are male zebra finches (females are extremely rare). It's a joy to have zebra finches again, their sound is distinctive and I'd missed it a lot. 

You can't see the fawn parts on Hibiki, but hope to take more pictures soon.

I'm super sad that I didn't get longer with Tanuki and Ushio, who while not zebra finches were fun in their own way. I was still getting to know them, and I love them very much and miss their little selves ducking in the nest when I peek in on them. 

It won't surprise long term blog readers to hear that the names were chosen from anime characters (I'm enjoying having Japanese names). I had to think quite a while for names not because there were so many to choose from like girls' names, but I wanted to pick nice guy names (and I pay far less attention to the guys in anime shows). Tomoya is from the classic and one of the best anime ever, Clannad + Clannad After Story.

From left to right Tomoya, Ushio (Sound familiar?!) & sweet Nagisa

Tomoya in the anime/manga is a lone ranger but it's a sweet romance (nothing imappropriate, he and Nagisa (who I adore) barely hold hands, watching the two grow through their teens and start a family. A lot of tissues are needed for that anime! Tomoya the bird worried me a little because as he was being caught in the pet shop he seemed to be going for the other birds. When I first got them home he did go for Hibiki. Males can be terrortorial, but he seems to have calmed down. 

Hibiki is from the skating anime Pretty Rhythm Aurora Dream. He is a singer in a boy band, and eventually becomes engaged to Rhythm, one of the main characters (they also feature in Pretty Rhythm Dear my Future). I realise Rhythm's name may sound odd, I'm so used to it that it seems perfectly normal to me. She's impulsive, works super hard on her skating, and has a big heart. Hibiki the bird is holding his own against Tomoya and  sometimes sings along with the latter. 

Hibiki with one of the main characters, Rhythm

Last night I spied them huddled together on top of the nest at  my bedtime. If they don't figure out they can go in the nest by  the weekend I'll buy them an open style nest (the current one they have to duck into.) I want them to be able to snuggle down somewhere at night - sleeping on the perch/on top of the nest can't be that comfy for them. Maybe they will have a brainwave and realise what the nest is for, if not I'll make things a little easier for them. 

Anyway, that's all for today. Having a quiet day tomorrow which will be nice after a mixed start to the week. 

Pets are precious.