Celebrating friendship - with blogs and a bag

I never cease to be amazed and delighted by the bonds of friendship that are created through blogs.

When the Lady Of the House started me blogging soon after I arrived here in my forever home (two years ago last month) I never dreamed where it would lead. Our lives feel so much richer for the people we've met through blogging and the laughter (and tears) we've shared. I feel as if many of you are real friends - even though we've never met.

For a few weeks now the LOTH and I have wanted to do something to celebrate how thankful we are for that friendship. So this is what we've decided.

One of the LOTH's bestest ever friends is called Carol - and she is VERY clever when it comes to quilting. She made the LOTH a lovely quilt and a bag for her birthday and she makes lots of bags both as gifts for loved ones and as raffle prizes to raise money for charity.

She made us this beautiful bag and said we could use it however we wanted - so we thought it would be nice to offer it as a gift to one of our blogging friends. It was made with love by Carol and it will be sent on with lots of love from me and the LOTH too.

It's just a little gift, and it can only go to one person - but I'd like it to represent the gratitude we feel to all of you who have supported us over the last 24 months with your comments and your friendship.

If you look closely you can see quite a lot of the dogs whose blogs we visit - I can see Dachsies, and Scotties... and is that a French Bulldog among others?

Carol said she did try to find some material with greyhounds on - but didn't find any that she felt did us justice. I quite understand. Besides, I might not have let the LOTH give it away then.

So if you are a follower of my blog - and you'd like to receive this bag as a gift of love and thankfulness from me and the LOTH - just leave a comment below in the next week. We'll send it anywhere in the world (it's very light).

Today is also a special day for one of the best friends any pet blogger could have - PIP!

You can read all about his special day here on Frankie Furter and Ernie's blog and also about the special day when Pip came to his forever home - here. It's a lovely story about the triumph of love and hope. Enjoy it.

And last but NOT least...one of my great blogging friends is Suzy. Her son Marc has TODAY started a coast to coast walk in aid of Greyhound Gap - a small but very important UK charity which rescues and rehabilitates and then rehomes greyhounds and lurchers across the UK who are otherwise at risk of being put to sleep.

You can follow their progress over the next 10 days at Suzy's blog, or on their Facebook Page. If you can spare them even just a few pennies, there is an online page HERE where you can donate, It would mean a lot to Greyhound Gap.

Just making myself PROPERLY comfy

I was delighted when the Lady Of The House bought me a new-to-me super comfy quilt cover from the charity shop.

It has lots of kittens and rabbits on it because it is covered with illustrations from the books of Beatrix Potter.  Maybe that's why I felt it needed a bit of rearranging.....

I think I'm comfy now, thanks

Quilts of love

Important update - after being the victim of a nasty email hacking attack, if you want to contact Agnes about memory quilt squares, use DACHSIESWITHMOXIEMAMA at GMAIL dot COM


We have NOTHING but admiration for people who can make beautiful arts and crafts with their own hands.

It's such a gift of real love to make something for someone - because there's always something of yourself in there too.

That's why I was so touched to hear that Agnes from Dachsies with Moxie is putting together a very special memorial quilt for Sandra who lost five of her Houston Pittie Pack in a fire that also destroyed her home just before Christmas.

The aim is to have the quilt finished for Valentine's Day which means that lots more pieces of fabric, six inches square, are still needed. Even if you are in the UK you should still have time to get a piece over if you move quickly. Just email her if you have any questions or to get her address. She needs the fabric squares by January 16.

Ideally it would be good if you could send some material that has some meaning for you, which you could explain in a covering letter that will be passed on to Sandra.

Although the Lady Of The House is a bit rubbish at sewing, I said I'd be happy for a piece of my first blue blanket to go across to America for the quilt. This was a blanket that was waiting for me when I arrived here in August 2010 and I've always loved it. Here I am enjoying a snack on my blanket.

Here is the square that the LOTH made and which we posted the day before Christmas Eve. We hope it arrives safely. It took the LOTH a long time to remember how to do chain stitch - but she dredged the knowledge up from somewhere in her very old brain after several false starts.

Anyway, if you can send a fabric square (or two, or more) to Agnes PLEASE do. I'm sure the finished quilt will mean so much to Sandra and her family.

By coincidence, while we were thinking of the Pittie Pack and Agnes's lovely quilt plan... someone else was thinking of us.

On New Year's Eve it was a special birthday for the LOTH (it ended in an "oh!" whatever that means), and her friend Carol had been busy in recent weeks making this quilt and a quilted bag specially for the LOTH as a super surprise present. You can just see the special message panel she stitched in to the underside of the pink quilt.

Carol has a birthday ending in an "oh!" too - tomorrow (Jan 3) so we would like to say a very special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Carol.

Carol and the LOTH are having a joint celebration girl's night out with lots of their friends from the Little Theatre Company on Friday at a Greek restaurant in town. They are calling it the Oh-Oh! Birthday Party.

It sounds like trouble to me........