5 weeks to go !

5 weeks to go !
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

not a lot fits me now, but this lovely prize t-shirt from wesssex fm does, XXL or something !

say hello to apple ...

say hello to apple ...
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

apple the pig will soon be listed on

http://www.bid4bears.com

and she was admired today by my independent midwife debs,

http://www.dorsetwiltshireindependentmidwives.co.uk/debs.php

after we did our booking visit ...

spooky, i pick one with a love of pigs!

i feel very relieved, as i can now plan a birth instead of wondering what will happen all the time, and i am pleased to say that we found baby heads down and a good size, not too big or small :-)

clever me ... and i can do cute mohair creatures too!

that moxibustion again ... HAPPY EASTER!

MOXIBUSTION - those smoking sticks have to be applied to a special point on the little toe and the compressed herbs are good at generating deep heat .... my toes both turned a nice hot pink :-)

AND it seems to have worked, as today i have a 'coconut' at the bottom of my belly, and the babies kicks feel very different!

fingers crossed ... i see a midwife on monday ... she can check for me :-)

trying to turn a breech baby .....

this morning my kitchen smelled of smoke, and there are some strange looking cigars on the counter! we have now tired moxibustion at home twice, it worked the first time and we had a head-down baby for a few days, then the baby flipped back ...

has anyone else ever tried moxibustion? we opened a window and put the kitchen fan on!

perhaps we will try again tonight, after watching a bit of telly with my feet up ....

this is me and my football bump, and yes, thats flash-the-dog's picture taped to the wall above me, and steves birthday cards ... walked along the beach where seb left from, with steve and the girls yesterday, i felt a lot bigger than when seb left 48 days ago, and flash's barking made daisy cry!

http://www.sebsodyssey.org.uk/flyermk2.html

and scroll down the messages page for another mention, someone was confused and thought we might be autioning off the REAL flash! leave a message for seb too, or flash if you prefer!

http://www.sebsodyssey.org.uk/messages.html

do click below and see just how far our dorset boy has got, theres some sad news about flash getting hurt on barbed wire, but getting the right treatment, and some lovely pohotos of boy and dog in the sunshine... and to think i was worried about the poor dogs feet!

http://www.sebsodyssey.org.uk/update.html

Plush Parade: Rose Rat

Plush Parade: Rose Rat

pop over to a fun new blog, i have started the ball rolling ....

the ultimate ratty creation ...

suede feet, hands and ears ....
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

or indeed, a journey towards same!

on http://www.bid4bears.com untill monday, see more of his pics there ...

i would like to work on the top of the head somehow to widen the distance between the ears, but at least i have had one go at making a more realsitic raggy rat !

im 34 weeks pregnant and shattered ...

back ....

hello inez!
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

there is am artists power campaign going on right now at http://bid4bears.com and i have listed little Inez as my first critter, she is feeling nervous ...

if you are looking for a friendly alternative to e***, now is the time to list some bears and dolls and try it out - it runs for a few weeks ...

enjoy browsing and let me know how you found bid4bears

thanks
cat xxxx

perch parrot puppet patterns...

perch parrot puppet patterns... , originally uploaded by RaggyRat.

i am indebted to the wonderful karen, at silver seams, whos dinky cute sun conure pattern i messed with and exploded to create the two perch puppets ....

http://www.silverseams.com/opensource/sun-conure-pattern.html

i printed her pattern on british A4 paper, after converting to black and white, then went over the lines black and started cutting the poor bird up... apart from the amazing feet, which i upped-size on the church photocopier, i sketched the rest of the pieces to facilitate the small changes i made and the speedy enlargement ...

i left off the lower bits of the underbelly behind the legs to enable insertion of hand, i lined perch with grey fleece, and i changed the angle his head would sit at, to make him a bit more upright as he is a hand and arm puppet .....

i forgot to add enough for the head gusset after i changed the angle of his head, and simply made a rectangle of fabric to instert quick ... !

here also are pics of me taking the parrots to meet local preschool age children, its fun to throw experiances at them!

Here he is folks!

smile perch ..., originally uploaded by RaggyRat.

and here is my 30 week baby belly ... and thats not a bad self-timer pic, i always look like i am worried the pic wont come out LOL !!!

after this pic i boxed up the parrots and put the girls in the car to get to the post office ... car started making funny noise, so turned radio off ... kept drivng carefully and noise started to sound rubbery .... made the desition to drive to PO ( and local shops) where i could get help and facilities for me and the girls, and after my call to the RAC, martin turned up just as i stepped out of the post office with the reciept for the parrots in my hand!

still driving round on funny wheel, kwikfit didn't have any in our size ...