Wednesday Crafting...

After weeks of other commitments so that I couldn't make it to craft I finally made it this week and took Sheila along with me.  It was quite chilly when we left Droushia but by the time we got down near the coast it was much much more pleasant.  This makes it so difficult to know what to wear - layers are the way to go!!!

On arriving at Jeannette's she was keeping a very firm hold on her dog Dooley who has recently undergone a very major operation on the 'shock absorbers' in her leg.  This has left her with a big old scar and she was not allowed to get over excited which is quite a tall order for a naturally inquisitive dog!!  Bless her though because it was quite a traumatic day for her and she coped very well.  Jeannette is OK-ish after her disappointing visit to a consultant in the UK in the hopes of finding something to alleviate the severe eczema she suffers in her legs.  Unfortunately she drew a blank but she has, at least, investigated every avenue available to her.

It is hard to believe that we are still able to sit outside this late in November - having said that Tourists would have a right old laugh at us with our fleeces on when they are wandering around in shorts and t-shirts!!  We were a small but beautifully formed group - missing from the photograph is Crafty Jane who arrived shortly afterwards.

My first job was to try and rectify the mess I had made of grouting my gecko on glass.  The tub of grout I had used was just not right for the job - too thick and too dry I think but then I am no expert.  Jeannette said it wasn't my best effort and she is right!  I have several more of these glass shelves so I think I may give it another go.  I have given Crafty Jane a couple and she embarked on a lovely mosaic of a sea horse which she is planning to give to her mother.

My second job was to complete the mirror that I had been making for John for the outside shower.  I had done the mosaic work several weeks ago and today I wanted to grout it.  I decided to use a black grout as the tiles had been placed on a surround that was black in the first place.

Black grout is a very messy medium I can tell you - I think it will take me weeks to get my finger nails clean!!  It isn't a perfect job but it will be more than adequate for the outside shower and at least I have been able to use some of the swimming pool tiles that Sean gave me.

Although warm enough it was a bad day for grout drying and so those of us grouting our respective pieces of work were struggling to get a smooth finish - in fact any type of finish at all - in the end I did my best and then put the mirror in the car to bring home.  One single little tile from the edge just would not stick and when I got back home it had fallen off again and of course I had no black grout to try and get it stuck back into place so I had to do the best I could with the thick dry grout I had and a black marker pen.  John says no-one will notice when he has put it up in the shower but I will know and that is good enough!

Whilst we were working we heard the plaintiff cry of a kitten, either lost or abandoned we aren't sure which but Prodromi Pam made it her business to find the kitten and coax it into her arms for a bit of love and then she persuaded Jeannette to let her have some cat biscuits and water.  When you felt the kitten it was clear that he/she was malnourished and on closer inspection we decided it was a he albeit a rather underdeveloped he at this stage.  Pam was desperate that if it was lost or abandoned that it found itself a new and loving home because it really was a sweet little thing.  Little did we know how much of a softee Jeannette's husband Graham is and as the morning went on we left Graham and the kitten to bond.  We are in no doubt at all that if it sticks around then it will have found itself a loving home and that attendees of the next craft day will find it with its paws very firmly under the table!  There was a bit of posturising by Dooley but Winston the poodle didn't seem bothered at all and Jeannette's aloof cat Nulla was nowhere to be seen anyway.

On the subject of cats look at our two!!  Little piggies they are, the pair of them and they are suckers for a bit of Lidl tasty cheddar cheese!!!

Minnie is now bigger than Chivers, in the body that is, but as she has a tiddly head she still looks smaller.  They are not as close as they used to be which is a bit of a shame as we used to love the way they snuggled up together - I don't know if, as the weather gets colder, they will return to that closeness - I certainly hope so.

They provide us with so much entertainment and love (when they want to) that we really wouldn't be without them even though they can be a right old pain at times!!

So back to today and we wrapped up our crafting shortly after one of Graham's epic lunches and made our way back to Droushia.  I called into the post office to check the post and was very pleased to get confirmation that the secret present I have organised for Dad for Christmas has been successful - I am so pleased and I think he will be too.

On returning to Droushia I found that John had spend hours de-seeding the pomegranates we have knocking about so I thought I ought to do something special with them.  I found a recipe on tinty-web for pork cooked in a pomegranate sauce which was so lush that I have already posted it on the blog.  Try it - it is a certain winner!