A Rabbit, a Birthday, a Mountain and a Protest: August Furtling

Oh dear, this could be the shortest bog ever as I am rushing to meet this month's Furtling deadline. Just back from holibobs, there  seems to be so much to catch up with so I'd better stop wittering and get down to business.

Probably the most fun thing to have happened in our household this past month was the arrival of a new inmate, crafted brilliantly by @bettis_stitches in Germany. Rabbit, a beige needlefelted  collie made in memory of the simplest collie I've ever had in my life, arrived as a surprise gift for my husband as he and the original Rab(bit) had had a unique bond. I did doubt my sanity as David isn't known for his frivolity and yet he has taken mini Rabbit to his heart, takes him on his cycling adventures and business trips,  and has even given him his own IG account, @the_new_adventures_of_rabbit! Who would have thought! Anyway, ever safety conscious , the new little chap is delightful!

      Rabbit in a Premier Inn somewhere or another....

So, on to makes and finishes:  I'm glad to say that my Tartankiwi owl is now finished and I'm really rather pleased with him. I decided I wanted to quilt the piece with lines of energy extended towards the escaping mouse and then with freehand stars around the owl. Well, nice idea but it looked awful! Back to the drawing board for safe, straight lines but I think they work much better and somehow add to the energy of the quilt. Owl and escapee are now hanging in our hall.

Last month I had reported on the start of my mini Protest Quilt, the challenge to us all from the Chair of our Modern Quilt Guild. I was pleased with my idea but really wasn't enjoying making the quilt as I found it so depressing. I strongly believe in the protest, though, so it was good to finish it, which I did in August. We had to include some words but the rest was completely open. On a plastics crusade, I decided to depict  our drowning planet engulfed by various plastics and litter (Oh heck, spot how many bits of chocolate bar wrappers feature!) and I also took the risk of making the binding out of a plastic carrier bag I found in the back of a cupboard. I'm glad it's done but I'm looking forward to getting back to cheerier makes now.

My sewing machine is very grateful to be in for servicing after all that!

Which brings me on to the tunic top I made in August in order to test my growing garment-making confidence. This is the Piper Boho Tunic by Wardrobe By Me, and it was a really enjoyable make with very little stress. I used double gauze, which proved to be a bit trickier to handle than I'd anticipated but it hangs nicely and doesn't need much ironing.  I'd raced on with it as I wanted it for those balmy Hebridean evenings outside the campervan - now imagine maniacal laughter! Neither rain, gales or midges afforded much opportunity for flouncing! But here it is anyway....

Inappropriate holiday wear!

Before we went away I was feeling so gloomy about how wintery everything suddenly felt, leading me to light  a fire and launch prematurely into one of my favourite comforting winter evening passtimes - socks. I was suddenly so desperate to knit that I  ripped back a shawl I'd started last year (which in turn had already been a ripped back sock!) and set to. Not finished yet but the current sock did make it to Harris and grew a little as the rain beat down!

Recycled sock-shawl-sock in progress..

And that's it on the creative side. Out of doors, we had a brilliant evening celebrating Boo's 4th birthday with good friends, the amazing Sheila (@budsmam)  and Mark  at an Edinburgh Brewdog pub that adores dogs!  Boo was thoroughly spoilt for the whole evening and was then treated to a Sausage (vegetarian!) Sizzle on her birthday walk two days later.

Hooman and soft toy guests.....

Looking for the meat content...

Tara Boss Horse , Jackdaw Wild Child and Murph the Smurf are all well, although as a real pensioner, Tara has hated this August's weather. Mind you, I took her for a walk to the river and for a change of scenery  to cheer her up a couple of weeks ago and, honestly, I thought I was going to collapse trying to keep up with her!  Downhill and then back up for 3/4 mile, I thought I would die, but at least it shows what good form the old girl is in!!!

My feisty penshioner Boss Horse

The mountains have really been calling this past month, with local climbs, 2 trips to the Cumbrian Fells and the icing on the cake,  an ascent of An Clisham on the isle of Harris.  I'm especially thrilled about this as it has been the fulfilment of a long-held dream and a lot of fitness building since I had my hips down two years ago. When it came to it, it wasn't as technically challenging as I'd anticipated but it certainly didn't disappoint.  The views from the summit were simply breathtaking and my wee Boo was a total rock star. Some of our moves on the summit crest were very exposed but my wee crag rat tackled it all like a pro. Quite an emotional experience on many levels.  But what now I wonder......

Summitted! Only a few bruises and one trophy leg gash.

Mini Kippa obviously had to put in an appearance....

An Clisham behind us. Oh boy, it was a long walk-in to the mountain!

Anyway, that was my August and I've waffled on far more than I've  had time to! But that's the pleasure of a blog once you get going so thank you, Mini Archie, for the original prompt!  Thank you for sticking with me and see you in September .

Sue (and Boo)
@sue_and_boo