What a roller coaster of a day today has been, crying buckets and snotting all over the place. My beautiful brave Bilbo is in the vets on a drip. They've finally decided his liver problem is not due to a viral infection, but is in fact cancer. My heart sank at those words and my head was screaming Noooooooooo not my baby. He has been ill for a long time now and at the end of every week I've thanked my blessings that he's still with us. We always knew it may not be long before we had to say goodbye but it really doesn't make it any easier. With luck the drip, treatment and his incredible fighting spirit will do the trick and we can bring him home tomorrow or Sunday. I'm praying it will be so. And on top of this I'm starting a lupus flare up, just what I need. Between me and Bilbo we've got enough pills to keep a hospital going, and were both going to be rattling like a pair of shakers. Just as well Colin is away or we'd be keeping him up all night.

On a lighter note, here's a few pics of a couple of things I've been up to over the last week. This first one is going to be something very special, if I can get it done in time. Can say no more at the moment, but I'm quite excited about it. I should have had a lot more done by now, but the mag editor needed an extra project made in a hurry, and then Bilbo. That's life, roll with the punches and go with the flow. I LOVE this reindeer stamp by penny black, and the Paper Artsy wing seems made just for him.
And yet more revelations, these are some of my acrylic paints. There's loads more in the cupboard. Yikes
Back to projects. Pearly paints spread all over mountboard with my fingers, then stamped with a tree stamp by Elusive Images, then overstamped with a large collage stamp by Stampendous. Much more do with this as well, will keep you posted on the progress. Ha ha what a mess I got into though. Good job I'd remembered to change out of my fave White Stuff swishy skirt first.

And this was an experiment. I stamped into plaster, yes slap it on the walls plaster. Now I should have waited for the plaster to cure a bit first, but despite knowing this I couldn't wait and with a gung ho enthusiasm went ahead and did it anyway. Mistake no 2, I didn't oil the stamp first, and yes I knew that as well. Talk about do as I say and not as I do, fine teacher I am. Well believe me do not stamp into wet plaster without oiling your stamp first. I was scrubbing at the sink for ages, I swear the plaster was multiplying by the nano second as I tried cleaning it. Got there in the end. Hurrah for good old proper rubber stamps, so durable and forgiving.

Slap some pearly paint on it and hey presto looks 100 times better. More on this at a later date too.
Yesterday Sammy and I went for a long walk all round the poshest of posh estates in Bognor and it's virtually next door so to speak. A few thousand more in the bank and we'll be able move and hob nob with the Bognor elite.

I wanted some pictures of Autumn colours, but a lot of tress have only just started to change down here in on the south coast, so pickings were a bit thin. I managed a few though.

And Sammy, the dear little sole has managed to put a smile on my face today with his antics. An hour of his energy would last me a week. He found the sun streak coming though the patio doors today and had a good sunbathe.

Hey wot ya doing Mum? Am I missing anything?
After deciding he hadn't missed anything exciting he went back to sleep, in his bed this time.

Have a good weekend everyone.