I'm Mad About The Boy!

I know that I don't stop going on about how much I love my boy, Alfie.  He was a rescue dog removed from a home where he'd been locked in a room with no food, no water and no love. That all changed just over four years ago when he came to live with us.

He's a Belgium Shepherd/Collie cross but I haven't come up with a ridiculous name for him like the overpriced Labradoodle mongrels :)

I thought I would tell you a couple of things about Alfie, the things that make me laugh and make my heart melt. He loves cuddly toys, they're his babies and they are always near to him. When I get the vacuum out he always runs to get his babies so that he can save them :)

When I go to Paul's Alfie always stays behind to look after Maddie and he always moves into my bedroom.  Last time I came home I found FOUR of his babies in there! He was most upset when I removed them and I'm sure he thought he was moving in for good :)

Another thing about Alfie is that he always has to be touching me. When I'm preparing dinner in the kitchen he's always at my feet, when I'm crafting at the table you can bet he's at my feet.

If I'm sitting on the sofa sewing or knitting then he is always there lying right next to me. Even if it's just his head leaning on my foot he will always find away to touch me.

And, despite his size, in his head he thinks he is a lap dog!

I love him to bits and wouldn't have him any other way.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo x

Quickest Story Ever Scrapped!

I realise that my blog has been woefully neglected this year and there's been hardly any scrapping on display, hopefully that will change!

Last week I had a go at the weekly challenge over at UKScrappers.  The prompt was to use sewing on a layout, real or fake, to use a die cut or do some fussy cutting and to take inspiration from this sketch:

I actually managed to get my layout done on Thursday at the crop, yes I actually did manage to do some real, live scrapping at the crop!

I added the title last night but didn't really have any journalling.  I have lots of layouts of Alfie telling the story of where he came from and how lucky I was to have him, I needed a new tale.

I let him out the garden while I had a think about what story I could tell.  It was nearly midnight and he didn't allow me any thinking time.  He managed to get into my neighbour's garden and get out the other end into the alley!  I didn't know whether to follow him or head him off at the front of the house!  I was in a panic, I was shouting, it was raining and then he came bounding back to me with a massive bone in his mouth!

And I had the journalling for my layout!

What's the quickest you've ever got a story in to an album?

Thanks for stopping by
Jo x

Precious Friends

Unbelievably another month has passed and it's time for Story Telling Sunday over at Sian's.  This year it's all been about the precious things in our lives, the things that mean so much to us.

My story this month is about friendship.  When it comes to friends I always prefer quality over quantity and the few friends that I have are definitely worth their weight in gold.  I know that I can count on all of them and I know that if anything were to happen to me then Maddie could rely on them too.  This month though I'm just going to focus on one of those friends and I'd like to introduce you to Allison:

I first met Allison at high school way back in 1983. I had an exam and the desks were set out with alternating rows of year ones (my year) and year twos (Allison's year).  I was put next to Allison and straight away she started talking and telling stories and making people laugh.  Being new at the school I was mortified and wondered what sort of trouble I'd get in to because of this girl. Little did I know then how much she'd come to mean to me.

Allison is still a talker, she can still tell a story and she can still make everyone laugh.  Nothing seems to faze her, she can and does cope with anything and everything. She can reason and she can see all sides of a story.  She has an amazing knack of telling you a negative by making it sound like a positive.  She always makes you feel that she's got time for you, that you've never called at an inconvenient time - I once called her in tears and she let me talk for 20 minutes before she let me know she was at her son's birthday party and was looking after 20 kids!

I can go for years without talking to Allison but I know she's always there for me and for any of her friends.  No matter how long it's been we'll always start up where we left off and the years in between just melt away.

It is always great to spend time with Allison, I always know that I'll end up laughing and feeling good.  She is a special kind of person but if you ever cross her then I can guarantee that you'll see all kinds of crazy :)

So this little story of mine is to let you know about a great person and to let her know that I know she's been through so much recently and we all love her dearly.

Now it's your turn to head over to Sian's and tell your story.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo x