chewie's 1st balik kampung trip...

for the cny celebration recently, i decided against leaving chewie in pet boarding here in kl coz i would be gone for more than a week. so i told the parents that i would be bringing her home with me. of course, they were not too happy, but what can they do, rite? hehe...

well, from past experiences of transporting chewie in the car, we figured it'd be better to get a car crate for her 1st trip home to m'ca. i would be driving back alone, so i can't be keep an eye on the road, shouting at her to stop jumping here and there, trying to prevent her from chewing on the car mat, stop her from barking at the various ever-present squeaks and clattering sounds in my car, holding her and trying to keep her from tumbling under the car seat every time i turn a corner, ALL AT THE SAME TIME! so we found this not too expensive car crate that's perfect for her, and she seems to be very willing in going into it! and after a few car trips in it, she seems to be getting the hang of things. she'll be asleep in no time and hardly make any sound! so maybe we can plan more trips with her in the future...

the pet voyaguer 400...

but bringing a dog on trips is like mobilizing an army! her stuff is like triple mine! that's y when i go back for a short trip, i just deposit her at the boarding place. they have everything there and i just need to bring her food. easy peasy! but bringing her back to m'ca is another different story. i need to bring her car crate, cage, food, supplement, doggie treats, chew toys, shampoo, ear drip, water bottle, etc.

anyway, when we got home, of course i got an earful from the parents, esp the father, abt what a big responsibility it is, how troublesome keeping a dog is bla bla bla... but then, the father is the one who played with her the most! hahaha...

dad trying the 'leave it' command with chewie

when night came, i told the father that i'm worried chewie will be bitten by mosquitoes, coz my house is like swarming with mosquitoes and we put chewie outside on the porch. and when dogs are bitten by a certain type of mosquito, they ran the risk of getting heartworm. even tho' i give her heartguard (medicine) every month, i'm still worried. so the father went to get the wire extension to plug in the electric mosquito repellent for her! haha... this is the first time i see a dog with electric mosquito repellent!

see the red dot at the side of the cage? that's the electric mosquito repellent

on the first few days, chewie was really shy. even when i left her cage open to let her run loose around the house compound, she still sat at the front door, looking at me and waiting for me to come out and play with her. only when i'm outside would she dare to venture and explore around the other parts of the house.


but after that, she got used to the place and would be running around happily. she does seem happier with the vast compound for her to run abt. but she'll always go back to lie in her cage on her own, even with the cage door open. i think her cage is like a 'safe heaven' for her, where she feels safest and most comfy.

and i think cny will be her fav time from now on, coz she would have lots of kids to run around with. and the kids simply love her! at the end of the day, she's always tired and worn out and would sleep peacefully throughout the night. even when the mother open the front door in the morning, chewie would be sleeping soundly like a baby, oblivious of the bell sounds from mom's morning gongyo. usually she's very alert to every little sound!

but after a few days, all the excitement subsided, all the kids went home, all the firecrackers died down and life went back to normal... hehe...

napping on a boring afternoon... *yawn*

SVE sent and received!

recently, the Shuttles n Needles group in yahoo! that i belong to had an exchange ---> Secret Valentine's Exchange. now, i'm not very good at making anything yet, but still i jumped into it coz it sounded like fun. hehe...

ok, here's how it worked. those of us who wanted to take part in this exchange replied with an 'aye' to the group e-mail. then our organiser (Jullie's our organiser for this SVE) made a secret draw with our names. we were then informed secretly on who we are to send our exchange to, but have no idea whom we will be receiving from. hence the name "secret valentine's", get it?

the criteria for the exchange is:
1) one handmade card
2) one motif - to be independent or as part of the card
3) one special supply for our crafting

well, after knowing who i'll be sending my exchange to, i decided that i wanna make an amigurumi for her as an extra. coz she has not tried making any amigurumi before, but is a great sifu in needlecrafts and threads. so this is what i made her: a floppy-eared bunny! cute?

back view... i love the tail! so cute...

but i had a hard time deciding on my motif. granted, i was on the net a lot, looking for motifs (that i can do with my limited skill) that would look nice on my card. but i didn't have any plan going, so i was kinda just choosing choosing choosing... in the end, i ran out of time! on the last week we were supposed to mail out our exchange (mailing-out date: 6th Feb), i only had my floppy-eared bunny (not even part of the criteria!), a very fine crochet hook (as special craft supply) and halfway thru my motif (which i'm not even sure what use my partner will have for it)! and i have no idea abt my card yet! panic! panic!

my motif: a vintage pattern i found on the net...

so in the end, i resorted to a store-bought valentine's day card, and just added in a few crocheted hearts on the front. it was really pathetic, but it was all i could do with my 'half-pail' skills!

so here's the stash i sent to Faizon:


then when i got back from my extended cny break in m'ca yesterday, i received an envelope from my housemate who was in s'pore for cny. it's from my secret valentine, Jullie, who conspired with housemate M to hand-deliver my SVE to me! nice touch!

cute and bulky envelope waiting for me in kl...

Jullie is really creative. her card is really hand-made and very sweet too! 3 different coloured, crocheted heart-shaped balloons took up the front of the card...

a close-up of the crocheted balloons...

on the second page is Jullie's message to me...


and on the last page is my special craft supply - some plastic eyes for amigurumi! i've not seen these eyes being sold here in KL, so it's really very sweet of Jullie to get them for me!

already i'm itching to get out my hook and start making use of these eyes!

~~~~~

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, EVERYONE!

i'm ami sifu!

ok, at least to my 2 friends, i am! but actually fake one lah, coz i'm also just an ami beginner! hehe... anyway, remember the meetup of old friends i mentioned the other day? well, they saw my amigurumis and decided that they wanna learn to make it too! so one fine day (during the thaipusam holidays lar...), we (mon and i) had san come over to our place for a day of ami lesson!

we went to pick up san from the lrt station, went to buy our supplies, had lunch at endah parade, went to another needles & craft shop there to look at their stash, did a little grocery shopping detour at carrefour, came home and started our class at abt 4pm! haha... so much for "a DAY of ami lesson"!

well, san did pretty well, having learnt crochet at std 4. so she was able to pick up pretty fast...

mon, on the other hand, was a little slow. not only has she not done any crocheting before, she claims to be hopeless in craft. and on top of that, she's a lefty! so in the beginning, she held the crochet hook a little funny. but after a while, she got the hang of things and was able to crochet pretty well! so proud of my two 'students'... *beam*

here are some pics to share...

giving mon some pointers, while san is diligently crocheting away on her own...

everyone concentrating hard on their own ami...

the ami gals! smiles for the camera...

ta-dah! here are the results! my bunny i'd done earlier for a secret something
to be revealed later, san's ladybug and a diagram of mon's pig...

mon's work in progress. the one on the left is her 'practice' piece. the one with the marker is her 'real' work, which she was finally able to get all the stitches' numbers correct!

san's ladybug. she managed to finish 2 ladybugs that day!