Each and every day..

Thirty three years ago on the 22nd March, shortly after my twentieth birthday, my first child was born.  I can remember so clearly, reclining on my hospital bed, my precious bundle carefully swaddled in a white hospital blanket and propped against my knees.  I gazed at my new daughter in pure wonder, utterly oblivious to the rest of the world in that moment.

Celebrating Fay's birthday

That tiny bundle has taught me so much and made me so very proud.  She was a naturally shy child who, no matter what the challenge, taught herself to face the world with dignity and confidence, as she quietly carved her independence. 

Resilience, determination, humour, loyalty, compassion and the most wonderful zest for life, have made my daughter the amazing girl she is today.

Happy Birthday to you Fay,

You make me proud each and every day.

With all my love, 

Now and always,

Mum xxx

Making amends

Remember 'Lily', the sweet pink alpaca bear I made recently? Well, she sold so fast I had to disappoint a couple of my overseas collectors.  To make amends I promised to create similar alpaca teddy bears, but in alternative shades.  It's not always possible, but fortunately Lily's beautiful alpaca was also available in several alternative, equally gorgeous hand dyed colours ... perfect for Spring teddies!

So here is Lily's sister bear 'Lupin', an adorable 14" teddy bear created from a very pretty shade of lilac and wearing a cosy hat and scarf I knitted using a lovely soft alpaca yarn.  Lupin will be flying 'Downunder' to meet her new Mum in Australia later this week. 

Bon Voyage Lupin!

:-)

Speaking of Spring

Although I'd barely know from the chill wind which bites my nose every time I set foot outside, officially, it has at last been declared Spring here in the UK.  Despite the cold, it should be said, our daffodils are boldly trumpeting their arrival and making a rather fabulous effort to cheer the local parks and gardens.

If I wrap up warm, it's a lovely time of year for walking, with new shoots appearing each day on trees and delicate pastels making a shy appearance in local beds and borders.  Polly and Betty definitely have Spring in their step; they can't wait to ditch leads and run free at every opportunity!

Speaking of Spring flowers, the Camelia Dad gave me for my birthday many, many years ago, is flowering well again this year!  It survived our house move nine years ago and being transplanted from pot to muddy border, then took root and grew contentedly in its new corner. I introduced my Grandson to his Great Grandad's special 'flower' last week.  He's too young to understand the importance of this shrub yet, but I know Dad will be watching us chatting together in the garden and I don't for one second doubt, he'll smile down with pride at his Great Grandson's first horticultural explorations!

And it goes without saying that Springtime should always lead to a crop of pretty new teddy bears, so between looking after Toby and walking my girls, I will be working on them.  I hope to have a pretty soft green alpaca bear to share with you shortly and in the meantime, have made a montage of spring bears past and present for your enjoyment ...

:-)

Is it so small a thing
To have enjoy'd the sun,
To have lived light in the spring,
To have loved, to have thought, to have done.

Matthew Arnold
From the Hymn of Empedocles

Love 'n laughter

My Polly Dog turned three on Monday and goodness me, how those years have flown. Needless to say, I couldn't allow Polly's special day to pass without taking a few snaps of the birthday girl!

Polly, you have been my constant companion through thick and thin, for the past three years.  Whatever would I have done without your gentle 'kisses' every day and that soft nose of yours nudging my arm to remind me it's teatime?

You are the best foot warmer ever and always know how to make me smile, even if I'm sad ... and I love that daft grin of yours and the way you place your paw in mine as if to say, 'I love you too Mum'.

You have given me love and laughter every day since you first arrived and for that, I am so thankful.

A very Happy Birthday to you, my gorgeous girl xxx

:-)

Magnolia

This pretty Spring girl bounced off my website as soon as she landed.

17" Magnolia has been adopted

 I called her 'Magnolia' ... the magnolia trees will soon be blooming and after a long, muddy brown winter, I for one, am very much looking forward to seeing them! 

The best medicine

I almost had to cancel my Mother's Day after being knocked for six by a nasty sickness bug last week, but the thought of postponing my family made me sad, so I wobbled on and by the afternoon, felt strong enough to receive visitors.  Without wishing to sound contrived, chatting over a cuppa with my kids and future son-in-law, had a genuinely medicinal effect ... I felt so much better for spending time with them!

It was so lovely to be made a fuss of but the best Mother's Day gift of all and definitely my best medicine, was sharing time together.

Thank you so much for your love, thoughtfulness and time.

You kids are my world.

Mum xxx

Change is as good as a rest

The Winter Bearfest will be taking place in London tomorrow but sadly I won't be among the exhibitors this time.  Rather than worry about reserving teddy bears for shows, I plan to work at my own pace in future, fitting  my bear making in, with time for Polly, Betty and Toby.  After exhibiting with Hugglets for twenty years, I sure will miss all the fun of being in London with everyone else this year, but hopefully will be able to make a return with my bears in the not too distant future ... fingers crossed!

20" Marshmallow

I will of course, continue to make special bears for special people!  This pretty 20" pink 'n white girl was recently commissioned by a keen collector.  She is named 'Marshmallow' and will be meeting her new mum next week.  New mum has been waiting for my tennis elbow to settle so I could finish the knitted dungarees ... thank you so much for being so patient!

Wishing all my bear making friends and teddy bear collectors a wonderful show in London tomorrow.  I hope the day is full of magical teddy bear buzz! Have fun!

Sunday Lunch

Have 'borrowed' this pic from my daughter after our lovely Sunday lunch with her and her fiance last weekend. It was a special treat, posh grub at Michelin Star restaurant in Royal Tunbridge Wells ... very swish!

 I miss our Mum 'n daughter time since my beautiful girl flew the coop just over a year ago, so catching up regularly is important to us. Fay and I rarely have photos together, so this lovely happy photograph snapped as we tucked into a fabulously pretty desert last Sunday, is very special.

Thank you for a lovely fun lunch you two, 

See you again very soon!

 xxx

Handmade with love,

It was my birthday earlier in the month and I completely forgot to write a blog post ... birthdays seem to come round far too quickly the older I become!

My day was full of birthday visits, gifts, cards, flowers, laughs, family chat and a dinner with my children, their partners and of course, my gorgeous grandson.

Speaking of grandsons, this is the very precious memory board Toby's mummy and daddy created for my birthday gift this year.  I am so touched by the love and care they put into making it.

Thank you so much for my special 'Nana' present Ants, Han and Toby ... it makes this very proud mum and Nana, smile every day!

xxx

That's not tennis!

My bear making has been limping along at a snail's pace lately because I had a flare-up of tennis elbow; twenty years of bear-making takes a toll on joints unfortunately.  I've had to start using a support which I wear below my elbow while working ... thankfully, that is helping.  So, the pink 'n white bear I mentioned in my previous post is waiting for knitted dungarees (knitting is particularly painful with this condition) and her ears still need stitching on (mustn't forget to do that!) ... but we are making progress, albeit slowly.

On the plus side, having to rest my arm has at least provided me with much needed time to tidy my workroom, which is now lovely and organised ... 

I'm relieved to say my arm is feeling a bit stronger now and I'm looking forward to making a lovely bear crafting mess in here again in a few days' time!

Pink 'n white in progress..

It's been a while since I shared a work-in-progress pic here, so this is my current project, a lovely big pink 'n white girl; a special commission for a customer.

I think she's coming along beautifully and I'm looking forward to assembling her because then it will be time to start work on a cosy pair of knitted dungarees for her to wear and as you know, I do enjoy a snuggle on my sofa with my knitting needles of an evening! 

So I'll share another pic when she's finished and I hope you will pop back to see how she progresses ...

:-)

Positively staying in step..

Training this little pickle to walk politely on her lead is proving a challenge.  At eight months of age, she now pulls like a proverbial steam engine.

Walking Betty on her lead together with big sis Polly, just isn't practical at the moment.  It's a constant strain on my arm joints .... not to mention my stress levels! So I have had to walk my girls separately most days, to give me time to focus on teaching Betty lead etiquette.

Little Miss Boo loves to live life in the fast lane and is always very excited by the big wide world, so wants to explore at super puppy speed, which as you can imagine, is not conducive to walking calmly.  She is an absolute sweetheart and so much fun, but boy oh boy, can Betty Boo pull!

In search of good advice, I have watched a stack of 'You Tube' 'how to teach your dog ...' videos, listened to advice from all kinds of doggy quarters, read heaven only knows how many dog training/psychology/behaviour advice books and have been taking Betty to obedience training school for the past four months.  I have to say, it is truly amazing just how much conflicting advice is spouted when it comes to dog training!

I absolutely loathe the notion of aversive methods to train, so for my girls there will never be choke chains, electronic collars, or the like, no matter how long it takes, nor how difficult/frustrating it is, to train them to a reliable obedience standard.  In fact I don't even like to walk them on their collars, I prefer harnesses as I think they are kinder.  After educating myself as fully as I could manage, my heart and common sense told me instinctively that 'Positive Reinforcement' would be the right dog training path for us to take.

Betty is actually pretty darned obedient off lead, so I am sure that if I can teach her how to walk more slowly by my side without a lead, I should be able to teach her how to apply that skill to lead walking. So, this week we've been playing games indoors and also on the local playing fields, to encourage my lively girl to stay in step with me, firming up her focus on my movements by using a clicker to click and treat whenever she put herself into the correct position ... she loves to learn in this playful way and that little blue clicker really captures her interest. There are no harsh yanks on her lead and no cross words while we do this, just gentle, calm encouragement and praise, as Betty works out what is expected of her.  

Today I noticed a marked improvement on our lead walk as she began to make the connection between our games and walking on her lead outdoors. Of course,  there were times when she still forged ahead, but when she pulled too far forward I simply stopped walking and waited until the penny dropped and she turned back and positioned herself by my side again.  As our walk progressed, I noticed she was spending more and more time by my side and checking with me to confirm she was doing okay ... progress, yay!

I am under no illusions this is early days, after all, the world is a very exciting place for a perky young pup in her first year exploring the great outdoors ... and dog training is hard work, time consuming and requires a great deal of commitment.  However, I am beginning to see light at the end of our lead walking tunnel and am hopeful it might not be too much longer before both my girls are able to enjoy a polite stroll by my side on their leads, without Betty pulling us all along single pawed!

:-)

Sunny smiles and curiosity!

I'm into my stride as 'childminder' for my Grandson now and despite the early morning starts, really look forward to spending Tuesdays with him.

He is the sweetest little boy, all sunny smiles and curiosity. I don't know what I ever did to be this lucky, but whatever it was, I am so very grateful for my special time with Toby ... he lights up my world!

We spend our days together chatting, laughing and of course, whatever the weather - exploring. We love to go out walking, listening to the birds, splashing in puddles, touching tree trunks and finding special treasures like sticks, stones and leaves.

So my apologies for the slow start to teddy bear production this year ... but as you can see, I've been a little busy being Nana!

:-)

Lily the Pink

This was a little indulgence bear on my part as it's been ages since I worked with alpaca, so when I saw this pretty powder puff pink piece, even though I had other projects I should have been working on, I couldn't resist buying it and squeezing her into my bear-making schedule.

I happened to have a couple of balls of lovely soft alpaca yarn in my work basket, in the perfect shade of pink for this bear, so over the weekend, I snuggled into my chair to knit her a cosy hat and scarf to wear.

Lily looked so pretty in pink, I am delighted to say she was adopted as soon as she went onto my website yesterday!

:-)

Happy 80th Birthday Dad, from us all xxx

I didn't write a blog post for my Dad's birthday on the 10th of January this year. I didn't forget, I just didn't feel like dwelling on him not being with us to celebrate his 80th, so instead I visited my son and his family, spending the morning laughing, chatting and playing with my Grandson. That afternoon, my husband and I took Polly and Betty out for a good run on 'Big Field', squelching through puddles deep enough to swim in as we battled driving rain. Needless to say my mucky pup Goldie girls had an absolute blast playing in the mud!

So Dad's birthday was a normal Sunday for me, packed with family and outdoors, as most of my Sundays are.  Later in the day though, I felt the urge to catch up with the rest of my family on Facebook.  Dad always enjoyed Facebook.  He would often mention how much he loved being able to keep in touch with his 'girls' and grandchildren via the computer ... and he was a mean online Scrabble opponent too!  My first job of any day was always to turn on my computer, log into Facebook and catch up with Dad's antics on our virtual Scrabble board.  He delighted in beating me!  

How I miss those morning Scrabble games with you Dad.

A rare gem of a family photograph!

Our Dad (blue shirt) celebrating with his sisters and their husbands

Anyway, as I was saying, I turned on the computer, logged into 'Facebook' and found myself strolling down Memory Lane, back through old family photos, photos of my Dad.  As I browsed the few pics I have of him, smiling to myself, I wrote a little birthday message and before I knew it, several of my nieces, my sisters, our Auntie (Dad's sister) and some of Dad's nieces had joined me online from their homes across the South of England and we began to reminisce fondly about Dad, on what should have/would have been, his eightieth birthday.

Sadly I have very few photographs of Dad because I grew up in the days when a camera was a fairly rarely used item in most families, saved mostly for high days and holidays and of course as a youngster, I didn't own any of our family photographs ... so when my younger sister Lynda (blushing bride in the pic below) sent me a virtual 'handful' of the equivalent of dusty old photographs from our younger days, on Sunday night, I was bowled over.  We don't live close to one another these days, so I had no idea those pics had ever been taken!  I think we girls all assumed our Dad would live forever, so it never crossed our minds that photographs of him could and would become so very important to us. Sharing precious 'Dad' photographs and memories on his birthday, brought Dad close to us all again.

We five sisters, with our Dad

I don't say this very often, 

but thank you Facebook.

And special thanks to you Lyn.

And a very Happy 80th Birthday to you Dad,

With love from us all.

Your Family.

 xxx

A Crystal Day

It may have taken me a while to find my creative stride this year, but I can, at last, introduce you to my first bear of 2016 ...

So without further ado, meet 'Crystal'!

Crystal 18"

Crystal puts me in mind of the kind of day when the world should wait, while you muffle up and enjoy a bracing walk beside a frozen lake in watery January sunshine.  I love days like those!

For further adoption details, please visit Crystal on my website:

www.allbearbypaula.com

Update: Crystal has been adopted!

Christmas Cobwebs

There's nothing quite as good as a crisp, sunny day, straight after Christmas ... the kind of day that calls you to don walking boots and head up the nearest hill to blow away overindulged Christmas cobwebs!

We headed up to Bluebell Hill with Polly and Betty to walk off our Christmas excess and the view was spectacular!  The girls had a whale of a time chasing up and down steep paths, while we strolled downhill, then huffed and puffed like geriatrics on the uphill trek.

It might take a few more of these walks to shift our mince pie muffin tops, but who cares when the sky is blue and you can see for miles and miles and miles?!!!

:-)

An Adventuresome Bear!

When my sister Lynda asked if I 'knew anyone' who would be able to create a teddy bear from her daughter's old Scout camping blanket, naturally I proffered my own name!

The blanket duly arrived in the post a couple of  months prior to Christmas and I must admit, my initial thought was that it was a pretty uninspiring piece of woven cloth (and quite scratchy! Given the lovely soft fleece blankets available today, maybe it's time for the Scout movement to upgrade their camping blankets?!)  Anyway, on the upside, the cloth was strong enough to cope with the rigours of teddy bear construction, so after mulling things over, I set about designing a suitable teddy bear ... nothing too cutesy as this was to be an adventuresome kind of bear!

Lyn's concept was for me to make a memory bear, large enough for my niece Charlie to attach her Scouting badges and her Grandfather's.  (Grandad had been a Boy Scout in his youth and sadly passed away recently.)  This would keep the hard earned badges safe and proudly displayed ... such a lovely sentiment couldn't help but inspire me!

So, the brown wool blanket became a 19" teddy bear with a lovely round centre seam head, accessorized with Charlie's Scouting neckerchief and two of her Scout Movement badges. 

Needless to say there is a certain professional pride, (not to mention nervousness!) in accepting a secret commission from one's sister of all people (!) so I was relieved to receive a highly delighted response when she came to collect him in person ... phew!

'Scout' hopped into Santa's sack, finally meeting Charlie on Christmas Day. Charlie has renamed him 'Bear', in honour of the inspirational Bear Grylls, Chief Scout for the UK Scouting Movement.  The perfect name for such an adventuresome bear!

:-)

A New Year's Wish

The final day of 2015 has arrived here in the UK in a sunny, gusty, showery kinda way, making it crystal clear Christmas is now over with and a new year beckons ...

I loved Christmas Day this year. My kids and their partners came home and as they are all adults with busy lives of their own, I never take that for granted.  It was extra special to have them back around my table, sharing Christmas dinner as a family ... and this year, for the first time, celebrating with my little Grandson Toby.

I think Toby brought with him the true spirit of Christmas this year ... as only a child seeing the magic of Christmas through innocent eyes can.

Being able to spend Christmas Day with my family was very special and to share in Toby's Christmas magic, the most precious Christmas gift of all.

So here we are today, our family celebrations done and a New Year waiting for us. As the final hours of 2015 tick by, I don't have a New Year's Resolution, but I do I have a wish ... 

I wish for a happy and safe year ahead for my family.  I wish for my children's hopes and dreams to be treasured and I wish for my Grandson's life to be held precious by his family and the world around him.

Happy New Year to you all,

With my love. 

xxx

Step into Christmas!

I am sure there are many ladies of a 'certain' age who like me, are mums with kids who grew into adults without warning, then flew the coop.  It sure takes a while to adjust to making festive preparations without excitable youngsters at home to share the tinsel and Christmas sparkle ...  

But I have always enjoyed the approach of Christmas and taken a pride in making our home cosy and filling it with the aroma of festive cooking spices, so although it may have taken a while for my Christmas spirit to waken this year, waken it did ... the moment my kids told me they wanted to come home to share Christmas!

So, my cake is now baked and covered in marzipan, a fruit pudding mixed and steamed and my red and green biscuit tin is heavy with home baked gingerbread. The Christmas tree is twinkling merrily and my husband has even hung fairy lights outside our house to welcome guests!

Tomorrow I will ice the Christmas cake (better late than never, my son loves the icing!) and wrap the kids' gifts.  I may be late with preparations this year, but I am determined to be ready on Christmas Eve when my daughter and her fiance come home.  We will be joined on Christmas Day by my son and his family, so as you can imagine, I am excited about sharing the magic of Christmas with them all and of course, with my little Grandson!

So, despite a quiet house in the lead up to Christmas, it's fair to say I am enjoying my tinsel and sparkle preparations this week ... as I wait for my family to come home and step into Christmas.

:-)

Catching up for Christmas

Met with my nieces from Portchester yesterday afternoon. They drove from Hampshire to Kent for a Christmas catch up with family and arranged for us to meet at beautiful 'Mote Park' for a fun walk with our dogs.

Our Christmas family catch up in the park

Unfortunately my sister Fo and I don't get to spend nearly enough time with our Hampshire nieces now they are all grown-up and working so far away, so it was great to have an opportunity to spend some time walking and chatting with  them. They brought their mum's (our sister Tina) cheeky Cockerpoos, Woody and Jessie, with them and my sister Fiona and her husband Simon brought Autumn, their magnificent German Shepherd girl.  My son and his family donned wellies to meet us there and of course, if there's a doggy party to be had, my gorgeous goldie girls, Polly and Betty, are always happy to attend!

Cousins catch up!

In fact all five dogs had a wonderful time racing around and re-acquainting themselves.  It was so much fun to watch them enjoying their family Christmas catch up too!  

So thanks for taking the time to travel up from Hampshire to see us all Justine, Kerri and Mark. The dog walk was a great idea - we all thoroughly enjoyed it and Polly and Betty wish Jess and Woody a very Happy Christmas!

Safe trip home girls and Mark.  
Have a great Christmas ... and let's catch up again soon! 

xxx

Shedding new light on Malteser

By the way, I took new pics of Malteser sitting on my little bench in the garden today. I wasn't entirely happy with how the studio lights had affected his colouring, so thought I'd see if daylight was better for him ... and the result is so much better in natural light!  Let's hope they help Malteser to find the new home he so deserves. He really is a lovely traditional teddy bear.

20" Malteser

If you would like to see Malteser's new photographs and full adoption details, please pop over to my website:

www.allbearbypaula.com

Good luck Malteser!

:-)

Update: So the new pics did the trick and Malteser has been adopted!