A pigeon on a mission

I'd caught Mr.Pigeon staring thoughtfully up at my dictionary on quite a few occasions...



...I'd also caught him trying to read it...but I think it may have been a bit difficult as it is twice the size of our feathered friend...

...so I took pity on Mr. Pigeon and bought him a little present to make things easier for him...

...although I still wasn't sure what a pigeon would want with a German dictionary...

...I did ask, but was told to mind my own business....charming.

He then demanded a lift on my bicycle (with a folded piece of paper under his wing)...

...to one of my favourite places- Cafe Frisch, the best bakery in Heidelberg.

I was told to stay put and in he went still holding the little bit of paper...

( I should point out that I was alone, had been hanging around suspiciously outside the bakery for about 10 minutes holding a woolly pigeon , waiting for an opportune moment (i.e. a moment when nobody would be watching) and just as I though the coast was clear, that woman appeared and must have thought I was a complete lunatic...you can see it in her face)



Anyway, Mr. Pigeon emerged a few minutes later with a package and I gave him and his mystery item a lift home...

...what was written on the folded paper?

I thought so- "one piece of cake for Mr.Pigeon please"

Introducing....THE WONDER CHAIR!

I had a problem. It was a beautiful sunny day, the sun was shining directly onto my balcony but I had nowhere to sit. The spinny desk chair just wouldn't do so I set off on a mission to find a chair that was up for the job.



I found it in the first place I looked- near the station, sitting outside the shop in all its glory. I paid for it, was presented with a very long bag which I attached to myself and cycled home with at great risk to myself and other cyclists (you've seen the slapstick 'turning around holding a plank and hitting somebody' sketches? well imagine that but with a chair in a bag on my back and a lamp-post.)



What's so great about it? Attractive it is NOT but practical it most certainly IS. Look...it's even got a footrest built in...

"Now wait just one minute" I hear you say. "What's all this got to do with knitting and pigeons and...well, interesting things?"

Funny you should say that.



This chair not only has a yarn holder on one side...

...it has a pigeon holder on the other side!

Those chair designers think of everything.

And don't worry, Mr. Pigeon was well protected from the sun. I didn't want him burning his beak so we got his sun hat out...





And finally I'll leave you with a picture of the apple that cares.

Who needs a man when fruit can say it for 40 cents?

012 takes to the skies

Do you remember Mr. Pigeon 012? I first mentioned him in this post.


Since then Mr. P 012 has been to the rugby club bar for many a pint with his owner, has caused (too) many other rugby-shirted birds to be ordered and this week he finally got the chance to spread his little crocheted wings and fly.


Can you tell where he is?




Maybe this would help...

Mr.Pigeon's owner is taking flying lessons and after much badgering I persuaded him to take "Percy" along and take some photos to prove that crocheted pigeons really can fly.

Here Mr. P prepares for take-off...

...and sits on the throttle keeping a beady eye on all the instruments...

Mr. Pigeon 007 was understandably jealous as he has only ever flown with easyjet where you have to pay £2 for a cup of tea in a paper cup. So when we went to Cumbria for the day, 007 was taken here for some real afternoon tea with pigeon-sized apple turnovers, fruit cake and the biggest scones his little acrylic eyes had ever seen...

Not a bad life for two woolly pigeons :)

Bag, bloggers and bird

You'll be pleased to know this isn't another one of those posts where I try to hide the fact that I've been making nothing by distracting you with photos of pigeons.



It's been quite a productive day.



The finishing touches were put to this bag for a friend's 21st. It has cow print lining and a cow on the front. I tried to machine stitch "moo" onto the pocket too but failed miserably. Any tips on writing with a sewing machine?...



I got the metro bright and early (by student standards) to Whitley Bay where I met Clare and Lucy . We sauntered to Ring-a-Rosie, the finest wool shop in Whitley Bay, spent far too much money then went for a chat and a coffee. But I wasn't expecting to be showered with gifts!



Clare gave me a birthday card and this beautiful door-hanging cat. The colours are perfect (bet you're glad I didn't go for the obvious pun there) for my room and I can't get over how professional it looks...

Lucy gave us each a bag containing chocolate (not in a photographable state I'm afraid) and this fabtastic wallet. I love the fabrics and again it's extremely well made (with a zip and a popper and everything!) Now I can have a "home" and "abroad" purse to avoid euro/pound confusion.

Thank you so much, ladies- it really was great to meet you both and we had a lovely morning.

Who's "we" you say?

Mr.Pigeon and me of course!

A very happy birthday :)

I turned 21 on Saturday (which is over half way to 40 and apparently "all downhill from now on" as people kindly keep pointing out) and have come home from Germany for a few days.

On Friday I arrived home having taken 2 wrong trains, ending up in a Frankfurt ghetto, nearly missing the plane and getting to Newcastle only to find that although I had made the flight my suitcase hadn't! After the not-too-successful journey I was very pleased to arrive home to a big pile of post on my bed...

The parcels contain beautiful fabrics from Nature's Threads and from Japan, bright pink tweezers and a prize for winning Sarah's giveaway.

I knew I would be getting a lovely knitted coffee cup accessory but was delighted to find a beautifully sewn needle case too! This was the only photo where the sun wasn't so bright everything came out totally white. The needle case cover is a very jazzy orange and I am so impressed by how neat her work is.

Thank you so much, Sarah!

I got some great crafty things for my birthday as well including some more Japanese fabrics and a really good book about sewing your own clothes.

Hope everybody had as good a weekend as I've had!

p.s. in case you were wondering, the suitcase made it back home on Saturday morning- good old British Airways :)

Coming soon...

There's something about Mr.Pigeon 024

Can you tell what it is yet?







Yes, Mr. Pigeon 024 got in touch with his feminine side to become...PRINCESS PIGEON!


Princess pigeon is part of an order I got aaaaaages ago and have been putting off because of the idea of having to make a pigeon-sized tutu. Luckily it's turned out OK.


The new bird on the block has certainly impressed one young pigeon...









...

So PP and her woollysaurus will shortly be off to live in Belgium, the land of chocolate and waffles...I quite envy them :)

Forget Fred and Ginger- meet Fred THE Ginger(bread man)

Just before easter a parcel arrived on my doorstep...


In amongst the pigeon stuffing and chocolate from the parents was this little chap...





I entered Diane's blog's birthday giveaway and although I didn't win I mentioned how much I loved gingerbread men and she very kindly sent me my very own felted ginger friend! (for future reference Diane- I also like Citroen C3s and cheques for £1,000,000)

Fred as he is now known soon settled in and made himself a feathered friend...




They sat and admired the spring flowers together...

...and, after assuring me that they were both experts in woolly chicken anatomy, helped to put together a new hen...

In fact pigeon and gingerbread man were getting along fantastically until this happened...

...

...

Luckily Fred is a very forgiving gingerbread man and after a quick trip to gingerbread A&E I popped a Fred and Mr.Pigeon-sized pizza into the oven to avoid further temptation...

Thanks so much, Diane! I love my gingerbread man :)




PS: NO GINGERBREAD MEN WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS POST

Mr. Pigeon goes to Belgium

It's been a while since the last post but this time I have a decent excuse. Mr. Pigeon and I were on our own in Germany over Easter and so decided to go and see family in Brussels for a few days.

Here you can see Mr. Pigeon on the train to Frankfurt (both trains to Belgium were so typically German and efficient that we had to keep stopping because they were too early)...



Being in Belgium has obvious benefits...

...Pierre Marcolini - the best chocolates in the world EVER! Once you've had Marcolini it's hard to go back.

Unfortunately the packaging isn't very pigeon-friendly...

And it's absolutely impossible to choose a favourite...

Mmm...white chocolate and raspberry heart, Earl Grey tea and dark chocolate and violet. The good news is that there are also branches in London :D

In woolly news a new friend arrived for Mr.Pigeon in the post...all will be revealed next post!

Extraordinary Eggs and Pigeon Post

Miss Hennypenny got back to her nest after a long day to find a mysterious shiny egg...

...maybe if she sat on it something would happen...


...to her surprise it hatched!

She clucked at Mr.Pigeon to come and have a look at this strange white egg and they pecked it open to find a pleasant-smelling gloopy substance...what was it?

.........

Oh dear- must have been a champagne truffle.

In other news, Mr.Pigeon 019 who flew off to meet his new owner Monkee Maker in Bristol last month arrived safe and sound and is already being spoilt with coffee, muffins, seed, a trip to Iceland and his very own photo collage! (If you haven't read this brilliant post...which is unlikely...then you must!)

And finally, as I'm far far away (in Germany) and new pigeons will only be available once I get home in summer (yes, I know it's a long way away but postage from Deutschland is VERY expensive) I've decided to start a little mailing list to let pigeon fanciers know when they become available. If you would like to be added then please let me know your e-mail address via the pigeon loft e-mail address (above).

Have a great weekend!

Bargain Yarn and Gummy Pigs

This is my bargain bamboo/cotton yarn (1.75 euro) and groovy new coloured-handled crochet hook. I tested the hook (successfully) on Mr. Pigeon 024. Unfortunately nothing new has been made yet (although there are plans for that red yarn) but I've discovered a great patchwork and sewing shop with some great patterns for snails and chickens and yet another wool shop even closer to where I live. It was closed yesterday so that's something to explore tomorrow.

Do you recognise "Fred Ferkel"?

They're exactly the same as M&S Percy Pigs and are slightly cheaper so I'm VERY happy :D

I know I promised pictures of cake but by the time I got my apricot custard slice back home there wasn't much left to take a photo of. Sorry. Maybe next time...