African fabric

One of the joys of living in Africa is African fabric.  I have friends with bins full of fabric waiting to be sewn into something.  When you see a print you love it's hard to leave the shop without buying it.  Some prints are easy to find everywhere, but other seem to be one of a kind.  I've seen fabric I really liked and thought about buying but decided not to only to regret it later because I never found that print again.  Going into a fabric shop is a feast for the eyes and an exercise for the imagination.  What would these colors and this design look like on me as a shirt and skirt?  Or maybe it would make the cutest curtains or table cloth?

 The colors and patterns are interesting and often beautiful to look at, but I must admit that occasionally I'll see a fabric and think, "What in the world?!"  Here is a case in point:

It's like roller skates meets pizza cutters.  Very strange.  I don't think I want to wear this fabric!

But here is my latest outfit.  I found the cloth in a shop and I hadn't see the print before.  For whatever reason I just had to have the lantern fabric!  I took it to my tailor with a drawn picture of what sort of skirt and top I wanted.  He sent me next door to choose a matching piece of velvet to use for the trim. I was measured and I gave a down payment for the work.  About a week later I went back to the tailor shop and ta-da! here is what I got.  It fits well and I'm happy to wear my new lantern clothes.

new kitty and other critters

 We got a new kitty!  It's been over 2 years since the cat we used to have ran away.  All of our chickens with their food and eggs are mouse and rat (and shrew) magnets, so it seems like we could use some help with that.  We got this cute little boy kitten and I am calling him "Scout" but I'm not sure if the name is going to stick yet because JP keeps saying "Scoot."

Here is my boy, Teddy, my trusty dog.  He is pretty nice with the kitten so far unless the kitten comes near Teddy's food and then he growls.  He was good buddies with our last cat, so I hope they can develop a friendship.

 

We have a whole bunch of chickens.  There are 2 boxes for chicks and the bigger chickens are all over the yard during the day and in their coops at night.