It's Been A Long Time.....

I am so sorry that it has been so long since I have posted. As a lot of you know, my husband Bernie has been battling a dreadful Cancer since the beginning of the year. For the past four months he has been in hospital having a stem cell transplant. Unfortunately the transplant did not go as smoothly as we had hoped and he is still recovering from all the complications. The hospital have finally let me bring him home, but he is still so very weak, and needs help with all his daily needs. He has lost nearly 40 kilograms as well, and so I am trying very hard to fatten him up. The only problem is that whilst fattening him up, I am doing a very good job on myself as well. Now that we are home, I am delighted to say that I have finished a bear, and I hope now to be able to spend a little more time blogging with all my lovely bear friends. I have just popped this little fellow Frankie on Ebay, and it took me an eternity as I had forgotten how to do everything. Ebay changes so much, even if you are away for just a short time.

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I wanted to let you know that we had a good result at the Doctors, and Bernie's blood has recovered enough for us to proceed with the next round of Chemotherapy next Monday. So, it will be a week in hospital for him, but at least you feel like you are doing something to try and get this awful disease under control. Then we should have one more round of chemotherapy again in a few weeks and then, fingers crossed, the stem cell transplant.

It was late afternoon by the time we had finished at the Doctors, and so we decided to go to get takeaway from our favourite seafood cafe. The other day my hair was looking decidedly ragged, and, not having time to go to the hairdresser at the moment, I decided to take to it with my scissors. Well, when I came out of the bathroom, Britty nearly died. She said "Mum, what on earth have you done to your hair?" I went back and had a closer look, and to be truthful, I really did mangle it a bit. Nevermind, I thought, I'm too busy to get too fussed about it. When I went into the seafood cafe to order our takeaway, the lady behind the counter took my order and then said, "Wow, I love the new style you have your hair in, it looks terrific. Where did you get it done?" I was too embarrassed to say I had hacked away at it myself, and was thrilled to tell Britty the comments about my "fabulous" new hair cut. You have to laugh at yourself don't you?

I am delighted to let you know that a very dear lady, Sandi Smith of Bearly Sane, Blog of a Bear Nut, has given me the Bella Sinclair Award for blogging. It is an award dedicated to Friendship, Sisterhood, Sharing and Caring. I am thrilled to have received this from Sandi, but I also feel a little guilty as my poor little blog has been a little neglected of late. Sandi not only makes the most delicious bears, but she is also the creator and administrator of a wonderful site for Bear Artists to show their creations to the world. It is a lovely site to visit, and you will also see a link on my side bar for "Bruin Banter", which is a lovely little forum for bear artists and collectors alike to chat about all aspects of bearmaking and collecting. Please visit at any time, we love to talk!!! http://www.teddybearsandcritters.com/

Well, we are off to the hospital this afternoon to see if Bernie's blood has recovered enough to go ahead with the next round of the "extra strong" chemotherapy. They want to do this round a little sooner than normal, to try and get these awful tumours that have regrown and knock them for a six. Fingers crossed, and I shall let you know if they can go ahead as soon as I hear. We have a little sunshine here in Adelaide for a few days as a nice break from the Winter dullness, and it is making us all feel a little brighter. It is my Mum's 79th birthday tomorrow. I am so proud of her as she fought Cancer 18 years ago and was so brave. They told us that no more could be done for her and gave her 3 months to live. She told the Doctors not to be so silly, and that she still had all her Grandchildren to look after!!! That is why, 18 years on, we treasure every day with her, as she proved that miracles do happen. I love that quote of Abraham Lincoln, "Everything I am.... I owe to my Mother". In my case it is so true.

Aren't These "Pretties" Gorgeous......

I thought I would show you some of the "pretties" I have started collecting. They are the most wonderful "over the top" very weighty metal animals that are adorned with diamontes. I see them more and more in gift shops about the place and I have fallen in love with them. My favourite is the little teddy bear that my daughter Britty got for me for Mothers Day this year. I have seen the most wonderful little snail, and I think that I may be dropping some rather large hints for him for Christmas!! All I want for Christmas is a snail!!!!

Finally a New Bear.....

Finally I have a new bear to show you. This is Bailey, a sweet little fellow that I have dressed in a distressed little vintage baby jacket and little vintage badge. Bailey is currently on Ebay, and if you would like to visit his auction, here is the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&salenotsupportedhttp://=&item=280357799577&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME%3AL%3ALCA%3AUS%3A1123&salenotsupported
Thanks for peeking at Bailey.