Anybody want to come and stay at Chez Sunshine?

I bet you will be glad you weren't here last night.

I went to bed but couldn't sleep and finally dozed off around midnight.  Woke up in the dark to the weirdest noise, it sounded like paper fluttering madly in a stiff breeze. I had the ceiling fan going so thought that Lulu had probably found a piece of paper which had dislodged and was now being affected by the fan. The paper fluttering noise was quickly followed by a thwack, hmm what the hell makes that noise. Still lying there in the dark listening.  What on earth are the cats are up to. Now I can hear one of the cats up on the top of my chest of drawers, knocking things over, that is unusual, the knocking things over part, one of them is always getting up there in the middle of the night to annoy me. So I turn on the light to see Lulu on top of the chest of drawers engrossed in something that I can't see. Next thing.....a freaking bat takes off from the top of my chest of drawers and starts circling the bedroom. With both cats looking longingly at it. Fortunately it was only a tiny bat about the size of a sparrow, otherwise I would have had a heart attack. What am I saying, I nearly did , who wouldn't when they find a bat in their bedroom in the middle of the night. So the sound I had heard earlier was the bat hitting the fan and then being hurled across the room into the wall above the chest of drawers. 
Finally it flew out of my room, so I threw off the sheet that I had been hiding under and jumped out of bed ran out of the room after the bat and shut the door to the bedroom so the cats couldn't follow. Then I spent the next 20 mins trying to get the bat to fly out an open door, running around the house shutting all the doors to the rooms and opening the doors out on to the verandah.  One of the cats, LULU, must have brought it in as I have no idea how it would have found it's way in otherwise. It finally found it's way out through one of the open doors. 
During the bat wrangling I spied a ginormous spider that I had tried to kill earlier in the day, lurking on the ceiling perilously close to my bedroom door.
I went back to bed and then lay there worrying whether the spider was going to come and attack me, then I remembered I have my attack cats with me so they will get it before it gets me, I hope.
This all happened at 1.30am, I finally went back to sleep at 3.45am.

Look how big this #!*^! spider is

The beams are 8 inches from top to bottom.  If you take into account his legs, I'd say he's almost as big as a saucer. (Ignore the spider web, I need to get rid of that.)

He's still on the ceiling this morning, at the highest point where I can't get to him, he's taunting me, but the minute he moves I WILL get him!!!

Sorry no pics of the bat, (what was I thinking)!!!!

Spiders, potty mouths, diets, exercise and challenges, a look back

Since it's a new year, I thought my blog could do with a few changes. I was going to go all out and change everything, but then decided against it as I like the way it looks. I've changed the header with some new photos. I kind of liked the original one more, but considering I made that cushion a whole 12 months ago, and I have been quite crafty for the last 12 months, I thought I'd change it to show that I quilt and crochet, after all I am quite proud of those finishes.

I wanted to look at some of my posts through the year too, and look back at whether my blogging has changed.  I don't think it has, maybe I've loosened up a bit since the early days. Reading some of my old posts was very very interesting. Getting to know Shay over at Quilting In My Pyjamas has been a huge influence on me. Her blog posts are very funny, she has a great sense of humour and she has taken me under her wing, so to speak, with helping me in my quilting (and in potty mouth training), lol, actually that is more likely the reverse!
We have struck up a real friendship over the last year and I think this post, Sew-in and a Spider sums it up completely. If you are going to click on this, consider yourself warned.

Looking back is sometimes not good, when you can see how many squillions of yards of fabric you have bought since since June 29 2010.  That cupboard is bursting at the seams now and I have a huge plastic bin and a basket filled to overflowing as well.  I really think I should go on a fabric diet.

Speaking of diets, hmmm, and exercise, remember these, Exercise+Me=Bad Outcome closely followed by Exercise + me is not a good equation which concluded with a bubble wrap helmet courtesy of Shay. I'm too vain to link you to that post, you will just have to find it yourselves, and it took me forever to find it, so good luck!!!! If you bribe me I might point you in the right direction.

Finally, why I was a bit very hesitant to take on another quilting challenge after my disastrous attempt with  the *@!# snowball challenge.

This has emphasised the fact that blogging has been such a rewarding experience, and more importantly, I now have a "diary" that I can refer back to as I haven't previously kept a diary.  I love this medium, 2010 was a great year of blogging for me.

Dangerous animals and more

Saturday's post about the spider had me thinking.  


After Mrs P from QIMP posted this post and this one some time ago which included a lot of deadly animals, and a number of comments from people living overseas about the scary creatures here in Australia, I googled poisonous/dangerous animals in North America.
Guess what I found!  And you lot worry about coming here, I'm pretty sure I'm never going to venture outside any metropolitan center in the U.S.A.  on the off chance I might meet one of these.


Grizzly Bear
Don't try and run from a bear because they will easily catch and dispose of you. Lastly, if the bear does start attacking you, either play dead and protect your neck, or punch him in the nose, one of the bear's few sensitive spots. 

Fatalities: 5-10 per year 

American Black Bear

Fatalities: Few, although they attack humans more than Grizzly bears This was intriguing - does that mean they would rather attack a human than a Grizzly bear or do they attack more humans than Grizzly bears do!!!!!!

Western Diamond Rattlesnake

Watch where you are walking and be attentive. If your hear a rattling sound, that means there's a rattlesnake nearby and it is ready to strike. Keep in mind snakes can extend their bite up to 2/3 their length and are too quick to dodge.

Fatalities: 5-15 per year & over 8,000 snakebites 

Not just one kind of rattlesnake too -

Eastern Diamond Rattlesnake

Timber Rattlesnake

Mojave Rattlesnake

Speckled Rattlesnake

Pygmy Rattlesnake

Massasauga

Sidewinder

Black-tailed Rattlesnake

Tiger Rattlesnake

Panamint Rattlesnake

Banded Rock Rattlesnake

Western Twin Spotted Rattlesnake

Red Diamond Rattlesnake

Prairie Rattlesnake

Grand Canyon Rattlesnake

Arizona Black Rattlesnake

Cottonmouth 

Copperhead - 4 types

Western coral Snake

Eastern Coral Snake

Texas Coral Snake

Fatalities: 5-15 per year & over 8,000 snakebites 

That's at least 24 different poisonous snakes!!!!!!!!!

Mountain Lion

Stand tall, shout loudly, stare at them intensely, and throw rocks at them if you feel threated by a mountain lion. Do not corner, confront them, flee, or play dead because it may stimulate their instinct to chase and attack you. 

Fatalities: 0-5 per year 

Coyote

Same as Mountain Lion

Fatalities: 0-5 per year

Alligator

Don't swim where alligators are suspected to be (bogs and rivers in Florida). 

Fatalities: 0-5 per year 

Great White Shark

Avoid wearing bright colors because it attracts them, and if you are bleeding, exit the water immediately because they can smell blood from miles away. 

Fatalities: 5-15 per year, 50-70 reported attacks 

Bison

They have powerful legs and may start rampantly kicking you, in which case you should try and curl up into the fetal position until it leaves.

Fatalities: Few, although indirectly (car crashes, etc.) they cause 100+ per year 

Deer

Deer had the same comments as Bison -They have powerful legs and may start rampantly kicking you, in which case you should try and curl up into the fetal position until it leaves. What the? I'm not even safe from Bambi, great!

The Black Widow Spider

They inject an especially potent neurotoxin along with their bite. This type of poison blocks nerve impulses to the victim’s muscles, resulting in cramps, muscle, spasms, rigidity, and, in extreme cases, paralysis.

The Brown Recluse

They also enjoy bunking with humans, and have a nasty habit of crawling into clothing as well. Most victims are bitten while dressing or sleeping. In its own way, the brown recluse’s venom is much nastier than that of the the Black Widow. Recluse venom is a necrotic toxin: that is, instead of affecting a victim’s nervous system, it acts directly on the skin and musculature to kill the tissues immediately surrounding the bite. The dead tissues heal very slowly, if at all. 


Gila Monster


One of only two poisonous lizards in the world.

Scorpions

Tarantulas

Puss Moth Caterpillar

Hornets

Wasps

Horse Fly

Ticks - Lyme Disease, 

Skunks

Poison Ivy

Have I missed anything?

Sew-In and a spider

Last night was kind of a modified Sewing Party. the absolutely wonderful Mrs P linked to Friday Night Sew-In, I didn't because I forgot. So we had a kind of party, emailing each other every hour or so to encourage each other.
My contribution to the night was hand sewing the binding to the back of a quilt.

Everything was going perfectly, I accomplished quite a bit.

UNTIL

Now I have to warn you scaredy cats that don't like creepy crawlies, avert your eyes now, go off and have a coffee and don't come back until my next post. I am slightly concerned that if I post this I will turn away thousands of potential travellers to our fine land. Also don't read any further if you don't like swearing, it has been sensored, but....................

I spotted this.

take a look, doesn't look that big does it, but that is about 3.5 metres (11 ft) away up above my head. Here's a close up.

I wasn't too bothered by it, until I took a pic with a flash,

Look at it's eye, shining brightly in the middle of it's head, that gave me the creeps.

The emails went back and forth like this (heavily sensored as I don't want  people to think that Mrs P and I use anything but polite language.)


Me:Look what I just saw when I came back in  

Mrs P: Grab the Pea Beu and kill that ######. 




Me: Don't worry I have just used half a can on the #######. It's about 3-4
inches across. The cats are going crazy now.

Mrs P: Your cat looks possessed...


Me: I can't go to bed now until that ####### dies. It's only about 10  
metres from my bedroom, that's way too close for me.

Mrs P: Stuff a towel under your door...it's going to die. A horrible death. Like
agent orange for spiders horrible.  It usually only takes 5 minutes. 

Me: It's taken freaking longer than 5 mins, and it has only looked pissed  

off, not even looking like its in its final death throws.

Mrs P:  ( a very helpful comment here from her at this stage)   Maybe it's a super spider and you just gave it extra powers with the spray?

It's probably sending out subliminal messages to all the spider friends and
theyre converging on your house as we speak...

Me: I think I'm going to die from fly spray poisoning before that nuclear  

######## does. Maybe its a cockroach in a spider suit. 

Mrs P: Can you see a zip? If you can see a zip it's in fancy dress...

Me: I'm not getting that ######### close.  You can come over and have a look if you like, or maybe send Michael.

A few minutes later. 

Me: I went over to watch TV while i was waiting for it to die and it  

followed me over......#########

Mrs P:  OMG it's STALKING you.

Another quarter of an hour later.

Me: It hasn't moved for ages now, fingers crossed

Mrs P: It ‘s probably faking it- if you go to bed – it will get into your booze cabinet. You don’t want to be confronted by an drunk surly spider at 3 am do you?

Me: You're making me cry, I am going to have nightmares. Not my booze cabinet aaaaahhhhh!

Me: Oooh oooh ooh it's sort of twitching slowly, I think that is a good sign. EIther that or he is getting ready to jump on me.

Me: I'm going to bed, if you don't hear from me in the morning, you know I have been attacked by a mutant spider that has got super spider powers from being sprayed with a couple of litres of fly spray.

Good night. I hope I wake up in the morning ( without a spider staring at me) now I'm freaking myself out. If you don't hear from me call the police.

THIS MORNING

Me: I survived the night, mwaa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

I got the #######, still wondering whether it was a cockroach in a spider suit though,

Does that look like a zip to you?

Mrs P:  Oh Thank God. I got up hoping there would be an email from you  to let me know you were OK. 
If there wasn't I was calling the police immediately.