This is amazing, my darling - really good! Well done!!

Thanks darling! ^_^

Great job with this. Slow pace makes great art.

Thanks very much. I'm not normally good at slow paces, way too impatient for that. ^_^

lol. Well the time it took was worth it.

On this occasion, I'm inclined to concur. ^_^

lol.

oooooooooooooooooo.... I'm loving it....

V.

i <3 Russian blues, they're such nice kitties

I have no idea, definitely more of a dog person here. But the photo was beautiful. ^_^

Oh my gosh that's amazing! It made me go wow.

Well, a fave from you is high praise indeed. ^_^

Seriously everytime I see it, it makes me go wow.

amazing work, amazing details

Thanks very much! ^_^

This is stunning! The eyes, the fur, the lighting; everything looks amazing! ^_^ You keep outdoing yourself :P

Awww, now you're making me blush.

You blush whenever I comment on your art xD Your cheeks must be getting tired by now.

I'm very good at blushing - had 25 years of practice. ^_^

You must teach me! :o

Just get embarrassed a lot and you should be fine. ^_^

I already do that ^^; hard to tell if I'm blushing though

Had to tell with me at the moment as well, since I burned my face yesterday. ^_^

Eeeeeep! D: Sunburn?

Uhuh. Very sunny both days and I was working in the garden in just a t-shirt. As a consequence, I now have no voice and I feel like I'm dying from fever. Oh, and my nose might peel in a few days...

Eeeeep... >: Wear sunblock next time. And a hat!

Sunblock is a good idea, definitely. And being more careful in the spring weather, which can be rather treacherous. Having a cold sucks.

Damn, a cold and sunburn? D: Don't be so mean to yourself >: *Cuddles doubly carefully now because of peeling skin*

I didn't exactly plan this. Besides, it has set me several days behind in my planting schedule. Not good for my vegetable garden at all. On a more positive note, since it's getting pretty hot here, my orange and lemon trees are starting to flower. ^_^

Yay <3 That's good. I'm glad you're getting out into the garden more. I was only joking, you know. <:3

Ever notice how a comment on a picture of yours always escalates into a conversation between us? xD

I love my garden and I can't wait for it to start producing something edible! I must be getting old...

I have noticed, but I kinda like that. Nothing wrong with a spot of conversation. ^_^

My Mum grew some really lovely plums which she turned into plum jam during the summer. Tastes so much better than the store bought stuff <3 There's just something about growing your own food that makes it taste that much better, isn't there?

I like it too, it makes up for not having conversations on MSN :3

For the past couple of years, I've been having increasingly stronger urges to grow and preserve stuff. I think it comes from the time in my childhood when we had a summer cottage and we used to grow most of our food ourselves. But in general, I think Finns are still better connected with nature than Brits are. Lutien is very keen to help me (at least to make sure I don't dislocate my pelvis again) but I don't think he really gets the whole gardening thing the same way I do. He sees individual elements, whereas I see the whole thing connected, which is a definite advantage when you are trying to plan something as major as overhauling half of the garden. But I definitely agree that home grown tastes way better than anything from the super market.

Sorry about the lack of MSN, but I'm never by the computer long enough to bother logging in. It's a shame really, but that's just the direction my life has taken. *sad smile*

*Nods* My mum's Irish and she's definitely got the gardening bug like you do ^^ You both sound very similar. She's got joint problems as well but she's out there whenever she can manage, working away at the garden.

Lutien has banned me from gardening while I'm ill. Very annoying of him. But I intend to crack the whip and having him do some of it instead. I can sit in the conservatory wrapped in blankets and whisper advice to him (fourth day of no voice - this is really getting boring). ^_^

Text him! x3 I hope you get better soon though <:3 *Hugs* Say hi to him from me, the person he's never met before |3

I'll probably get some paper and scribble some insults at him while doodling. I'm feeling a bit more inspired today, so I might actually get around to drawing something proper. And I shall say hello to him, when he comes back from walking Sinta. ^_^

Awww don't be mean to your future hubby x3 And yay, I hope you draw something too :3

I'm not too mean, just constructively so!

Sadly gardening won over drawing again. I sat in the nice warm conservatory and re-potted all our tomato and pepper plants, with Sinta supervising in between demanding cuddles. She is such a sweetie.

My voice is also starting to come back, which is good news since I'm supposed to be dming an rpg session on Sunday. And my players are difficult enough to control when I can shout over them. ^_^

Get an airhorn, that'll sort em out

That's an awesome idea! One of our players has moved to Hong Kong and will be joining us via Skype, and the first thing I wanted to know was whether on our end we have a mute button somewhere...

You can mute yourself but not someone else unfortunately for you x3 It might be different for a group convo though, not sure.

Hong Kong eh? That's near my timezone. Can I join? xD

Unfortunately we are still playing according to UK times, so might be a bit late for you. Plus it's a closed campaign, so I'm afraid I will have to turn you down on this occasion. Do you play a lot of D&D, though?

Pity about the mute function.

No worries, I understand ^^ I used to play D&D when I was in high school but my group sucked x.x DM always played it as him vs us, one guy got hyper at the slightest intake of sugar, another guy was a rules lawyer and a munchkin, and only one other guy played it like a game; to have fun x3

Our group has been going for a while now, although most of the players have changed on the way. (I started the group when I moved to England six and a half years ago.) some of us are good enough that there is potential for power gaming, but we've tried to focus instead on the roleplaying and character development side of the game. Admittedly occasionally it's fun kill couple of hundred orcs, but some of are plot lines these days can be very profound. Like, does end always justify the means, or if a good person asks you to murder innocent people, is it still possible for him to be lawful good. That sort of stuff.

Good lord you lot sound like you're WAY out of my league x3 I've only really started properly roleplaying in the last couple of years, and I'm still learning. Well, I hope you guys have fun anyway <3 Maybe by the time I move to England I'll have more experience and I can join then ^^

I've played D&D for about 9 years so I've had plenty of chances to experiment both as a player and as a DM. I like to encourage my players to get as much out of the core classes and races as possible, but also to do fun stuff like playing psions or pixies etc. I'm hoping that we will soon start playing a campaign where my character is a wolf, who has been Awakened by the druidic spell. (In fact, that would be Whisper, whose back story I've uploaded here as well.) And while I may be known for knowing the page number for the carrying capacity tables, we try not to get too hung up on the rules. Plus we have players who have only been playing just over 2 years and are not yet fully comfortable with the rules. (It may sound like a long time, but at the very best we only play once a month. Our varying commitments make it very hard to find times that suit everyone.) So generally we are very open to new comers, but this particular campaign of mine is for a set number of players and doesn't really work if people are hopping in and out of it (the exception being our friend who moved to Hong Kong and hence missed a session). So yeah, when you move to England, you are more than welcome to try playing with us. ^_^

Thanks ^_^ You sound like a really cool group to play with. I have to admit I've never taken the carry capacity rules seriously in any of my games though x3

Hopefully the move is sooner rather than later <:3 I really miss Darker.

We're not too bothered about carrying capacity either, that's what Bags of Holding are for! (Also, if you a desperate, by driving your sword through the bag you can create a tear in time and space and potentially kill lots of people. [Yes, my players tried this...]) I'm pleased to say that my voice survived yesterday and we had a pretty awesome dungeon crawling session. Next time lots of character development and shopping! ^_^

How are you moving plans going? And how are things with Darker in general? *is curious*

Moving plans aren't moving at all at the moment <:3 Probably going to have to wait until I've finished my course before I can move, unless I have help which isn't likely. Things with Darker are going very well though <3 Hopefully he'll be coming to visit sometime soon.

Sounds awesome! I have my fingers crossed for you on both accounts! ^_^

Thanks Auntie Cerih <3 *Huggles* How goes your plans for your wedding? :3

Slowly at the moment, although my nightmares are increasing (2 this week already). And on Saturday, it will be exactly 3 months away, so I wrote a to do list for us today. Which is long and depressing as hell. And included useful things like 'go bankrupt' and 'invent mute buttons for mums'. Omg. *is stressed* It would all be a lot nicer if I didn't have three exams to take between now and July...

Eeeeeep... >: *Cuddles gently* Don't fret Cerih <:3

I'll try not to. But I haven't even ordered my festive walking stick yet and keep on having nightmares about that. Admittedly I'm also having nightmares about the dress, which I bought ages ago, but that's besides the point...

You were stoked about the dress before <:3 It's just nerves. You're okay, hun. It's a big day and everyone gets nervous. Freakishly, horribly, seemingly unbearably nervous is very common. Don't sweat it. Look at it like a birthday: There's lots of build up and expectation, but life keeps going as it used to. You two already love each other, marriage isn't going to physically change anything other than how you two pay taxes x3

You'll be fine. <3 *Hug*

Actually, in England there are no other perks for getting married than slightly more favourable intestacy rules. So we don't even change tax stuff.

But it's not the marriage itself that worries me, we've lived together for so long that I'm sure about wanting to spend the rest of my life with Lutien. It's just that the party planning is a bit more stressful than I expected. And I am so very good at worrying about everything... But I'm also looking forward to the day itself, there'll be so many people I love in the same place and I get to talk to them all! (I also threatened today at work that the main entertainment for the evening party would be roleplaying...)

Oh dude that's my kind of wedding xD

Mine too, although the relatives might object a little...

Who cares about them? x3 Hey I'm going down south for a few days, so I'll be out of contact. You take care of yourself and feel better <3 *Huggles*

Certainly not me! Hope you enjoy your time away! *hug* I'm almost completely healed now! *coughs her lungs out*

You are incredibly patient! There's so much detail in the fur, I can only imagine how long you must have slaved over it. :) However, I think my favourite thing about this piece is the eye colour; the sort of apple green around the outside of the eye and the slightly more turquoisey green closer to the pupil. Oh, and great work on the cat's ear anatomy, too!

As it happens, I'm incredibly impatient by nature. It was only because I was hanging out with a good friend that I could sit still long enough to draw this. These realism drawings are teaching me a lot of patience, but I still couldn't imagine spending for instance 20 hours on a single piece. But I personally think the eyes and the ears are the best bit of the picture.

I'm glad you liked the drawing and I appreciate your comment!

You are very welcome! :) Again: it's a great piece!

What wonderful detail you accomplished in this picture :3

Thanks very much! That was a good day, I seem to remember. ^_^