Don't pick fights!

I don't know if Smokey will ever learn...He got in a fight with a stray and had a huge infected sore above his eye and one in his ear. Poor guy--I could just imagine that cat having him by the eye and ear and not letting go! Apparently this isn't his first fight. When he came here, his ear was folded back as you can see in the photo. He is so much better in this picture. It was taken a couple of weeks ago so he is well now, just has a little bald spot above his eye where he is growing back some hair. I'm trying to trap the stray to get him fixed without much luck. I had a virus and was sick for over a week, couldn't even get out of bed for a few days! When I woke up with a temp of 103, I figured I better get myself to the dr. I'm better now, but you can really get behind in just a few days, can't you? I'd love to take a hint from Little Bit (below), but just don't think I have time to lie in the yard right now. Maybe soon.....

Oh, hoping to get the new countertops sealed this week so I can get the sink installed this weeked!!

Homemade frozen pizzas

Like I mentioned, I have been filling my freezer. I am trying to:

1.) Save money by not eating out and going to to grocery store as much

2.) Eat healthier

3.) Save time by not having to cook every night

So far, things are going well! It is so easy to buy those cheap little frozen pizzas for when you are starving and in a hurry, but they are so greasy and full of calories & sodium! So that was one of my first "freezer projects".  First, I made 2 recipes of pizza dough. (Find the recipe for the dough here.) This dough is easy to make, freezes well and tastes so good! I save a couple of dough balls for the freezer for making a bigger pizza for dinner. The rest I cut into smaller portions to make smaller 1 serving pizzas. After letting the dough rise as directed, I made them into small pizzas and cooked in the oven about 5 minutes. After cooling a bit, I added store bought pizza sauce (maybe the next time I will make my own sauce too!), toppings & cheeses. I tried a few different version (spinach, pepperoni, veggie...). After topping them, I wrapped in parchment paper, then aluminum foil and put them all in ziploc gallon freezer bags. (I can get 3 or 4 in a bag.) Both I & my husband have enjoyed them and they are so much better and better FOR you than the ones from the store! You can cook them frozen, but I recommend removing them from the freezer a little while before cooking. Let me know if you try these and how you like them!

I'm still taking my sunset photos....I liked this one from yesterday. I took these at the

boat ramp, so there were boats coming in as I was there and I caught one in the photo. It ALMOST makes me want to go out on a boat....almost!

Sunsets....

I am obsessed with taking photos of sunsets lately....there is a good spot across the road from me where I love to go, or its fun to find a new spot some days. My next goal is to learn to take some pictures of the moon. That will be a challenge, haven't had much luck so far! But right now, I am still enjoying the sunsets. Its amazing that they can be so different every day, isn't it?

We have had some really warm days lately and its hard to believe it is winter! I'm already thinking about my garden and all the things I can do outside. Its so tempting to plant when its nice, but guess I should wait...Poncho (in the photo) is taking advantage of all these warm days!!

In the meantime, I have some new things to try that I can do inside. First is making some homemade laundry detergent. I am almost out, so will be trying it soon and will let you all know how it works out. I have been doing some early spring cleaning and cleaned out a lot of "stuff" (like my Raggedy Ann collection) from my laundry room. This will make room for things that are needed, now I just need to find a way that looks pretty!!

Proud!!

 I'm so proud of my nephew, Jeffrey, who graduation from high school on Tuesday and my niece, Tara, who will graduate from junior high school next Tuesday. They're all grown up now!!

Water loving kitty!

I've told people about this kitty loving the water...now I have proof! Every time I water my plants, he comes running and chases the water. The other day I had a leak in my water hose and he LOVED it! I need to have a sprinkler system installed. I think he would LOVE it! I've had kitties that like the water, but never seen one enjoy it as much as he does!!

 
 

Poncho's story

 

Poncho has a good story...he came here so scared and skinny and sickly. He's still "slim", but healthy and friendly. (That's why most of his pics are of him in my lap!) It was just last summer (I think....it seems longer ago!) that he was hiding in the shed next door while we cooked out. He'd watch us from afar and I'd cook extra hot dogs so I could toss him a few treats. It didn't long for him to start hanging out with us, then ON us! It took a while to clear up his sniffles & ear mites, but he was well worth it!!

 

 

Senior pictures

My nephew is a senior this year so I did his senior portraits. I was pretty proud of how they turned out! I took some of the rest of his family too....I've had my eye on several of these places to take pics for a long time and we had lots of fun, or at least I did! I love how they turned out, but it helps when you have good looking models! I wanted to share a few of my favorites. I've even had a few requests to do other peoples' photos, which I would LOVE!! I guess with my new nephew, I have another cutie to photograph too...Enjoy my other pics!

Smart Kitty

I'm thinking Hadley is one smart little kitty! She learns fast and I've taught her to shake & "give me 5"...so I was wondering what other tricks I could teach her. Any suggestions? I know you're supposed to teach them things they are already good at. (She was always pawing at me and reaching for me, so that's why I taught her that trick.) Lately when you try to walk into a room, she runs in front of you and jumps straight up and grabs the door knob with both paws. She'll hang there a few seconds waiting on you to open the door. I'm not too sure I want to turn that into a trick though! LOL!! I'd love some suggestions...never really trained a kitty before!!

New drawings...

Lately I've been in a "drawing" mood! I love doing these drawings on paper, just black and white. I may add color later, or maybe not! I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but have had some t-shirt suggestions, which I thought was a great idea! We'll see...right now I'm just accumulating a big stack of drawings! haha!

Besides drawing, I've been dealing with some sick kitties too. Mr. Spock (my oldest kitty) is having inner ear problems again. Last Monday I got up to find him wobbly again and barely able to stand. I got him some antibiotics hoping to keep from taking him to the vet because he gets SO upset when I take him. After a few days, I didn't think he was better so I took him to the vet on Friday. He has kidney disease too and I was worried he wasn't getting up to drink enough. He was dehydrated so he got some fluids, a steroid shot and is on 2 different antibiotics. He's still unsteady but seems to be getting better. He is definitely eating and drinking more now with his steroid shot kicking in! It surely won't hurt him to put on a little weight. He had lost from  18.5 to 11 lbs the last time we weighed him. Its hard to see him so small since he has always been a big, healthy kitty until about the past year. He is 15, so I guess it is just something I have to deal with....he has been getting plenty of extra attention and I'm sure he's enjoying that! He goes for a checkup tomorrow and I'm hoping to get some good news that his ear drum is healing!

Welcome Little Oakley!

I am now a GREAT AUNT! My great-nephew, Oakley Chandler Reynolds was born today. We are all excited he's here and ready to spoil him!!

Oakley's Mural

Today is the today...I'll be a great-aunt! My nephew's baby, Oakley, is on his way today. Can't wait to meet him! It seems like we've been waiting forever...while we were waiting, I painted this jungle mural in his nursery. I told them to tell him about me every time he looks at it. ha!

How spoiled is my cat?

I have been worried about Rusty because he stopped eating and has lost a lot of weight. (He needed to lose weight, so at least there was a good side to this story!) He has IBS and food allergies, so he is on a special diet and has enjoyed the food so far. The vet orders the food and he always liked Salmon & Green pea best, so thats what I have them order. It comes in a case, so he's had the same kind for a while.

A few weeks ago, he started leaving his food on the plate. I'd leave him all night and come back to find that his food is still there. I had to stay with him and pet him, stick the food in his face and coax him to eat. I had decided he was sick--went to Petco to get more food and bought a variety of canned food that is okay for him to eat and had planned to take him to the vet. But I just wasn't sure what was going on--he plays, purrs when you pet him, would even eat some samples of dry food that I picked up at the local pet store. I came home with the food yesterday and of course some of his salmon & green pea was still on the plate. I give him 1/2 can at a time and he never eats the whole thing. Yesterday evening I opened a new can of Venison & green pea and he ate A WHOLE CAN in no time! He just did the same thing this morning, so I now have a diagnosis....SPOILED ROTTEN!!! Ha ha!! AT least he's not sick!

American Girl

Here's my latest Mixed Media art--just finished last night! I used a vintage doll (just like I found her, looks like she has her original clothing on), old domino box, dominoes, scrabble pieces, jenga tile, vintage patch, rick rack and a page from an old book. I do have a hard time parting with some of my vintage stuff (like the doll). I guess I get too attached sometimes. ha! And I love these little vintage dolls. I recently acquired a whole box of dolls and doll parts, so guess I should use them, right?

I would love to hear what you think of my new creation. If you are interested in buying this piece, or if you want to see more pics, email me or go to my website at by clicking here:

American Girl



Hope everyone has a HAPPY VALENTINES DAY today!!

Sunsets

I LOVE the drive to my Momma & Daddy's house, especially at this time of day. I snapped pics all the way down there this day....this was my favorite of all the pictures. This is right before you turn in their driveway. (Home Sweet Home!)

Spending the day with Jackson

I went to visit with Momma while my nephew, Jack, was with her. He wasn't feeling good, but still had a good time getting his picture made! He made sweet faces--of course that's what he's doing here. Then he made mean faces, sad faces, monster faces, cow faces...any kind of "face" he could think of. I told him to jump while I took his picture and he kept wanting pictures of him jumping, doing the splits. LOL! It was fun and I have tons of cute pictures of him....here are just a few. He's such fun!

 
 
 

Naughty Strawberry!

Strawberry just couldn't leave the Christmas tree alone!! He tried, but it was just too tempting. But look at the pic below....how could you be mad with a face like that???

Happy 2011!

I'm back! We've been snowed in a couple of times and I've just been trying to stay warm!! Luckily I had Hadley and the other kitties to snuggle up with. ;) I'm working on listing some vintage linens and patterns on my site this week. I've been cleaning out my studio and finding all sorts of goodies I need to part with, so I'll be putting some on ebay and some on my website. Watch out!! My husband has been off all week so we've made some progress on remodeling my studio. Yeah!!!!

Kitty News

There is a story behind this picture that makes it even funnier. Mr. Spock had been sleeping on this box of stuffing for about a week. My husband walked in my room and saw Pumpkin lying on it and said, "aw...Mr. Spock lost his spot." I told him not to worry, if Mr. Spock wanted it, he'd get it back. Later in the day I walked in my room and saw this! LOL! Mr. Spock DID get his spot back, but he kind of had to share it with Pumpkin after all!! This isnt' the first time I've caught Pumpkin sleeping this way with the other kitties either. He's just a snuggly kind of kitty, I guess!

The other night I couldn't sleep so I made some spicy pickled peaches. I don't eat this kind of stuff so I gave them to Daddy and he liked them. I mostly wanted to make them because they look pretty in the jar. ha!I guess that's the reason I like to make jelly, salsa, etc....I love the way it looks after its made!

I'm planning a trip to Chattanooga this weekend--I will be at Chattanooga Market in booth H-26 (if nothing changes). If you're in the area, look for me there. I'm excited to check out the farmer's market. I just hope I can get a chance to get away from my booth and do a little shopping myself!!

Halloween Party

 I know...its been too long since I posted! (I know, because some of you have told me so. lol!!) I've been getting ready for some shows and haven't gotten around to blogging. But I DO have lots of pictures to share with you! First of all....the Halloween party! We had so much fun, almost as much getting ready for it as we did at the actual party! I drug so much food, decorations, etc to Momma's that it took me & Tyler (my nephew) all afternoon to get everything set up. We play a game we call "fear factor". We come up with foods that look like something disgusting and the kids have to eat them. They were tough this year and we didn't have just one winner. Guess we will have to get a little more disgusting next year!! Below are pictures from the party....enjoy! More cat news tomorrow, I promise! :)

 

 
  
  
 
 

I could never find any good "eyeball" recipes so I came up with my own! I bought canned pears and used a melon baller to scoop them into round shapes. With a paring knife, I carved a little hole just the right size for a blueberry (fresh or frozen). I put a little strawberry jam in the middle, put the blueberry in the hole and poked a toothpick through it. For the "blood", mix grape jelly and red food coloring and enough water to thin in just a little and pour around the eyeballs. These actually taste good and the fruit is good for you!

Rusty in action

Rusty and Strawberry are both recovering nicely from getting their teeth pulled! Here's Rusty feeling good and playing. I thought these pics were so funny--he looks pretty vicious when he plays! ha ha! Strawberry is feeling so good now...he has been playing more now too. And he only has FOUR teeth left!

Today I'm listing some of the jewelry I made from vintage/antique jewelry. I'm trying to come up with a name for that that category. Any ideas? I like "salvage" in the title...Check www.tcpstyle.com in a bit to see the new stuff.

Did I mention I will be in Dalton, GA on Oct. 1 from 5-8? I will be at Kellie Smith Design Studio. Here's her site, there should be directions there. Hope some of you can drop by!

Kellie Smith Design Studio

More pics of Rusty in Action....