Doggie Adventures

I had another doggie adventure a few weeks ago...I volunteered to transport two sweet Beagles! I picked them up in Gadsden and took them to Trenton. One was a puppy and even though I thought I had cleaned up my truck well, she found all kinds of things under my seat and pulled them out. By the time I got to Trenton I had it all piled on the dash so she couldn't eat it and she was in my lap. I believe this is Maggie in this picture, the older and calmer one. She mostly slept during the whole trip.

You know, looks can be deceiving....CJ looks like the sweetest kitty with his big blue eyes, doesn't he? He can't stand for me to pet any other cat or play with them. He even bit and slapped at me tonight. Maybe he was mad that I was playing with another cat? It didn't hurt, but it still wasn't nice! He bullies all the other cats. I thought getting him fixed would make him mellow out a little, but not so far. You'd never guess it by looking at him though!!

And here's my Daddy's pretty cow....we think she looks like a Betsy! ;)

I've been busy working on new designs for my show and for some new patterns this week. I finished about 10 jack-o-lantern make-do's last night! Can't wait for my All Halloween themed booth!! I hope I remember to bring my camera and my media card to this show!! 

TGIF!

I'm glad its Friday! I had gotten into the habit of working every single day so I didn't even look forward to the weekend. For about the past couple of months I've been taking off for the weekend, then I don't do much work on Mondays because I babysit Jackson. Before, Friday was just another day. Now I actually look forward to the weekends again! So TGIF!

I think I've mentioned that someone dropped off a kitten a few weeks ago. Maybe it was longer because he's grown a lot. He's still scared, but he'll play with me and sometimes bat me on the hand, then run away. Or I can pet him, but then he runs (only to be back in a few seconds). Since I already have 13 cats, I'm hoping to get him used to being petted so I can find him (or her?) a home. We have a baby possum too! One night I saw something out of the corner of my eye and thought it was a squirrel because it was so small. I happened to have a flashlight so I saw the little squirt running across the yard. It comes to eat on the porch but its kinda cute and so little that I just let it eat. And I've been trying to get a picture but I can't. I need to hide out one night before he gets big and ugly. ha!

Last Saturday was my sister's bridal shower....we were at Michael's one day and saw this Cinderella pumpkin and I had to try it! They didn't have all the supplies so I had to make do, but I think it turned out pretty cute! I used a white pumpkin and cut out holes for the frames to fit in. (It has one on the back too). I painted the pumpkin with a pearl white paint & sprinkled on iridescent glitter. I put some red tulle inside (one of her colors) with battery operated white lights. For the base I used the top of a papier mache box, papier mache ornaments for the wheels. I put a wood dowel through the box lid and let it stick out on the sides to fit through the ornaments (one layer only) then painted them to match. The pumpkin just sits on top of the box lid and I added some crystal beaded stems around the top. Its pretty easy--I think you could even do something like this for Halloween. Maybe a bunch of little glittery white pumpkins would be cute too.

 

Rusty is on his way to being well....he's still living in my studio and I haven't decided if he'll stay there or not. I think he likes it in there and never acts like he wants to leave and he's always happy to see me. That may be partly because I bring him canned food twice a day! After he eats, he curls up in my lap. It makes me happy to see him looking like himself again. When he came home he was skinny, dehydrated and bleeding from where he has scratched and pulled out fur. Plus he had huge swollen lymph glands on his belly and a UTI so he was in pretty bad shape! Now he's finished his antibiotics, his skin is healed and his fur is growing back. And his eyes are nice & bright so he looks like himself again. He's even getting his plus size figure back!!

Y'all have a fun weekend--my sister & her fiance's engagement party is tomorrow night so we'll be meeting some of her soon to be new family!

Crow Mountain Orchard

  I was so excited to take a picture of my new booth setup to share with ya'll....I got it all set up and didn't try to take a picture until later in the day. Then I realized I didn't have my media card for my camera!! I called my husband to bring it to me, but as I was calling him, he walked up behind me. Maybe next time!!

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I went to Crow Mountain Orchards with my sister, Lisa, and Jackson. That was fun--Jackson seemed to have a good time and tried to talk to everyone he saw! Its so pretty there--the picture below is a view from the parking lot! I bought way too much--I thought I'd have more time to put the stuff up, but I just got carried away, I guess! I bought the biggest bag of apples they had and I ended up chopping them up, coating with sugar & cinnamon and baking them with some butter. We ate some and froze some. Last night I put some in a tortilla and fried it in butter like a fried apple pie and it was really good! Those should be good this winter....Then I bought some peaches. I started some peach butter, but I miscalculated and ended up making peach preserves and I made some juice for some jelly when I get a chance. The nectarines were gone pretty quickly and I still have some grapes in the fridge but I had to throw out some pears. (Don't know why I got those--I really don't even like pears that much. ha!)

My next show is Oct. 3 and I've been trying to get some Halloween stuff done. I'm hoping to have Halloween only in my both. Won't that be fun? I just hope I can get a booth full ready in a month!!  My sister's bridal shower is tomorrow so I've been getting ready for that....then I'll concentrate on Halloween tomorrow night. I even ordered some Halloween movies from Netflix to inspire me--nothing too scary, stuff like Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas and I even have Alice in Wonderland here to watch next! And I have this picture of my nephew, Tyler, pulling all our pumpkins at the pumpkin patch last year to get me in the Halloween spirit. I love this photo! We can't wait to go back to Crow Creek again this year!!

And I don't want any of your asking why I didn't post a kitty picture....so here's Sweet Pea. I think he loves to get his picture made!!

Art Sunday & Bilbo

Bilbo & I made it to Birmingham & back! It was a long trip....about 2½ hours one way. Bilbo wasn't too happy on the way down there, but he was fine on the way back. We found out his heart is enlarged on one side (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy), but not severely. His heart rate is fast, but his blood pressure is fine. So that news is as good as I could hope for, I think! It is progressive but he is on medication (beta blockers) and we'll go back in 9 months to see how he is doing and adjust his medicine if needed. Rigth now I am not noticing any symptoms so I guess we have caught it early! Another of my kitties is sick--Rusty lives outside and had been missing for almost a week. He came back skinny, dehydrated and had sores and hair missing from scratching. Then, just as he seemed to be getting better, he got a uti. He is on antibiotics now and on his way to getting better. He is living in the back of my studio now--I'm not sure if he'll go back outside or continue living in my studio after its finished. Sweet Pea has been getting medicine for his eyes too so maybe everyone will be well soon!!

This Sunday is Art Sunday so I'm busy getting some jewelry done for that. I only have today left--then will start getting stuff together tomorrow and set up my tent. I'll have pics to share from the show next week.

Here's a Frazier update--he's still as happy as can be! He now comes over to our front porch too. Before he just hung out in the back yard of my studio, but he's much braver now! Someone dropped off a little black kitten that he loves to play with. I haven't petted the kitten and I'm trying not to get too attached so I can find it a home!! But Frazier surely is enjoying running around with him/her. I saw a baby 'possum in the yard the other night too. Too bad I couldn't have gotten a picture of that to share--it was pretty cute, for a possum!! lol!

Bilbo update

Thanks for all the kind words about Bilbo! We got his test results back and it wasn't his thyroid so we went for x-rays on Monday. His heart is enlarged so I am taking him for an echocardiogram in Birmingham on Wednesday morning and giving him some medication in the meantime. He seems to be feeling fine so maybe we have caught it early and with treatment he'll be with us a lot longer....it makes me sad to ever think of being without him, or any of my kitties.

I'm busy with appointments, getting ready for shows, weddings, showers, graphics...so I am overbooked and haven't had much time for posting or even taking pictures to post! My sister, Jackson & I all went to Crow Mountain orchard and I took a few pics that I'll share soon.

Thanks again for the concern about Bilbo--he even got a get well card from my sister's dogs yesterday!! ;)

Poor Bilbo....

Bilbo went for his yearly checkup and shots Monday and the vet heard a heart murmur and said his thyroid was enlarged. So he had to have blood drawn and tests run and hopefully we'll know what we need to do today. I feel so bad for him--he's already had 4 surgeries and I hate to think of him having another one. But every time he bounces back and he's always so easy going about everything!

Have you gotten your new issue of Create & Decorate yet? I have two projects in there this month. I have this paperclay Jack-o-Lantern in there--he's the first project! If you want to try him and don't have a big styrofoam ball, use any size you have ... they are so cute when you have a bunch of them grouped together. Then I have a "Wise Old Owl" project in this issue too. If you don't have a copy of the magazine, go to The Cat's Pyjamas Patterns to purchase the printed pattern or e-pattern. You can quickly find them in the featured area on the right!

I have a day of graphics & jewelry making planned so I should get busy! I'm working on a new style of jewelry and it seems like its taking me a long time to make any progress since its new to me. Its only a couple of weeks until my show!!

Going to the vet....

Good morning, y'all!! Sorry its been such a long time--I've had so much going on and haven't had much time to write. I even sat down and started a post a few days ago and that never got finished! I'm working on some jewelry for a show on August 31. If you're near Scottsboro, I'll be at Art Sunday/Art in the Park. I'll mostly be selling jewelry at this show.

I was finally able to arrange an appointment for CJ and catch him at the same time!! I feel bad for him--he's on the porch in a carrier waiting on me and he wasn't happy about being put in it, but he'll be much happier after I get him fixed. Last night I went on the porch because I heard some commotion and there was a tiny black kitten out there. I tried to get him/her to come to me but CJ wouldn't allow that! He bullied all the cats out there, included the teeny tiny kitten! He stuck to me like glue everywhere I went--if anyone had seen him they would have believed I trained him to heel, that's how close he was to me all night. I'm hoping he'll calm down in a couple of weeks after today. I think he's old and hadn't had any attention for a while and now he's loving it. I would love to bring him inside but I think I am over my limit for kitties in the house!

Mr. Spock is going today too--he's getting his shots and a check up. Have I ever told you how HUGE Mr. Spock is? Check out this picture of him & Pumpkin. Its pretty recent, not when Pumpkin was a kitten. Pumpkin is a little smaller than my other cats, but not a whole lot. Mr. Spock is just a giant, I guess!

I'm working on a new website to list some of my weird, just a little creepy stuff. It will be some of my paintings and papier mache stuff. I'm hoping to have that ready in a few months. I'll be sharing the link as soon as I get the first items listed. I'm not too sure if another website was what I needed right now, but it seemed like a good idea at the time! ha!