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!

Congratulations to Cindi!

Congratulations to Cindi--winner of the contest! Yep, that's an heirloom lemon cucumber! I ordered some heirloom seeds and got a free packet of seeds for these. I had never heard of them before--maybe I'll grow more next year. They were pretty easy to grow from seed. I had lots of tomatoes, plus Daddy had a bunch so I canned some salsa last night. I ended up with one quart, one half pint and 6 pints. Doesn't seem like much for all the work! Right now I'm getting a lot from my garden--seems like the squash, okra and cucumbers are slowing down, but now I'm getting onions & beans. The watermelons and some winter squash are almost ready and I have a few Jack be Little pumpkins ready. 

So Pumpkin had a problem the other night....he was playing with Mr. Spock and apparently things got a little rough. I couldn't resist taking his picture before I helped him out!! He's full of energy and sometimes its funny to see him trying his best to get the older kitties to get up and play!

Here's a picture of the "big kids"--Tara, Jeffrey & Tyler. When in the world did they all get so grown up? Jeffrey's about ready to get his driver's license--maybe I can start sending him on some errands for me!! I'll miss them when they go to school--they spend a lot of time at the office, which is about a mile from here so I can just pop in when I get time. There is usually at least one of them there at all times!

I picked up this typewriter a few months ago and thought I'd just display it in my office like it is. But now I'm thinking I might want to take off the keys and use them, but how in the world do you do that? If you know, tell me! lol! I just can't figure it out.....

New contest!

Do you know what this is??? Its something I grew in my garden....the first person to correctly guess what it is by posting a comment on this post will win a prize from me! Just be sure to check your email so you can send me your address if you win. I'm not saying what the prize is yet--it will be a surprise, but it will be something good!!

This is my nephew's new puppy, Dexter. He's half Saint Bernard/Half Great Pyrenees and he is the cutest thing. He ran off Sunday morning while Tyler was gone to visit his Mom and we spent the entire week looking for him! We put up posters, put it on the radio, in the newspaper, called all the vets and the pound. Tyler came home Friday morning and we got a call about him Saturday morning. He wasn't lost close to my house, but he ended up right at the end of my street. I'm surprised I didn't see him because I turn right by that house every day!

  I kept Jackson yesterday....always fun! This is him playing with his Papa (my Daddy). They surely were having a good time!! I wanted a picture of them playing together but (of course) the batteries went dead while I was taking these!

If you're wondering what the kitties have been doing....just hanging out and being lazy! I wish I could get as comfy on the couch as Pumpkin does!

I'm making some progress on the pile of dolls I've been working on for so long. Maybe I'll get new patterns on my site pretty soon! I did get a free pattern listed--I hope y'all all got to download it so you can make it for Halloween!

Speaking of Halloween Tyler & I went on Amazon.com to look for a copy of Frankenweenie. Have you seen it? If not, you have to....its really cute, in a Tim Burton kind of way. As usual I ordered a bunch of other stuff. I got a book about planning Halloween parties, some Halloween mad libs for Tyler and another Halloween book for us to read!

New FREE pattern!

  I have another free pattern on my website! This is another one that will be on one of the Sheryl Borden episodes. You can go to The Cat's Pyjamas Patterns and click on the free patterns category to download the free pattern. If you haven't already, download them all while you're there!

I have had lots of stuff going on and not posting a lot on my blog. I hope I'm getting caught up now so I can share with you what all has been going on. Seems like I run out of time every day!