Kitties and Crafts

Cozy Inside

Autumn is here for sure. The days are shorter and it's been cloudy and rainy and cold. Our old house doesn't have overhead lighting in the living room and it stays rather dim on cloudy days. We use lamps and lights like the ones on the fireplace and at night candles too. It's kind of pretty and the low lighting hides lots of dust and cat hair. :)
We have had some minor internet outages, but it's better than it was. The kitties have been keeping me company while I craft and try to keep up on the chores. I made a little owl card, inspired by the Chinese fortune that reads; "Romance is Blossoming." It's a bit blurry, but that's what it says.
The Faerie paper doll is made from a template that I found online. The Enchanted Gallery, I think. She is an Autumnal Faerie. I used way to much glitter. Toeshee even had some on his fur! I told him he was sprinkled with Faerie Dust.

Miss Billie has taken to sleeping under the old broken down rocking chair in front of the heat register. The seat needs re-caning, so I just put a pillow on it and some of my little stuffed kitties on that.
Cricket is a bit miffed about Billie's napping spot because she likes to hide under there to play with her toys and lie in wait for Toeshee.

Never a dull moment with these kitties. Cody is mad at me because I have not taken him outside with me since Sunday. It's going to be a long winter with "Grandpa Floofy CrankyPants". He hates being cooped up in the house. He doesn't seem to understand that I do not enjoy cold wet weather and 40 mile an hour wind gusts.

Well, that's about it. We are holding out hope for some decent sunny days yet and just trying to stay cozy. I hope you all have some nice days on your way too.
Hugs!~

Just Hangin' Around The House

It was all about hanging around the house today, just me and the kitties. My husband went back to work still convinced he was the first man ever to catch a cold. ;) My daughter went back yesterday. I didn't mind waiting on them, but after fetching medicines and making chicken noodle soup (yes, homemade) I'm a bit worn out.

Billie was good company while I cut coupons and started a grocery list. She had been washing her brisket, (I'm told that's the name for the chest area of an animal.) and she ruffled up all of the fur. I think she looks cute all disheveled and sleepy. I still need to take the comb to her tonight, but I need to wait until Toeshee calms down. His wildness makes her nervous and cranky, then, I get all scratched up.

Cody is just not liking Toeshee at all. I'm constantly breaking up fights between the two and Toeshee is always starting them. I thought hoohaectomies calmed cats down! The only peace Cody gets is when I put Toeshee in the upstairs bathroom for the night. How long will I have to do that? Sigh... Nothing is ever easy is it?

The kitty sitting on the chair is one of the rubber stamps I ordered. After I colored her and cut her out, I cut out a chair from a magazine and glued her to it. I put folded paper under her to add dimension and glued the chair to an old card I had saved. I did it the other day while the soup was simmering. Not a great work of art, but it was fun. I love rubber stamping. It's so relaxing and I don't need the dexterity that I needed and no longer have for cross stitching.

Well, I'm slowly catching up on my blog visiting and hope to say "Hi' to as many as I can this week. For now, I'm going to watch Ghost Hunters and then make lunches for tomorrow.
Hugs for now!

Another Rainy Saturday...

Cody thought he would help me with my crafting projects. He actually rested there on the floor as I stamped and colored. I really need a special place to explore my new hobby, because getting up and down from floor level is getting more difficult. I do like the company though. :)

It has been raining since last night. Buckety buckets full of rain! And it's really humid too. The old varnish on our doors is raising up and feels sticky. Gross!
We all stayed home today, reading, napping, making dinner and I did some stamping. I have been on "Clutter Patrol" for the past few days, but I'm not feeling like I'm making any progress.
I think I will have to be more ruthless in my decisions on what to keep and what to purge. I really do not need hot pink hoop earrings from the 80's! :)
I will however, hold on to my Rick Springfield album. It was the first record I ever purchased and I had such a crush on him. Not so much anymore, but he used to be soo cute! Who did you have a crush on? Still... ?

Happy Weekend!
Hugs!

The Last Twilight Of August

It has been just me and the Kitties for most of the day. My husband is putting in overtime at work and my daughter went to the beach and is hanging out with friends. Right now, the kitties are probably the best company for me.
I have been feeling so out of sorts. I have been fighting insomnia and pain for several days and I have also been very weepy. I think one of my medicines might be contributing to that. I'm sorry that I haven't been by to visit you all. :(
As the sun began to set this evening I took some pictures of Cricket relaxing in our big bow window, my latest craft project in progress and then I went outside and Cody joined me. Like me and other kitties I have loved, he likes Twilight Time.
Now, the crickets (not the cat) are chirping, the sun has set and I am spending a Sunday evening trying to keep melancholy at bay. I think some pain reliever and a glass of chocolate milk is in order tonight.

I hope everyone has a nice Labor Day tomorrow. (if you celebrate it) I actually like the way Europeans spell it; "Labour." I also like "Colour". :)
Maybe because much of my family hails from Great Britain and Germany.
My, I do get off track sometimes...

The Kitties; Billie, Cody, Cricket and Toeshee and I send Big Hugs. Please keep the people and innocent animals in the path of Hurricane Gustave in your thoughts and prayers.

Reason # 500 On Why I Need A Cruise/Vacation

This past Saturday was very stressful. Now, don't freak out, because everything is fine now, but knowing me, imagine how upset I was.

We had a house full of teenagers Saturday. It was 90 degrees with 90% humidity. All our fans were on, kids were in and out and drinking all of the soda and iced tea and just generally like locusts in our living room. :)
They are all good kids, just loud. By evening I went to my room with a book, my husband was on his computer and the cats were hiding.
Toeshee came up to see me a few times and Cricket remained up the entire time. After about an hour and a half I noticed Toeshee had not been around. He usually wants to know where I am, so I went to look for him. Nobody had seen him for a while and it was getting late. I started to look for him and calling his name. No Toeshee. I began to get a very bad feeling. I searched everywhere. My husband got up to look. My daughter's friend Anthony helped. (He's a doll by the way. He watches Project Runway with me and is always so sweet) My daughter and another friend started looking while the other two girls where being picked up. Another girl had been picked up earlier by her Mom. She's the one who stood in the doorway with the door wide open. Know where this is going? I went outside, calling sick to my stomach. My daughter grabbed a flashlight and with her friend made a trek around the block. I went in, crying. Husband and Anthony walked around the yard, using Anthony's cell phone as a light. My husband heard a pitiful mewing sound. Toeshee was huddled against the brick of the front porch, under the Wisteria! It had rained earlier in the day and he was wet, but okay.
They came in and called me. "We found him!"
I snatched up my kitten and cried, thinking about all of the bad things that could have happened to him and so gratefull that he was safe!
My nervous breakdown count is now well over a hundred.

The last few days have been much more quiet. (so far) Toeshee is fine. Billie is sleeping in the bathroom again. She changes her nap locations every couple of weeks I swear. I have been sorting through all of my crafting supplies.
I have rubber stamps, papers, glitter, magazines for collages and Halloween illustrations on cd-rom to make cute vintage looking stuff with.
Hopefully, I can find time to do some crafting this week. I really want to do some Blog visiting too, so I will try to visit as many as I can. Thanks to everyone who visits me! It makes me so happy!
I hope you all have a stress free week. Wish Toeshee luck when he has his hoohaectomy tomorrow! I'll try not to worry to much. (yea right...)
hugs!

A Little Of This and That On A Sleepy Sunday

My weekend has been very quiet. I am just now getting on the computer and it's after ten pm. I took another nap this afternoon. Yes, very boring. :)
I just took these pictures. My new laptop, Cricket hiding in the dark front parlor and a collage that I worked on last week. I needed to take a break from my paper crafts after my fingers started hurting, but I'm thinking I can work on it again this week. I want to try rubber stamping, but that may have to wait until this Fall after all of the back to school shopping is finished.
Today was rather cool and Fall-like here. I watered my thirsty plants, noticing that I have a lot of late bloomers this year. I wonder why? Spring was chilly and we haven't had super hot weather this year, so maybe the flowers are confused. I think as long as they bloom this month they'll be okay.
Oh, oh... I hear Cody and Toeshee wrestling! I may have to separate them again. I put Cody upstairs with a snack and let Toeshee run around in the living room until bedtime. Then Toeshee goes up to his bathroom and Cody can sleep where ever he likes. I wish I didn't have to put Toeshee in solitary but he just won't leave Cody alone. Hopefully, that will change as Toeshee grows older. (Cody is now grumbling in absolute annoyance.) :)
I will be by to visit you all as much as I can this week. I just wish I wasn't so tired and achy. Blah, it's like having the flu and not being able to shake it.
This too shall pass, right? I hope all my bloggie friends are feeling good!
Hugs and Happy Week! =^..^=

Starting The Year On A Wing And A Prayer

It's Thursday? Where did all the other days go? I wrote a check yesterday and I actually remembered to write 2008, so I'm not as braindead as I thought. :) My husband went back to work and Daughter returns to school Monday. I think I'm ready to get back into a writing routine. I still have bouts of grief that I quietly deal with, and my RA is amping up a bit, so I need to work around, or with those two issues. I really can't say that I'll be okay. I'm taking one day at a time, going on because I need to. Maybe someday that will change to; because I want to.
I'm trying to take small moments of happiness as little gifts, before I'm buffeted by another wave of sadness. So I read fun magazines like Fairie Magazine. It's a beautiful magazine full of ethereal creatures, created by artists who truly believe in Fairies. It comes out four times a year. Already I'm di -secting it and using images for crafting. They offer a free paper doll in each issue created by artist Jessica Galbreth. I cut the doll out and her outfit. Then I glued her to some thin card board, cut that around her and then I cut up an old magnet and glued it to the back of the paper doll. I added glitter to her wings and small bits of magnet to her dress and hair wreath and voila, a refrigerator magnet/paper doll. I had to use an exacto knife to cut the doll out once she was glued to cardboard and even though my hand ached I stubbornly finished it. I might take a picture with the cell phone camera, but I'm not sure if it will turn out.
So, that's one of the fun things I've been doing. (Well, fun for me anyway. A party animal I'm not.) Billie is on my lap purring away, Cody found a sunny spot under the Christmas tree by the bay window, Cricket finally settled down somewhere, and my Daughter is out like a light, a snoring lump under a quilt on the sofa. She has not been pleasant to be around lately, so I'm hoping a long nap cures her of her snarkiness. If I didn't have so much to do today I would take one too. As it is I just don't have the heart to move Billie right now, so here I'll sit. For a while any way.

kitty picture time

Here's some more pictures of my kitties. The white floofy is Billie. She's 12 and very sweet. Cody is the black floofy boy. He's a cuddly bear of a cat. He loves everybody. He's 12 too. Oh, that's me holding him. I need to get a better one of Cricket. I will figure out this whole picture thing eventually.

Too Many Things, too little time

Usually this time of year I like to resume my crafting hobby that I abandon in the Summer. Well, this past Summer I didn't have any crafts to set aside, so if I want to craft I will have to start fresh. My fingers have been giving me a lot of problems, but I'm still going to try. Miss Peach's mommy, Karla showed some pretty paper crafting on her blog, so I'll start with that. I have some pretty papers, but I'll practice with construction paper first. I also want to try beading again. I used to make necklaces and bracelets. I like the really nice glass beads and they can be rather pricey, so I don't do it a lot.I also like to embellish jeans with ribbon and small decorative patches, which adds a nice touch of individuality.
One would think I'm a "Martha Stewart" with all the baking, crafting, and gardening I like to do, but actually most things I do don't come out any where near as perfectly as her projects. I just like to keep busy, because I'm stuck at home on disability because of rheumatoid arthritis. I used to work at a library, but putting books away ,pushing heavy carts around and being on my feet all day just put my body through the ringer. If I don't start the "heavy hitter "drugs soon, my hobbies will become difficult to manage too. I told my husband that when I can't get out of bed to take care of the kitties anymore then I'll go on the biologics. (They won't eat if he feeds them. ;0 )
Another Christmas gone. Another year will begin. I wonder what it will bring...