I Saw Her!

My baby dove is still alive and she flew right over my head this morning about 8:30! I was so surprised and happy to see that she's still around. I ran inside and put the dove family in a small cage and placed the big one back where it was when I let her fly out. She hung around the yard for an hour or so and even landed on top of the cage but then disappeared again. I put the smaller cage with all the doves inside the larger cage and left the door open. Alex coo's alot and I thought that would draw the baby into the cage. I haven't seen her again and hope she comes back tomorrow. I had given up on her and now I'm worried about her all over again.

Keep your fingers crossed that she comes back and into the cage tomorrow!!!

I Screwed Up

One of the baby doves flew out of the cage this morning while I was feeding them. I was stupid and tried to catch her and she just flew further and further away. She won't survive tomorrow, I'm sure. Although they eat on their own, the parents are still feeding them some. And being white makes her the easiest of targets as prey. I hoped that she'd be sitting on top of the cage when I got home from Gail's, but no. I feel horrible and have moved the others back inside till I can make their aviary.

A Restful Day

After working hard all week at Gail's, I was out of energy. I did some mowing and planting yesterday morning before it got hot. The rest of the day I was content to sit and watch Alissa play on the patio with her sprinkler. I usually don't have the patience to sit around and be her audience, but she was quite happy entertaining me all day.




She got the idea to put the glasses on Zoe's little butt - she doesn't have a tail.

And my Princess....she's so gray now

Alissa and I moved the doves outside and she made the cutest chalk drawing of Alex and Sarah on the patio...I just love it :)

I Actually Got To Sew Today!

After spending three hours painting a huge piece of furniture in Gail's new shop, Alissa and I came home. Alissa worked too, pricing new merchadise with the pricing gun. She wanted to watch "Bolt" (an adorable movie) and I got to sew! I was sooooo happy. First I made Alissa a cute little dress out of some shirred fabric I got from JoAnns a couple of weeks ago. She wanted a dress that "went to the ground" with no sleeves. Well, this little dress wasn't long enough so I added several inches of bleached muslin and sewed cute coordinating ribbon I already had over the seam. I attached ribbon so that it could be tied over each shoulder or behind her neck - either way. She hasn't taken it off since I tried it on her this afternoon. (Note dingbat Zoe "dancing" just as I snapped the picture).
Then I was determined to work on my living room valance and got that put together. Yes, there are tools in the window sill; I was very anxious to get a picture to post. I haven't made anything in weeks!


I still have a small table sitting in the middle of my kitchen floor ready to be antiqued and it will be finished. And I have to make my new plate rail, paint the coffee table and the antique milking stool. Then I just have to rearrange the nick nacks and I'll be finished. Of course, it might be Halloween by then....

Weather Forecast

See what happens here in central NC - we go from spring to summer overnight. I love spring but suffer terribly in the summer. I haven't even gotten my annuals purchased and planted yet!!!

Blogging Without Obligation

My sister stumbled upon this and I really like what she says here, so am sharing it. I will add a note that I always hate it when I see a blog start with..."I'm sorry, I've been so busy....". I think everybody is busy, and I'm ALWAYS busy with stuff too. And speaking of busy, I didn't get the litter picked up yesterday for Earth Day but am doing it today for sure!! (I'm ashamed of myself...and embarassed)

Anyway, I'm sharing here...
****



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After coming across what seemed to be the 4000th or so post on someone’s blog starting with “I’m sorry I haven’t posted in awhile.” I decided it is time to rethink what makes a good blog and the expectations that have come to be part of it. I am thinking that no one should utter those words again . . .and with that thought I give you Blogging Without Obligation.

If you feel the same way feel free to grab the logo, make a logo or whatever you would like to do! Xo, Tiffini Elektra


I release all the logos, thoughts and words mentioned here about this concept into the public domain. Take the idea and run with it. . .or walk away. It is all good.

* Because you shouldn’t have to look at your blog like it is a treadmill.

* Because its okay to just say what you have to say. If that makes for a long post, fine. Short post, fine. Frequent post, fine. Infrequent post, fine.

* Because its okay to not always be enthralled with the sound of your own typing.

* Because sometimes less is more.
Because only blogging when you feel truly inspired keeps up the integrity of your blog.

* Because they are probably not going to inscribe your stat, link and comment numbers on your tombstone.

* Because for most of us blogging is just a hobby. A way to express yourself and connect with others. You should not have to apologize for lapses in posts. Just take a step back and enjoy life, not everything you do has to be “bloggable”.

* Because if you blog without obligation you will naturally keep your blog around longer, because it won’t be a chore. Plus, just think you will be doing your part to eradicate post pollution. One post at a time. .

Earth Day!

Earth Day is Wednesday and I'm going to pick up trash along my road. I should do it every week but just haven't.

Diane posted some great information on ways to help the earth and they are all so easy. A lot of the things she mentioned, I do as well. I've decided I prefer my bath towels to dry on the clothes rack instead of the dryer - it makes them a little rough and much more absorbent. I keep my house pretty chilly all winter but have to run the a/c pretty low to survive the summers. Overall though, I don't use a lot of electricity as I've always been conscientous about not wasting it, or water for that matter.

If you want to see what's going on in your area to celebrate Earth Day, go here, and take a few minutes to do something to help this planet we all share. It'll make you feel really good. :)

Going In Too Many Directions

Time is sure flying by these days with me helping Gail get her new shop ready. Boy is it going to be something!!! The furniture/fixtures have arrived from France and some of the merchandise is in. There is still a lot to do and we are spending six days a week there, working very hard. Gail has given me permission to post pictures after she's open. All I'll say for now is that the Garden Market will be one of those places you love to discover and share it with everybody you know. I just can't wait till it's open.

I haven't had time to do much else with my living room makeover as I'm trying to get my front and back yards under control. You know how it goes...one day you look at a shrub or plant and think "I need to transplant that" and the next day you say "I should have moved that before it grew so big". Well, I'm running all over the place trying to get weeds cut and killed, mowing under control, digging huge hostas that I should have dug a couple of weeks ago before they turned into monster hostas, and trying to keep up with my hens and the eggs they are producing. Somehow, I'm managing to get it all done, just not able to sew or do any of my other crafty things.

I did make a trip to Jo Anns last week and bought my fabrics for the living room valance, pillows and the hutch "redo".

The cream colored burlap (2.99/yd) is for the valance. The polka dots will be new accent pillows, and the soft print will be the panels for my hutch.


I did manage to spray paint my curtain rod black tonight to match the curtain clip rings. I can't wait to get it all done - what a difference paint makes!

I don't like letting so many days go by w/o posting and will try to have something good to show you tomorrow.

ttfn...

I've Been Given an Award!

Oh my gosh - Lynn of Lynn's Lovelies has given me the Kreativ Blogger award! I am truly shocked, but very pleased. Thank you so much, Lynn, for giving me this award. I will strive to do it justice :) Now to share it with some others. I'm going to dig deep into my gazillion saved sites and pick some that you folks might not be aware of, but you probably already know everybody since you've been blogging far longer than me.

Cat from http://www.baumcat.blogspot.com/
Laura from The Cat in the Clover
Michelle from Mish Mash
Joan from Crow Productions

Gee - I have soooo many favorite blogs that I barely can visit them all in a week!

Thanks again Lynn for thinking I'm special enough to receive this award!

About Half Done

Well, I'm very pleased with what I've gotten done on my living room makeover so far. I still have my art work to hang on the walls but want to change it for a lighter look. And I've got several other dust catchers I need to figure out where to put. All I've had to buy so far is paint; everything else was already in the house somewhere :)

The ceiling is vaulted throughout the house and in my den I made the tall wall kind of like an art gallery, and I love the way it looks. I think I'm going to do the same thing in my living room. I have a lot of samplers, which took many hours to make and I love them but don't want to line them in a row over the windows again. What do you think of a narrow shelf up high on the tall wall with them all leaning against the wall? I think it would present them in a more "urban" kind of way. And I'm thinking of painting that narrow shelf black since the curtain rod and a couple of other things will be black.

For curtains, I think I have a great idea. After painting the rod black, I'm going to buy some of those little round curtain clip thingys and just have a valance which I'm going to make out of cream colored burlap from JoAnns. It's dirt cheap and I already have white lining fabric. I think it will add texture but give a clean look. Oh, and I'm going to hang the rod high enough so that the valance just meets the top edge of the windows to give the appearance of taller windows.

I still have to give my coffee table a re-do and am working on the table that used to be in the corner. Smudge decided it was a cool place to sit. He's so funny.
This is my favorite corner in the entire room. Why I didn't think of doing this a long time ago is beyond me.

This is the tall wall that I want to make into a gallery with the narrow black shelf at the top of. The clock will stay where it is but I just put the print and sconce there to get them off the kitchen table (my kitchen is a wreck).
Another thing I want to do is lighten the hutch w/o painting it. I'm going to cover some foam core board with a tone on tone fabric and stick them on the middle of the doors and the back of the shelves. This will really make a big difference, I think.

On an entirely different note, I saw the first hummingbird yesterday! Other than honeysuckle, I don't know what they have to eat yet so guess I should put out the feeder for a while.

I hope you are having a nice day :)

Painting In My Sleep!

I sure didn't mean to let so many days go by before posting. I wanted to leave the Prevent Animal Cruelty up for a while because it was so important, but I really meant to post over the weekend.

I've been painting like crazy at Gail's new shop and it has overflowed into my house. If it doesn't move, it's getting painted!

One of my goals while out of work is to give my living room a make over and I finally got started. Since my sewing machine is in the shop, it forced me to get going on something else. My living room is nice enough but it turned out a little too colonial with a touch of formal. And anybody who knows me, knows there isn't a formal bone in my body. I had painted it a nice gold color and stenciled around the crown molding. I intented it to look like vines from the woods and it really looked very country. Don't get me wrong, I love country and have several nice primitive antiques that I wouldn't part with for anything. My prized blanket chest from the 1800's:

Gail is using mostly off white in her new shop and I guess it rubbed off on me. I love color but have been inspired to make my living room monochromatic. I've painted the walls a warm tan and will be painting my floor a very pale tan. (I ripped up the carpet last year in preparation for laying laminate which ain't gonna happen now.)

I've spray painted a cheap brass fixture with an off white and the same for a dark mahogany candlestick lamp. All the trim in my house is bright white but I went over all the woodwork too and it's so clean now. You can only wash it with bleach so many times...

Anyway, here are a few "before" pictures. I won't be able to post the "after" pictures till day after tomorrow. I've got to finish the floor and let it dry before moving all the furniture back in. My ex-husband built the beautiful hutch; he was quite talented with woodworking.

I had already started taking things off the walls when I snapped this one. Note the lovely blue towel on the chair to keep the cats from scratching (it doesn't work).


Oh, and the baby doves are about 3/4 grown now and will be full size in another couple of weeks. Sarah and Alex are still having to feed them some but they are eating on their own for the most part. I'll take some more pictures of them soon. I've got to get their aviary built real soon!

I'm tired and going to take a shower and relax a little. Tomorrow I'll be painting the last room in Gail's new shop and then the really fun stuff can begin - decorating! She opens in two weeks and there is SO much left to do.

ttfn

Go Orange!

I was visiting some of my favorite blogs last night and became aware that April is Prevention to Animal Cruelty Month. So many of us have pets that we love. And so many animals suffer daily in silence in more ways than you can imagine. Because I've been involved with animal rights since the 70's, I've learned more horrible things than I should about the dark side of humans.

Dog breeding and dog fighting are big around here and you can find people selling pit bull puppies almost every Saturday in the WalMart parking lot. It makes me sick to my stomach. I want to take these innocent pups home with me but it wouldn't do much good to end the problem.

Any time an opportunity arises, I will try to teach people that animals have feelings too. Dogs especially need to live in the house with their families, not left in a pen or tied to a tree. There is a little dog that has lived chained to a tree her entire eight years of life that I would see daily on my commute to work. I buy a bale of wheat straw to put in her donated dog house every fall and have given her people dog food. I've met the woman and son who are both very nice, but they are ignorant. I've talked to the boy, who is about 10 years old now, and have told him that Boss is lonesome and needs to be played with. I've often thought of asking if I could have Boss, but they would just replace her with another dog.

I have fostered over 40 dogs in the eight years I've lived here - it's the reason I moved to the country. It has been hard but rewarding. Here are some pictures of a few that have passed through my house - many with very sad stories but most have happy endings.
Tucker - one of the saddest:

Wednesday with her new mom:

Jade meeting his new family (Jade is on the right)

Part of a litter of five found on the road; my daughter, Laura, kept one of them:




I am happy I've been able to help a few animals, but don't think I'm an angel. I lose my patience and yell and cuss b/c of the animals and all the work and damage they cause. I've taken a few breaks from fostering and have just entered another one today, but I know I will always help in some way. They need people to defend them because they can't defend themselves from us.

And here is a picture of the love of my life - Princess. I fell in love with her the very instant I saw her at the adoptathon - so scared of life and the world. She was 5 1/2 months old and is now almost 11. She is the pefect example of what love and training can do and is the perfect dog to take out in public. I get compliments from strangers on how well behaved she is. She is always by my side (here accompanied by Topaz and Zoe).
I adore her.

Frustrations & Misc Picture

Well, I had hoped to have pictures of a beautiful wall hanging I'm working on from Diane Knott's delicious book she so kindly gave me but...I didn't get very far :( I jumped right into the project knowing that I surely had enough fabrics to make it but I was wrong. After a great and exciting start, I don't have very many blues in my stash. I'm definitely a green person and have lots of greens, but not enough blues. So off to JoAnne's yesterday and couldn't find the right stuff so the project has been put aside for a few days.

The good thing about this is that I've completely quilted one of the quilts for the Appalachian Project today. All I have left to do is the binding and it will be finished. Then I'll complete the smaller one and get them in the mail.

For lack of anything else to show you, I'm giving you a peek at my favorite room of my home - the den.

I'll be helping my friend, Gail, getting her new place ready for her grand opening in May. She's in such a panic right now but I know everything will get done in time - it always does.

Baby Doves Almost Grown

Look at these babies - I can't believe how fast they've grown in less than three weeks! They are still totally dependent on their parents for food but now roost on the branches during the day. They don't coo yet but make the sweetest little noise to let Sarah and Alex know they're hungry. It sounds like other baby birds your hear in nests - not a chirp, more like a sqeek. One of the babies is kind of a muddy color, while the other is mostly white with some of the tan on her (?)

Today is my first day to stay home in a week and I'm grateful for that. I plan to be at my sewing machine most of the day even though it's a gorgeous day outside. It's too wet from all the rain yesterday anyway, so I'm a happy camper. I hope to have some pictures of what I accomplish for you in my next post (that's my goal anyway) :>)

I hope you all have a great day!