Critters, Curtains and Creating

Happy Monday!  What a beautiful weekend we had here with temps in the upper 60's and mild nights...perfect weather!  I could have spent all weekend outside but I didn't.  I finally tackled some sewing projects and got one Christmas gift completed.

I stopped by my new little quilt shop in town to get some backing fabric and Suzanne, the owner, asked me if I would sew a stocking to donate to a local nursing home, where there are so many people sitting alone with no family visitors.  This is the time of year we should all be giving back in some way - whether to humans or animals - and I told her I'd be happy to.  So along with completing a gift to give a family member, I also sewed together a stocking that was pre printed.  All I had to do was cut, sew and quilt.  I'll post pictures of it later as I still need to add a few things to it.  I'll take it back to Suzanne this Saturday and she will deliver all the stockings.

While I was at my sewing machine, I had a little visitor trying to climb into my lap....Miss Pumpkin.

Princess was on her bed, which is near my sewing machine.  I put a little night light in the socket above her bed to help minimize her confusion when she wakes up during the night.  She's doing so much better this week and only has a slight head tilt now.  This morning she was in the back yard playing with Zoe!  I was so happy to see that.  She still isn't eating great but will take several small meals, so that's still ok.

Smudge was on my bed.  I don't like that but oh well...

I had to go into the laundry room to put some clothes in the dryer and there were the two black panthers - JoJo and Topaz.  JoJo is on the left - he has the most pointed face of any cat I've ever had!

Now to jump subjects.  I've been using hand-me-down burgundy drapes in my kitchen since I moved here 12 years ago.  They were faded and somebody told me that I would pay extra to get that look from the Pottery Barn, so it never really bothered me.  And they looked really good in the kitchen when it was yellow.  But last year I painted my walls a nice beige and changed the color scheme in that room completely.  My granddaughter, Alissa, asked me last winter if I was going to get new curtains.  It just hadn't occurred to me that the burgundy drapes really looked odd there now so this year I started looking around.  To make a long story short, I hit the jackpot at JC Penney's.  These were $40 per panel and I got them both for a total of $36.  They are lined and will help block some of the cold from the sliding glass doors.  And you know I love leaves, so these are perfect.

While I'm on the decorating topic, I wanted to show you the little lantern makeover I mentioned a while back.  I've had this brass lantern for a gazillion years - maybe pre-divorce, I really can't remember.  Anyway, it was looking really rough so I decided to take the little oil well out of it and paint it black and start using it again.  Here it is before - so tarnished and rusty that it almost looks black.

Here it is after some black spray paint.  I stuck a couple of pinecones in it but will make it prettier by adding some pine in it soon.

I managed to crochet another jacket for a rock, which I gave to somebody.  She actually liked it.

Well I have more work to do on Christmas gifts and this stupid computer takes forever to upload pictures, so that's it for tonight.  I hope you have a great week.  I still have to get my little Christmas tree and finish putting out a few decorations.  I seem to do less and less every year.  It's so much work to clean up the mess afterwards!