Cats in the Hat

....er...I mean boxes.

I've been bringing home boxes from Lowes to start gathering up my donations in. Now you KNOW how much cats love boxes and bags, don't you? Little JoJo was in the house a while today and jumped in the empty box and peered over the edge of it at Topaz, who is his best buddy.


JoJo ran to another box and Zoe had to come over to see what he was doing.


JoJo was bouncing around so much the box flipped over.

I think Wendy secretly wanted to join in on the fun too, but she isn't nice to JoJo and he's afraid of her.

Next thing you know, JoJo went tearing down the hallway with Topaz in hot pursuit!


Let the wrestling match begin!

Smudge wanted nothing to do with the silliness and claimed the box for his own - Prince that he is :)


My priorities today were to check on Cinnamon, one of my hens, who isn't acting right. Last evening she was laying on the floor of the barn which is a bad sign. When I picked her up to put her on a perch, she didn't struggle and was light as a feather. The bird is skin and bones - not good. So this evening I've got her in a cage in the garage so I can tend to her closely. I made her some scrambled eggs and she gobbled them up. Tomorrow I'll give her some chicken meds and make her oatmeal for breakfast. She's only a year old and I have no idea what's wrong with her. Hopefully, she'll pull through it.

The next big priority was to start making a walkway from the house to the driveway. Ten years I've lived here and have made do with mismatched stepping stones.


Somebody gave me a concrete form years ago and I just never have used it.


Well, last night I bought four 80 lb. bags of concrete to get started on the project.


I only had enough concrete for five fills, but it's a good start. I added a few flat marbles and beach glass here and there. It will look pretty when it's all finished. It wasn't difficult but sure took a long time to get this much done.


I'm headed for my recliner to watch some TV and do some stitching. It's a nice way to end the day after all the physical labor.

Rest well.

Friday Night Sew In (late) and a Frugal Tip

This morning was wonderful - nice and overcast and actually cool. I love rainy days and would be quite happy living in the Pacific Northwest!! I enjoyed drinking my morning coffee at leisure on the porch again and smiled when I looked out at my pretty yard.

Since I'm working at Lowes later today, I cleaned up the kitchen and mopped the floor with some bleach water. I love cleaning with bleach! I also gave Princess a much-needed bath. She's rolled in deer poop twice and was very dirty. Then I got a load of laundry done so that I have some clean jeans to wear today.

I've been embellishing my little dress blocks and got a few completed last night. I've got a long way to go, but as I said before, it's a nice project to pick up when I feel like working on something different.

Before I show you the pictures of some of them, I wanted to share a frugal tip with you.

I love my cats but hate litter boxes. I clean my litter boxes every 24 hours for several reasons, but mostly for odor control. I've used baking soda and some kitty products as well, but gave up. Recently I had the brilliant idea of sprinkling cheap baby powder in the bottom of the litter box before adding the fresh litter.

It has talc in it which helps with absorption, plus even the cheap stuff smells fresher than the cat products - not to mention it costs a lot less. It works great!

Now for some dress pics....








I hope you enjoy your Sunday!

Frame of Mind

I've been doing a lot of thinking over the last several weeks about my life and situation. I'm a planner and like to have a defined direction to go in. Some people call it setting goals.

Since losing my job over 18 months ago, I've been trying to force change to go in the direction I want it to. It has caused me a lot of frustration, anger, depression and resentment. I've worked hard and smart for the last 20+ years and while I can't say it hasn't gotten me anything, it sure hasn't landed me in a good place for a time in my life when I should be looking forward to when I can do what brings me the most happiness and not constantly worrying about survival.

With all that said, I'm now in a pretty good state of mind. I am forcing myself, against my natural tendencies, to take one day at a time. There is something ahead for me that I can't see and my future will unfold on its own terms. I just have to be open to what that might be.

I am now a permanent part time employee at Lowes and have adjusted to an irregular work schedule and standing on my feet for hours on end. My immediate goal of getting health insurance has been achieved and I'm grateful for that.

When I am not working at Lowes, I continue to maintain my home, land and care for the animals that depend on me. I have also started taking naps almost daily and not feeling guilty about it since I need the rest. I have stopped working myself to death keeping everything orderly the way I prefer and accepting that I do a pretty darned good job of it, even if some things are left undone. I also try to spend at least a little time each day stitching or sewing to soothe my soul.

Some other changes have come in the way of the decision to begin paring down things around me that I don't need. One day, sooner or later, I will be moving and the thought of packing up all the things I've acquired makes me feel sick to my stomach. I've contacted an antique dealer I know and will be selling some of my antiques. This isn't due to financial hardship but has everything to do with simplifying my life even more than I already have. I am donating or selling everything I don't need or don't use and just making that decision has put me in a positive frame of mind.

Oprah had a great show Thursday about this very subject. We are bombarded daily with commercials and ads to buy the latest and greatest gadget, or pair of shoes, or new car. It's so easy to get caught up in that way of thinking. While I certaily have my weaknesses, I am pretty good at disciplining myself even when I had a good paying job and could shop when I wanted to. I cancelled my satellite TV subscription well over two years ago and have been glad that I did. I thought I'd miss it but haven't and learned that it was an unnecessary expense.

I have also decreased the amount of time I spend on the computer and haven't been visiting blogs nearly as much, but still job search almost daily. While so many blogs are inspiring, they also tend to make me want to run out and buy stuff I don't need. I am concentrating on being more self reliant and living more simply. There are a lot of great blogs devoted to this and I have added a few of them to my blog list.

And since I'm the worst at seeing what I DON'T get done every day, I think I'm going to use my blog as a diary of my achievments. It will be a good way for me to see what I've accomplished instead of what I didn't get done.

Yesterday I got most of the mowing done and my yard/land looks pretty good considering the horrible heat and lack of rain this summer.

I have had my coffee at leisure this morning while watching all the birds and butterflies I have attracted by planting things with them in mind. I am looking forward to watching my silly BritComs this evening and having a good day till then.

Top Complete and a New Project!

Well, except for the borders. I don't have that fabric yet but will buy it next payday.



Funny how completing (or almost) a project encourages me to do even more. It's a good feeling :)

I've already started a mini quilt that Kim of Create and Sew designed. She was kind enough to share her pattern with me. Thanks again, Kim!



The temperature is a "mere" 98 degrees here but the heat index has us at about 105. It's insufferable out and I feel bad for my poor chickens and all the other animals that are outside. I've given the chickens cantalope and watermelon today to help them with their fluid intake. Poor babies.

Stripping for the First Time!

It is horribly hot here and I've been staying inside when I'm not at Lowes. I've been pouring through my quilt magazines and patterns trying to find one that I wanted to work on. I still take my embroidery to Lowes with me, but want to get back to my sewing machine.

I've been wanting to make an easy quilt for a while now, but just couldn't decide on a pattern. While my mom and sister were here, we went to Thimble Pleasures Quilt Shop and there was a sweet Christmas quilt on display that one of the gals had designed; this is her site.

I bought the pattern she had used called Lightning Fast, and a small stack of pre cut fabric which was just enough to make the blocks with (not Christmas fabric though). Here they are sewn into the first set of strips....

This is the first set of strips pieced together....



I think it's going to turn out really pretty. I don't have any border fabric yet, but maybe tomorrow I'll go out and buy some - it won't take very much for this small quilt.

And who do I see in my computer/craft room window????? It looks like JoJo is inside the house...but I thought he was an outside mouser kitty!

And what's this?!? Now he's on my keyboard tray!

Doesn't he look full of mischief!
He's a good little kitty and I'm letting him stay in the house with me when I'm home but he is sleeping in the garage at night. Hopefully, he'll learn how to take care of the mouse problem out there.

Wendy doesn't like him at all and isn't nice to him. She takes a long time to adjust to new situations, so hopefully she'll be ok in the garage with him when he's bigger.

I hope you all are staying cool - it's an impossibility here!

Meet Jo Jo

Just what I need - another critter!

One of my neighbors called me last Friday and said a kitten had appeared on her property. She had heard that I wanted a mouser kitty and wondered if I could give it a home. I thought about it for a while and then told her I'd come over the next day if she could keep it till then.

Meet Jo Jo weighing in at about 2 pounds! He is like a miniature version of my black male cat, Topaz and is as loving as a cat can be! He went to the vet yesterday, along with Princess, for his first visit and was deemed healthy - just underweight. He has a very long tail and legs and big bat ears! He never stops purring and my vet loved him. She couldn't hear his heartbeat b/c he wouldn't stop purring so much. :)

Fortunately, the neighbor that found the kitten said she'd help with the vet bill if I'd take him so how could I say no?? Once he grows a little, I'll be moving Miss Wendy back outside to keep him company. I had originally gotten her for mouse control but after her brothers disappeared, I moved her inside. I felt bad that she was outside alone.




Wonder how long I can let him live outside? ;)

Two Weeks?

Geez, I hate when so much time slips by without posting on my blog. I'm almost tempted to stop all together. Working the irregular schedule at Lowes doesn't allow enough time to keep up with the yard, animals, house and sewing, not to mention blogging.

Anyway, I hope everybody had a nice 4th of July holiday - I sure did. My sister came for a visit and brought my mom with her. It was the first time mom has seen where I live since moving here 10 years ago. I couldn't take time off from Lowes, but my schedule allowed us to have a couple of days together.

We went to Thimble Pleasures, the best quilt shop I've ever been to. Mom looked around a little but mostly sat and waited for Susan and me to come back to earth from seeing all the lucsious fabrics they have - not to mention patterns. We had a nice lunch at a special restaurant first though, so we could concentrate. I also took them to the model home I "worked" at earlier in the year and they loved seeing it.

I was so happy that I got my mom interested in embroidery again! She used to do beautiful work but stopped long ago. I printed out a bunch of free designs for her and traced some onto white muslin to work on while she was here. She decided to buy a nice set of sheets and embroider on the pillowcases. Darned if she didn't get them finished in two evenings! I was so happy that she showed enthusiasm for something again. And I even got my DS interested in giving hand embroidery a try and I think she'll stick with it (you'd better!).

I have today off so must catch up on "mowing operations" and get two weeks of trash out of the garage. They resurfaced the recycle center where I take my trash and it's been closed for ages. I'm sure I'll have to make two trips to get rid of it all.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of my pretty boy, Smudge.










I've got tons to do while home today, so had better get to it! I hope you all have a good day.

A Little Outing

Yesterday I decided to take a short trip up the road to get away for a few hours. I tend to work myself to death around here, as there is a never-ending list of things that need to be taken care of.

I wanted to get some DMC floss and some Patio Paint to make more painted stepping stones, and then go somewhere for a nice lunch. Well, I got those things taken care of and had a very yummy lunch at Moe's.

After that, I headed to a place that could transfer the old VCR tape of my house being built to a DVD for safe keeping. On the way, the A/C in the car just wouldn't cool down at all. It's been so horribly hot here for weeks now, so it wasn't surprising. I often will glance down at the gages on the dashboard of the car and was almost sick when I saw the temperature gage going up, up, up very quickly. Within seconds the gage was at the top and almost into the red zone. I immediately pulled into a parking lot and turned the engine off. There wasn't any steam or that bad smell, so I thought maybe I just needed additional coolant.

To make a long story short, I had to have a new radiator installed. Oh, yipee - another unexpected expense. At first, I couldn't find anybody to take care of it for me and couldn't even get a ride home - I don't live in a convenient location. Anyway, a new radiator was installed and I was able to get back home by 7 p.m. Not exactly what I had planned for my day off :( Oh well, what are you gonna do?

We finally had a storm move through and I drove home in pouring rain. I was so happy for that rain! I took care of all the animals, took a nice shower and sat down to make a new mini embroidery that Jenny has shared with us. Have you seen it? She is so talented and generous!

Oh, I forgot to update about the Penn State wall hanging I'm making for my wonderful vet. I didn't get it completed yet, but all I have to do now is the binding. I decided to echo quilt around the design; nothing else seemed to work. I'll be able to take it to her next week.


It's off to Lowes for me today to work toward getting insurance. I hope this works out till I can find a "real" job that isn't in a sweat shop. The hours are gruelling standing on my feet all day, but as long as I know it's a temporary situation, I can handle it.

I hope you all have a good day today. I so enjoy visiting blogs and getting inspired!

New Appliances

Finally! I got my new washer hooked up today thanks to my great neighbors. They had to come over to help me get it into the house. I had to run a metal dryer vent under the house, as the plastic one I had can't be used with the new dryer. What a creepy job going under my house. I had my neighbors stand outside the opening while I was under there...just as a security measure. It's just so creepy under there and there is no way to get out fast. I hate bumping into snake skins; I'd rather see a live snake.

Here is my new washer and dryer...nothing fancy but they will get the job done!


The opening to the crawl space...


Going in...


Under the house - yuk!



The new vent...



Speaking of snakes, I was very sad to discover that I had created a death trap for my friends, the black snakes, behind the barn. There was an old piece of deer netting tangled behind some boards under some honeysuckle. I knew I had smelled a dead critter and suspected it was a black snake but couldn't find it. Well, something caught my eye day before yesterday and upon examination I found not one, but three large snakes, all dead. Poor things were trying to make their way inside the barn where I welcome them for keeping copperheads away and taking care of some of the million tiny field mice in there.

I had the very unpleasant task of cleaning up the tangled netting and snakes, but managed to take care of it by holding my breath a lot and getting it all stuffed into a big plastic bag. I'll seal it up really well and take it to the dump tomorrow so nothing else gets tangled. This is the fourth incident I've had with snakes getting tangled in the netting, so I won't be using anymore of it.

I'm exhausted but home today taking care of some minor repairs around the house, thanks to Blair. She ripped off part of the molding and new tiles in my recently repaired laundry room. Plus, she ripped off part of the molding in the master bedroom, so I'll have to fix that before next week too. My mom and sis are coming for a visit and this is giving me the incentive to finally get those things taken care of. Plus, I want to finish the Penn State wall hanging so I can give it to my vet tomorrow.

Try to stay cool - it's an impossibility here these days!!!

Friday Night Sew In and An Evening Visitor

I'm posting my Sew In picture a little early. I actually finished the embroidery last night and won't have a chance to work on it again till at least Sunday. Now I just have to add the borders and sew it together. I've got the hardest part finished.

I think I'm going to make the borders blue with white squares in each corner and put a blue paw print in each of them. Then I think I'll just stipple quilt it.



I had the sweetest little visitor last evening. Just as I was closing the barn, I noticed a box turtle. How in the world she got into the pasture is beyond me because she's larger than the spaces in the fence. I was concerned that the chickens and geese would torment her so I carried her out of the pasture in the direction she was headed. Before I took her all the way over there, I gave her a very ripe banana that was destined for the compost bin, and also a little drink of water. She was very thirsty!


It's important to know that if you ever stop to help a turtle across a road to always put them in the direction they were headed. Several times I've passed a turtle on the road only to take the next exit, turn around and then head back up the road till I spot it. Then I'll put it in my car and drive up to the next exit and loop back to the oppossite side of the highway where it was headed.

If you don't do this, they will only try to cross the road again and probably get squished. I'm sad every time I see a squished turtle and always try to stop if at all possible.

It's been another scorcher here today and some of the customers at Lowes are so rude. I don't know if it's the heat or what. A lot of the customers are very nice though and for the most part I enjoy ringing them up. I especially like all the military that come through - Fort Bragg is just down the road about 30 minutes.

I bought my new washer tonight and have wrestled the old one out into the driveway. The new one is setting on my patio waiting for my neighbors to help me get it into place - hopefully tomorrow before I go back to Lowes.

I hope you have a nice day tomorrow. I can't wait to get home already and I haven't even left yet!

TTFN!

She Came, She Saw, She Conquered!

Meet Ronnie, the yellow jacket destroyer!




Here she is all suited up and ready to go!


First she sprayed some aerosol stuff


Then she used a puffer and dusted the nest and bees really well. Boy, were they angry!




It only took her a few minutes to do what she needed to. She told me to stay away from the patio for a couple of days.

And if that wasn't enough excitement, my dryer died! Fortunately, I had enough cash saved from house cleaning and working for Gail to buy the cheapest one at Lowes. My washer and dryer are over 20 years old and I knew they wouldn't last much longer. I just told Gail yesterday while cleaning her house that my washer wasn't far behind and low and behold, it croaked last night with a load of dog towels in it. It looks like there is mud in it and the agitator won't work. Since it's $80 just to have a guy come and look at it, I'll figure out a way to buy a new washer as well. Goodness knows with a house full of critters that I can't be without a washer and dryer!!

I'm glad I know how to handle money as well as I do. I've been out of work for 16 months and have still managed to pay for an expesive air conditioner repair last summer, a major car maintenance bill and new tires, go to a quilt show and have some fun, and now buy two new appliances. Of course, I had to take some money from my retirement funds for little Princess' surgery so I can't count that one.

I am a survivor and should be more proud of myself for what I continue to do without a permanent, full time position.

It is blistering hot here today and Alissa is with me. We are going to paint some concrete stepping stones - in the house of course. We're not going out for anything today!!

Have a great day everybody!

Former Foster Critters

I was looking for an especially pretty picture of my Princess to put on my sidebar and came across several of my former foster critters. I've got tons of Princess pics, but they weren't taken with a digital camera. Once I ever get my scanner connected to the 'puter, I'll be able to share all kinds of pictures with you.

The hound in this picture is Chance. He's an American Foxhound and was my last foster dog. He was found starving in the mountains. His front teeth were ground down to nubs, probably from chewing on a chain link dog pen.

Chance really didn't want to do anything but eat and sleep and could care less about the other dogs and cats. If he saw a deer outside, he'd go beserk though. He went through training and became a certified therapy dog and is now living happily ever after!!


Leo was my last foster kitty and he and Topaz were best buds. He was another cat that my friend, Gail, trapped at the shopping center where her shop is. He was incredibly beautiful and I wanted to keep him but didn't. His coat was as soft as a bunny! He was adopted through Marley's Cat Tales.


This is Jade, a beautiful American Staffordshire. He belonged to a friend's daughter but wasn't getting the exercise he needed so I brought him home with me. He got adopted almost immediately by a couple who adored him.





This is a poor dog I found chained to a tree, starving and with a bloody tail. I couldn't keep her and took her to my vet to be euthanized, but one of the technicians took her in as a foster. She has been named Lola and is still looking for a perfect home. I don't have an updated picture, but I can tell you she is unrecognizable now!!!



There was a story on the news yesterday about the Durham SPCA, which has more than 100 cats in their care now and the number is rising daily. They are only equipped to take care of about 60 cats and are now making the difficult decision of which innocent kitties will be euthanized. PLEASE spay/neuter your pet and encourage others to do so as well!!!. Pet overpopulation is a problem that can be prevented. I know it's expensive, but there are several programs to assist with the cost.

I hope you all have a good day today :)