An Unexpected Road Trip

Hi Bloggie friends,

I took an unplanned road trip to Alexandria, VA to visit my daughter and son-in-law (Erin and Aaron) due to his mother's passing. I got to meet all of Aaron's family - people I've heard about for years now.

My purpose for the trip was to take care of little Ginny, who is just three years old. Since Alissa was out of school for President's Day and a teacher work day, I took her with me. She's a super babysitter and loves her little cousin and did a terrific job of taking care of Ginny which made things so much easier for the family.

On the way, we needed to stop so I pulled into a Cracker Barrell for a drink. As we were parking, I saw a couple loading some dogs into the back of their car. Now you know I had to go see them so Alissa and I approached the nice couple and asked if we could pet their dogs. They had one old Pekingnese named Asia, who they had found abandoned and covered with ice and no hair some years ago. The little dog was very old. They also had a big Golden they called Cowboy who was a year old. Not visible were two little white dogs - one in diapers because she was so old.

I have no idea who these people were but had to take a picture of Alissa with them. I asked them if they were involved in rescue and the woman replied - "no, we're just stupid". I cracked up laughing! Turns out they have almost as many cats as I do and at one time had even more.

I thanked them for letting us visit their dogs and told them to have a safe trip and off we all went.

Aaron has a niece that is one year younger than Alissa, and they get to see each other about once a year. It was the first time I've met Miranda. Alissa has deemed Miranda her cousin-in-law! For a while, they were watching TV by themselves taking a break from babysitting and I joined them. What I saw was so adorable to me that I got my camera and took a few pictures of them - they were so engrossed watching Sponge Bob Square Pants that they didn't realize what I was doing.




I am just sick that this picture is out of focus but it's still worth its weight in gold to me.


Look - always in the same position while watching TV.




Two little girls who love each other and only get to see each other about once a year. So sweet and innocent.


I hope your week has been a good one.

Saturday Is Wash Day

I got some much needed washing done today. It's very cold and windy and if I had hung clothes outside, I'm sure they would have blown away. But that isn't the kind of washing I did.

I've tried to get Princess to the groomer for the last three weekends but it just hasn't worked out. She isn't difficult to bathe...it just makes such a mess of the bathroom. And as hard as I try not to let a bunch of dog hair go down the drain, I'm usually not very successful.

I couldn't get a picture of her in the tub and she would barely hold still once out. She couldn't get out of the bathroom fast enough!





Mommy, please stop torturing me and let me outta here!



Then it was Zoe's turn. Does she look pitiful or what?







Now at least I have two shiny and clean pooches. Blair will have to wait for her turn at the groomer b/c she has a thick coat. I'd never got the drain unclogged from her.



I hope you have a good week :)

Just Incredible!

I've been so excited about this for almost two weeks now and thought others might like to know.

While listening to A Prairie Home Companion on the radio one Saturday night, they were talking to a wildlife researcher on the radio about a black bear who is expecting her first cubs to be born this winter...and very soon.

Well, being the nature lover I am, I paid close attention to the conversation! Turns out there is a web site www.bear.org that has web cams right in the bears' dens. I've been keeping an eye on her and Monday Jewel had her first babies.

If you want to get goose bumps, visit this site and you can hear everything. The microphones are incredibly sensitive and you can even hear other animals in the far-off distance. One of the babies 'screams' a lot and it's very distressing to hear both to mama bear and me, but she seems to be a good mother and responds immediately.

I have mixed feelings about the researchers working so closely with the bears (or any wild animals) because it conditions them to not be as afraid of humans as they should be but that's my own opinion. It certainly provides much needed education to others though, so I guess it's a mixed bag. Anything that helps humans understand that the creatures we share this planet with have feelings and should be respected and valued! has my support though.

Check it out - see what you think!

A Beautiful Quilt

Hi fellow bloggers!

Thank you all so much for the kind words about Tinkerbell. It appears there are lots of people who get attached to their farm critters as much as I do and I am very glad for that.

This is a quick post to share a gorgeous quilt that my sister made for me many years ago. I don't think I've ever posted about it so this is way overdue.

She made a log cabin quilt and used very bright colors with black as the binding. I've always loved bright colors on black and one of my most favored dresses that my grandmother made when I was little was a solid black dress with every color of rick rack sewn around the bottom of it. Wish I still had that as a keepsake.


So my sister, Susan, is very detail oriented and is blessed with an abundance of patience (evidently it was all given to her because I have very little myself). Notice in the close up picture that she even changed her thread color to match the portion of the quilt she was working on.


Boy not me! I would have used neutral thread and kept right on sewing! I really appreciate the effort and love that was put into this beautiful quilt and I know you quilters out there can too.

Have a good week folks. I have today off as a holiday and will be making cookies with Alissa. It's the first time I've seen her since Christmas so we're having a fun day together :)

A Tribute to Tinkerbell

The weather was beautiful today and I worked outside all day for the first time in a couple of months.

My day started by burying my special hen, Tinkerbell. She was born here over six years ago and was the only black hen I had. Like several of my chickens, she was named after a Disney character by Alissa.

I noticed a couple of weeks ago that Tinkerbell wasn't roosting at night and chose to sleep on the barn floor. Some of the other hens do that from time to time, so I didn't think much of it at first. But then I noticed some other symptoms and brought her into the garage. She wouldn't eat or drink so I did a Google search and learned that it was probably bacterial in nature. I started administering antibiotics by a syringe orally but she continued to go downhill. I brought her into the bathroom Tuesday night since it was bitterly cold. She was warm and comfortable and lasted till about 7 p.m. Wednesday evening.



She was a friendly chicken
and always close by whenever I was working near the barn.


She got along with all the other chickens very well


I know she was "just" a chicken, but it's so sad to see a pet of any kind die. I prayed that she would go quickly but it was kind of long and drawn out. Because it's still dark when I get home from work, I couldn't bury her till this morning. I had already cried Wednesday so there were no tears this morning, although going through some pictures, it's hard not to cry looking at her.

RIP little black hen.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy New Year!

Here's a toast that 2012 is better for those of us struggling and just as good for those who aren't!

My DS is visiting and we'll be going to the best little quilt shop on the east coast - Thimble Pleasures. They're having a New Years Day sale and it should be lots of fun to go see all the beautiful fabrics they have.

I am still focused entirely on my job but hope I can find a little balance in the near future. That's the closest thing to a resultion that I'm making this year.

Bring it on, 2012!

Making Time To Blog

I have never been so married to a job in my entire life as I am with this one. That's why I've been MIA. But tonight I am making time for my blog because I have something special to share with you.

Have you ever visited Vicki from 2 Bags Full? She is the nicest woman and I'm very glad I stumbled onto her blog a while back. She makes incredible knitted bird nests that are specatular works of art. She has a beautiful blog, so please stop by and pay her a nice visit.

When I first saw her nests, I inquired about them. I've been waiting for months for mine to come; I've actually ordered two. I received my Christmas nest a couple of weeks ago and finally finished putting my Christmas decorations out today and can share some pictures (but these pictures were actually taken before I put my bird table runner out).

These nests are loaded with embellishments and are so beaufitul. Vicki even tucked in a couple of surprises. Inside the nest was a pretty clay pear made by a friend of hers. The same friend also made a sweet partridge ornament which I have hanging on my bird Christmas tree - a really nice addition to my collection of bird ornaments.

Here's my little partridge ornament temprarily hanging from a little decorative chandelier. It's since been moved to a place of honor on my bird tree.


My beautiful Christmas nest...



A side view...



Last weekend I went to Home Goods and happened across this cool bird made from wool felt and it was the perfect size and weight to add to my special nest.


How perfect is that?

I haven't made the first gift for anybody yet and am not sure what I'm going to do about gift giving this year. I can't buy anything due to a tight budget and a monster car repair. I'll probably get a few things made but I know they will be late.

On top of all that, I've got two sick cats. Long story and I may share at some point but tomorrow I'll be taking Smudge back to the vet again as he is no better and hasn't eaten since last week. Right now I've got to clean up my kitchen and get ready for my new favorite show, Once Upon a Time. I love that show and hope it lasts forever!

Silent Sunday

A Little Autumn Project

October has come and gone in a flash. A lot of my decorations are still sitting on the porch waiting to be used. Guess I need to put them back in the bin for storage.

I bought a quilting magazine several weeks ago that has a lot of cute and simple projects in it.

I was determined to make one of the autumn projects. There is a really cute runner but I didn't think I'd get it completed since Christmas is right around the corner - yikes! I decided to make one of the round placemats and use it as a little table mat. I think it's the perfect size for a little color in the center of the table. Although I must confess, I made this to give to somebody and won't be keeping it. I'm going to attempt to get another one of these completed this week.

I think it looks pretty cute.


I've gotten the barn almost winterized and the little rooster pin as well. This pay day I'll buy wheat straw to pile up inside to help keep it a little warmer than it would be otherwise. The little goat family have their winter coats on now and are all quite fuzzy.


Because most of my hens are pretty old and don't lay many eggs these days, I bought two laying hens from some friends.

Here is Ginger - a gold laced wyandotte.

And Golden Girl - an Americauna


I don't know how Big Rooster is still alive. He still has a huge hole in him but acts normal in every way.


My monster tractor has been serviced and used for the last time. We had our first freeze Saturday night so all the annuals are mushy now. I'm in no hurry to clean up the yard and gardens as I lost interest in them late August when I couldn't keep things alive, or from being eaten by deer or voles. So discouraging.

Last weekend my older daughter, husband and little girl came down for a nice visit. All the younger folks went to the NC State Fair on Saturday while I ran errands and cooked and baked. Sunday we all went to the Zoo and had a good time seeing the animals in their nice habitats. Of course the batteries in my camera died right after we got there so I don't have many pictures to share. Thank goodness we arrived at the perfect moment to see this wonderful creature getting a brush down. His name is Artie and he's about 20 years old. I was in heaven being this close to an elephant.


...till I can make time to blog again - stay warm!

Wordless Wednesday (a little early)

Pete Pictures & My Crow Wall Hanging

Happy Fall Ya'All! It's quite nippy here this morning and it feels great to me, even if it does make my joints ache a little.

Yesterday I attended a big adoption event in town sponsored by PetSense. They opened a store in my little podunk town about a year ago and are making a big effort to make a difference around here for the animals. I couldn't take Pete because he hasn't had his vet check yet but I spent some time visiting the other rescues that were there. There are so many animals in need and I'm glad that some of them get help. I fell in love with a sweet 5 month old white girl pup of some kind. She was terrified and sat right by her foster mom's feet just shivering the entire time. I was told that she was found running down a busy street by herself. I just love talking to rescue folks!

I've let Pete out of the laundry room a few evenings this week and he's done great. He still has a little bit of the skunk smell on him so he still mostly stays in the laundry room. Here are a couple of pictures of him when I did let him in my bedroom though. He was quite happy to be with the rest of us and made himself right at home.





Late last summer I started a crow wall hanging from a pattern I had purchased at a quilt show the year before. I got a lot done but had to put it away to make Christmast presents. I was determined to finish the wall hanging in time to use it for this fall - it was one of the goals I listed in January.

I'm happy to say that I've completed the hanging and am pleased with the way it turned out. The details don't show in the pictures, but I used a silver metallic thread to topstitch the crows with. The black fabric is a beautiful print I purchased at Jinny Beyer's studio a couple of years ago when my sister and I visited there.



It's so nice to actually complete something! Now I'm working on Christmas gifts so won't be sharing any of those pictures for quite some time.

It's time for me to make some cookies for my neighbor who brought his horse down last weekend for my granddaughters to ride. I'll post some of those pictures next time. I had thrown a tiny surprise party for Alissa, who turned 9 years old. Her little 2 year old cousin came down from the D.C. area and it was a super weekend!

Have a nice week, everybody.

Meet "Sweet Pete"

I did a lot of complaining this summer about having too many animals to take care of. I'll blame it on the heat. Most of the animals are easy but I have way too many cats in this house. The cats drive me nuts. Three of them I took as outdoor mousers, but since a cat doesn't distinguish between killing mice and birds and bunnies, they've all ended up indoors.

Blair is the last dog I've helped save.


While I agreed to foster her, it appears she now will live here permanently. She's a good dog and doesn't ask for much, although she has a horrible habit of counter surfing. Nothing is safe on the counter if it's even remotely edible and sometimes I forget to put things away. Other than that, she's pretty perfect.

I am still on one rescue distribution list and I usually just delete them w/o reading. Once I see an animal's picture it becomes difficult to delete the email. Long story short, I've decided to help another dog. Meet "Sweet Pete".



Pete was an owner surrender to a high kill "shelter" in Vance County, NC where they "euthanize" by heart stick or gas chamber. Where they also hose down the kennels with the dogs still in them. Last winter Ashley said the puppies had ice hanging off of them. Pete is old and black. For reasons that I don't understand, black dogs and black cats have the lowest adoption rate and thousands are killed every year. But that doesn't stop people from continuing to breed black labs by the thousands every year either. Stupid. Pete didn't stand a chance of survivng in there.


Anyway, I spent the day on the road yesterday meeting the angel, Ahsley, from Middle Mutts who goes into the kill shelter every week to pull some lucky animals. I dont' know how she does it. I had agreed to foster a senior dog and Pete is the guy I ended up with. He's skinny and I suspect he has heartworms because he has a dry cough. He's loaded with intestinal parasites which will be addressed this week. He smelled so bad that I took him straight to a groomer in town where he was bathed three times. Poor old guy.

I was assured Pete would get along with other animals and people. So far, so good. He's met my precious Princess and all went well. When I brought him into the house and Smudge, my big cat, came around the corner, Pete tucked tail and slinked in the opposite direction. I don't think he'll bother the cats. In fact, he's in the laundry room with two of them now and not a peep from him. The cats are another story however.

So, I will be working to get Pete healthy and adopted into a nice home where he can live the rest of his years. I don't know how old he is, but he's definitely old. Old and sweet.

Happy Sunday everybody.

Animal Stuff and My Grandmother's Chair

Oi vay! The last few weeks have been busy with my new job and taking care of animal issues. The job is going well; I have a new executive to support and he is used to having his hand held big time so I'm really exhausted when I come home now.

I've been nursing a very sick rooster for the last two weeks. I'll spare you the gross details and just say that "Big Rooster" must be part cat. This is the third time he's almost died and recovered. He's still not 100% but after being in a pen in the garage for two weeks, I put him back with his flock today.



Little Fizz has been staying with some huge goats over at my neighbors for the last two weeks after being neutered. He was being bullied terribly and when I checked on him Wednesday evening, his incision was bleeding. I put some cornstarch on it (did you know that it stops bleeding immediately?) and left him crying to come home. As I looked back, I saw one of the big goats ram him right in his rear again.

I called the vet the next morning and asked if it was absolutely necessary to keep him separated from the girls for 45 days. While she said yes, she advised me to bring him home because he could be seriously injured by the large goats he was staying with. I'm happy to say that he came home Thursday evening and so far, I haven't seen him show any signs of being interested in the girls. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it stays this way.

I'm glad summer with its heat and drought are over; onward to taking care of some projects.

Remember the odd wooden chair I wrote about a couple ofmonths ago that used to belong to my granddmother? Well, I refinished it and had the cushions reupholstered. I got the cushions last week and I couldn't be happier with the way they turned out. I remember this chair from when I was very young and I have to say it looks great...and it's comfortable too.



The weather was really pretty today and I spent the day mowing, weeding and working on my walkway. This evening I put the binding on my autumn crow wall hanging that I started last year. I'll wash it tomorrow and put a pocket on the back to hang it by and take some pictures to share.

I'm off to bed now but wanted to get a post in before another day went by.

Happy blogging!

Weekend Project and a Huge Mess!

Boo hoo - I couldn't connect all weekend to share my weekend project or visit blogs. But I'm up and running again with lots to tell you.

I've been living with painted sub-flooring in my bedrooms and living room for a few years now. I've wanted to install laminate flooring but keep getting deterred by lack of employment....uh hum. Anyhow, I took the plunge this weekend and installed new flooring in my bedroom. It isn't laminate, but luxury vinyl and a nice choice for my bedroom, I think.


It's nice to walk on and it doesn't make as much noise when the dogs' nails click, click, click across it at night. I'll admit it isn't as pretty (to me anyway) as my beaufitul laminite but I'm very happy with it and will use it in the other bedrooms when I can get to them.

Here's what I've been living with for a while now...

Because I didn't want the "planks" to move out of place I used painters tape to hold them in position till I got across the room. Once I reached the other side there was no place for them to shift to.

I'll take some pictures of the completed project when I get all my stuff put properly back into place in there.

Now for the huge mess part. The weekend here was rather miserable for me and the goats. Fizz has grown and gotten quite horny. Sorry, there is no other way to put it. His nose was constantly up the girls' butts and his behavior was getting quite disgusting.
Then Lola started coming into heat and he really went bananas. I had to wait till he was four months old to have him neutered (sounds a little better than castrated), so he is at the vets tonight recovering. Remember what a tough time he had with the debudding (removal of horns). Well, seems everything he grows is extra big, if you get my drift hence, the overnight stay at the vets. Oh, brother.

I don't want, nor can I afford another single animal and I'm certainly not going to start breeding goats to sell as a few friends have suggested. I can't bear the thought of them ending up on somebody's table or used for bait to train fighting dogs. Nope - no more goats around here.



So to make certain that doesn't happen, all the girls have to go in later this week for "morning after" injections. Fortunately they only cost $10. In the mean time, I have to keep Fizz-Man away from the girls for 30-60 days.

You wouldn't believe how impossible that was over the weekend! I had him in a rooster pen and that contained him for about 24 hours. Then I moved him to my fenced in back yard with the 5' fence which added additional stress because I couldn't let the dogs out at will for fear of them terrorizing Fizz. After all, he still is very much a baby for the most part.

The back yard fence didn't contain him either. All the while I was installing my new flooring and having to run outside to check on the goats, all of which were bellowing for each other non stop. Fizz was scared and miserable, mama Lily was miserable because her baby was crying, Lola and Bindi were miserable because ... well because of a lot of reasons. So by yesterday I had no alternative but to tie poor Fizz to the tree in the middle of the back yard - far enough from the fence so that if he did climb over, he wouldn't hang himself. Talk about non-stop bellowing for hours...and hours...and hours. I was so incredibly grouchy all weekend from it all.

So how am I going to keep Fizz away from the girls when he comes home you ask? Fortunately, I have some neighbors who have a few alpine goats in a huge, safe area and they have agreed to babysit my little guy for two months. I am so relieved. I don't know what I would have done if they said no to me. I'll be taking them a pan of brownies tomorrow evening as the beginning of my 60 days of gratitude for them. So for tonight at least, the goats are quiet and I am happy. Not to mention exhausted!