time and freedom... for this

Kittens! Kittens! And more kittens! This was one of my many dreams last night... probably brought on by the appearance of 2 new kittens in our front yard yesterday. They are about 3 months old... one Siamese marking and one black. They were sitting with Sonny, a long-haired black feral that is only about a year old himself. DH and I think that he actually goes out recruiting kittens. 

Anyway, in my dream, I'd find a very young kitten, bring him in... and then another would appear.... and then another... and so on. It's the 'never ending kitten story'! 

Ah... well, it's better than so many other things that go through my mind at night.

I can't remember if I posted a picture of my finished seal and puffin sculptures. But I took them home yesterday, so here they are:

They will need homes eventually and I'm still on my 'pay it forward' plan....  so if anyone is interested, let me know. 

My new projects are fish mobiles to hang from the trees outside. I think the ferals might be entertained by them. What do you think?

I found this on Pinterest.  My  shapes and colors won't be the same, but I liked the idea.  Started making ceramic beads and shapes this past Saturday.

I'm not sure any of this can be called 'art'... but it brings me joy.  I always think of the following quote when I question why I do what I do.

Hope you're having a good Sunday! Thanks for coming by! 

And a comment concerning what I love about retirement (For Tom Sightings over Sixty):  "I love having the time and freedom to do just this!"

in the wee small hours of the morning...

It's 4 AM and I'm having one of those 'dark night of the soul' episodes. Well, perhaps that's an exaggeration. But you know those nights when you wake up at 3 AM... and your mind is filled with thoughts that you consciously avoid during your waking hours... worries about your children, your grandchildren, friends, your friends' children, finances, health, climate control, the state of the world, the state of the nation... as well as old age and dying.

I personally think these pop up because they are things that for the most part, we have little or no control over. During the day our conscious mind is aware of this and push these thoughts aside, but at night when our guard is down, these worries resurface.

When there's no answer or solution, I tend to 'give it to God' (as the expression goes), have a cup of tea, and eventually go back to bed.

But I have found that humor helps... if I can laugh at myself. For instance - I've seen that ambulance, fire truck, etc. show up in the middle of the night (for neighbors as well as for my own mother)... and I wonder if and when it will one day come for me. I'm sure other 'older folk' must think about this too. However, my first thought before this band of strangers come charging into my house would be... 'are there dishes in the sink?" 


Oh well... it is what it is right? (and we CAN handle it!)

Thanks for reading. Have a good Sunday (and don't leave any dishes in the sink!)

geriatric house-hold

cat age chart

I googled this chart not too long ago. Our 3 cats are getting up in age. The 2 black and whites (Tux and Julie)  are 15 this year (76 in human years) and Ghost is 13 (68). So not counting our grandson (who is 20), this house-hold is basically geriatric.

The reason I bring this up is that both Ghost and Tux were not feeling well this past week... throwing up a few times and not eating for a short period.

When Ghost does this, it's generally due to her getting upset over something (my 17 year old grand daughter and a friend visited from San Antonio during spring break - and sometimes changes in the house upset Ghost).  However, when Ghost rallied and Tux went down, we decided that just possibly they had a 'cat bug'... one that luckily for all of us only lasted 24 hours. If it had gone on longer than 3 days, we would have taken them to the Vet... but they hate that - and that alone upsets Ghost terribly.

So I'm attributing it to 'age' and possibly a 'cat bug'. Julie so far has not succumbed... and is her usual bouncy self.

cat and doorbell poster

This picture reminds me of what Ghost looks like when someone rings the front doorbell. She goes into 'flight' mode.

Hope all of you have a great weekend! Spring break is over for us, so it's back to the pottery studio tomorrow. I'm thinking that I might start sculpting more dogs (grand daughter wants one of Moose) and maybe create a few more wind chimes or inside mobiles... we'll see.

Until next time... "breathe in, breathe out, move on" 







  

St. Pat's Day 2019

Didn't want the day to go by without saying : 

 Happy St. Patrick's Day ! 

and...

I came across this when looking for a St. Patrick's Day pic in my album. I really like this saying so I thought I'd share it with you...

cats are endearing...

Our 3 cats this morning

Innocent looking, aren't they? But I have to gather up their toys from all over the house in the morning and put them back on their quilts.

Tux

I took this last night while Tux was lying on my lap. He is my 'familiar' - I think that's the right term - wants to be where-ever I am, watches my every move, and stares holes through me. I love him to death, but sometimes its a little un-nerving. I tend to tease him... when he stares, I'll wiggle my eyebrows at him... and he'll jerk his head up and yowl. Don't know if he likes it or doesn't, but it definitely is a way to communicate with him. 

I titled this post, "cats are endearing"... but of course dogs can be too. I know this. My daughter's dogs are very much so. Her Great Dane, Moose, is such a sweetie. He wants to be a lap dog and loves being hugged. These next pics shows him trying to get a hug from my 17 year old grand daughter (all you can see in the first pic are her legs).

Moose wanting a hug...

Moose getting his hug....







Moose on her lap....

Yes, he is a sweetie... a very big sweetie!

Going to close this now with a picture I took from Pinterest, (I think). I  have always been fascinated with crows or ravens... 

love this pic!

Have a wonderful Sunday and as always, thanks for visiting!

my Friday...

I haven't felt well this week. Don't know if its due to a bug, stress, or just plain ol' old age. For the last few days I have had my lower back ache, head ache, and have been extremely tired... so much so that I have spent the days taking Tylenol and sleeping. Luckily since we're retired, I have the both the time and the ability to do this.

Although I'm feeling better today, I didn't have the energy to go to the pottery studio... just wasn't in me to get up and go. And since it's nasty, rainy, and cold, I'm better off here at home. 

This afternoon I decided to make a recipe that I've seen on cooking shows, but never tried. It didn't seem difficult... and wasn't. So tonight we're having Beef Stroganoff. I'll let you know how it turns out.  I have to say that its made with either cream sherry or brandy and I had to taste both to decide which to use. Liked both, but chose the cream sherry. I wonder how it would taste with bourbon? I have cooked with bourbon before and it was very good... maybe next time.

Well, the cookings done and now I'm ready for a nap. So I may possibly take a tiny bit of the cream sherry and grab a book... so much for my day.

Humph....

Oh well...


Thanks for reading!  And feel free to take a nap if the mood strikes you!  

Happy March 1, 2019...

White Rabbit! White Rabbit! or Rabbit Rabbit!  

Joanne's pumpkin towels... 

Thank you, Joanne! (Cup on the bus blog)