the face in the window and other things...

the face in the window

This is the little face that greets us these days at all hours of the day and night. We call her Olivia (for Oliver the orphan who always asked for 'more please'). She is one of the feral cats that come by to eat, drink, or just rest in our yard. She is a tiny little thing and very skittish... but she seems to have a limitless appetite for one so small (and she will smack any other cat that comes by and tries to take her food).  We think that she may have a litter somewhere although we have never seen any kittens.

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Nothing else going on besides the current pandemic updates... which are a bit depressing, so won't go there today.

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I try to complete at least one specific chore each day (more on good days). Today I went through, cleaned up, and threw out all my old pottery pieces, old clay, and boxes that had accumulated in the corner of our front room. Since we had to clean out our lockers and shelves at the studio, everything had to come home that one day that they allowed us in a few weeks ago. And since we don't know when the studio may open again, it's best to get rid of all the excess junk. My poor little cheeky chickens that were sculpted during the early days of this pandemic may have to remain greenware for a while  (which - like Pinocchio - means they won't be able to become 'real' for a bit)

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And lastly, here's a glympse of my early birthday gift to myself:

Joanne's kitchen towels!

You can't see it... but the aqua almost matches the grout color between the blue tiles. 

Birthday Towels for me 
and
Peanut butter Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies for the boys!

It's a good day...

Wishing you could all drop by and share some cookies and tea (or coffee) with me, but I guess virtual tea/coffee will have to do. 

Hugs,

Rian

Julie's reassessment... and other things

Julie this morning

Took Julie to her Vet appointment for reassessment this morning.  She went from 8 lbs in November to 5 lbs now. She used to be a round little thing... now we can see her backbone and hips. But as with us, the Vet is amazed that she is still alert and active... and although she still can't open her jaws or make any sound, she doesn't seem to be in any pain. It's possible she's uncomfortable (with a locked jaw - how could she not be?), but her eyes or her actions don't show any signs of pain.

The Vet took another x-ray of the left side of her face and neck... (there is an obvious lump there between her jaw and her shoulder) and compared the previous x-rays to this new one. We looked at both with her. Neither shows anything unusual.

DH had bought some pet CBD over the internet as several people have told us that it helped with their pets who had poor prognoses. It arrived on Friday, but we wanted to talk to the Vet before using it. After discussing various options with her this morning - finally decided to take her home and try the CBD. 

So this is where we are. She is sleeping now by the AGA... with one small dose of CBD in her as well as 1cc of diluted Rx AD and a 1 cc of water (given by syringe).

  

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cheeky chicken hanging on cup in window

Do you have "mysteries" around your house? Things disappear around ours... and sometimes reappear in different places at a later date. We put this off most of the time to our slightly advanced age and the possibility that our memories of where these things should be or used to be is "iffy".

This weekend with Julie's problem, DH's mishap (I'll explain later), and my pottery classes starting up again, I could not find some things that I thought were where they weren't. One of those things was a 2nd cheeky chicken (like the one hanging on the cup).  It was also a hanging one... so it has to be hanging somewhere, right?   Having searched everywhere I thought it could be, I decided to give up. It should turn up at some point...

But while looking for it, I also took a pic of that huge (6") hanging chicken on the windowsill that I had made for the purpose of making some larger ones to hang from our wood fence outside. 

fence chicken 

It's funny how when you see a pic of something how it puts things in a different perspective... my windowsill is a bit cluttered. There's pottery pieces, salt containers, avocados, and garlic. Actually my counter tops are a bit cluttered too. I should clean them up a bit - but it's so handy to have everything right there when I need it.

chickens and pie birds that sit on my AGA... 
along with cast iron pot that remains there for convenience

These critters also sit on top of the hot plate... usually in the back not in the cast iron skillet.  They bring joy to my cooking just by sitting there in the kitchen with me. Maybe I should make some pie birds??  The chickens I did make, but the 3 pie birds here were either bought or given to me.  (Hmm...mm, maybe I should think about that)

Going to check on Julie now. (Oh, DH's mishap: he broke a tooth this weekend... so he has a dental appointment to deal with... always something).

Thanks for reading... and all your good thoughts for Julie. She is a brave little thing.

Hugs,

Rian

weekend is here...

fresh bread

This is what DH and I eat every morning for breakfast... a half slice of fresh made bread (No, I didn't make it). But a slice of warmed bread with butter and a cup of coffee make up our daily breakfast. 

Oh, on occasion (but very seldom) we will have eggs and bacon or biscuits or pancakes... but more than likely we have this type of breakfast for supper (especially at the end of the week when we've just about run out of groceries).

One of our favorite suppers is a dutch baby with lots of butter, lemon, powdered sugar... and a few slices of bacon!

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Not a lot going on here at the moment... well, birthdays abound! From August though December, we have have about 10 birthdays in our family. Two this year are fairly big ones... oldest grand daughter turned 18 and oldest grandson will be 21 in a few weeks. Don't know how these kids got so old so fast. Time sure flies. 
                                                                              
                                                         

Oldest grandson at younger age

oldest grandson now

oldest grand daughter at younger age

oldest grand daughter now

OK... closing this with a few pics of the progression of

Cheeky Chickens 2nd generation!

                                                                                   

These are slightly bigger than the first generation... and have added 3 dimensional wings instead of carved in... and may possibly be colorful shades of pink, blue, and purple (this is still a maybe?).
 

The round ball in the back is clay over a balloon which will be covered with tiny snakes and fired in the ground... (an experiment in the making).

And lastly I want to thank those of you who read my book (Time After Time by D'Arcy Regan Hart) and put a review on Amazon.  I may never have a ton of readers, but it makes me very happy that the few who have read it seemed to enjoy it. Thanks again.

Have a wonderful weekend and as always thanks so much for reading and sharing this time in my life with me.


Hugs,
Rian

cats, grandkids, pottery, and books...

Ghost and Tux sleeping by the Aga

Today was a very busy day (not for the cats as you can see). It was our youngest grand daughter's first day of Kindergarten and we were all apprehensive. As it turned out, she did just fine... and I think she even enjoyed it. Today was only until noon, but tomorrow is until 3. She says she's looking forward to recess tomorrow so they can go out and play on the playground... (she explained to me that there wasn't enough time for recess today since it was only a half day)

I'm working on a few more clay projects, more windchimes, another bluebird soap dish, and an egg shaped bird house. Once I get them a little further along, I'll post a few pics on the Cheeky Chickens Studio site. By the time the new semester starts at the end of August, I should have several things to fire.

BTW, my jaw is definitely better. I don't want to talk too soon, but although I'm still careful with it, the TMJ inflammation or whatever it was seems to be gradually going away. (Hurray!) 

There's been so much political uproar on the news that I've basically 'tuned it out'.  Sometimes I think people are losing their minds. That's all I'll say on that subject.

I am reading a good book written by an 85 year old woman that decided to take notes while living in a home for the aged. Actually it's 3 books in one, "Out to Pasture", "Over what Hill?", and "Older but Wilder". The author is Effie Wilder and her stories are both insightful and funny. 

Oh, and I tried a new recipe from Cast Iron Comfort Food magazine today to celebrate grand daughter's first day of Kindergarten. It's a giant snickerdoodle cookie made in a cast iron skillet. DH actually saw this recipe in the magazine at CM and promptly bought it for me. They do have some other good recipes in it too...

Cast Iron magazine

Snickerdoodle in cast iron skillet

Happy Wednesday!

cat planter in progress and Easter commith...

First underglaze

I did the first underglaze on my cat planter this morning. Have decided to make him a tuxedo cat - black and white  (surprise! surprise!). But I'm just about out of underglaze so the black won't be added til I can get to the ceramic store (which is way across town) so probably not until next semester starts in May. I also wrote that 'plan' with my stylus on the computer picture. That's a new accessory that came with this computer (well, not came - I did have to pay extra for it). 

Thinking it may be time to put out some Easter decorations (I finally took down our "Merry Christmas" sign off the front door). 
Perhaps I should make some Easter Cheeky Chickens... you know in pastels... pink, blue, and lavender colors? Hmm..mm, since I can't fire anything these days, I'd better put that idea on the back burner.

Did you watch the Oscars? We don't exactly watch them, but do switch back to them during commercials just to see what's going on. The clothes and hairstyles are interesting. It's strange, but DH and I feel that most of the actresses and actors look better when in their normal attire. It would seem that the simpler the dress or tux, the better it looks. Outlandish doesn't work - but that may just be us.

Well, Spring may be on it's way. It's cool and windy today, but the weatherman says it may be 80 on Saturday! 

Happy Tuesday to all! (NCIS New Orleans comes on tonight!)