Friday, February 27, 2009

Back from the Wilderness









Yesterday we went to my Mom's for an early dinner. I always enjoy visiting with Mom. It's nice to spend time with her and she has the most incredible backyard. My Mom sold her house in '98 and bought a really nice condo that is nestled in amongst a wildlife preserve. The woods edge is a mere 25 feet from her sliding glass door. Our visit is usually comprised of sitting at her kitchen table while looking at all the animals that visit her backyard, conversing and eating. The usual suspects that visit are... tons of squirrels, an occasional groundhog, pheasants, lots of songbirds, turkeys, and lots of stray cats that her next door neighbor gets fixed and deer, lots of them!
Yesterday did not disappoint. My Mom told us that a fairly large herd of deer usually show up around 5pm to eat. As we ate our dinner we eagerly awaited the arrival of her dinner guest. Slowly, and one by one.....came the deer. Beautiful camouflaged by the vegetation, one minute you would see them and the next they were gone. My Mom has a small opening by the woods edge where she puts bread, carrots, bird food and whatever leftovers she has. At one point yesterday we counted 11 deer. Many were yearlings who would feed under their Moms chest. I guess they still needed the comfort of knowing that Mom was still close by. What amazed me was how all the animals peacefully co-existed with each other. Cats and squirrels play with each other, the cats are very intrigued by the deer and were always a few feet away from them. Nothing like being refreshed by a day of nature :)

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Beano to the rescue, maybe not!



Has a woman ever divorced her husband due to excessive flatulence? I may just be the first woman to do so. It's a known fact that men produce a lot of gas. When I married my husband I agreed to love, honor and tolerate his gas issues but enough is enough already. Between him and the dog my house smells worse than a cat litter box. I use so many matches to destroy the smell that I should own stock in the Diamond match company (said in her best Groucho Marx voice with cigar hanging out of mouth) When my 23 year old Son...who is a pro himself regarding gas, complains about his Old Man's tooting, you know it must be bad!! We decided to have an intervention and we armed ourselves with a bottle of "gas extermination" called Beano. My husband was very resistant to part with his gas. It really has defined who he is as a person. This is a man who many years ago asked me to make the most fart producing meals so he could win a fart contest at work. After lots of negotiating and threats, he decided he would try Beano. I hand him the bottle and tell him to chew two. He refuses! Says he will wait until he has gas before he takes it. I yell, read the label....."help stop the gas before it starts". Sigh, tomorrow I plan on hiding these tablets in his food. You want to fart like a dog you will get treated like one :)

Monday, February 23, 2009

Evil Dippity Do

I don't know what it is about showering and having flashbacks about my youth. Last night's flashback was about Dippity-do. I'll tell you this, these were not happy flashbacks :) Dippity-do nights were nothing short of horrific! Mom would wash our hair. Then out came torture devices...which included Dippity-do and its accomplices...the tooth comb, the dreaded bucket full of curlers, squares of toilet paper and bobby pins. For the purpose of this post, bobby pins will always be referred to as "bobby needles". After our hair was washed, it got combed with the evil tooth comb. Mom would use the pointy end to make parts. That hurt! Next step was Mom applying the green goop (dippity-do) to our hair. As she did this I often fantasized about eating it. It looked so good and reminded me of Jello. Mom would then comb a small amount of hair, hold it together, apply a square or two of toilet paper and start rolling our hair on the curler. Pain would start when she started inching up towards our scalp. I know for sure that my scalp was pulled away from my skull. The final but scariest part was left. With Mom's left hand holding the curler vice-like tight she used her right hand to dig in the bucket to find a Bobby-needle. The screaming voice in my head is begging "please Mom, find a Bobby-needle that still has the rubber nipple attached to both ends". Sometimes, the rubber nipple fell off the Bobby-needle. That is real bad! Using a Bobby-needle with no rubber nipple to secure a curler to one's head is the equivalent to using a nail or needle :) What I described is just ONE curler. Imagine this process 20 more times, rinse, repeat, etc. For what, so I could look like Shirley Temple...which never happened, not even close? Dippity-do nights also meant sleepless nights. How is it possible to sleep when 20 or so plastic tubes attached to your head? Oh, I forgot.......we had bangs which could not get curled. Mom used scotch tape......swear to god and cross my push-up bra, to secure our bangs to our forehead to keep them straight as we slept.....which of course we couldn't because of those damn curlers! I found out that Dippity-do is still manufactured I can assure you that I will not be purchasing it! It is banned from my house! Long live straight hair :))

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific



Last night while showering and adding a generous amount of shampoo that is supposed to leave my hair... soft, shiny and smelling like the rain forest, it got me thinking about a shampoo I used in my youth . Do you remember "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific"? I sure do! I also remember how my hair smelled awesome for hours after washing it. While today's shampoos do a good job of cleaning my hair, they seem to lack the long-lasting fragrance that Gee, Your Hair Smells terrific had.
In an effort to appease my curiosity and recapture my youth, I decided to find out if this shampoo was still being manufactured. I haven't seen this shampoo on the shelves since the death of disco so I had no real hopes of finding it. I was wrong!!!
I found it at a wonderful site called The Vermont Country Store I've ordered from them before and they are awesome. A 12oz bottle for $4.99. Not too shabby! I plan on ordering a few bottles. I can't wait to run down the road, hair flowing behind me.....turning heads and hearing everyone say "Gee, your hair smells terrific". That really does happen after you wash your hair with this magical stuff :)


Thursday, February 19, 2009

My Newest Creation



I bought the pattern for this precious scalloped baby beanie from etsy seller "WarmandFuzzyBaby" a while ago and finally decided to make one. Hilda is nice enough to let buyers of her patterns sell the items they make from it. That's awesome and super kind of her :) I especially love this pattern. I used Lily's Sugar N' Cream cotton yarn in white. I made the flower with Sugar N' Cream Rose Twists. I am going to call this one "Candy Stripes". It's a perfect hat for Easter or to take your precious newborn home in. I cannot wait to make more using different colors.

Check out Hilda's shop in the link below. She is incredibly talented and a very nice lady.
WarmandFuzzyBaby

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Spoiled, rotten cats!!



While shopping at Walmart yesterday I came across these adorable dog beds. I figured the cats would love it since it would only be a few feet away from the fireplace. I made sure to get a bigger size so it would allow two cats to sleep together. My two fluffy buddies were the first to try it out. A definite tails up! Two very happy and spoiled rotten cats. I wouldn't have it any other way :P~

Monday, February 16, 2009

Funny Positions, take two

The other day I found Mr.Thumper in this position. The position of his front paws just cracks me up. This cat never sleeps like normal cats. Yesterday he fell asleep under a load of newly dried towels. He slept there for hours. This morning he managed to get into a plastic bag. He knows he is a clown because he pressed his face really hard against the plastic which ended up distorting his face. He got upset when I removed him from the bag. Can't wait to see what else he gets into today.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Funny Positions, Take One

This is my cat Mr.Thumper. He is one of the strangest cats I have ever come across. Most of my other cats will sleep.......well, sleep like cats! You know, cuddled up in a ball, sometimes using their tail to mask their face. Not Mr.Thumper! We will find him stretched out like above in the middle of the floor or on the couch, bay window or anywhere else he can lazy out. He especially loves sleeping like this by the toasty warm fireplace. Once we found him sitting like a human on the couch........sound alseep. He is always making us laugh.

Below his a picture of his magnificent tail. People who see him for the first time usually say "oh my god, look at that tail". It is truly beautiful and Mr. Thumper knows it :)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Paying it forward

I am a firm believer in "kindness begets more kindness". Case in point, a few weeks ago I made a treasury featuring some very beautiful items. One such item was a pair of earrings (above). When I curate a treasury I have no expectations. I curate them because I truly enjoy doing them and do not ever expect anything in return. What a lovely surprise to receive an e-mail from the creator of those fabulous earrings wanting to send me a free pair just because I happen to feature them in my treasury. I received the earrings yesterday and they are awesome! Thank you so much :)

Please check out this awesome etsy seller's store by clicking on her banner below.


Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Where art thou Winter?





























Where oh where did Winter disappear to? Rolling over in bed, trying to clear my sleepy head.....I could hear the melodious song of the male Cardinal. Is he trying to impress his girl or is he just happy that it isn't zero degrees and snowing. Not only did I hear Mr.Cardinal having fun but lots of other birds too. It feels so much like Spring today, they are predicting a high of 60. I ventured outside to get something. I was sporting lightweight pajamas........and get this, I was barefoot and the brick walkway did not feel cold to the touch. I couldn't believe when some insects flew by my face. It's amazing an insect would survive the Arctic freeze we've been in a good portion of the Winter. We are averaging ten degrees below normal so far and are on pace to use over 6 cords of firewood. I would love to be able to say that Winter is dead and gone for good but I know darn well this is just a tease. My itching to get out and do some yard work has already been forgotten. I mean come on, I am not that anxious for Spring to be here :)

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Shades of Brown Treasury


This beautiful and warm brown treasury was curated by etsy seller Birdhaven. I am so honored that she chose to feature my Victorian Neck Collar. Please check out Birdhaven's etsy shop. She sells a lovely array of Bakers Twine, tags and others beautiful products.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Mr. Thumper

Is my little boy not the cutest thing you have ever seen? Thumper was just sitting on my buffet looking all regal and handsome and I just had to sneak a pic of him. I think he is part Turkish angora. His fur is like no fur I have ever seen or felt on a cat. It is like pure silk. The pic on the right is from the Summer.