goodbye little love pig..

Friday, my sister's little dog Abigail became violently ill.
By Saturday morning, she was gone. It happened so fast they didn't have time to react or think.

Sometimes things happen so fast, they leave you breathless. I always think that during these times, God is being merciful in His wisdom and that there is a reason things happened so fast.

I know in my heart, that was what happened to Abigail. She was here one moment and gone the next.
She was fine and bouncy...jumping on furniture, eager to be loved and to love.
But by evening, she was so sick, they had to rush her to the emergency vet clinic.

Abigail had been ill earlier this month with tummy troubles but that was because of her food allergies. When it started up again, they took her to the vet but nothing else seemed out of the ordinary...just tummy troubles. The ER vet ran some non routine tests and discovered sweet Abigail was sick beyond belief......with tumors on her lungs.

God in His mercy took a terrible decision away from Sheri and Phil because he gave them time to say goodbye, but then took Abigail quietly away.



Sweet Abigail, you have been truly loved, will be woefully missed and are irreplaceable in the hearts of those of us who loved you.

too good to last

Gunter made good on his promise to behave. Its been almost a year since this day....and he hadn't done anything bad...

Until yesterday.

Matt and I were on our way out to the library and Gunter begged and begged to go. He said he wanted to check out the Gnome book in the kids section to see if they got all the facts right.

We took him with us and sure enough, he sat right down with the book and said to pick him up on the way out.
It took Matt and I about 10 minutes to get what we wanted and then to check out.

Then we went to get Gunter.

We couldn't find him. We looked everywhere. They were doing some construction so I was afraid we would NEVER find him. I was really starting to get worried but then we heard giggling...Gunter giggling....and kiddies pointing!



where did he get a dime for the photocopy machine? NO idea.....and exactly WHAT does a photocopied gnome tush look like? NO idea...we snatched him up and left without taking the copy.

cures what ails ya!

When I was a kid, we made milkshakes, not smoothies. Heck, no one even HAD yogurt back then and orange juice was either for breakfast or for an orange julius at the mall.

When the kids ask Dean to make a smoothie, they get yogurt and orange juice.......but when they ask ME to make one....this is what they get:



and this is how I make it:

2 cups whole frozen strawberries, NO SUGAR (I buy WallyWorld brand in the giant bag)
1 and 1/2 cups skim milk (use whatever type, we just drink skim since I'm lactose intolerant)
1/8 cup sugar
2 ripe bananas
4 scoops vanilla ice cream (I buy the cheap brand and save it just for smoothies since we make so many)

put ingredients in a blender in the order listed....the strawberries act as the ice and need to be first in the blender.
use the ice crusher on the blender first and then hit the blender on low, then high.

It will make a large full blender....just enough for a bunch of boys playing basketball, or when someone gets their braces tightened, or has a fever, or for any other reason you can think of!

Ironcraft challenge #21

This week's ironcraft challenge was to create something to represent our heritage.

My mother's side of the family is Scottish so I made a cute little Scottie dog...plus it can do double duty as a future Toy Society drop.



If anyone is interested, I used this pattern from allsorts and doubled the size.

have a heart

Look how pretty this gladiola is.



too bad, its in the wrong place, smack in the front of the walk up to the house, taking over some rain lilies.
I meant to pull it up last year after blooming, but forgot.



The rest of them are about 15 feet away...some squirrel must have been up to mischief with my bulbs a few years ago...

When I saw it again this year I decided (again) to move it...but (again) I want to wait until after the blooms die off.


As we were walking back into the house, Kaela noticed a petal falling off so she brought it to me......

pretty little heart shape.....isn't nature amazing!

Dessert of the Month Club

Dean has a huge sweet tooth and I thought it would nice to make him some types of desserts I wouldn't normally make.....things that he liked but in deference to the family, wouldn't request.

So for his birthday, I gave him a 'dessert of the month club' subscription.
Something made just for him,. He doesn't have to worry if the rest of the family will like it. He doesn't even have to share (but so far, he has.)

I forgot to take a photo of April's dessert...a lemon chess pie. It was really good....like a giant lemon bar.
Everyone liked it...especially Dean, who LOVES lemon desserts.

In May, he requested a Lemon Meringue Pie......which turned out great too. Yes, I cheated and used a pre-made pie shell...


the inside....yummy. Thanks to Kerry for the recipe!

I wonder what he'll request for June? I wonder if it will be lemon again?!

catching some zzzzz's

Kaela looks like a pretzel...


and Suki looks dead........

Ironcraft challenge #20

This week's challenge was "To a Tee".....we were supposed to create/embellish or otherwise design something using a t shirt or tank top, etc.

A couple months ago, Kaela bought the CUTEST tank top with bows all along the neckline from Hollister....but she only got one....which we regretted as soon as we got home.

Here is a close up of the detail of the top....



I decided to try to recreate the look using what I had on hand.
I used one of my old tank tops and made bows out of ribbon I had in my stash.

It turned out pretty cute!


and here it is from a distance....


The neckline isn't as low because it isn't a racer back....but I can buy a few and easily make several of these for her for the summer.

May's toy drop

I dropped a toy on the way to work today.....I drove through a neighborhood across from school



and dropped Henrietta Hen on a swing.....

hope someone finds her today....

fur B gone

Every year, we shave Mojo's fur all off. It is SO thick that he overheats....

Before, with his triple thick coat....



After, transformed into a "Naked Mo' Rat!"

he wasn't even embarrassed this time around!

oh joy of joys....the cats look so unbelievably "happy..."



only Kaela can get away with treating them like this.....actually bouncing them in her lap.

iron craft challenge #19

This week's theme was SPRING!

When I think of spring, I think of working in the garden and the return of ladybugs, birds, bunnies, flowers....and wee folk.

That being said.....here is what I put together.

Spring has sprung in Gerta's wee little gnome home....

a view from the top so you can see the birdbath behind Gerta


I made a teensy bunting and dug around, finding little bits to put it all together.

Then I spent most of an hour jamming my rather small hand into an even smaller (and not exactly smooth) jar opening.

I hope Gerta enjoys her home, I think its perfect.

Mosaic Monday

I made this stepping stone last week to put in front of our gate to the back yard.


But I remembered I had a table base in the garage and noticed it was the same size so painted it.
I think it makes a pretty little table, the perfect size for a plant and a cold drink or two.


a close up of the edge

so here it will stay for awhile...

return of the fairys....

With spring flowers popping up, I couldn't help but notice that my fairy house looked a little sad so I moved it to a new location.

It is MUCH happier...being slowly hidden by oxalis and morning glory.


a teeny bluebird feather made its way into the little nest on top of the house....




here is the sweet fence in front of it so the dogs don't stomp all over their garden.

The morning glory is slowly covering it, making it more lovely with each passing day...


and the little bells and plaque announce their welcome...morning glories have just started climbing up it but not enough to show yet.

"Garden Fairies come at dawn,
kiss the flowers, then they're gone..."
-anonymous

I love to see our yard waking up.

Our roses are going CRAZY!








The bottle brush is attracting bees and butterflys and hummingbirds...


The gardenias scent the whole yard....



The oxalis is happy





The coreopsis had babies

the gladiolas are blooming...

as are the smaller morning glories...


And the lizards are back.....chasing pesky critters off the herbs.

I just love SPRING!

somebunny loves me



My sister knows I love these...she also knows I can't find them in this area.
So, she MAILED a bag to me!

And no, I didn't hork the whole bag down in one sitting.
I still have half a bag left and they arrived on Monday. But....I fear they won't make it through the weekend!


Thank you sweet sis, I love you too!

Ironcraft challenge #18

This week's ironcraft challenge was all about flowers.

I decided to make a mosaic stepping stone out of a 2x2 concrete stepping stone Dean bought but never used. I didn't get it finished 100% so I'll use it for another post.

Instead, I made this flower fairy :


see her cute little flower petal dress?


the best part is that I can use her for May's YOE ornament.....

Bird nests....and such

I made this little nest for April's YOE ornament...

I wanted it to look camouflaged like a real nest would. I crocheted the nest using 2 types of yarn held together.
Then I wove in beads, tinsel, embroidery thread, feathers, scraps of muslin and even tufts of rug fiber.

I whip stitched it around a pretty branch I found covered in lichen.
I really LOVE it. This photo doesn't show how pretty it is! If you click on the photo, it will enlarge




I used some teeny wooden eggs and painted them to go in it.




Since the other nest is in my foyer, I made a teeny one using just something I made's tutorial.

It is small (not quite an 1 inch across) so I can't get a good photo of it with my camera....but here it is...




and here it is on my YOE tree...cute!



Then, I crocheted a nesting material bag and filled it up with dryer lint, yarn and feathers.

I hung it on the fence where birds sit between feeding and taking baths....



I'm pleased to say that the bird's are flocking to our yard this year. .maybe we'll have some real nests soon....keeping my fingers crossed!