peace in the house

Over the course of a few years, our sweet Leo


has turned into a tyrant

When we adopted him, we really had NO IDEA what we were getting into. I'd had several cats throughout the years but they were mainly outdoor cats and barn kitties.

Between furniture shredding, closet and other stuff spraying, dog pouncing (in their sleep of course) and Suki bombarding, he has shown us the really bad side of cat ownership.
Throw in an unhealthy dose of "being high strung" and you get the picture that Leo is one neurotic cat.

He's been on meds and Feliway...you name it....and quite frankly, I was sick of it. Leo had worn out his welcome. I decided to give him up for that and another more serious reason...the dogs.

Ginger who used to lovingly clean him and play with him now wants to kill him. Once her attitude toward him changed Mojo picked up on it. They would growl at him and charge him. I knew it was just a matter of time before they teamed up and took him out. The thought of coming home to shredded cat wasn't very appealing.

Before that could happen, I decided to put Leo outside part of the day. I put his old collar back on and basically tossed him out. He had been out with us before lots of times...but never on his own.

I called the shelter I got him from and since they've known what has been going on, they said to do it. They didn't think anyone would want to adopt a high strung, mean tempered cat who only had eyes for yours truly. (he'd even started hissing at Dean and the kids...not good....not good at all.)

The good news is that "King kiss my butt" Leo has turned back into "I'm so glad to see everyone" Leo.

Now he goes in and out of the house with the dogs throughout the day....which totally cracks me up. Most of the time he stays outside...sometimes until 11 PM. He doesn't even mind the rain.

He loves to lie in the sun on the patio..



but when it gets too hot or starts to rain he gets up under the baker's rack...way at the bottom, there is even a tiny dish under there with water in it...for the toads....
I wonder if he drinks out of it?




All our poor lizards have half tails right now...should have warned the poor beasties...a few have become kitty chow...
here he is stalking one now...



Leo hasn't left the backyard yet. He hasn't jumped the fence but I know he might one day. He has been out for three months now and so far, he's been content to stay put.

He walks the fence line and then finds a sunny spot to relax...and watch the squirrels...he almost caught one the other day....he is getting pretty quick.


sometimes he plays with the willow branches when it is windy....he looks like a kitten when he does that.



When he comes in, he greets everyone lovingly...then he'll eat and promptly go to sleep.


All the other fur babies are happier too. Ginger and Mojo greet him now instead of growling at him.....whatever bad vibes he was giving off are gone.....so far...

I hope for good.....

peace is good.

Must be love

So who do I see hanging with my gnomie the other day? None other than Suki....again....


no doubt she's in love......remember this post from February? Glad they found each other.....


but WAIT!

Seems like little Suki snuggles up to other men in the household...


and Dean? He doesn't even LIKE cats (not really...)

Ironcraft #30 "Hot"

For this week's ironcraft challenge I made a sarong to match an existing bathing suit.

I had already purchased some material that matched (back in MAY) but it sat on my sewing table while I did other things.

Thanks to this challenge, I got busy and crocheted a trim and made the sarong....which matched the bathing suit quite well.




Then I got carried away because the sarong turned out so well...so I made a top.
It isn't complete though....not enough time.
I have to add ties which will improve the look under the bust line....the edges stick out in the photo.


close up of the crocheted trim I made.


no more over sized t shirts for me :-)

fairy bells....

Do you hear the bells?



They're overgrown now but the fairies can hear them...


and they come out to play...

if you are quiet you can watch them here...


they love to play hide and seek in the deep recesses of the vines...



they explore secret hideaways...




and snoop around their neighbor's house when no one is home...



sometimes, they fly across the yard to play in Guido's hair...


or tease the gnomes that live nearby...




and when they grow tired of playing, they go home to rest...its not very far.


but when they hear the bells tomorrow morning, they'll be back...

come back with them on Monday...I'm hosting a giveaway perfect for fairy lovers of all ages......

getting older

Mojo isn't as tough as he used to be.
Thunderstorms scare him now.
They never did before.
I think its because his eyes are getting a bit cloudy. The vet said he doesn't have cataracts so not to panic...yet.

The thunder was really loud last week so here he is under the computer desk, hanging out while he waits for me to finish typing.

Being a herding dog, he is very independent...but now he shadows me like a puppy.

I adore the affection but it breaks my heart because I know the reason behind it is insecurity.
I much prefer seeing him play...dragging his blanket behind him.



We really missed the boat on his name...should have been Linus!

Ironcraft # 29

This week's ironcraft challenge was to make something using buttons.

I went through my buttons and when I saw this little triangular shaped one, I knew I was going to make an owl.
It didn't take long. I just crocheted the background and then added the features using vintage buttons.

I wired the little owl to the twig (after baking it a bit to kill any wee critters....) and then added the flower and leaves. I finished it with a sprinkling of white glitter to give it a bit of sparkle.



After making the owl, I decided to try making a button fairy. I had wanted to make a water sprite to fit this month's YOE theme.


I found a lovely zeigfeld girl for the torso and went from there, then wired the buttons so they would hold their curve...
Here is my inspiration for the fins. I used wine bottle foil for them...and some glitter. I originally had them curled but decided I liked them better wavy.

Mosaic Monday

I could never keep anything alive in this strawberry pot so I did mosaic work on it out of frustration.
It turned out to be a great idea.

Now it is insulated enough that the water doesn't leach out too quickly.

The plants in it have been there since 2003!
Each time we move, I think they'll die and I'll have to re plant but it never happens....they are always thriving.

In fact, the long plant trailing down the right side has to be trimmed by half at the end of each summer.
It is now one very happy strawberry pot!

mermaids

Here are the two mermaid dotee doll ornaments I made for this month's YOE.

This one has her hair pulled to the side with a flower...hard to see in this photo. I added the little fan on the other side after seeing how cute it was on the other one.



this one has a fan tiara and a cockle shell in her hair


They came together fairly quickly once I figured out what I wanted to use for scales. You can't really see but I used a teeny tiny pink pearl for their belly buttons.

I tried and tried to find boob sized shells at the beach last weekend but the ones I found were too small....and the ones I had in my stash were too large.
I used some foil from the neck of a wine bottle and just cut out starfish instead.

Hangin with my gnomie

Yesterday I walked by the couch and saw Gunter, just sitting there.

He was wearing a pair of those paper 3D glasses that are on the tops of Kleenex boxes right now.

I asked him what he was doing and he replied "Kaela said these were 3D glasses and since I want to see in 3D, I'm wearing them."
I explained how people already saw in 3D, that the glasses were meant for theaters.
I told him he should take them off because they make you nauseous if you wear them too long.

He blew me off and said he would take them off when he was good and ready! (he was quite prickly yesterday...I think this whole P90X thing has him feeling a bit left out....)


My day goes by and I'm walking through the kitchen...and hear a horrible noise. You know the noise.....you've MADE the noise.

We call it horking....retching, ralphing, spewing, barfing, puking (hate that word)....amongst others......


now if you'll notice, Gunter is horking into Mojo's dog bowl. (He couldn't get to the toilet fast enough....the whole "no legs" thing.)

Mojo REALLY didn't want to eat dinner last night...

Canape' knife tutorial...

This week's challenge was to reuse something you would usually throw away....which gave me the perfect excuse to use some old wine corks I'd been saving.

I had several old canapé knives that had torn up and faded handles. I was planning on ditching them too.

Instead, I took a mallet to one of them and cracked the rest of the handle off. ( I didn't want to bust them all until I knew this would work.)


Next, I pried the little bits from the edge using some pliers.

Once I got it clean, this little round part just slipped off...and conveniently left a little half inch tip.


I made a slit in the end of the cork and then simply shoved the little tip end into it. The beauty of cork is that it closes back on itself.
The fit was super tight so I decided not to use anything to hold it in place. I can always add it later if I need it.


The first one turned out so well, that I went ahead and made the rest of them...all 6!






Now all you need is my cheese ball recipe to go with them:

This stuff is awesome....people always ask me to bring it to parties.

Ingredients:

1 dry package Hidden Valley ranch dressing mix
2 packages softened cream cheese
Spice Islands Herbed Pepper Blend*

Directions:

Mix the first 2 ingredients together and form into a ball. Place in the refrigerator to harden up a bit....about an hour.
Pour a few tablespoons of pepper blend into a small dish. Then roll your cheese ball into the spice blend until it is totally covered.
Refrigerate until serving. I serve this with crackers and/or veggies....

You can also halve this recipe. It is WONDERFUL in place of mayo on sandwiches.

* if you can't find this particular blend, you can make your own using cracked black pepper, garlic, italian seasonings and salt. Just be sure to TASTE the seasoning to get a good balance.

weekend spin.......

We made a quick dash to FWB to see my family. We all got out to the car and saw this:

Apparently Gunter was going with us!




We got to see everyone this time around but my camera batteries died so I only have a few photos to share.
After promising to go the last several times, we finally managed to make it to the beach!
The bad thing about growing up at the beach is that you tend to take it for granted. Matt and Kaela rarely get to go so we made it a priority this time.

My brother Art showed them how to body surf....which they did for over 2 hours straight. It was just rough enough to make it fun.


Matt was still in the surf for this photo:


Unfortunately, the seaweed was already here so we needed lots and lots of rinsing! Sheri had a tough time of it.....naughty seaweed!


here we are trying to take a family photo.....hopeless!


Matt relaxing, he is soooooo wishing we lived here, and days like this make me miss Fort Walton SO much.

Even Gunter went to the beach with us....he forgot his bathing suit though so decided to just stay on the boardwalk....



I made this little pajama trout to do a toy drop while there.

We dropped it at the Officer's Club Beach House in Destin. It was super windy....I hope someone found it before it blew away.



That evening, we went out to eat and then visited with my sister's husband Bill.
He is in the hospital right now so we would really appreciate some good thoughts and prayers sent his way!


Late that night I noticed Gunter and Sheri giggling...I have no idea why they had that big barrel of cheese puffs with them......


We stayed through Sunday and the on the way home, we ate lunch in Mobile.

We showed the kids the little church where Dean and I were married.
It is about 137 years old and so pretty....the inside is very small but just lovely, with stained glass windows and hardwood floors and benches.




Sometimes quick trips are the best...I can't wait for our next one!