Ani-Mules and Stuff

Last week the hubster thought I was having/or going to have a rough day and arranged for these to show up at my work. The day itself wasn't going too bad, but these sure made it better anyway! Gotta love getting flowers just because. ;)
Last month I brought home a new scratcher/toy for the cats to offset their loss of Bandit and to try to change Salem's nasty habit of shredding Don's recliner. It went over really well and Salem claimed it as his own. Abbie has to really assert herself, and she does, to get any use of it at all.
Thankfully this company makes "refills" for the scratcher portion of the toy as it took approximately 1 1/2 weeks for Salem to shred it enough to remove the center of it. We're currently on refill #3 and the "excitement" they have for it hasn't worn off. I can't wait to see their reaction to "Thing in a Bag" when I bring it home.
Here's a dark, but great pic of The Princess. You can just barely see her favorite toy next to her paw in the picture. We've taken to referring to the toy as her crack addiction as she's relentless with it.

And here's a pic of the boy. Look! He's too big to fit in the picture now! LOL. This was taken a week or two ago in one of his more cooperative moments. I just love that face!

Cody is still anti camera and since I don't always have one now it's hard to get current shots of him. I'll try to get one of him soon to post up. ;)

Cozy

With the power outages we experienced in the last few weeks, and the snow on the ground, the animals inside have gotten a bit of cabin fever. My more civilized ones have taken to sleeping most of the time with intermittent play times to work off some steam. We'll discuss Salem later.

A week ago the power was out for nearly 12 hours. As I had done a bunch of baking the night previous it took most of that 12 hours for the house to cool off enough for me to consider breaking out the heaters. Luckily the power came on before that became a necessity. However, Abbie disliked the chilling of the house (for goodness sakes it was still 60+ in the house the brat!) and was looking for anywhere warm to curl up and sleep. As I was sorting stuff and doing general cleaning and getting in her way, she decided to curl up on the back of the couch. She was chilly enough to put up with (and enjoy even) having her blanket put on top of her.

Later, she curled up with her dog.

And Don snapped this one yesterday. She's too cute for words!

Sleepy

I don't know why I'm so inclined to curl up and take a nap! lol

Abbie

Salem

Tucker---this one was taken through the window at night...so the quality leaves a lot to be desired.

Kinda cute how they all curl up, no?

Diagnosis = A Bloggage!

Well I've planned several different posts on different subjects and because of all the planning, I've a bloggage and cannot seem to post at all! At this point the condition is not serious, but the only way to remove the bloggage is to just post multiple rambling blog posts until all the updating is done and it's all out of my system. Evidently I've been having too much fun and that's what caused this condition. There's just too much to tell! I know, poor me huh?lol

So I'll just start posting pics and stories in no particular order until we get all caught up, k?! K! Sounds dandy to me! And really it's much less work than trying to sort it all out chronologically.

Right now my house smells absolutely nummy! I am currently making a batch of beef/elk jerky and the house smells like spices. (Apologies to my veggie friends, I'll share the wonderful herb/veg smells later!) I bought a food dehydrator this month and have been having a grand time dehydrating stuff. I've done bananas, a couple of different batches of jerky and even cantaloupe. This thing makes the house smell so good. I did some dehydrating a long time ago and forgot how good it makes everything smell. ;) This pic is from the first grouping I did and I think each batch gets better. The goal behind buying the dehydrator was to be able to dehydrate some veggies for soup mixes and herbs for teas and cooking. So far all I've done is fruit and jerky and we're loving it. ;) Part of the batch of bananas I did I sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and they are really nummy. I can completely see them re hydrating in a bowl of oatmeal on a snowy morning. NUM!

Here is proof that we have been complete slackers in the housekeeping department this summer! No really, this is just Don's recliner that he uses as a dumping ground when he gets home. (Mines just as bad. lol) We have plans to sit down and and re-evaluate our storage options for the both of us to make our small (but happy) home more usable for both of us. (Evidently we'll have to clean off the recliners to sit in first!) In the mean time, this is his staging ground for leaving home and his dumping ground when he gets here. I'd have to take a pic of our kitchen table to show you mine "staging ground". ;) lol. I actually took this picture to prove a point. There's a cat hidden in plain sight here......can you find him? Salem has such a dark coat that he blends into the shadows so well and I often don't notice when he's right there in front of me.

Can you see him now? Amazing what flash can do! Doesn't look comfy to me, but he seemed happy enough.

Seasons around here are often defined by what the animals are up to and how they are behaving. For example...this is the same position he was in when I left that morning. This was taken the same night after work. ;) In the Spring, Salem disappears all day and I have to call him in at night, often worrying when he doesn't show up before I fall asleep. During the Summer months I rarely see him. When Autumn hits, he's all over the house sleeping everywhere. It's as if he's not slept for two seasons! Lately he's even taken to cuddling with the Paw in bed and that's a rare thing to be sure as he's a Mommas boy to the core.

Abbie celebrates Autumn with a burst of outdoor time. It's as if she's aware that there will be many many days ahead full of rain and snow and cold and stuff that she generally finds icky. Today when I came in from grocery shopping I discovered her hovering over her latest catch. Yes.....a dragonfly. Oft times we find a "catch" in the house and don't know who brought it in, but this time it was obvious as she was still with it. (I removed it to the back deck in the hopes that as with many of the birds that enter the house it would come out of shock and fly away. Sadly as of this posting, it's still on my deck railing. It was truly beautiful with gold like detailing on it's wings! A wonderful alive piece of art.)

Happily for Abbie the elusive "knitting bug" has been observed in the home again. It's another sign of Autumn that she truly enjoys. It's certainly one that will carry her through Winter. I'm sure we'll have many more photographic moments of her and the "knitting bug".

Well at this point I'm going to close this post. I'm hoping to get two more posts done and a dog groomed before Don gets home and dinner has to be made. :) I know....talk about setting the bar high! ;) Just want to let you all know I appreciate you checking in on this silly little blog and reading it when I post. I do think of blogging all the time, but "somethings" just been getting in the way. I'm hoping I've worked out what it is and can get back into a regular habit. Was there really a time when I blogged twice a week?! Man! That seem unreal!

The Kids!

After a recent grocery shopping trip we discovered that Abbie has a "thing" for the reusable sacks. She curls up on them, wherever you lay them. Usually they are taken right back out to the car, but I missed one and she latched onto it quickly. The next chance I had, I took it back from her and there the pouting began. When I came home from work that night this is what I found. Don said she looked really upset that her comfy spot was gone, so he put her blanket out for her. And yes, this is my kitchen table. Talk about spoiled!

Here's a shot of Salem laying in the shade.

Then something caught his eye!

Last but not least....

Cody was probably under the bed or behind the toilet during this photo shoot. Bandit? He was probably sleeping somewhere. lol

Cuteness!

"ZZZZZZZZZZ"

"Momma, can you make me a bed out of this fleece?"

"Can you see me now?:"

"I love my matching blanket and pillows"
"You rub my belly?"

Cody was left out of this post only because he refused to be photographed and I refuse to post a picture of him hiding behind my toilet. ;)

Ahhhhhhh

There's been a whole lot of napping going on this week. This is Salems new favorite mid-afternoon napping place. I think he falls asleep watching the birds out the window.

Anyone remember the disastrous 1st pair of felted slippers I knit for the hubster? You know, the pair that wouldn't felt at all? Because I knit them out of acrylic. Yeah. Well I spent a bit of an afternoon stuffing them with fiberfill and whole catnip (i.e. on the stem type, gourmet, cause nothing but the best will do for The Princess!). It was a tiny chore in that Abbie was trying to get to the catnip the whole time and knocked it off the table I was working at. Then Salem got involved.....I think you can see where this is heading. Anyway, I managed to get them completed. Now those ill fated slippers are soft fluffy catnip scented cat pillows/toys. They both love them, but Abbie LOVES them. She'll lay there with her head propped up on one with a goofy cat nip inspired grin on her face. heheheheheh That is, until she melts and rolls over.

Alpaca Yarn and Paying it Forward

This post has some serious eye candy on it! Here is the skein of Alpaca named Joaquin that I spun for Squire Creek Ranch. This skein is 3 oz-382 yards(approx). It's a slightly off white color.

This photo is of both the Emilio skein and the Joaquin skein swirled together. They really compliment each other.

And then there is this....how do you not pet her?!

For some reason, If I pull out the black background and turn on the light...she's all over it wanting to help model the yarn. I loved this picture and had to share it with you.

So that's another finished object for the posting! I currently have nothing on the wheel as I can't decide which bag o stuff to spin next and I've cast on for a pair of fuzzy feet slippers which I should be able to complete this week.

Paying it forward

We all know how sloooow I am at completing stuff sometimes, but even I thought I could complete this. I mean really......I have 365 days! I'm stealing this word for word from Cindy's blog, hence the quotes.

"I will send a handmade gift to 3 random people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do if you like, is in return pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

PS...that's 365 days from you leaving the comment on this blog. Ready? Set? Comment!( ahem, meaning....let me know if you want to be a part of the exchange!)

Rut- Row Scooby!

I don't know why, but this seems to be Tucker's new fascination. These are, or rather, were my driveway lights. They were solar, low lighting down the driveway, and this picture shows the ones that have migrated into the house in the last week or two. I was gathering them up to take them out to the shed when I thought, "Wow, there are 5 solar units here! I wonder how many are left out there." When I went out to look there were 2 laying side by side in the yard, freshly pulled and another one farther down the driveway. I'm sure when I get around to weeding out the flower bed he'll discover the last few. The only thing I can think of is that they blink when their power is low and that may have attracted him. I know, it's no excuse. What can I say?


Don took these pictures of him this morning through the fan shaped window at the top of the door. Notice how he's looking right at him? Smart puppy! And yes, that is his foot through the lattice. I guess the deck is just too small for him. lol


"If your not bringing me coffee...leave me alone." Yep...he's my dog alright! Look at that snarly grimmace!

Recognise the pillow from a previous post? Abbie decided to show everyone how to use the pillow properly.