Most fun for a dollar ever!

You can get these at Dollar Tree...but hurry they go fast.  There's also a bumble bee, a butterfly, and a few other type of flowers I believe.  Doesn't take much light for them to dance, today is pretty overcast &  they are going crazy.

Hats!!!

So, back in August, I was looking for some easy projects to do on vacation. I started with this baby hat. Then I needed something to do with the hat and found this project:

These hats went to Colorado for Keep a Kid Warm. You'll notice the original hat center front row of this picture. Then I got to thinking...It's cold in Colorado & the kids there probably really need hats, but it gets chilly here to & there are probably some kids who could use some hats. So...

Here is the first group of hats completed for local kids. I will probably donate these hats to CPS for distribution...they know where to find the kids who will need them. I'm making hats for infants up through teen.

Here's the second group of hats I've finished. I've actually got 17 & 1/4 finished, but only pictures of the first 14. When I get the next 6 finished & have 20 I'll take another picture. At 20 hats I'll get hold of CPS about delivering them & see if there would be a need for more. Some of these patterns make up really quick, some of the yarn has been bought for $1 a skein, the rest bought w/40-50% off coupons from JoAnns, so it's not been expensive to make them.

Anyone want to join me in making some hats for kids...it doesn't have to be around here in Coos County, there's likely a need anywhere you live.

Meet Joker!

Joker-a very good dog waiting for his home
Joker is a sweet boy who is currently at the Coos County Animal Shelter. He's been there since the end of April. People walk right by him all the time because he's a big, black, pitbull. But, he's so much more than that. He gets along well with most other dogs, will chase cats if they run from him, but otherwise is fine with them, loves people and most especially kids! He is neutered, about a year old, has pretty good leash manners, and knows most basic commands. I'm sharing a link to a video of him playing fetch w/my 11yr old daughter Riley. He really is this good, and this was right after we took him out of his kennel to the play yard...and trust me, I don't trust my kids around just anyone, but I'd trust Joker with them w/out hesitation:

http://youtu.be/lA9p6Vv9GME

Mascot of the Day!

So, on July 26th, I entere Clarice inthe Mascot of the Day contest at the Animal Rescue Site. Today, she is the Mascot of the Day!!!! You can check it out yourself & vote for the Coos County Animal Shelter in the Shelter Challenge by clicking on this link:

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3&ThirdPartyClicks=ERA_073111_ARS_Html

Hawaii

So, I've wanted to go to Hawaii for as long as I can remember. We were supposed to go for our 10th wedding anniversary, but I was 11 days away from giving birth to Riley, so we obviously didn't go. Now, I'm pretty sure that Gregg never intended that we go, or at least that he would go. We've been together for 26 years, he KNOWS how bad I want to go, he doesn't want to go.

I've threatened to go without him before and he's been fine with it, and I've come to the conclusion that he really isn't going to go with me, so I've started planning the trip without him. I've checked out airfares, hotel rates, food, souveniers...I've got a pretty good idea now how much money I need to save.

Now, comes the savings part. I'm going to open my own, separate savings account. Every payday $50 or so will go into the account, also all my overtime. Will probably take me a couple of years to save it up, some of the prices might go up, some might go down. I have a hunch they'll stay pretty close to the same and I'm saving the high end of the estimate just to be on the safe side.

Don't worry, I'll take lots of pictures when I get there.

Our Cats

Cookie, aka Cookie Monster, is the oldest now. He's about 9. My grandfather had a soft spot for cats and adopted his mother, who was pregnant at the time and gifted him with four kittens. When the kittens were about 4 wks old, Grandpa went in to have colon surgery. It was routine and when the kittens were about 5 wks old Grandpa came home. I had been visiting him while he was in the hospital, and came to visit him at home. All the great-grandkids were outside playing with the kittens and I could tell he wanted to see them. I brought in little Cookie-not named yet-and that little guy snuggled on Grandpa's lap for the next hour. It is the last memory I have of my Grandpa happy. He was back in the hospital that night and never came home. When I was asked if there was anything of my Grandpa's that I would like I asked for his pocket knife and his kitten...best inheritance I've ever gotten.

Tatiana, better known as Tottie, was from the feral cat colony that lives on my parent's street. She was caught by my mother when she was about 3-4 months old, because my mom knew that I wanted her. For the first week she lived at our house, she wouldn't leave the kennel she was transported in. She was totally feral and it was the first time she'd ever been in a house. Now, she runs the joint. She has the calico attitude, but with me, she's my snuggle kitty. Her favorite place to sleep is mine & Gregg's bed, and she's trained us that she needs a can of cat food first thing in the morning. She loves the Dachsunds, tolerates Cookie & Simon, and is adjusting to Clarice. Now if I could just convince her to stay out of Gregg's shop & off his cars...

Simon showed up at our house sometime after Halloween. At first, he was just the white streak running off the porch. Eventually, we figured out he had orange ears & tail. My son, Doug, set out to catch him. It took a couple of months, but Simon would come stand next to Doug & as long as Doug didn't try to pick him up, would stay there. Finally, the kids cornered him in the shop, and caught him. Doug believed he was a girl, and so he was named Sophia. Once caught, this little kitty became our most affectionate kitty ever! One day, while loving on me while I was sitting in my chair, he turned around & stuck his butt in my face, like cats will do. "Hmmm, testicles, that's awkward" was my comment at the time & Sophia became Simon. Simon these days will go outside, but once he realizes he's out there wants right back in, right now. He also loves everyone, but Doug is still his absolute & obvious favorite...he takes full advantage of Tottie's earlier training of us about the can of cat food first thing in the morning.

Clarice Olivia started out as a foster kitten along with her brothers & sister, but she stayed. When I brought the litter home to foster, they were about 4 weeks old and we were going to keep them until they weighed 2 lbs & could be spayed/neutered. When I got them I was told that Clarice was a boy...she started out as Clarence Oliver. It became obvious fairly quickly that she would be staying. Simon liked all the kittens, but Clarice was his obvious favorite...she was also my favorite from day one. A week before the kittens were going in for their surgeries I let the animal shelter know that we'd be keeping "Clarence", but I still maintain that she adopted us, she started posting her name on Facebook as Clarence Oliver Kirby. I dropped them off at the vet on the assigned day & an hour later got the call that Clarence was a girl, and she became Clarice Olivia Kirby...after I was told she was a boy I never double checked & she's a fuzz butt, so it never became apparent until she was shaved. Most days Clarice & Simon spend the morning running amok around the house-after canned catfood breakfast-and the afternoons sleeping in the sun spot on my chair, sometimes with Gracie Lou...and occassionally I'm invited to join them. She's also been called the "cutest kitten ever", mostly by me, but it has been said by others. She's also usually a crucial subject of my Daily Pile of Cute pictures that are posted semi-regularly on Facebook.

Untitled By Anonymous

Spreading chaos & destruction
wherever she goes.
Thoughtless, careless, selfish,
are her hallmarks.
Others don't matter,
unless they benefit her,
it's all about her.
Never her fault,
always the victim.
Addiction fed by addiction
fed by enabling.
Lies fall from her mouth.
Manipulation her friend.
Sociopath, psychopath, bi-polar, personality disorder, bitch.
All labels she's born.
I'm done, I exit here.
Good luck with your mess.