Think Pink

What do you really buy a cat? Canned pink salmon! Here's Miss Kate enjoying her Christmas present! And it's wild pink salmon, just like her.

Oh Christmas Tree

Christmas, Christmas, jolly, jolly Christmas! Is over? What? It's hard to believe it's over! I think I may have to adopt the Chanukah (we usually see it spelled Hanukkah) approach of multiple days of celebrating. I know it has much more meaning than just people having fun for more days, but wouldn't it be cool if Christmas was a week long!? We shop, wrap, cook, visit and call family, write cards and celebrate but then, it's ONE day that is the day. Apparently, I had a really nice Christmas this year and I am simply wanting more Santa time. I guess I could leave our tree up 'til end of February or so. :o) Ha.

Saylor and Kate have been loving laying by the fire, all warm and cozy. It's been a nightly ritual since we've had cold weather and rain. We snuggle on the couch and they snuggle on the little pad by the fire. Cozy central.












A few days before Christmas, James' Mom gave Saylor some Christmas attire: an elf hat! Kate, however, was not so sure. I think I heard her say but why do you have two sets of ears now!? I think I'm going to have to puff myself up like a raccoon!















And puff, she did! Oh my!

Daily Kindness

I made a little pact with myself that every day until Christmas, I would try to do something good for some person or some animal. Today I donated to a woman who runs Apifera Farm and is adopting a senior goat named Guinness (pronounced Guinn-ius, like Phinneus). Of course, it wasn't totally selfless, as she promises to send a bunch of lavender from her farm to anyone who donates over a certain amount. She is also getting ready to adopt a senior dog and sells artwork that supports senior dogs in shelters. She sounds like a really special person and I feel good just being a part of this wonderful goat story. And, thank you to Guinness, also, for making my heart feel so full. What a darling goat!

Ginger & Her Philly-Friend's Skunk Tale

Okay folks, I am very excited to say that Ginger of Deep Fried Kudzu fame sent in a very funny skunk story about her Philly buddy. Side note: when I first started reading blogs, I came upon Ginger's and was simply awe-struck at how productive any one individual could be. This woman makes like 50 pies at Thanksgiving. That's Ginger. She's amazing. Anyway...back to the story: it almost sounds hard to believe! But, city folk can lead sheltered lives, can't they?! Now, for Ginger's story:

"I saw you were looking for skunk stories. Well, when I was in college I had a friend from Philadelphia. Like...he was *really* from Philly. A real city boy. He came to Alabama to visit me and we were driving somewhere and smelled a skunk. Well he had NEVER smelled a skunk in his whole life (I guess they are not city dwellers?) so he looked at me just like "what is WRONG with you!?"! He did not know *what* was going on - he'd never "experienced" skunk-funk!"

And, by the way, dear readers, the Skunk Challenge is still on! If you have a story, send it and I'll post it! You can just put your story in a comment and I'll get it that way.

Skunk Stories Anyone?

My dear friend, Mike, read the Saylor Skunk Story that I posted recently and had one of his own to share. Just had to post it, it's really funny. And maybe this can be sort of a skunky blog challenge - do you have a skunk story? If so, send it to me! I'll post it!

Email from Mike:
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Subject: Skunk Story

Your story reminded me of our skunk story, which is not quite as dramatic, but still funny. We were leaving Texas for good, and driving the two cars back to Florida. I was in Dallas, Terri was in Austin, and we met in a po-dunk town near Houston in the evening. We were supposed to find a hotel for the night (fulfilling your rule), and I told her to meet me at one in this town. But when I met Terri at the hotel, I told her that I didn't want to stay there.
"Why not?" she said.
"It smells like a skunk."
"That's not the hotel, that's the van; I hit a skunk on the way down here."

As luck would have it, we drove through a massive rain storm the next day, and it seemed to wash off most of the funk.

Big Bear Weekend

Last weekend, we went with our friends Steve and Jeff to Big Bear to J.'s parents' mountain house. Drove up Friday night and came back Sunday afternoon. It was a frosty 22 degrees at night, and around 40 during the day. No snow, but lots of chilly air. The sun was out and we had two beautiful days. Since there's not a ton to do, you have no choice but to relax - and that we did. My favorite times were the morning - drinking coffee with the fire going, and putting peanuts out on the railing to attract the blue jays, woodpeckers, and squirrels.

I took this during our hike. This is a view from the top - out over the lake.















A curvy tree. I wonder what made it that way. Hm? It was very unique. One of the many wonders of nature.


















Here's our girl Saylor, having a little ice, as a drink. There were a few areas where we saw some snow/ice on the ground. Steve fed her several pieces - hydration! Of course, WE forgot to bring water, but we were only gone just shy of 2 hours.

Trimming the Tree

Last Thursday we went over to trim the tree with James' Mom and Dad. While I already had a decent dose of Christmas spirit, this relaxing, fun night increased it by a few notches. This is the tree with ornaments galore and finial on top. But there's still a skirt to be added, and of course, prezzies.

And then, some beautiful vintage paper elves from Mary's wonderful collection of vintage ephemera. What a festive group, these little dudes.

Kate's Sun Salutation

Someone loves to lay on the table in the sun in the morning. This is her morning ritual. She then retreats to the chair seat where she takes a nap for a couple hours. Such a silly tabby.

Saylor Meets a Skunk

Gee, what is this collection of ingredients? Some interesting recipe for a home spa treatment? Um, no. The other night I was watching Worst Week (it is so funny!) when I noticed James kind of hurrying up to the front door. Through our rippled glass door I see Saylor and it looks like she's drooling! Um, what's up? Well, I crack the window to get a better look and in comes a WAVE of skunky air. OMG! Saylor got skunked! I ran to the store and got White Vinegar and Peroxide and concocted the anti-skunk wash. Then, we had to do a final rinse of white vinegar and water, which you leave on the poor dog. It all worked out, but good lord, what an ordeal. And there is one rule of dogs getting skunked that seems to hold true for everyone I've talked to. It ALWAYS happens right late at night, usually before bedtime!!!

Here's the girlie all lathered up. And of course, she was very good about the whole thing. She's such a good dog. Next up: Kate's Morning Sun Salutation.

Hel-looooo Out There, It's Me

Hello folks out there in blog land!!! I have missed you. A lot has been going on. But is there a scientific answer for the absense of my posts? The best I can come up with is this: I just plopped onto the floor right after the Kitchen Poetry challenge and didn't get up! But I really was here the whole time, or stuck in a parallel universe. This can happen if you're not paying attention. :-)

So, first thing: the Craft Show! It was really fun, and fortunately we were able to avoid spontaneous combustion; just barely though because it was soooo hot that morning. By 10:30 it was like 125 degrees on the asphalt bank parking lot. Here are some pics of my booth (in the forefront) and Ms. Foziewisp's (with 2 customers eyeing the wares). We each sold almost exactly the same dollar amount of stuff. As I sat there in the sweltering heat contemplating the prospect of re-packing the car, however, I had a blue light special and slashed prices. That helped sales! :-) Most of my items were vintage goodies I'd collected over the years. I had certainly already gotten my money's worth of having them, some as long as 15 years or more, and they were old when I bought them! I felt good about off-loading the stuff. And it really was kind of fun talking to all the shoppers.

This second pic is a close-up of some of Sherri's vintage items. It's fun to look over the table and remember the estate sale that we went to together to find these things! Great memories. Next up: Saylor Meets a Skunk.