Great way to end it or start it.

Stay cozy, stay safe.  Have a happy New Year!

Ommmm, stay calmmmmmm

Are you getting a case of holiday anxiety yet?  It's trying to creep up on me but I'm fighting it back.

I took yesterday off so that I could finish a few projects and I'm trying to find some cookie recipes to make cookies for gifts for my office staff.  I still need to get the Christmas tree down from the attic. 

I'm dreading that, remember how Gracie trashed the tree 3 or 4 times last year?   She is bouncing off the walls because it's too cold for her to stay outside for very long.  You should see her nail station... she's shredded it!  Her newest obsession is hanging off the back of the recliner by her toenails and swinging back and forth as the recliner rocks.  She's practicing her "devil kitty dance", that one where she points her ears back like horns and arches her back and walks sideways towards me.  She waits until I leave the room and then gnaws my yarn in two.  Just like a jealous child trying to get your attention. 

So, yesterday while I was off I did a lot of sewing I don't like sewing as much as I used to.

I have this on going problem.  Even without a cat in the sewing machine, I'm already sewing in a walk-in linen closet, with yarn stacked to the ceiling, an ironing board on my back and a vacuum cleaner under my right arm.  Then she insists on being on the sewing machine cabinet!

Any way, I managed to make these: 

A few more sets of Sandwich Rapz & Bagz. 

Pretty cool huh?

That was the inside of one, now for the outside...

I haven't made the bag to match this wrap yet.  I am wondering if they would sell on Etsy.

I may have to check with some of my blog buddies who have Etsy accounts.  

I would have to ask $10 for a set because the cost of that plastic coating is unbelievable, like $6 a yard and it's not a square yard... 17"x 36".  I can get 2 sets out of a yard.  For these I used quilting fat quarters.  I could probably cut costs by not using pre-cut fabric and just using yardage.  Then you have the Wonder-under and the binding.  Before you know it you've spent $10 on it... oh yeah, you have to have a button and elastic cording to close it with and what about the original Baggie who gave it's life for this project?  I rounded up some 'already been used' (ABU) for them this time, but what about when I no longer have the need to by Baggies because I have a gazillion of these laying around?  Oh the dilemma of going into business.  

I'll just stick to my knitting and make these on the fly when someone wants a set.  I'll just tell them flat out "I'll need 10 bucks to buy your stuff to make them."  See what they say to that.  Probably the same thing Jody said... "I'll just stick to Baggies, thanks." 

Oh well, time to get to my list.

• finish laundry
• buy firewood
• grocery store
• make cookies
• get the decorations out
• put up the tree
• clean the bathrooms
• mop the kitchen floor before the health department shows up
• knit
• sew
• knit some more Jolea said that she would like to have a Irish Fisherman's sweater.... not this year sweetheart.
• make a cake AND a pie for Jody to take to his work party.
• watch Christmas Vacation (the honest to goodness story of Jody's family gatherings at Christmas) again.

Next blog I'll regale you with stories about Starbucks, I promise.  Have a great week.

Wow, I just remembered, we are out of school for Winter Break (2 weeks) starting next weekend.

WIP What's inthe phone?

Besides the Work In Progress I thought I'd show you some random pictures in my phone.  What else have I got to do before starting dinner?

 Aww, baby bunnies that Dawn keeps under her desk at school.  She found them abandoned on the playground.  She bottle feeds them through out the day.

 Hey look it's the President!  He just flew over our school one day and Dawn snapped a picture of him.

Last Saturday I was driving down Park Ave. in Plano and took this picture of one of the 'Homesteads' original farms from the 1800's.  Look how dead the grass is!  I'll take another picture next week, we've had 3 really good rains this week.

Goofy cat, there was a fly on the chair so she sat on the little shelf that we set our coffee cup on.

 Now she's going to try to catch it.

 She's so graceful.  And elegant.

 The big loom.

And the even bigger loom!  When Jody gets a wild hair it's usually pretty big.  I think we may start weaving his wild hairs into a blanket.


Gotta go whip up some Chicken Fried Steak.

Just like clock work.

This is a daily occurrence.  Gracie brings a snake in the house.  It's really more like a really big worm, but it's a snake.  A very harmless snake that Jody is really creeped out by.

 
This one was quiet aggressive and would raise his head up a couple of inches off the floor and strike at her.

 Gracie didn't care, she'd just grab it by the tail kind of like Steve Irwin would do and then she'd flip the snake over her head so that it went flying through the air.  Then she'd pounce on it!

I took these pictures before I started videoing her.  The video lasts a good 5 minutes so I would have to make a You Tube video to show it, and I have no idea how to do that. The ending is awesome!

This past two weeks besides the daily snake she's brought in a dead mouse, baby geckos, a ton of june bugs and something rather large that bled all over the kitchen floor in two different spots.... I have yet to find the body and not from a lack of trying.  We think maybe a baby rabbit.  I'm hoping she took it back outside.

She also tried to catch a opossum that was bigger than her, but I spoiled that when I spotlighted him with a flashlight and she was distracted and he got away. 

Oh the joys of owning a feral cat.

Happy Friday

I promise this won't be a long story.

Unassuming right?

Can you see her?  She's under the day lily beside the bird bath.  Jody moved that bird bath there to do away with the old rock bed in the far corner of the yard where it used to be situated.  This is now her favorite place to hide and wait.

Yeah, there is a little debris in the yard, but no bodies or parts of bodies.  Just a bunch of feathers telling us that out there somewhere is a Dove with a naked undercarriage.  Oh well it's been over 100 for the last 13 days, he'll be a lot cooler.

Yeah, that's an innocent kitty.

I'm headed back to Presby Dallas this morning.  Di is in surgery at this very moment.  Today is Michael's birthday.  I'll try to remember to take pictures.  I'm taking him a huge hunk of Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake aka Pammie Cake.  I wonder if I should load it down with 55+ candles and set it ablaze?  We could set off the smoke alarms. 

Have a great weekend!

Not much going on other than the weather.

The wrath of Mother Nature continues.  Is she trying to tell us something?  Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Wildfires and Tornadoes.... hmmm.

Those storms that hit the Deep South got their start in Texas, they rolled through here about 12 to 24 hours before hitting those unfortunate communities. They were were just babies when they started here, but we had quiet a few bouncing around.

We're gearing up for more today.  When I got up around 6:45 it was sort of balmy and in the upper 70s.  About 30 minutes ago the rain started and then the winds were whipping, the temp dropped 15 degrees.

Jody has been working on replacing the siding on our house for several weeks now.  He has to dodge the weather, he can't take all the siding off and have a storm blow in and we sit here all exposed. So he works on a portion, ripping out the old weather damaged particle board siding yes, it's particle board, cheap bastards, and replaces it with cedar.  Then he primes the wood and then paints with the new color I chose for our house I am so sick of gray that turned out blue.

Friday afternoon he was working on the small section where our roof is split into two levels.  He said this small part was more difficult than the entire porch area.    Jody was trying to hurry to get the replacement siding up and primed before the rains came, I was inside the house do when he text me "come outside."

When I get out there he says "come up the ladder", so....

 Miss Priss is on the roof! She followed Jody right up the ladder.

 But she really wanted down.

 She wasn't sure how she was going to get down.

 "can you hep me?"

 Desperate pacing.

 "hey, I go to tha lowest point."

 She sat there for a moment and then.... she jumped!   SHE JUMPED OFF THE ROOF!

And immediately walked 3 feet to the flower bed and dug a hole.....  I guess it scared something out of her.

I think she's OK, she didn't want to stay out late roaming in the dark like she usually does.

Then yesterday morning when Jody got back on the roof to finish the work, she didn't go up the extension ladder, she climbed a 6ft step ladder and jumped the remaining 4ft to the roof. 

Great!  Is she going to try to jump again?  No this time Jody stood on the extension ladder and coaxed her over.  She allowed him to hold her while he climbed down and set her on the ground, then she went inside and slept the rest of the day back in the bedroom where it was very dark and cool.  

She did the same thing after her fight with the neighbor's cat and the vet trip for staples a few weeks ago.  She finally came out last night but wasn't her playful "I want to go chase bugs outside" self.  She sat in my lap which she rarely does.  I know I'd probably want to sit in someone's lap if I'd jumped off the roof.  I'd probably have to have someone carry me around for a week or two.  

I called Nita (my family Vet Tech) to ask her about possible injuries.  She deemed her 'The Problem Child.'  

Glad we got the siding up and primed with two coats I did the painting since my hands were smaller and I'm more able to scooch down the roof on my backside than Jody is of primer.  We won't be painting today.  I just saw that the temp outside is 55!  

I love Spring time in Texas.

Happy WIP Wednesday

The work in progress for today should be a chocolate pie for Jody's birthday, but I'll get that started in a minute. I just got back from seeing Burlesque with Lourdes and Jacque.  OMG... grab your nearest drag queen and head on over, you'll have a great time.  It's sort of predictable, girl gets guy, down and out in Hollywood, singin' and dancin' on the tables... all those things are fantastic if you ever dreamed of being a Burlesque or Vegas dancer like me.  And Christina belted it out as expected and Cher wasn't too shabby either. Her hair looks so much better straight than curly. 

I'm sitting here watching Nate Burkis, love this show.  Hate that I get so little inspiration from it that our Thanksgiving center piece will probably be a big bowl of Reese's Cups and Kit-Kats.  Hey, the bowl is antique Carnival Glass in a lovely amber color.  But still, he has some pretty good ideas.

Now for the WIP....

It's the never ending sweater.  I think I have frogged this yarn out a dozen times not really, just seems like it, I just couldn't make up my mind on the design.  I do that when I design my own stuff. It's a trial and mostly error kind of endeavor.

The socks look the same don't they?  That's because I took them to work and didn't knit much during my lunch time.  I tend to work while I eat.  I know, it's not good, but that's how I stay ahead of things, but not ahead of the socks.

Hope everyone is going to have a great Thanksgiving with family or friends or both.  It'll only be Jody, Jeff and I, Jolea is still in Key West.  I wonder if she's cooking a Fred Flintstone sized turkey this year?

I'll leave you with some pictures of Gracie.  She's getting so big.  She's going to the Vet next week.  His name is Dr. Snips Goldberg, he does neutering too.

 This is her circus act.... she hangs from ankles.

She was so happy to see her boy when he came home from Key West.

It's funny how she knows who Jody and Jeff will wrestle with her and who to come to when she wants to snuggle...  Mama.  She also knows the smell of chicken nuggets and who will feed her from their plate and who won't...  Mama.  That's rude and annoying and if they end up with kitty litter and paw prints in their potatoes it's not my fault this time.

Have a happy and thankful holiday, I know I will.

Well.... it's goin'.

Yeah, that whole hours into days, days into weeks, weeks into...  you get the picture.  We need some excitement in our lives. I've been here before and I've done this, and I may have been wearing the same shoes.

The weather is getting cooler, although yesterday it was up in the mid 80s. Perfect day to ride around with the top down on the car and yell at other drivers who don't have their top down "Put cha top down foooool!"  It's a Jolea thing, you had to be here.

To celebrate the fact the weather was gorgeous, I didn't get dressed or leave the house all day!  I didn't say I wasn't productive.  It was a heavy knitting day, and I did laundry, and put the Spring/Summer wardrobe away. There was waaaay too much cream in that cup of coffee.

Let's see.... what happened during the week?  Not much.  My job - same old thing, like herding cats and teaching old dogs the same old trick that they should already know how to do.   I take a lot of deep cleansing breaths during the day, and I occasionally scream into my purse.  I just keep telling myself that it's because everyone has such a busy life that they have a hard time remembering how to do the jobs that they don't do everyday.

Jody's job is still same ole, same ole, too.

Jolea ---- ?  Who knows, you'd have to check FaceBook, and her blog occasionally. 

Jeff, his is sort of switching gears, he's picking up some contract work from Jody's former boss who is now in business for himself.  This new switch does allow Jeff a bit more flexibility in his lifestyle.  How much more flexibility does a 24 yr. old need other than not having to get up at the same 'crack of dawn' time everyday.  I came home for lunch the other day and he's laying in his bed with his laptop on his chest and he tells me with a satisfied grin on his face "I'm working."  He was programing a PLC.

 Tuesday evening I had gone to my investment club, in other words I gave 50 bucks to someone to buy something when I could have bought new shoes.  When I came home I found Jeff in the middle of the living room with all kinds of tiny plastic objects spread out around him.  Now this wasn't upsetting, it sort of brought back fond memories of when he was a little kid playing with his Legos.  He loved his Lego Blocks.  He still has all 400,000 of them.  He could probably sell them on Ebay and make a nice chunk of $$.  All those years of playing with Legos has finally paid off.  He's designing PLCs.  All I know is a PLC is a control panel for a water system.  But what's funny is these parts are called Wegos!  He's traded the Legos for Wegos, and Wegos are just as unfriendly to bare feet when you step on them as Legos are.

 Gracie was helping too.  Hasn't she grown?  Our lives seem to be dragging by while she is growing like a weed.  She's the only one of us with visible signs of progress.

 She attacks any and everything.  She's no longer in a cage at night so all feet, hands and foreheads are at her mercy.  She's learning her limits of jumping too, at the same time we are learning not to be surprised when she sinks her claws into our belly when she decides to go for the belt buckle as we walk by.  I have to choose my accessories carefully, because she will try to 'check them out.'  She's an amazing jumper and not afraid to attempt at going for something that's a good 4 feet off the ground, like a strand of beads around my neck.  She won't wait until you've stopped moving either, she runs straight at you and leaps, not giving you a chance to sidestep or defend yourself.  She's an attack cat for sure. This has to come from those weeks in the wild.  She's still very much a Farrel cat and I wonder if she will ever be calm and sweet like our other cat was.

We've named her Gracie.  Not because she's graceful or anything, she's not.  She's bold and loud and constantly banging things around look at the size of those feet.  We know where she is most of the time.  We named her Gracie after Royce Gracie the famous cage fighter who does his best work on his back.   Here she is partaking in her favorite pastime.... clawing the backs of Jody's legs.  She has an affinity for denim and steel-toe boots.  Lucky me, I don't wear denim on a daily basis and I don't own steel-toe boots. 



She hates this Beaver. 

But she loves this bed.  This was our other cat's bed too.  It was my doll bed that my daddy made for me when I was about 2 yrs old.  The minute we brought it down from the attic, she jumped in and claimed it.  Now to teach her to go get in it on command.  When we'd tell Ellie Mae our other cat RIP "go get in your bed" she would.  Sometimes she wouldn't get out until we went to get her.  If only Gracie will learn this.  It will come in very handy at 3 in the morning when she's batting my forehead wanting me to play.

Have a good week, enjoy the weather, I'm going to see how badly Gracie has ruined the vertical blinds, we may not be able to repair those.