Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Scrapping in Omaha

Yes, I drove to Omaha on Saturday to go scrapbooking with my friend Karen. Why? Because I can. Because it's fun. Because I like Karens company. And because she has come out here the last few times. I had a nice drive, we had a nice lunch, and I scrapped these pages, plus another one I will finish tonight at the church scrapping get-together. It feels good to be creative again!This first page is about Natasha and a friend of hers. Used some old Scrapworks (?) fabric tabs, & gypsies photo turns, Prima flowers & a notesheet Melissa sent me, left-over rub-ons (Crate Paper maybe?) and some Smooch paint to tone down that gold heart. The safety pin holding the heart was from the tag on my new jeans!

The girls in their Halloween costumes, Bazzill paper & paper hearts 2 years old (heart aged with Ranger Distress inks), OLD tag from a years-ago Chatterbox page kit swap, Prima leaf (also aged with Distress inks), Corrugated paper from a Secret Scrapper swap 9also years ago - thank you Vicki S.), a branch of grey Jolee's leaves made green with Tattered Angels mist ink, new making Memories Journal paper (orange leaf), Maya Road enamel flower (at least 2 years old), another Scrapworks fabric tag and Heidi Swap orange letters left from a long ago kit, painted with shimmery orange Smooch.

Miss Sarah from this Fall. My Minds Eye paper and tag, tag outlined with blue Smooch, and a few gems from my stash added. Blue Matt is Bazzill shimmer. The blue button is WeRMemory Keepers, from a package I bought last year I think. Thickers letters brushed with a little blue Smooch. Yes, I think I Smooched most of pages Saturday!~
Sarah again - last Springs school photo. Paper my Secret Scrapper sent me this summer (love the deckles, wanted to use the cherry hearts pattern on the other side, but they clashed with her pick outfit). Die cut paper by ??? It's been in my stash awhile, altered here with Brick Ranger Distress ink. Thickers (also inked) and another WE R Memory Keepers eyelet button.

I have more photos but they'll have to wait.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Eddie update

Just a quick note as it's another busy week at our house!

Sarah stayed home yesterday with a bad headache and was alternately comforted by Mira, Eddie pawing at her face and purring, and Horatio napping by her on her bed.

Eddie has gotten used to the basement stairs and now goes down alone, staying close to the wall side. Natasha spent the first few days making sure he visited the litterbox often, leading him to the top of the stairs and prompting him to go a little further, keeping him away from the open side.

He is also very affectionate. He loves to nuzzle right in our faces and purrs and trills nonstop for a good 10 minutes. I think we've all been claimed!

Though he hadn't been taken upstairs during the day, he managed to find his way up the dark stairs in the middle of the night and was wandering around, meowing and calling questions. He followed my voice and was incredibly pleased with himself when I lifted him up on the bed. He purred and kneaded my face & neck for a good 20 minutes before settling down to sleep. I've since trimmed his nails just a tad so they are not so sharp! Every night since he has come up and climbed on the bed on his own, purring like mad. Tonight he fell asleep between me and the arm of the couch, on his back - I think he feels comfortable here!

Being a kitten, he loves to play, and especially loves the girls long hair! He has also discovered the crows nest on the cat tree, and it's become his favorite place to nap when no laps are available. He climbs down one level at a time, backwards, while hanging onto the carpet. Silvara is NOT pleased as that is her spot, but she takes it over when he vacates. She has let him come near enough to touch with his nose, then she dashes off. Horatio has eaten side by side with Eddie a few times, but otherwise is spending his days as usual, sleeping on the sunroom couch or Sarah's bed. They'll come around.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Bob and Eddie

4 weeks ago: After spending much of 3 days on the phone trying to find a place that takes FeLV (Feline Leukemia) cats and had space, we finally learned about Witty Kitties in Solon Iowa. After getting Bob fixed and up to date on vaccinations, the girls and I drove Bob out there on a day off from school. Bob wasn't thrilled with the trip, but he was soon exploring his new room at Witty Kitties. http://www.wittykitties.org/id126.html As you can see he is doing well. It was a hard trip but we were happy that he now has a chance to live out his life and just maybe find a home where he is the only cat. (He really is the perfect cat other than his FeLV status).

While there we fell in love with 3 other cats: Lucy, Eddie, and Knight. While they each have their own special needs, none are infected with FIV or FeLV. After a few weeks of consideration, we decided on Eddie. We did test both Silvara and Horatio yesterday and their FeLV tests came out negative, so this morning we hopped in the car for the drive to Solon. I have to mention here that Rich had already spent 18 hours in the car crisscrossing Iowa and Nebraska this week, but he was up for the 4 hour round trip. The girls woke up so excited and ready to go you would have thought it was Christmas morning!

Eddie is just about 6 months, and while he has limited sight in his one eye, is a very friendly cuddly cat who likes attention and cuddles. After Rich picked him up he climbed up on Rich's shoulders. Smart cat :).

Eddie spent most of the trip napping in my lap. The first part of the trip he wandered back & forth sitting in various laps and he showed no interest in getting in the carrier. He purred and cuddled and meowed. So far he's more vocal than either Silvara or Horatio.

As you can see from his profile below, he was named after Sir Edmund Hillary because he climbed all over his room at Witty Kitties. We haven't definitely decided to rename him, but have been batting around a few names based on the beautiful pearly blue color of his eye. DH asked about my favorite pool at Yellowstone, but it's name is "Pearl Geyser". Not a good name for a boy kitty. Don't worry, though he is still young and has only been Eddie since August, if we change his name we'll continue to alternate it with Eddie as he adapts and probably use Eddie as a nickname.

He's found the food & water and used the litter and is now lying on the couch, staring down at what probably looks like the endlessly deep black hole of the green rug. They gave us a knitted (crocheted?) cat sized blanket to take home with him - we'll have to put that on the carpet for depth perception until we replace the rug. Although after wandering out of the room for a few minutes he just walked into the living room with the blanket on his back - and all the girls are outside. The blanket may not stay in place on the rug.

Silvara and Horatio don't know what to think. They've hissed a few times, but not being able to see them following warily 10 feet away and having lived in a room full of other cats, he's relatively unphased. He sniffs back when they come close and that's about it. Eddie has also played with a few balls and crinkly cat toys that he's come across in his explorations.

We'll post some photos in a few days, but we don't want to wig him out with the camera flash as he's getting used to his new surroundings.

http://www.wittykitties.org/id124.html

Where'd October go?

Good afternoon!

Little bit of an update. In the past crazy month we've had a few celebrations including several school and preschool Fall & Halloween celebrations, middle school projects, Church gatherings, family and friends Birthday celebrations for Sarah, and I had a great afternoon with RIF (Reading is Fundamental book distribution) at the elementary school. Rich has been traveling and Michelle has been working on the HEN website. The new website is up and just about finished and I'm very pleased. Now that I'm about ready to hand over the website to a new chair, I plan to update my blog and photos a bit more often for family and friends (at least in the winter months). But for now I'll start with an up date on Bob and introduce you to Eddie.