Shifting Gears….Again!

Is It just me or is everyone out there so technically un-inclined as I am?  After months of trying and trying to get photos to load at my Blogger site I finally got it to work last night.  Yes, I have been bouncing back there every day because it has one of those nice blogrolls that lets me know when my friends have updated.  It also allowed me to upload more then one photo at a time and continue writing while my photos uploaded on my slow dial-up connection.  I had my nice little profile there and the hideous (although terribly realisitic) photo of myself right on the front page.  I really loved the set up and the “idiot-friendly” dashboard that seemed so perfectly suited to me.

So is it fair of me to ask my loyal and devoted fans (STOP LAUGHING!) to follow me back to Blogger?  Back to the original Dwelling Place?  I am able to post more frequently and yes, even more quickly there then I can here.

Once again I’ll leave this blog up for a while so who ever dares to can follow my cyber ramblings if they so desire.

Guess What…………..

Fiddling around with the old Blogger site and you won’t believe what happened.  I got photos to post!!  Go have a LOOK.

Let’s Talk Turkey

I just love turkey.  One could say I am the “Forrest Gump of Turkey”…roast turkey, turkey sandwiches, turkey soup, turkey tetrazini, turkey salad, turkey a la king…….  I just love the look of them too.  Those beautiful autumn colors; that rustic yet regal appearance. Oddly enough we are rather “anti-turkey” in the dinner department this year.  We are having steaks on the grill as per Joe’s request.  He’s not a big fan of turkey.  I did roast a small turkey breast last week to satisfy my craving though.  It is actually such an economical meat that I wish I served it more often.

 Did you know that Prairie Schooler has a least 6 different turkey designs?  I think I have stitched most of them.  As usual I am a bit slow on the seasonal uptake.  I am still fascinated with pumpkins and all things Halloween.  Now I am fixated on turkeys and stitching designs of them.  But instead I stuck to my guns and finished this little Prairie Schooler santa.  I am not sure of his real name, but I am calling him “Feed the Birds Santa”.  He is from 1989 of the yearly series.  Thanks to the lovely Nicole in Belgium I now have the complete set of yearly santas.

Yesterday the mailman ( actually it’s a woman) brought me a package covered with stamps from South Africa.  I don’t know anyone in South Africa and I was surprised to see the return address was Barbara in Holland.  I love the stamps Barbara and even moreso the lovely stitched “pocket” inside.  What a wonderful gift and so expertly finished.  This is a horrible scan of it, but I wanted to get a photo up right away without the hassle of resizing a digital picture.  I have to find a special place for this.  With the new little kitties in the house it will have to go high up as bells are a very popular cat toy these days.  Bells, string, hoops, knitting needles, house plants………anything that moves or makes and interesting sound.  I have never had cats so young before.  All of my others came to me when they are about 6 or 7 months old.  These little guys are so fun to watch. They have discovered the window above our bed.  It was like watching a tennis match this morning as their heads bobbed back and forth following the birds in the yard.

The sun is shining bright and it’s a rousing 49 degrees F.  Time to fire-up the grill and cook the Thanksgiving steaks!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful day.

And Then There Were Seven !

Alix, Sammy, Elliot, Mocha and Coal have been joined by Roy and Carmella.

I should be using this time for sewing doll clothes for the up-coming sale, but it’s been so long since I last posted and quite a bit has happened.  I went to the Vet  on Friday 21st  to pick up the remaining kitten and guess what?  There was the little timid black kitten and the orange-striped kitten.  It seems the family who wanted to adopt her had changed their mind.  I had agonized and over-analyzed the whole situation so much that I just put the “pet taxi’ box in the car Thursday night and vowed to take the black kitten home that Friday morning.  The time had expired for him to remain at the vet’s and I wasn’t going to take him to a pet store or the animal shelter.  All of a sudden I was struck by the fact that I had two cats to take home.  Luckily, Joe has been very understanding and amazingly enough everyone seems to be adapting to everyone else. 

 I had prepared myself for total and complete chaos to break loose, but it didn’t.  The kittens were a bit scared by the sudden huge amount of space they now had to run around in.  But they found the new food dish that I had bought for them (actually just a little double sided dish that was meant for just the black kitten to use) and the litter box without much practice.  Infact, I am stunned at how smoothly things are going.  Are the evil “Holiday Spirits” finally smiling in my direction?  I keep waiting for some overwhelming panic attack or kitty poop disaster to push me over the edge, but instead the horizon looks pleasantly smooth…not a sharp cliff in sight.

Coal seems to enjoy the kittens the most. 

Old Alix tolerates them and even allows them to come close to her.  Alix was my main concern.  I didn’t want her “golden years” with us marred by a sudden upheaval in the daily routine. Elliot, who hates every other cat on the face of the Earth comes nose-to-nose with the little guys and not a hiss or spit out of him.  He even takes turns sharing the basket with Carmella.  This basket belonged to my parent’s first cat, B.B.—-named for Bob and Barbara, my parents.  They got B.B. when they moved out of their first apartment to our house in 1961, so this basket is pretty old.  I took it with me when I got married for our first cat, Speedy to use.  She never touched it.  Neither did either one of our family cats in New Jersey, Shadow 1966-1975, or Sybil 1976-1989.  Only one other of our cats showed any interest in it, a little guy named Hobbes who used it in 1990.  The “antique” cat basket has sat behind a chair in our living-room for nearly 18 years, untouched.  I brought it out for the kittens to use and Elliot suddenly claimed it as his.

The kittens have also discovered that our house has an upstairs and a big bed!  They are loving every minute of being here.  I am so glad I brought them home.  I do miss the little tortoise-shell kitten and I hope she is doing well at her new home.

The only serious stitching going on lately has been of doll clothes.  I did finish this cross-stitch piece that I had laying around in the WIP box.  It is from an old “Cross-Stitch & Country Crafts” magazine and is called a “Kissing Ball”.  It is made with a 10″ hoop glued at 90 degree angles and wrapped in ribbon.  The cross-stitch piece is two-sided…the kissing couple on one side and the little saying on the other. 

“Christmas weaves it’s loving art and leaves it’s magic in the heart”

The bottom has artificial mistletoe and ribbons hanging from it.  I had made this project once before and it comes together quickly as there really isn’t a lot of actual stitching involved.

I am pulling myself out of my black hole of a mood and enjoying the cold, crisp days.  I think what really snapped me out of it was a tiny bit of snow last week.  Just the sight of the white-stuff takes away all the cares of the adult world and makes me feel like a carefree child again.

Wishing my fellow Americans a Happy Thanksgiving.  I have so much to be thankful for, especially the friends I have found here in Blogland!

Another Kitty Finds A Home

Weird, weird, weird…that’s all I can say about how I’ve been feeling lately.  I am sure it is just the beginning of the long progression of “Holiday Panic Attacks” that always hit me as Christmas approaches.  It seems that all the major (and even minor) glitches of Life seem to expand to giant, enormous size at this time of year.

Went to visit my little kittens at the Vet again this morning and there on the cage tag it said “Found a Home” next to the pale orange-striped kitty’s label.  She was still there though.  The Vet assistant said the family was picking her up tomorrow.  If anything, this made it even more sad for me, to think this was the last time I would get to spend with this playful and outgoing little cat.  The black kitten is still there too.  He is so timid and shy and hides in that back of the cage until I pick him up.  Then he sits on my lap and purrs.  I am really hoping my friend Brenda goes to see him today and adopts him.  The thought of him being left alone after Saturday is so hard for me to bear.  This whole situation has been such a mix of emotions, but you know what……….if I ever find any animals on the abandoned on the side of the road again I will do exactly the same thing! I just can’t help myself.  It seems all is working out for the best as the precious little cats find good homes.

There has been absolutley no cross-stitching of any kind going on for almost two weeks.  It is all part of this weirdness cycle I am going through.  I should be making Christmas ornaments and gifts, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.  I am secretly hoping the whole holiday season will be canceled this year.  Not to ruin it for other people who enjoy it, but maybe just cancel it for me.  I have been putting off and putting off reserving the rental car for our journey to New Jersey for Christmas week.  Do you believe that I actually imagined that if I waited long enough the entire state of Ohio would run out of rental cars and we would have to cancel our trip and it would not be my fault.  That’s how my strange mind works under this sort of stress.  The “Let Nature Take It’s Course” sort of outlook.  It is more like if I procrastinate long enough or bury my head in the sand then things will just happen and I will have no control over them and therefore not be blamed for the bad outcome.

What a case of the “blues” I have.  I do get a lot of joy and inspiration from reading all your blogs though and I try to keep up on commenting.  This keeps me attached, if you can believe it, to the real world!  To read about your lives, your families, your accomplishments keeps me grounded and not “under ground”.  Thanks for all the kind and supportive comments here.  I really treasure the friendships I have found through blogging.

Kitty Finds A Home

I have been agonizing over the fate of the three little kittens I found nearly two weeks ago.  There seems to be no home worthy of them in my eyes.   I worry that they won’t be adopted and I will have to make a choice between the shelter and a pet store.  I just don’t know how I can handle having three new little ones here with 5 cats already.  We also plan to go away for a week at Christmas and I could not leave kittens alone in the house with all the other cats and expect the neighbor to sort it all out.  I really do want them though.  Against better judgement I went to visit them again at the Vet.  I just can’t stay away.  To my shock and surprise the muted tortoise-shell kitten was GONE!  Someone had adopted her.  My heart sank.  Yes, I want them to find good homes, but in my opinion these cats are already mine.  I was overwhelmed by a rush of both sadness and relief.  Relief that one had found a home and thereby reducing my anxiety over the inevitable choice on 20 November, and sad because one of my little kitties was gone from me.  Then I found out who adopted her.  It was the lady who runs the local dollhouse miniature shop!  I don’t know her personally, only  through a bit of chit-chat when I’ve been in her shop.  She brings her cat and dog with her everyday to the shop.  She had been at the Vet for her Yorky dog and adopted my little tortie kitten.  I am just thrilled that this kitten has found a home with such a nice lady who I “know” in a round-about way.  Also there is the chance that I will see this cat again when I go into the shop.

Now there are the pale orange striped and the very shy black cat left at the Vet.  Orange stripey seems as energetic as ever.  Meowing a lot and wanting to be petted.  The little black kitten is, if possible, more timid then ever.  I really hope my friend Brenda adopts him.  I secretly plot to take any remaining kitten to my parent’s house at Christmas.  Of course they have already said “NO” to having any more pets, but one sight of either of these cats and they would take them.

So I’m a bit down today, even though the news was rather good.  Maybe it’s just this time of year.  The impending “holidays” with all the rush and stress and commitments always brings me down a bit.  I think I build up in my mind the vision of the “perfect holiday”, and that never really happens.  All the gifts I want to give, things to bake, sew, craft etc., seem to pile up and nothing gets done.  Then all of a sudden it January 1st and I’m in more of a jumbled mess then ever before.  The “pull” of being home in New Jersey for Christmas versus a less stressful holiday here at my own home in Ohio has been an issue for nearly 20 years now.  As the years pass and both pets and parents get older it becomes harder and harder to “choose” at holiday time.  What should be a pleasant, family-oriented and joyful time of year becomes a panic-stricken, anxiety ridden time for me.

Does This Really Count?

Since I have switched blog hosts, does this really count as my 100th post?  I had been waiting for this milestone to have some sort of give-away, but now that I am back at post #4…………I have also searched through my quickly diminishing stash and there is really nothing worthy of being a 100th Blog-post Prize anyway.  This “economic down-turn” is really taking it’s toll on my stitching stash.  It’s really more of greed rather then need though, so I think I will survive the Winter with what I have.

Finished the ancient Christmas Sampler, but no photo yet.  I’m getting sort of a late start and I find it’s very slow going trying to post photos at WordPress.  The “one-at-a-time” thing really bugs me, but hey, it’s better then no photos at all!  I think I will save my major updates for Sundays, when I can occupy the phone line for hours at a time.

Instead I post a pic of lovely Mocha, hanging out on our porch.  She gets more and more friendly and comes around even during the day, as long as Coal and Elliot aren’t in site.

Kittens

I found these little guys last Wednesday where our rural road meets the speeding main street.  They were huddled together, very scared.  I had just driven by that same spot about 20 minutes before on my way to the hardware store.  On the way back, there they were.  I went home right away and got a cardboard box to collect them.  I already have five cats and a dog and knew I couldn’t take in any more animals, but I just couldn’t leave them there.  For the last week they have been living comfortably at my Vet, waiting to be adopted.  I have gone to visit them twice and I’ll get to see them again tomorrow when I take Sammy in for his annual shots.  They are so sweet and friendly. 

 

The black one is the littlest and most shy and the only male.  The pale orange striped is the most outgoing and the muted tortoise-shell loves to be petted.  I am already considering them MINE!  I know I should not get so attached to them then no one will be “good enough” to adopt them.  My friend Brenda from the gym says she may adopt the black one.  I hope so, since he is the most timid I would hope he goes to someone I know.

As for stitching….I have been working on this Christmas sampler for about a week.  It is from a very old copy I’ve been hanging on to.  I remember exactly when I copied it….1984.  There are even hand-written notes to my freind Anne who was away at college at the time, giving her instructions on color choices, fabric size and how I was going to finish this sampler.  I think we both made one with white DMC on red aida instead of the suggested red on white aida. The original magazine wss November/December 1981 Better Homes & Gardens “Needlecraft”.  This time I am using 28 count natural LInen and Threadworx 1085.  I just love this brand of threads.  A lot of “bang for the buck” as the saying goes.  A whopping 20 yards for about $3.50.  I will certainly use about 90% of the skien on this project.  As of this morning I have

finished the line of hearts and one reindeer.

 

So only one more reindeer to go and then I must decide if I want to put the date on it.  I like to record the date on pieces I will keep for myself, but dating something limits me in regards to selling it or giving it as a gift.

 

 

Trying a photo

French Sampler

WOOOOOOOOOOOWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! A photo!  I do miss the familiar layout and background of my old blog though.  Not to mention that I was getting so close to the milestone 100th post.  But the inability to post photos was just unbearable. This is really a rather nondescript post…just more of a test for the photos. I was caught totally off guard by the fact that this photo actually uploaded and appeared here.  I need to edit the 20-plus photos that are in my camera waiting to be “blogged”.   This is the WIP French Sampler from a pattern I got from Barbara Ana in Spain.  I have tons more photos of Halloween stuff, stitching and of course the beloved pets.  I am trying to get used to the photo process here.  Unlike Google, I am not able to continue writing while the photos upload, and I can only load one photo at a time.  Maybe I am still working my way through the new system and will eventually find my way around these obstacles.  Overall, I am pretty pleased.  I hope all of you can make the transition with me and I don’t get lost in Cyberspace.

A big “thank you” to Anna, who was my first commentor here.  I think I have correctly disabled the post moderator, so it is not such a hassle to post a comment.

At the gym last week

 An incredibly dorky photo of me.  Somehow I got roped into taking all the staff photos for the gym webpage.  The other 15 people came out pretty well, but my snap looks like a prison camp mug-shot.

I close today with a pet-snap…the lovely Alix!  It is hard to believe that on Thursday it was one year since she had her first “attack”…some sort of stroke that caused a seizure.  She has had some minor repeats of this episode, but none as severe as the first one.  As you can see she looks pretty healthy and happy relaxing on the afghan.

Welcome To My New Home

Finally had it with trying and trying to post photos at Google Blogger.  Thanks to the wonderful advice of Barbara, I am now here at Worldpress.  I will leave my old blog up so you can find your way here.  As soon as I get used to this new system with different icons and layouts I will make this page a little more interesting.