I am 'supposed' to be packing. I leave Kansas early in the morning for sunny Arizona and just in the nick of time. We are supposed to get a ton of snow here over the next few days. Mind you I don't object to being snowed in (this just gives me an excuse to spend more time creating something) however, I will say I've been looking forward to this trip for a while and intend to enjoy every minute of it. Lately I've been working on some loomed pieces. I wanted a headband for myself and so did it first. This morning I mounted it on a nice piece of fabric, put a little elastic on the bottom portion of the fabric for a nice secure fit and it's done. I tried taking some photos with my phone wearing the headband but they all turned out yucky. Off to find something to put my headband on which will photo well. I'm looking, and looking and looking................. Then I spy "Stinky" our 20 pound black cat. I put the headband around his ample middle and take my picture. Turned out great! Slipped the headband off, patted him on the head and packed away my new pretty. I assure you no cats are ever harmed in my photograpy, in fact this one didn't even wake up for the event. The other beaded piece is one in progress. I see where I've made a couple of mistakes so will have to fix those. I've started another strip which I'll add to this one. Haven't decided how long I'll make it total nor what I'm going to do with it once it's finished. It's a little wide for a hat band. Hmmmm. I'll be thinking on it for awhile. Better get back to packing.

Was reading through my posts, doing some editing and just about busted out laughing at the one I wrote in April, 2008. In it I'm stating that one cat in the house is PLENTY. We now have 4 cats in the house. Too many I agree. Now it's winter and I can't do much about having so many in the house. Come Spring there will be 3 cats spending a lot more time outside. I've been away from this blog for way too long. I mean to change this starting now. I'll be posting more pictures of items I've created as well as pictures of our life in progress. There have been a lot of changes in the last couple of years, some I never thought I'd see. For now here are some recent pictures. See you again soon.

Anonymous comments to my Blog

I would appear as there is yet another way to send spam over the internet. I have "anonymous" people posting all sorts of crap as comments to my blog posts. I don't know how to stop this. I'm sure I could go in and delete all of them but that wouldn't stop it so why bother. For some reason, the comments have been confined to just one post. How long before they start posting to the others I wonder.

April 21, 2010. Hannah has been living with us since October. In a few short weeks she's going to be gone. Back to KC to live with her mom. I am going to miss her so much. She's been such a fun little thing to have around and has been a bright spot for me. We are having her graduation party at our house and I have been working every spare moment trying to get the flower beds cleaned up and planted so that everything will look nice. I gave up on the house and hired two local girls to help me with the cleaning.

Have not been doing a lot art wise for awhile. There are just not enough hours in the day!!! I am taking a day off this weekend and doing a enamel class. Will try and post pics soon. Am needing to get my web site updated and haven't had the time to organize the stuff for this either.

Pre-ordered the movie - Avatar yesterday. Saw it and loved it!!! I'm hoping my neices, Cassidy, Tory and Alex and come watch with me soon.

That's all for today folks. Till next time------------------
Donna

Epoxy

Today is the day I decide it's time to put another layer of epoxy on the floor mosaic at the South door. It's only needed it for 4 years but you know how these things go........ It wasn't one of those 'I need to do this now' things so I just kept putting it off.

Planning ahead, I asked B to build me a box to set over the entire mosaic (3' x 2') so that once I had the epoxy on and spread out, I could protect it from the cats. I knew the majority of them would be out for the day but I wasn't thinking about just the cats but also the cat hair. I didn't even want to think about how bad it would look with a fine layer of cat hair stuck to the top of it. YUK.

So, all the cats except Desa are out, I have the area cleaned and the epoxy is getting spread out. I'm thinking things are going fairly smoothly. Wrong. This is when Desa decides to jump from a chair into the center of the mosaic, and the epoxy. Well CRAP! The epoxy project is on hold for the moment because B and I have to give Desa a bath. I don't know what ingesting epoxy will do to her but we're not taking any chances. Besides, she's now got epoxy on all four paws so I can't have that mess strung out throughout the house. Desa's never had a bath before but takes it better than I had anticipated.

Ok, now Desa's locked in the bathroom (kitty jail) and it's back to the epoxy job. I get it all spread, cleaned up the surrounding area that's been strewn with epoxy (thanks to Desa) and have blown all the bubbles I can see out. We put the box over it and let Desa out of kitty jail. Time will tell how good it's going to look and how much epoxy is still stuck in Desa hair.

Ahhhhhh, life at our house............ A few days later. I thought we had done a good job of cleaning all of the epoxy off Desa. We missed the area between the pad on her feet and her toes. The epoxy has since hardened and we now have a cat that makes a little clunking noise as she walks around the house on the hardwood floors. I know the hair will grow and the epoxy will fall off so we will watch her closely in the meantime and enjoy our noisy little cat.

The shoes that fart

Yes, I have shoes that fart. As if I NEED anything else on or around my body to make fart noises!

Recently, I was shopping with a friend and had a little time to kill while waiting for her to finish up one of her stops. I saw a Macy's store and went in. Keep in mind I NEVER go to Macy's. Too rich for my budget. Anyways, I see they are having a shoe clearance sale. Who can resist a shoe clearance? Certainly not me.

Sure enought, I find a pair of cute, cute, cute flip flops in my size and for an excellent (cheap) price and purchase them.

I am wearing my cute new shoes and have discovered they somehow create a little suction to the bottom of my feet and then make a not so discrete "Pffffft" noise when the suction breaks.

Great, it now sounds like I have the walking farts. So am I going to stop wearing my cute new shoes? Of course not, I'll just have to be discrete when I'm walking in them as to not offend anyone.

Wisconsin Trip

B and I just got home from Wisconsin. We went up to the Menominee Indian Reservation for a family reunion. This reunion was the first of it's kind as the participants were descendants of Alexander Robinson (1772 to 1872). Alexander was married to a Menominee woman named Sasos and I am a descendant of that union. Other family descendants included those descending from the union of Alexander to Catherine after Sasos'es death. It can get rather confusing but thru the efforts of a few, we all came together to honor grandfather Robinson and meet family that until recently, many of us never knew we had. The story of Alexander Robinson is a interesting one. I've been told a family member is publishing a book on grandfather Robinson. When it is complete, I will happily forward the information to anyone interested.

It was my idea to go to Wisconsin for the reunion on our motorcycle. I remember telling B that it would be a perfect time to go up as the weather should be good at this time of year. Not too cold and not too hot. What is they say about the best laid plans? Well, for the most part the weather did indeed cooperate with us. However the last two days on the Motorcycle found us trying to make it home in 100° plus heat and very high humidity. NOT FUN. For anyone who has not experienced traveling by motorcycle in really hot weather....let me tell you.....don't. It's miserable.

I got to see lots of my relation on the reservation. All my Aunts and some of my Uncles. Cousins and other people I've met over the years when I was visiting. I really enjoy my time with the Aunts. For one thing they are a ton of fun to be around and are GREAT cooks. For another, it is always interesting to find out new family information or hear new funny stories. I wish I could see them more often.

Traveling to another part of the US is interesting to me as I notice the difference in how things grow and the differences in business, farms and residential areas. I noticed the blooming time for flowers in Wisconsin is a good month behind ours. So many beautiful Pines and Spruces. Lots prettier than the ones in Kansas. I also noticed how many farms and country residences were so neat in appearance. Hardly ever did I see a place junked up like I did in Colorado last fall. And the farms, they were huge. Lots of outbuildings and I notice most had working silos. The silos in this area have not been used in years. It is rare to see one with even the top still on it while it's not uncommon to see a tree growing out of silo top. Weird.

On the way to the Reservation we drove to Lake Michigan where I remembered gathering smooth stones and lake glass when I was young. B had never seen Lake Michigan so it was something new for him. I waded on the shore but didn't find any lake glass this time.

It was a good vacation for us. I'm anxious to go back again. Maybe late next summer.

Lightening

Lightening update. Am I even spelling that right? Oh well, I'm willing to bet everyone knows what I'm talking about. We've gotten almost everything fixed or replaced now. The hot water heater still needs looked at and the gutter still needs fixed but I think the only left on the buy list is the air cleaner. We heard from the adjuster yesterday and he's turning in all the bills to date. While I am thankful that we have insurance, it still leaves us with the $1,000 deductible to come up with.

Sadly, I have no flowers planted as of yet. It has rained, and rained and rained here. Almost nothing planted in the garden as well, for the same reason. When it finally does dry up a little I guess I'll take a day off work and plant as much as I can. I'm back to working at the greenhouse part time which is handy for picking my stuff up (almost too handy - know what I mean)? So far the rain has kept me from buying anything except three trees. I wouldn't have purchased them but I was afraid someone else would and there were only 7 of that kind left. The kind I purchased are Robinia (Purple Robe). We already have one and just love it. It has flowers in the spring that look just like purple wisteria. So far they seem to be just about totally pest/problem free as well. I would also like to try a pink flowering dogwood but have some serious reservations as to if I can find a place in the yard it would like.

Am trying to get back to going to the Rec for exercise. I had fallen off the wagon for health reasons but am trying to get back in the groove. Wish me luck!
Fortunately, I have two ladies I see at the Rec that are just too much fun. Just the thought that I'm going to spend some time with them helps to get me moving.

B and I are going to Wisconsin for our summer vacation this year. There is to be a reunion on the Indian reservation where my mother grew up and we have decided to attend. There will be tons of family I don't know there as well as family I do know. We are taking the Trike so will plan a couple of extra travel days. I haven't been to the reservation during the summer months for several years. My last two trips were both during the winter months. This trip will be in June so I don't expect it to be overly hot between here and there - which will be nice for motorcycle riding. I think I'll try to drive some this time as it's gets pretty boring just riding all the time.

And so ends this episode of my oh so exciting life. I'll try and have some pics next time.