How to Survive Winter.....or not?

I may have selective memory, but I don't recall this many days below freezing without a break.  We're into the zero and subzero realm again here, and the very basic tasks such as taking out recycling and garbage, or bringing in groceries, are a challenge, especially when the wind is blowing.  I'm impressed by how high the snow bank has gotten next to our walkway here-our little path to the garage and the dumpster.  I try to remind myself that February may be the longest month of all, because it follows the two before that were more of the same weather--we're talking about a full quarter of the year here!  No wonder it seems so long...

My spirits could be higher if I weren't facing these piles of accounting work, tax prep and other paperwork that's important, but oh so boring.  I need to knuckle down to be free of it (AKA get it finished already) so at least I can have a free mind and spirit to carry on with my new adventures in the studio.

I'm still experimenting with different shapes, colors and materials for my formed and forged metal pins and pendants.  I've just begun a new batch of earrings, rendered in this style, which should inspire me to clear the decks of all the "have to finish......" stuff so I can focus and keep this new thing going!!

Meanwhile, a peek at local coping mechanisms to survive the long winter:

Red Kitty believes he's a jungle cat!

Mariah loves to attack paper and shred it to bits

Purrmeister proves he's NOT afraid of that old vacuum cleaner, even if it is too loud

And Karen just keeps messing around with silver and copper and pretty beads.....we will all find a way to survive winter for a few more weeks.....

Thanks for dropping by and stay warm!

Long Days

Yes, I'll repeat myself:  moving is hard work.  And on top of all the lifting and carrying, there's the emotional part.  My father lived in this house since about 1982 or so and since I'm trying to clear out and deal with all sorts of nooks and crannies, I stumble upon things that can hit me hard.  Today, I found a packet of notes written TO him by his kids, and saved.  Hooo boy....I sort of put it aside because I have to take some of these encounters when I'm ready.  Right now, the schedule is very tight to prepare for the actual "mover" who will pick up and take the larger stuff for me.  So lollygagging over little things is not a good idea, not now.  Later, later I'll open that envelope and see....

I've mentioned before--several times I'm sure--how much I love my little art studio camper by the pond.  And right now, it's truly a refuge from the chaos, the mess, the work of the day.  Nice to be greeted by all the critters living in this gilded cage (I think of the camper this way for them, and am very anxious for the cats to try out the big new place!)  I'll spend tomorrow, Friday, here because my amazing campground helper needs a day off to take care of her things, and with the glorious weather of late, I expect we could be pretty busy with campers for the weekend. 

Between duties, I have a simple, but important, to-do list for Friday:
dust and vacuum camper (4 furry critters live here, for goodness sake!)
make the curried lentil and rice recipe that's been rolling around in my brain (an experiment)
try to finish orders that are in progress or have come in recently
take a break from packing!!!!

Then, Saturday, I'll hopefully be refreshed to get back to the packing job....hopefully!

Meanwhile, here's a very pretty insect I found but could not identify--so I don't even know:
Are you a good bug or a bad bug?? (If anyone should know what this is, please leave a note!  Even if you don't, please leave a note.....)

Have a great TGIF!!

Cat Antics Sequence

Here's Purrmeister's idea of fun and action:

He gets in a good hit on Red Kitty

lays on his back to diffuse the situation

gets whacked by Red Kitty

Took a lickin' and shaking it off

Lookin' a bit dopey

Red Kitty bugs out, finds safe haven, and grins at me

I am a little rushed today...I've got things to put into my weekend posts that are more complex, possibly interesting, maybe even fun...but not today. So I offer for your pleasure a funny little sequence of still photos of Purrmeister as he "attacks" the Red Kitty...he attacks everything: Red Kitty, Mariah, my arms, his rope, his own tail. Thankfully, he's gotten smart enough to just leave Dakota alone--she's kind of old and grumpy with everyone except me. She bites!

The interesting thing is: Purrmeister attacks...then he quickly does the submissive thing by laying on his back as if to say "I was just kidding!" Smart little guy, eh?? But he doesn't let up that easily and eventually, he gets whacked by the Red Kitty. I think he's taken some pretty good hits as you can see him shake his head to clear his brains and act sort of dopey (reminds me of watching boxing matches!) Red Kitty outweights him at least 3 to 1, so he always wins....so far.

Cat Memories

Red Kitty as a youngster-almost a year old.

Mabel, often had an unpleasant, unhappy facial expression, but he was a sweety-pie.

Mabel: In your face

Cats as artwork

I was looking for something else last night when I came across these old cat photos. When Red Kitty was very young, he wandered on to our farm in Iowa. I was out of town teaching a summer school workshop for a few weeks when my stepdaughters spotted him, fell in love, and began to quietly leave him food (we already had 3 other cats.)

When I got home, they told me about him and how nice he was, but how their dad didn't want another cat around. I met him, a beautiful orange cat, quite young, dark orange eyes and a wonderful personality. But we were slated to go on a family vacation and I didn't see how we could commit to him right then. So I told the girls that if he was still around when we got home, we would see about keeping him.

Sure enough, he was still hanging around upon our return. To convince dad that he was a keeper, we gave him dad's childhood nickname: Red. Then the deal was, Red Kitty couldn't come into the house until we had him neutered because our other cats were all fixed males, ranging in age from about 16 down to about 2 years old. He wasn't really feral, we figured he was born and grew up on some neighboring farm, but had to move on when he got older. I got an appointment with our vet, and we took him in for "the fix." Then he joined our big happy family.

Our oldest cat, at the time, was Raoul, a huge white cat I had rescued back when I lived in Anchorage who had pretty much been with me or with a friend in Chicago ever since the late '80's. Next in line was Mabel, so named because HE was not correctly sexed when adopted by the family. Mabel was such a character and was also a big orange kitty, a bit older than Red. Finally, Bob, a mutant who was born with this strange crooked stump of a tail but was otherwise just a big, beautiful striped tiger with the sweetest personality.

Red Kitty gave us a lot of chose calls as a young man. One night, he came in after a night out and I was puzzled why he was eating so strangely. When I took a closer look, I realized his tongue was totally split down the middle so, with two separate halves, he couldn't really eat or drink. I'm grateful I had a wonderful country vet at the time who more than once met me at the clinic on weekends and other off hours. I rushed Red to the clinic, he was stitched up, healed up quickly since he was such a youngster, and all was well.

Which brings me to why I was searching for photos tonight. I saw the link on "Holy Cuteness" about animals in casts and I loved it..but also remembered the time Red Kitty spent in a leg cast, a bright florescent green one, in fact. That's a good story I'll save until I find that photo. Suffice it to say, Red Kitty got a running start on using up his 9 lives! To be continued!

That Was a Marathon!

Prepping the LAST BATCH of orders for Christmas 2009 Priority Mail!

Heaven knows I've done my share of last minute shopping, wrapping and preparing--in fact, I'm starting this year's duties today! BUT this was the first time my shop worked to FILL these kinds of orders. My cut-off was Noon on Monday because a bit later that afternoon was the cut-off for Priority Mail with Christmas Eve delivery...we hope!! The past two days, since I posted my little Christmas card have been really intense and it was such a relief to finish preparing all those late orders and get them down to the Post Office.

My morning was strange--I had to take the kitten to the vet. Although it had been originally scheduled as a check up & distemper booster, the kitten threw up yesterday morning...and there was a big worm in it. I couldn't believe my eyes, and then I nearly fainted! And since I seemed to recall that fun fact about how "contagious" worms are, I took Mariah along, to the vet, too. She's just too difficult to give meds to and I had a feeling all the cats would be getting a dose of something. Sure enough, they have all been "dosed" now and I've got my "duties" over the next couple of days...I hope this works!

Other fun facts I'll share as the week moves on: more orchids in bloom; they picked the corn fields, finally; and say a little prayer for me because I've got to do my once a year baking thingy. I'm thinking about taking photos because I'm kind of lame in the kitchen--I get roped into these things because I forget how to say "no."

Happy Solstice everyone! That is, Welcome to Winter AND to the days getting longer again! Hooray!