Feline Friday: Shedding Season!

 It's still pretty chilly here in Iowa, but I have noticed a few green tips poking up in my garden. Plump robins are hopping around the yard, and buds are forming on the trees. These signs can only mean one thing:

IT'S SHEDDING SEASON!

Time for kitties to shed the old winter coat and make room for the new spring coat -- which looks very much like the old winter coat, but with less fluff!

I may have shared the wonders of the FURminator in previous posts, but it bears repeating: If you have a kitty, you need this brush! 

Now I will say that in Tinsel's later years, the tines were a bit too sharp for her so I had to use it very gently on her coat, but if you have a fluffier kitty like Lily, it works WONDERS. I've had a variety of brushes over the years but none came close to the FURminator!

 

 I brush Lily quite regularly and EVERY TIME I brush her, this is what I get.

As I brush, the fur just rolls off of her. I seriously don't know where it all comes from!

Lily loves being brushed! As soon as she sees the FURminator, she runs right to it and gets in the brushing position (AKA flopping on the floor). And as soon as it gets warmer outside, we'll do our brushing sessions on the patio which she REALLY loves! Apparently there's nothing quite like rolling around on the cement! 😊

Lily knows how pretty she looks with her new spring outfit!

 jp

Catching Up on Scrapbooking

Is there even such a thing as catching up on scrapbooking? Yes, I do know people who are "current" in their scrapbooking, but I'm certain that will never be me...or at least not for quite some time!

Last month I started back in on the "catch up" project I've been working on, finding myself mired in a box of photos from 2004. I had started an album back in the day but only completed a few pages. My task now is to use mainly pocket pages to fill in the rest of the events. Using a 3-ring binder is the best/easiest/ONLY way to accomplish this task, as it makes it simple to move pages around and mix in sleeves of different sizes.

After a few long sessions of scrapbooking, I've accomplished a lot! That full box of photos began to empty out in a most gratifying manner!

 I must say I'll be happy when I eventually arrive at the era of 4x6 prints! These older photos are all 3.5x5 and must be matted to fit into the pockets. Back in those days I was also printing pictures with white borders, a feature that sometimes has its advantages...but not always!

 

I spent the better part of the weekend working on this project, putting photos on simple pages and into sleeves. I still have to go back and add journaling and embellishments which will take some time, but the hardest part is done!

 A lot of my time was spent working with memorabilia I've saved. The system I set up a few years ago has worked really well! I have four hanging files for each year, so when I start working on a particular month I can just pull out the file to find concert programs, maps, ticket stubs, and other treasures from the past. By using the binders, I can easily slip those items into smaller sleeves interspersed between the pages. I did, however, run into some trouble when I discovered I'd mis-filed a lot of my stuff! Good grief...

Here I just cut out the description of the photography camp Bailey attended and added it to a page. While working on this section, I found all the letters we sent to her at camp, as well as the distress letter she sent to us when she was homesick! It wasn't funny at the time, but it sure is today! :)

 For this section, I included a brochure and program from our Girl Scout overnight.

 I had previously made a few pages for this album like the one at the left, so I just made sure that the new pocket pages matched up with them when possible. I'll add a few captions to those pages and call it good.

 

 These pages are nothing fancy at all...just matted photos slipped into pockets with a little bit of journaling. Here I left some space to add a title and journaling at the left.

  

 It feels really great getting these pictures into the scrapbook! The page at the left is an old one featuring a favorite photo, and at the right are pictures of my late grandma's house which I took right before it was torn down. It was a very special place to me so I'll be sure to add some journaling with my memories.

Now the box is much emptier! This is proof that if you actually work on something -- even something daunting! -- you can chip away at it until you make progress! Those pictures aren't going to scrapbook themselves, and no one else is going to do it for me...that I know for sure!

 

One unexpected development: I realized we went to DisneyWorld in 2004 and those pictures are in a separate box...still to be scrapbooked! Vacation scrapbooks can be very time-consuming but on the other hand, it's always fun to work with Disney photos! After this box is empty, I'll start on that project.

If you've got a backlog of photos to be scrapbooked, take heart! It CAN be done...if you just get started!

 Onward! Stay tuned for more exciting reports! 😄

 jp

Feline Friday

Lily had a busy week! Here are just a few of the tasks she had on her schedule:

Practiced eating from her Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt spoon

 

 

 Amassed even more blankies for optimal comfort

 

 Ventured AGAIN into the corner cupboard (WHY???)

 

 

 Wondered what's for dinner

Did some yoga 

 Risked being squashed by Mama

Decided it was best to just observe yoga from a safe distance...

...whilst showing off her fancy white socks!

Rested on Mama's lap...tuckered out from her busy week!

Heritage Album Project: Sorting Photos

 

Progress continues on my heritage album project! I'm making family history scrapbooks based on family trees I'm creating on Ancestry. (If you have an interest in family history, Ancestry is a terrific tool! It's easy to use and makes a wealth of information available at your fingertips.)

I've found that having a fleshed out family tree is a huge help in identifying and sorting photos, so that's where I've been spending time lately. 

At the moment, I've set aside the work on my dad's side of the family tree, mainly because I have a ton of very CURLY photos that I'm tying to flatten and identify. Since I took the Ancestry DNA test, I also recognized that I needed to fill out my mom's side of the tree in order to make the most of the test results, so it's time well spent.

I've read -- and it's TRUE -- that focusing on one line at a time is the best way to do family history research, working your way back through one generation before moving to the next. Otherwise it's very easy to get confused! 

Here you can see just my mom's side of the family. This is a "pedigree" chart which only shows direct ancestors: grandparents, great grandparents, etc. (no aunts and uncles are shown, although I do have many of them in the tree). For this one particular line, I've worked all the way back to my 5th great grandparents, with enough documentation to know it's accurate. The other lines are not quite that far along, but I've made good progress focusing on one family at a time.

 With my mom's side of the family tree fleshed out at least somewhat, I turned my attention back to a tub of photos I have for this side of the family. Before I knew all of these names, the photos made little sense to me. Now that I have names, I can easily match up the photos that are labeled with people in my tree. Of course, I still have plenty that aren't labeled and need to be identified. But it's not nearly as daunting as it once was!

 

  I sorted the "known" photos into family groups and made a folder for each married couple (my grandparents, great grandparents, 2nd great grandparents, etc.) and their children. These are just temporary folders which will be used to hold the photos until I can get them into the scrapbooks. I'll scrapbook one family/generation at a time using the information I've found on Ancestry and the photos in the folders.

 Each person in my tree has a "profile", and I'm working on fleshing out all of my grandparents' siblings and children (my aunts and uncles). So if I find a photo with a name written on the back, I can easily search my family tree using the mobile app on my phone, find the person, and drop the photo into the proper folder.

 In sorting through this large tub, I discovered that I have a LOT of photos I had no idea were there. I inherited all of these photos from my mom, my grandma, and my aunts, but I really didn't know what I had. I was delighted to find photos of some grandparents that I've never seen, and now that I have the tree sketched out, I finally understand who these people are and how I'm related to them.

An older relative recently gave me some of his notes and copies of labeled photos, many of which match up to originals I have in my tub. All of this is great information to confirm the family tree I've been putting together. Verifying information through multiple sources is the best/only way to research family history. Without multiple sources, you may find yourself climbing the wrong family tree and not even realize it!

I also have a few framed photos, including this one which is in a small fancy case. I have no idea who these people are but I am optimistic I can figure it out!

I also have a small photo album which is falling apart but includes lots of labeled photos. I don't recognize many of the names, so it will take some sleuthing to figure out who they are.

The great thing about having a family tree is that I can reference it as I look at these photos. 

 In the back of the album are a few very old tintype photos! I do not plan to remove any of these photos from the album at this point; if I want to include them in my scrapbook, I'll just make a copy.

 So once I finish sorting through this tub of photos, I'll put them all into the appropriate folders and then I'll be ready to add them to a brand new album for my mom's side of the family. Once the family tree is complete "enough", I'll print it and add it to the album to give the photos context.

Stay tuned to see the fruits of this labor, hopefully sooner than later! 😊

jp

Feline (Fashion) Friday

Our daughter (along with the two other band directors) recently took a group of high school seniors on a fun cruise to Cozumel. Most of the time was spent at sea, with one day in Mexico. After some time at the beach, the group had a brief shopping excursion and Bailey picked up a new dress for Rory -- the very latest in resortwear!

As you can see, the trendy coral color suits Rory's coloring purr-fectly. This sporty dress is just right for lounging, playing, riding in the car, or visiting the vet!

 The ruffled neckline frames Rory's adorable face, and the sleeveless design allows her to climb into cupboards and jump to high places with ease. No sleeves for this girl!

 

And while the tiered ruffles add flair and draw the eye (unfortunately...) downward to her somewhat wide bottom 😍, "LOVE" quickly draws the eye back upward. WHEW!

Good job modeling, Rory! Thanks for showing us the latest trends in kitty resortwear!

Happy Feline (Fashion) Friday!

jp

Feline Friday: Everybuddy's Irish!

 Awhile back, I had my DNA tested through Ancestry and linked it to my family tree. As I've written in previous posts, the results were pretty much in line with what I expected...but with a few surprises, namely the Irish heritage! I'd known about my Scottish ancestors but the Irish background came as a surprise. Perhaps it shouldn't have, given my red hair!

Anyhoo, I was at the grocery store last week and noticed they had a whole table full of Irish-themed goodies, including cakes and Irish soda bread. The bread looked quite tasty and, SINCE I'M NOW IRISH 😊 I determined it was perfectly justifiable to purchase a small loaf. At less than $3, it looked like a reasonable gamble. I raced home, excited to cut into it...only to discover that it wasn't baked all the way through. What a bummer!

 

So I headed back to the store to return the bread and let the bakery know about the problem. I had sampled enough of the bread around the edges to know that it was actually delicious...if not for the unbaked part in the middle. The people at the store were quite apologetic, refunded my money and gave me a new loaf. 

Back home I went and eagerly cut into the new loaf, only to discover the same problem. So back to the store I went! I could feel that my eagerness to try Irish soda bread was starting to border on obsession, but I was powerless to stop myself! I HAD TO HAVE A LOAF, and we all know that attempting to bake a loaf myself would be a Very Bad Idea.

 The nice customer service lady offered me anything else in the bakery, but of course nothing else would do BECAUSE I'M NOW IRISH 😊 (I stopped short of showing them my Ancestry results...), so they vowed to try again and promised to set aside another loaf for me, free of charge.

 The following day I returned to the store to pick it up. As it turned out, the third time was the charm!

 

I cut into the loaf to reveal a moist, sweet bread dotted with plump raisins. It was so tasty that it didn't even need butter! I was enjoying my very first slice of Irish soda bread SINCE I'M NOW IRISH 😀 when suddenly from all the way upstairs....

 ...Lily awoke from her nap. DID SOMEBUDDY SAY IRISH SODA BREAD???

 

It's no secret that Lily loves baked goods, yet she'll only eat bread if it has butter slathered all over it. But Irish soda bread? She became CRAZED for it, diving and jumping for any nibble I might give her as long as the loaf lasted. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen!

 Lily enjoyed her Irish soda bread so much that I concluded, even without a DNA test, she must be Irish, too! 😻

After all, everybuddy's Irish in March!

jp