Feline Friday: Is this Narnia?

 Lily has always been fascinated with this corner cupboard. If I leave it open, as I am prone to do, she will venture inside. 

Our older kitty, Tinsel, used to go inside, too. 

Of course, this situation isn't sanitary at all. After she comes out (or is FISHED out), I have to wipe things down. I just don't know what the attraction is.

Maybe she thinks the corner cupboard is a secret passageway to another world, like Narnia.

Sorry, Lily, it's just Tupperware. 😊

Neem Oil to the Rescue

I've had my share of patio pot failures over the years but this summer, I have had the worst possible luck -- with a couple of notable exceptions: The crossandra plants I brought back from Texas seem completely immune to disease and have never stopped blooming. They have grown considerably and look so nice and healthy, with no effort whatsover on my part.

 

My hanging lantana baskets have also done quite well, while the lantana in a pot struggled and is finally coming back. Check out that beautiful black swallowtail! We've had a ton of butterflies this summer which makes me very happy!

 

Other than those plants and a handful of others, the patio pot season has been a dismal and perplexing failure. I have replaced many annuals and thrown out even more. As an example, every single plant on this baker's rack died. I still have basil and rosemary but both are replacement plants.

 

 You know it's bad when I don't even have pictures of the plants I had to toss...I was too angry and upset to even document the situation. Most of the plants seemed to start with brown/dried leaves around the stem base which progressed -- unstoppably -- to kill the entire plant. In pots with more than one type of annual, only the flowering annual was affected. In this pot, the pink spotted foliage is still doing fine. Here's one photo I happened to take.

 

The dragonwing begonias that were so spectacular last year didn't grow much at all after planting them. Last year's plants were ridiculously easy to care for and I couldn't wait to have them again! This photo is from last fall.

Unfortunately, this year's begonias were a total flop, even though they came from the same place, were planted in the same pots and placed in the same spot. They barely grew after I planted them and eventually withered and died, even though I cared for them in the same way as last year. The hanging baskets also succumbed to a similar plight. The two hostas are the only plants I have left on the front step. I'd like to get some mums, but do I dare???

My three hibiscus plants started out strong but then nearly succumbed to something which made the buds fall off and the leaves yellow. I tried watering them more, watering them less, more sun, less sun, fungicide, pesticide...nothing was working and I was on the verge of throwing them out.

In desperation, I tried treating them with with Neem Oil I had on hand from last summer and to my complete delight, all three have completely recovered. I only wish I'd thought to try Neem Oil on the other plants.

 

At this point, I've got just a few of the pots I started with but, thanks to Neem Oil, they're all doing well.

Here's hoping my success with Neem Oil might help out a fellow struggling gardening friend!

Feline Friday: The Great Outdoors

 We've had some beautiful weather here lately, making it a PURR-fect time for Lily to venture outdoors! I know I've said forever that I need to get her a new harness but I haven't managed to get that done yet. Cousin Rory in Texas has offered to give her harness to Lily since she is not allowed to go outside due to her slippery coat and speedy tendencies, so hopefully one of these days we'll be able to go back to Texas and get it!

 

 Meanwhile, wearing our too-small harness, we headed outdoors for a little walkabout. Lily still hates the feel of grass on her feet but this time she did a little better than usual. She stood in the grass long enough for a few glamour shots and even had some interest in walking toward the neighbors' yard.

 

   Ahhhh....those mysterious outdoor smells!

 

 

   Those weird and sort of scary outdoor sounds....

 

 Note the little paw lifted up! Soon she had had enough of the grass.

 

 

Lily made a beeline back to her PURR-sonal "sidewalk". The garden edging is a great catwalk and keeps the grass from tickling her delicate feet!

 Here's to a happy Feline Friday and more trips to the great outdoors!

 

Feline Friday with Rory

It's time to check in on Cousin Rory in Texas!

It will soon be back to school time so Rory's showing some spirit with her new "M" attire, representing her meowmy's new school. With school starting back up, Rory will be on home security patrol during the days.

She's already been practicing for her new job! Whenever she hears someone coming up the stairs, Rory smooshes herself as flat as possible until she sees who it might be.

NOTICE THE EARS!!!

I don't know why, but I find her expression here absolutely hilarious!

No worries, Rory is on duty!

Happy Feline Friday, friends!

Feline Friday

I'm pleased to report that Lily is finally doing GREAT following her surgery! Next week, it will be one month since the procedure. I'd say it has taken a solid 2.5-3 weeks for her to get back to normal. That's not bad for a 14 year old kitty!

 

I'll be honest, when she went through a couple of weeks of constipation after the operation, I was worried. I wondered if I had made the right decision in choosing the surgery, which I knew came with risks of chronic incontinence or constipation. I worried that the constipation she was experiencing was the result of the surgery and not just a temporary situation.

Thank goodness it turned out to be temporary and she is doing great now. It just took awhile for the anethesia and pain killer side effects to work their way out of her system. I can tell by her activity level that her little bottom is feeling SO MUCH BETTER. Those anal glands must have been terribly painful for her. I'm so glad we will no longer have to run to the vet every few week to to have them expressed.

Funny: We brought this old rug home from Texas when my daughter no longer needed it. It belonged to my mom and even spent a summer with Bailey when she was a camp counselor in Michigan. Lily has completely fallen in love with it since her surgery. I've washed it several times and she keeps returning to it. This is a terrible place for an old white rug but since she's enjoying it there, I'll allow it! LOL

 

In the past few days, she's been jumping, looking out the window, and playing much more actively than she was before the procedure. Before the operation, I noticed that she would walk a little bit and sit down...walk and sit down. Now she's trotting all around, free from pain. It is just so gratifying to see.

Even though she's in her golden years, I feel strongly that Lily deserves to have the best quality of life possible. Our vet didn't hestitate to perform the procedure on a kitty of her age, knowing that it would make her so much more comfortable. Although the recovery was a bit more stressful than I expected it to be (for both of us), I'm so pleased that she has ended up in a much better place!

The Card-Maker's Card Basket...

Perhaps you've heard the old saying, "The cobbler's children have no shoes." Well, the same could be said for this card-maker's card basket. It has no cards...just envelopes!

Have I stopped making cards? Nope, not in the least. In fact, since this pandemic situation started in March, I have designed and made 14 different sets of card kits for the store where I teach. One of these days, I'll share some photos of them. Suffice it to say that I've been making a TON of cards...just not for me! LOL

When I took a look at my card basket and realized there were no cards in it -- or at least none that I would want to send -- I knew I needed to spend a little time fillling it back up. 

 I don't send a lot of cards these days but I do occasionally need cards for sympathy, friendship, thank you, or similar occasions. So I spent a little time this weekend making a few cards from scraps.

In all, I made 9 or 10 cards for various occasions and I really need to make several more. I used a couple of different designs that I find work for most any occasion, leaving the insides blank so that I can customize them for particular situations that might arise.

These four cards were made with an old Graphic 45 collection featuring cats and dogs. Someone gave me a few pieces from this line and I've kept it to use for cards. For these two cards, I used the back sides of some of the papers. You'd never guess this line features our four-legged friends! I find with Graphic 45 papers in particular, the back sides are often just as useful as the fronts.

 I love the "C is for Cat" piece on these 2 cards from the same paper collection. I actually had a poster with that same artwork on the wall of my dorm room during my freshman year. These cards could be used as a "hello" or get well card for my cat-loving friends.

 

Now my card basket looks a little fuller and I won't find myself running out to buy a grocery store card or making one at the last minute. Truth be told, it was fun to make a few cards of my own and use up some older product. I really need to take more time for personal card-making in the future!