Feline Friday: Don't Try This at Home

 If you're a cat person, you understand that a hungry cat will not permit sleep. 

Nope, no sleeping until said cat is fed. 

So of course I have to hop out of bed frequently in the middle of the night to tend to hungry cats. I know this perpetuates Bad Behavior (especially in Lily) so I usually put her in the basement as soon as the nighttime antics begin. (OK, I give I her just a little nibble first...)

In a effort to improve the quality of my sleep, awhile back I got the Very Bright Idea to put cat treats in my nightstand drawer. This has worked out just great, because at the first sign of a Hungry Cat, I can reach over, EYES STILL CLOSED, pull open my drawer and fling cat treats into the darkness. 

Yep, I have become That Person.

I recently upgraded my operation to include a Tupperware bowl, because the rustling of the treat bag was waking Spouse and causing some unpleasant interactions. :) Now I can open the container and fling treats with very little disruption to the humans in the bed.

The down side of this Very Bright Idea is that now when I go to bed, I have TWO KITTIES sitting by the nightstand in anticipation of Treat Flinging. 

Smart girls. They have trained their human well!

Introducing...Rory!

She has a name! Rory is Bailey's newest companion in Texas! I absolutely cannot wait to meet this girl! She is full of PURR-sonality! 

I know from experience that if you're a cat person, it's very hard to be without a kitty. So I'm very happy that it worked out for Bailey to finally have a furry friend!

Rory is a rescue kitty. We don't know much about her story, except that she was brought in to a shelter as a stray sometime in early 2015. She would have been a very young kitten at that time, so we can only imagine what her life on the street must have been like. The shelter closed sometime in the spring, and she was taken in by a local foster organization. Rory had been staying in a loving foster home with lots of other rescue kitties, receiving the best of care, when Bailey met her. 

Rory impresses everyone she meets with her spunky personality! From the first time Bailey met her, Rory jumped right up on her shoulders. Lily also likes to ride on Bailey's shoulders, so that was definitely a sign that Rory had found the right fur-ever meowmy! 

A couple of weeks went by before the Big Day, which gave Bailey some time to get all the supplies she needed. Meanwhile, her foster mom sent this picture of little Rory waiting for Saturday to come, when she could finally go to her fur-ever home!

On the drive home, Bailey learned that Rory has a rather loud, howling meow. Not a fan of car rides, Mom!

But as soon as they arrived at Bailey's apartment, she settled in nicely! No hiding under the bed for this girl! She adapted immediately to her new home!

She has been fascinated by the fireplace, venturing in and back out! She must be checking for Santa. :)

Look at those long legs! Looks like Rory has some growing to do!

She also found the bathtub! :)

She has proven to be an exceptionally sweet kitty, the perfect companion for Bailey.

In case you were thinking she looks a bit like Tinsel, she does! They both have brown tabby markings, but as you can see from this side-by-side comparison, Tinsel's face is darker. Rory also has amber eyes, while Tinsel's eyes are green. Otherwise they do look a lot alike!

 Welcome, Rory! We've been waiting for you!

jp

Feline Friday: She Who Remains Nameless is Here!

She's here! (Well, in Texas, that is!) All I can say is that Bailey's New Kitty is completely adorable, spunky, and full of personality. We have all enjoyed face timing with her!  

 

 

But New Kitty still has no name. So until she gets her name, I am not allowed to share anything more! 

Name or no name, I am delighted that one more kitty gets a forever home with us!

jp

Of Hard-Boiled Eggs and Slicing Thingy

 Every year at the Iowa State Fair, the Iowa Egg Council gives out samples of hard-boiled eggs on Popsicle sticks. You can dip them in a spicy salt mixture or eat them plain. The lowly Egg on a Stick is one of my favorite fair foods. 

 

As much as I like hard-boiled eggs, I almost never make them at home. I guess it's because I've always been a little iffy on how to make the perfect hard-boiled egg. After all, how do you know that it's done without removing the shell? And if it's not done (no runny eggs for this girl...ewwwww!), then you've ruined a perfectly good egg!

So, at the risk of sounding completely inept in the kitchen (no surprise there!), I looked up the "recipe" for making hard-boiled eggs. Turns out it's very easy.

  

• Put the eggs in a pan and cover with cold water.
• Bring to a boil.
• Turn off the stove. (Turn it off! This is the best kind of cooking! And this is where I've gone wrong in the past, boiling the eggs forever and unnecessarily.)
• Cover the pan and let the eggs sit in the hot water for up to 18 minutes. Go do something else!
• Rinse in cold water.
• Peel under running water. 

 THAT IS IT, PEOPLE!

 Using these instructions, I made a batch of perfectly hard-boiled eggs to put on a salad. 

But wait...it gets even better!

Because then came the most exciting part...cutting the eggs with this slicing thingy which had been hidden in the back of the kitchen drawer! 

 I got so excited that I didn't even let the eggs cool sufficiently. Look! Here it goes!

Woo hoo!

 Aerial view!

How lovely!

I tell you, it's the little things. :)

jp

Bathroom Remodel: Major Destruction Ahead!

After a few weeks of planning, we will soon be embarking on a major overhaul (read: DESTRUCTION!) of our master bathroom (and eventually our bedroom). I can hardly contain my excitement!

This remodel is long overdue. Our bathroom is trapped in time from the early 1990's, as we have not changed a thing since the day we moved in in 1994. You may recall that mauve, country blue, and evergreen were the colors of the day back then. Floral patterns were popular. Shiny gold was the Big Thing. Corner whirlpool tubs were all the rage. Although I wasn't too keen on the pink floral fabric, back in 1994 our master bathroom seemed luxurious and trendy!

We have updated most areas of the house but have left our bathroom untouched for practical reasons. Why spend the money if no one but us sees it? Yet there comes a time (at the 21-year mark, I think!) when even that argument grows thin. Certainly if we ever considered selling the house, the bathroom in its current trapped-in-time state would probably be a deterrent to prospective buyers.

Wallpaper border? We've got it, and then some! Truly, it was lovely back then, but it is past its prime.

So I removed all of the curtains from both the bathroom and the bedroom.

 Each curtain contained MILES of fabric. Wow!

We've met with a designer and contractor, ordered a new cabinet and counter-tops, and picked out new tile, faucets, and more. I absolutely love the new plan.

Stay tuned for more updates!

jp

Feline Friday: Lily's New Friend

 In case you thought this post might be about Bailey's new kitty, it's not! There was a slight delay in kitty pick-up. She'll be coming home for sure this weekend!

No...this post is about something very creepy! In fact, it pains me a great deal to share these pictures. It pained me even more to take them, but I can't resist a picture of Lily doing something cute, even if it is creepy!

I am DEATHLY afraid of frogs. I have the same amount of loathing for frogs as I do for snakes. They are in the same category of creepiness! Imagine my fright when last night I found Spouse taking a picture of a TREE FROG stuck to our front door. YIKES!

It only took a minute for Lily to discover the creepy visitor, so I put a stool at the front door so she could see him more closely. You could see his chin (or gills, or whatever!) breathing in and out! FREAKED ME OUT COMPLETELY!

But not Lily! She swatted at the frog repeatedly. Just being friendly, of course.

 Hi, frog! Hi, frog! Hi, frog!

Lucky for me, the end result of all this Frog Swatting was the frog hopping away.

And not a moment too soon! WHEW!

Those 70's Clothes & More

Those of you still reading my blog (if anyone is still out there!) might wonder if I'm still blogging! I really do have the best of intentions to post more regularly, but for various reasons I just haven't had it in me lately. In the past couple of weeks I have been especially distracted by something weird going on with my eye which distorts my vision and makes it not so easy to look at a computer screen. (No worries...it will eventually resolve on its own, but in the meantime I am developing a lot of empathy for those with permanent vision loss.)

I am STILL working my way through the tubs in my basement. I am now focusing on some of the more difficult items, notably my mom's wedding dress and the tubs full of my own clothes from when I was a baby and in junior high/high school. I can understand why my mom kept some of the baby clothes but I do not know why she kept all of these 70's clothes! Mom always wanted to be ready for costume parties and theater productions so I'm guessing it had something to do with that.

I do remember many of these shirts and have a few pictures of me wearing them. If you grew up in the 70's, you probably remember the Gunne Sax brand. The long-sleeved cream shirt and the blue smock top were both made by this company, as were several of my prom dresses. We loved the Victorian look back then! :)

So I took all of my shirts out of the tubs and after washing them, I decided I didn't need to keep any of them. Last week I re-set my case at the antiques mall with a rod, and I hung them all up (priced very cheaply!) to sell. 70's Halloween costume, anyone???

I'm also in the process of going through all of my baby and toddler clothes. I will probably keep a couple of the dresses, but there are many other outfits that need to go! They are all in great shape, many like new after being washed.

There are soooooo many rompers! Why did my mom dress me like a mechanic? Must have been the style back then!

So progress continues, albeit slow, and I have hope that I'll actually make it through all of those tubs before the snow flies. Thanks for bearing with me and stopping by!

Feline Friday: Relief!

 WHEW! 

Lily is staying with me!

How do I know this for sure? Bailey has adopted a NEW KITTY in Texas and will be picking her up tomorrow!

 I am ever so excited about NEW KITTY! She's completely adorable and I cannot wait to share pictures!

And did I mention that Lily will be staying with me? :)

Lily and I had both been a bit worried that we'd be making the trip to Texas with her (actually SPOUSE) howling in the back seat. If Bailey had decided to take her, I would have done The Right Thing and made it happen. But I'm not gonna lie...it would have been very hard for me.

Because...look at these feet!

 Look at this face! (Well, that's a weird face...)

 Look at THIS face!

Now, everyone stays put and Bailey gets an extra kitty to love...TOMORROW!

Feline Friday: Miss Picky

 Over the years, I've had cats who would eat a certain type of food for awhile, then suddenly turn up their noses. Tinsel is one of those cats. (Lily is not!)

Tinsel has always been a picky eater. I'm not sure to what degree her very mild kidney issues factor in to her pickiness, but she's definitely hard to please. In addition, she's very skittish so conditions have to be JUST RIGHT for her to eat! No loud noises, nobody walking past her, Lily sequestered in the basement...you get the picture.

Of course, her food also has to be elevated. Don't ask me why, but she prefers it that way! When she is hungry, she parks herself in front of her box, ready to be served. But if she's in a picky mood, she'll flatly ignore the food this is placed in front of her.


She'll get a look of disdain on her face, like "You expect me to eat this?"

 

So I try all sorts of things (short of standing on my head) to get her to eat. I sprinkle her food with a few treats and a few nibbles of Lily's prescription food (which she happens to love but is not the right formulation for a kitty with kidney issues) just to entice her to stick her nose in the dish. Sometimes this does the trick and she starts to eat. On this particular day, she would have none of it. 
Nope, not eating this.


Tinsel knows what she's doing. She often holds out for canned food. She knows if she stares at me long enough, I'll give her some as an appetizer.


Thanks, Mom! This is delicious!

Sure, Tinsel. We aim to please!

Getting Settled

Last week we visited our daughter, Bailey, at her new place in Texas! We saw her new school, checked out the town where she'll be living, and enjoyed some great Texas food while we were there. It's a very exciting time in her life, as she is just getting started in her career. And it's just as exciting for us, as we get to watch and cheer her on!

I'm not going to lie: This "real life" transition has been tough for me, much harder than her move to college. Although she was far away for five long years during college, it still felt "temporary" to me. This move, as it should, feels more permanent. There's a mental and emotional adjustment that comes with the realization that hey...this is it. This is really it. Still, I am extremely excited for this new stage in her life, and I could not wait to visit her! 

Bailey's new apartment has a really nice balcony, and there's even a handy storage closet on the deck for stashing outdoor items. Her succulents (unlike mine!) seem to be thriving in the Texas heat. Go figure! Since she apparently has a green thumb, I insisted on picking up a hanging basket, too. :)

Happily, she found apartments in her new town to be larger and less expensive than comparable apartments in Indiana. Her new place is very bright and cheery, and the fireplace makes it quite homey -- although I'm not quite sure why one needs a wood-burning fireplace in 100-degree Texas heat!

 Although she had already unpacked quite a bit before we arrived, we helped her arrange things and finish unpacking all of her boxes.

The window sills are wide (PERFECT FOR A CAT!) and provide a great spot for her violets. Look at those blooms!

She has a lovely bedroom and the most humongous walk-in closet you can imagine. I could move right in! :)

There's a nice galley kitchen with an area for a washer/dryer at the back. It will be the perfect spot for her eventual kitty's food, water, and litter!

 There's a cute little dining room...

...and a nice bathroom with tons of storage space.

 While we were visiting, we looked for a few inexpensive accessories for the apartment. After searching far and wide, she found this vinyl tree at Target which is actually the same one I have on my craft room wall. She put mine up for me three years ago, so she knew the drill! Still, it was very late when she finished that night. 

The next morning when I was back at the hotel, something very strange happened. I got out of bed and turned on my phone to see that Facebook had randomly displayed the photo below from exactly three years before on my timeline, showing her putting up the vinyl tree in my craft room. It was literally the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes. It was truly the strangest thing ever, because I don't even remember sharing this photo on Facebook.

Spouse is sure there was nothing random about it. He believes that photo was placed there for a reason, to reassure us that she is taking what she's learned in Iowa and making a new home of her own, just as she should. Then it occurred to me: The tree -- with its roots -- was a real-life illustration of the picture I made for her at graduation. 

Bailey is already hard at work in her new job and we know she's going to have a huge impact on the kids she'll be teaching. Texas is a great place to teach band, and we could not be more excited about her future there.

We know that her roots are deep and her wings are strong. We can't wait to see where they take her!