Happy Birthday Kittens!

One mild, sweet day in early autumn these kittens were born to our family. This little family taught us what it meant to be ‘multiple cat’ home providers. Notice that I did not use the word ‘owner’ because a person never truly ‘owns’ a cat. It is more of a ‘master-slave’ relationship with the human being the slave. No matter how old this family got, we always affectionately referred to them as ‘the kittens’. The kittens’ mother, Daisy, came bouncing into our lives shortly before the arrival of her children in almost a magical kind of way. My sister had long been seeking a tortoiseshell kitten; surely enough, Daisy provided one, Rosie. Daisy gave me my Russell Lee and Blaine. In this picture, Barbie has been evicted to make room for the kittens. As you can see, Barbie is in her car hitting the road. Blaine is in the downstairs chaise lounge and Russell Lee is upstairs under the table. In time, Mueller and Flower (named after the skunk in Fantasia) became the “masters” of my Mom. Interestingly enough, Flower is the only remaining kitten from this litter. This was a sweet family. They provided us with lots of love and joy. Happy 19th Birthday, Flower. Thanks for loving us, kittens.

Trains

I love trains. I like to ride them and I love to listen to them. I love the sound of their wheels going over the rails. I especially love the sound of their whistles. I love to hear a train in the distance at night blowing its whistle. I have a long walk from my car into my work place. It is almost one mile. Anyone working in a downtown environment can relate to that walk, I am sure. During my walk, I observe many sites but the most fascinating is that I walk adjacent to a railroad track and I can watch the trains. At this point in the picture, they are very close to the train yard therefore are going very slow, doing a lot of switching of tracks, etc. It is very fascinating but most of all I love the sounds of the trains.

Oliver Blaze - Book Worm Extraordinaire

Ollie and I have the same hero...Ben Franklin. However for me, I respect Mr. Franklin due to his service to our country in a statesman capacity. Ollie respects Mr. Franklin for his foresight and inititiative in creating the first lending library. Can you see why Ollie might value this trait? There has been so much talk of Ollie around here lately...where is Nigel? Nigel is busy. Nigel is more of the athlete of the family while Ollie is the intellect.

London Dreaming

This was taken yesterday of Andrea at the houses of Parliament. I plan for this to be me standing here in less than one year. At least, that is my plan.

Iris Folding

I have learned a new craft. It is called Iris folding. It is called Iris folding because the center is intended to look like the pupil of an eye with the iris expanding and contracting around it. It is really fun to do and generally, it is used when creating cards. I can create all kinds of designs with it. This is a birthday card that I made. I am looking forward to creating more birthday cards in the upcoming months!

Pin Cushion Takes Its Whipping

Ollie cannot seem to understand that this pin cushion is not a toy. Fortunately, I do not have any pins stored in it. Everytime I open the door to the craft room, Ollie immediately makes a bee line to this pin cushion and proceeds to give it a whipping. He must think this thing has been very bad indeed!

One BooBoo Lamb...Priceless

My blog has been quiet lately because I have been busy frying other fish. However today, I feel like talking about Claude. This is Claude and his BooBoo Lamb. He has a BooBoo Kitty that was his favorite for a very long time. I suppose he grew tired of BooBoo Kitty because he has been playing with BooBoo Lamb pretty much 24X7 for several months now. He and BooBoo Lamb are inseparable. He does not like to share his toys either. When Oliver and Nigel notice him having a lot of fun with BooBoo Lamb, they try to get in on the action. Claude is not heartily inclined to let them even touch BooBoo Lamb. Loud hissing and screeching is usually a precursor to a sound slap. Even when he sleeps, he takes BooBoo Lamb with him probably in an effort to keep BooBoo safe from other covetous little paws. Sometimes he uses BooBoo Lamb for a pillow.
I hope Claude never misplaces BooBoo Lamb because we have had him so long that I cannot even recall where I got him. Claude is very cute. I love him. Bet ya couldn't tell. ;)