A Day In the Life of a Well Loved Kitten

Self explanatory.

How Wonderful Life Is...

Can you recall the happiest day of your life? I can. I can tell you exactly when it was and where it was and who I was with. It was like the stars aligned and everything I had ever done in my life lead to that day. I could not put a foot wrong wrong that day. I had the Midas touch. While you are living it, it is fab! In retrospect, it makes for a wonderful memory tinged with sadness. It is in the past afterall. Well, there is always hope for another future "complete perfect alignment of the stars". And it will happen again...just hope I will not have to wait another large track of years more for it. The clock is ticking and time is drawing shorter. When it will happen is left up to Divinity. However, I do know this about those moments that are perfect or approach perfection...they never happen twice in exactly the same way. That moment will never be in Vegas again. Next time, it will be in London or New York or maybe here at home but never again in Vegas. That is not to say that Vegas will not be fun and wonderful again for me. It has been already.

I tried to capture the happiness of my perfect day in this piece but no way. It cannot be done. I just cannot even begin. There is not enough real estate on these two pages to fit it the fullness of my happiness. Therefore, I just had to try for a couple of concepts instead; the simple beauty of the stark desert and the over-the-top bling of it all. The title of this piece is "How Wonderful Life Is" which is a lyric to a song..."Your Song"...my song. Yes, it was truly a beautiful day.

Nigel Gets Sirius...Black

Have you ever watched one of those National Geographic type programs where a pride of lions attack a poor, loner gazelle? Then later, it shows a lion feeding off of the gazelle kind of like how Nigel looks with Sirius in this picture? Well, actually, he has not hurt Sirius and his motives are completely harmless. He is using Sirius like a 'bunker' and he is lying in wait for Oliver to walk by so he can leap out and scare the bejeepers out of him. Those crazy cats! I love 'em.

The Comforter

I am learning my way around an altered book. My skill level is still quite elementary. In these early days, I am trying different techniques to see what I like and what I do not like, what I might be good at and what I obviously have no knack for. I made several, shall we say, poor choices with the design of this layout. However, a certainty is that there is no question about the awesomeness of the verse itself. Nothing can detract from John 14:16. The Comforter is with us. I am looking forward to finding the Comforter today. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. ~John 14:17

My Two Loves

Let's see...how long did it take until they made their debut? Nigel and Oliver that is. Claude is really in a class of his own, therefore, merits his own pages.

A Dreamer Lives Forever

The year is winding down. Butterflies are migrating. The days are growing shorter. Nostalgia is in the air. But a dreamer lives forever.

PS. See Nigel in there? He loves to watch the butterflies.

I'm Building A Bird

Okay, this altered book hobby is very addictive and fun. This is my first entry in 'Other Book'. Oddly enough, the first entry is not about a cat but a bird. I would love to take credit for "I'm Building a Bird" but it is not an original idea but rather the title of a song by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. In true Taupin form, the lyrics demand attention. Sometimes Bernie writes in a collocational way to emphasize the beautiful way words fit together without any meaning almost creating a type of music in and of themselves. However, I do think there is substantial meaning to this lyric. Elton does not sing this song but when I do hear it done by someone else, I always stop to think about the words. I think it is about making something nice out of something unfortunate. At least, that is what I would do if I was building a bird.

Altered Book-Epistle of Joy

This is my first attempt at an altered book. I have to find at least two reasons to do something due to limited time. I can memorize bible verses and make something nice to remember them with all at the same time. I am going to designate this book for biblical entries only. I have another book that I am going to designate for other type entries...prolly be some cat stuff there. ;)

Ollie Has a New Friend...Sort of...

Ollie has a new friend, Sirius Black. Well, maybe he is a new friend and maybe not. Apparently, the jury is still out.

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.