Rabbi Kitty

Rabbi has gone to live with my best friend and her family, Gabi. He is my special baby, but I can't take him where I'm moving to, and there is no one else on Earth I would rather have him live, than with Gabi's family. He arrived there this past Saturday and is settling in nicely...

Steve Irwin - you will be missed

I'm still in shock here. I woke up, turned on my PC as usual and Pauletti IMed me with the sad news that Steve Irwin, a.k.a. Crocodile Hunter, has died in a freak accident from a stingray encounter.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/04/australia.irwin/index.html

Yes, he died doing what he loved, filming a documentary, but how tragic, especially for his wife and young kids, family and friends.

Stingray deaths are rare and agonizing, according to this related news article on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/04/australia.irwin.stingray.reut/index.html

I have been trying to get on the crocodile hunter web site, and it's just not connecting - probably due to being swamped with hits or maybe they're updating it.

Steve, you will be greatly missed. You were a champion for wildlife and the importance of conservation of wildlife habitat, a joy to watch in your passion for your work, and a decent human being.

Another Tom Cross Picture, just because....

"Believe"

Tom Cross Website

My favorite photo of Daisy and Anabelle

Anabelle is my daughter Jessica's 2-year-old pomeranian. Daisy is my 6-month-old pom-chi mix. I LOVE this shot.

Daisy the opportunist

Just because I don't feel like typing the whole story over again I decided to copy and paste the IM of me telling this story to my friend Gabi:

Lady Swan says (1:07 PM):

omg the funniest thing just happened with the dogs

Lady Swan says (1:07 PM):

jess and I are dying

GoingForGreatness says (1:07 PM):

do tell!

Lady Swan says (1:07 PM):

yesterday one of her friends at work gave jess a bag of all-natural dog cookies from the Bone-a-fide baker in town

Lady Swan says (1:08 PM):

so we come home, jess opens the bag, gives Daisy a teddy cookie and Anabelle a star cookie

Lady Swan says (1:08 PM):

but they hadn't gone out to pee yet

Lady Swan says (1:08 PM):

so i call them to come to me to go outside

Lady Swan says (1:09 PM):

Daisy drops her cookie, but there was NO WAY Anabelle was leaving HER cookie behind, so down the stairs she went with the star cookie in her mouth

Lady Swan says (1:09 PM):

I open the front door to let them out, anabelle spots the great danes in the yard..

GoingForGreatness says (1:09 PM):

omg annabelle weighs what... 3 pounds???

Lady Swan says (1:10 PM):

DROPS her cookie and goes tear-assing after them doing her high-pitched panic bark

Lady Swan says (1:10 PM):

you would think daisy would be right behind her barking too, right?

Lady Swan says (1:10 PM):

NO

Lady Swan says (1:10 PM):

Daisy is an opportunist

Lady Swan says (1:10 PM):

she GRABS UP anabelles cookie off the steps and goes RACING back into the house and up the stairs

GoingForGreatness says (1:10 PM):

omg!!!!! LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lady Swan says (1:11 PM):

leaving Anabelle behind to GET EATEN BY THE GIGANTIC DOGS

GoingForGreatness says (1:11 PM):

Daisy ain't no fooo

GoingForGreatness says (1:11 PM):

LOL!!!

Lady Swan says (1:11 PM):

ANABELLE CHASED HAILEY AROUND AND UP THE STAIRS..IT WAS FUNNY AS HELL

Lady Swan says (1:11 PM):

jess just stood there laughing so hard she couldnt' breathe

Lady Swan says (1:12 PM):

I had turned around JUST in time to see Daisy pause on the landing to look back, with the star cookie in her mouth before running upstairs

Lady Swan says (1:12 PM):

omg...we stood on the steps laughing our butts off for like 5 minutes

Studio Friday Topic - Artist's Block

This week's Studio Friday topic "Artists Block" was suggested by my closest friend in the universe, Gabi.

For me, artist block is created by any kind of stress, usually stress caused by not enough quiet or alone time, which I often crave. I find when things are quiet that is when I'm in touch with my creative side.

When I finally do find the time to create I cannot just turn it on, so I find the quickest way to get over the block is to find websites of artists using the same medium as I am, and look at their photo galleries. I'm almost always inspired instantly! The same goes for books or magazines in the same medium.

My problem is that more often than not I'm inspired TOO often, but almost never at at time where I can sit down and create! The timing always seems to be off. The car, doctor's office, in the middle of my work day, etc., is when inspiration will strike. So, when the timing is finally right I need to get into creative mode quickly!

Sometimes my head will be full of ideas, and then when I finally sit down at my work bench it's all GONE right out of my head! "Now WHAT was that idea I had yesterday?"

This pattern leads me to believe that I won't truly be creating at my full potential until I'm older and retired and have lots of free time! Ahhh, such is life. :-)

Here is a link to my work area.

My night of HORROR in SC...

About a year ago I E-mailed friends and family my account of an evening with the bug from HELL when I was still relatively new to SC. They grow 'em BIG down here. Here is my story and I'm stickin' to it:

Why am I awake at 4:00 a.m.? you may be wondering as you notice the time received next to the date on this e-mail. There is a very good explanation, and lucky YOU, I will now give it to you in all it's grand length and glory, since there is NO way I can sleep now.

At 3:45 I was rudely woken from my sleep (TV was still on) by a tickling sensation under my left arm. I shot straight up into a sitting position and out of the corner of my left eye saw something dark, about the size of a mouse, go running behind me, across the width of my bed and down the side. Horror of HORRORS it was the Palmetto bug from HELL! As the blood drained from my face I FLEW out of bed, frantically kicking off the covers and one very startled cat, stumbled across the floor to the bathroom, turned on the light, grabbed a can of Raid from under the sink, and then stood in the middle of my room and waited. One by one the other cats wandered into the room, eyes blinking and squinting in the light, wondering what the heck I was doing. Tigger, my fearless hunter, saw something move under the bed and scooted under there to investigate. GOOD, I thought, and I waited. There was a scurrying sound and a thump. The other cats were now all peering under the bed. I waited with a death grip on the can, now unable to feel my fingers. As I stood there, exhausted, my eyes started to close and I was swaying a little. There was no way I was getting back into that bed until either I spotted and killed the gargantuan intruder or Tigger came out from under the bed with it. I waited. I contemplated sleeping in my car. Suddenly...MOVEMENT. How I never saw the ginormous creepy-crawly climb up the wall I have NO idea (well...maybe while my eyes were closing?), but there it was sitting on the lip between the molding and ceiling, running like a bug-out-of-hell towards the center of the room. Tigger was now standing on my bed, staring intently at it while I moved in for the kill. The other cats were clueless, still peering under the bed. I aimed and FIRED. All the cats, except Tigger, jumped and scattered at the sudden sound of the spray. The little buggy bastard immediately fell and landed upside-down on a stack of blank cassette tapes on top of my plastic organizer drawer thingy, wet wings stuck to the plastic wrapper, feet up and wiggling ...eewww. He's still there. There is no way I'm touching him. I want to make sure he's good and dead before I grab that cassette and knock him into the toilet bowl . Maybe I'll wait and show it to Peggy this weekend. Why should SHE miss out on all the fun? MUHAHAHA!

SO, here I sit, a grown woman curled up on my office chair, feet off the ground so no bug can climb up my legs, skin still crawling, while all the cats are sound asleep on the floor around me. It's irritating me that they're able to sleep and I can't. I want to wake them all up (no, I won't, but I WANT to). I want a sleeping pill. I want a bug-free home. I want my room to stop smelling like Raid. I want someone else to flush the carcass. I want chocolate. My butt is numb.

I'll probably still be sitting here, frozen in a ball on my chair, as the sun comes up. Maybe THEN I can go back to sleep, as I've only ever seen these monsters come out at night. Yeah, I'm keeping it to show Peggy.

Made the switch to Blogger Beta

Okay, I made the switch. I like the new "add elements" feature. Now I need Pauletti to test the comments to see if she can leave one while signed in, or has to do it anon. The above pic is by fantasy artist Tom Cross. I love his style.

Daisy and the new baby

Well, last weekend it was my sister Peggy's turn to have a moment of weakness at the Columbia Flea Market. Her name is Minnie and she is a 7-week-old Chihuahua.

She was covered with dried-on food so she looks a little ratty in the first photo.

Once we got her home Daisy was a little frightened of her and barked, but soon got brave and now LOVES the puppy. Look at the size difference between them!

Daisy, when last weighed at the vet's office was 8 pounds. I'd say she's at least 9 now and really healthy with a beautiful shiny coat. She is my sweet baby.

Catching up

Okay, so it's been almost two months since I posted.

Let's see...
Working a little, dog grooming a little, Jessica moved back home, Daisy is growing nicely and is a very funny dog, I got all my silver clay supplies and equipment and made my first pendant, the fencing around the propery and paddocks is all installed and waiting to be painted, as is the barn (Changing the colors), we got one of those blow-up pools from Wal-Mart (!!), so on and so forth. Now that I've given the condensed version of the past 7 weeks I'll try to keep up with my posts.

Going for Greatness: A real sea monster!!

Going for Greatness: A real sea monster!!

Our new grooming shop...YANKEE CLIPPERS!

yep yep yep...Peggy and I finally did it. The shop is fully equipt and read to go. Tomorrow we go see about a permit and insurance, and next week we will start advertising.

Yesterday I put the finishing touches on the web site, and today I created a template for a T-shirt transfer and am going to print out some more business cards and flyers.

We're almost ready to go!

Day 4 with DAISY

Yep, Daisy is her name. :-)

She likes to prance around the other dogs showing off HER toy (stole it from Anabelle) in her mouth, plays well with the other dogs, is very confident and fits right in!

She takes regular naps and would prefer going outside to the bathroom and doesn't like soiling her playpen. She's such a good girl.

A Moment of Weakness

I woke up Saturday morning remembering a dream that I had had a baby. My first thought was "I'm TOO OLD for this"...LOL!

Peggy called my cell from the barn and asked if I wanted to go to the flea markets in Columbia after breakfast...

As we drove I was thinking of all the things I wanted to keep an eye out for; carving tools for clay work, anything cool that would make a nice mold for PC, silver and gemstone pendants, etc. Never in my wildest imagination did I think I would come home with anything LIVING.

I did find a few of those things as we strolled around the booths. We passed a bulletin board and I put a few "Yankee Clippers" business cards on it, then we headed down the last aisle. Things were becoming more "lively". We saw the cutest baby turtles, crabs, hamsters, birds. Peggy resisted and we kept walking. Then, we came to the first booth of puppies. BOTH of us spotted this little black and white baby curled up under another puppy. Peggy turns to me and says "I have to hold it". I knew that was the beginning of the end, because that is exactly how I ended up with my cat, Tigger. Once you hold them you're a gonner.

Well, Peggy held the puppy, we watched it happily run around on the floor, scooting around top speed, sideways, on it's short little legs. Nothing could be cuter. Peggy kept saying "I don't need another dog". I said "with all you have what's one more?". Then she started hinting that *I* should get it (if she had decided not to I had already planned on buying it...lol). It was just too special to pass up.

So, after years of saying "I want to simplify my life...no more responsibilities", I walked to the ATM, withdrew the ransom money, and we went home with the little peanut.

She's a Chihuahua-Pomeranian mix, 7 weeks old, and no, I haven't named her yet. She has a very sweet and confident personality, and is a VERY snugly baby.

What have I gotten myself into? I'M TOO OLD FOR THIS!!

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday was an interesting mix here. It started out with Peggy coloring Easter eggs (yes, you heard that right…PEGGY). As you can see by the photos, she did a job that even the Easter Bunny would be proud of.

Around 11:00 Jessica announced she needed to go out and buy pants for her new job, manager trainee for Marble Slab Creamery, which she
was starting at 5:00 that afternoon! The panic was on. So, it being Sunday, we headed out around 1:30 to find an open store. The ONLY store we found open was Wal-Mart, so I dropped her and Craig off, stopped at a filling station to put air in my tires (and was approached by a Jehovah’s Witness), and made my way home.

Jessica calls: “there are no pants here like what I need so can you wash and try to shrink the pair in the basket?”. UGH! I washed and dried them and made my way BACK to Wal-Mart. She decided she needed a belt to hold them up so she went back into the store. What does she come out with? A NEW pair of pants. She didn’t need me to bring her the old ones after all. Ever get the urge to strangle your teenage daughter? LOL!

When Jess went in to work Craig came back to the house with me to have Easter dinner with us all. Aunt Eleanor was there, too. The dinner conversation ranged from politics, to our memories and feelings about 9/11, to some lively telling of funny stories and memories. There was a lot of laughing.

At 10:00 Craig and I went to get Jess from work. We waited for an hour in the parking lot, and Craig amused himself with my cell phone camera. Um, yeah.

Driveway today

This is as of 10:00 a.m. this morning...

New driveway, day #3

This was taken yesterday. Two more days of pouring to go, then a three-day wait until we can drive on it. Yippee!

What do I do with these?

I made some crescent shaped "beads", thinking I would somehow incorporate then into a gold filled wirework necklace. Still thinking on this one..

Hmm...forgot I had this. Maybe I should start posting, eh?