NeeNee's House

Pigeon Forge Vacation

2010-01-03T20:32:00.002-05:00

In September we took a vacation to Pigeon Forge. It was great. We stayed on the strip at a Hampton Inn, but our room overlooked the river and it was quiet and relaxing out on the balcony. We watched the ducks and squirrels, and even a beaver one evening.

We had a wonderful time at Dollywood and Wonderworks.

We went to the aquarium in Gatlinburg. Walking through the tunnel underneath the water was amazing.

Doesn’t this little guy look happy?

We went to the Forbidden Caverns, under a mountain. It was quite interesting. The Indians originally used the cavern. In later years, moonshiners hid their stills there.

Best of all was Cades Cove. It was like going back in time. Strangely, it felt like home to me. There were a lot of Lawsons in the cemetaries there. Wonder if they are any relatives of ours?

I love bats. I had to resist the urge to reach up and pet them.

Steve’s Garden – Update

2009-07-12T15:26:00.003-04:00

Steve’s tomato plants are really growing. The garden actually looks like a jungle. He says next year he’s not going to plant so many. He has several varieties and will decide at the end of the season which ones did the best.

We had such a cool, wet spring. Compared to last year, the garden and plants in the yard are almost a month behind. We’ve only had two ripe tomatoes. But we are losing fruit every day - we’ve found that squirrels are big tomato fans. They have been climbing the fence, grabbing up tomatoes, climbing back out and eating them! They look like they have green tennis balls in their mouths! It is comical to watch, but maddening. Steve got his BB gun out to try to discourage the little varmints, but so far, it hasn’t deterred them! We’ve tried 'Shake Away', that didn’t work. Also we put out bowls of water, because I’d read that the squirrels were actually thirsty and were stealing the tomatoes for the juice. But they haven’t touched the water.

How tall do you think this plant is? Can you guess the type? It is a cherry tomato!!

Close-up of the fruit…

We put banana peels in the holes before we planted. Wonder if that is what has made them so tall? Steve waters them every so often with compost tea, and I’m sure that has helped as well. The garden kinda reminds me of…

Happy Birthday Lil’ Firecracker

2009-07-12T14:43:00.002-04:00

Our grandson’s fourth birthday was July 5th. His birthday party was held at the pool/community center of his maternal grandparents. It’s a beautiful place to hold a party and has every amenity you could wish for.

A friend of the family made the cake to resemble Hampton’s radio controlled truck. She did a fantastic job. Check out those Krispy Kreme wheels.

He pulled the gifts out of the bags and boxes, threw them aside and quickly went on to the next one. There were so many things, I don’t think he knew what all he got.

After the pizza, cake, and gifts, the kids went out to the pool. By then, it was starting to really cloud up. Luckily, it didn’t rain until much later in the evening.

After the party, we went to the in-laws to hang out, and our grandson got to play with the best gift of all…his new puppy, Jackson.

On the way home, two new best friends - worn out and fast asleep.

Turtle Baby

2009-05-31T19:28:00.002-04:00

While Steve was working in the garden today, he discovered a little turtle wandering among the tomatoes. I think he’s a box turtle. I picked him up and he stuck his neck out of his shell as far as he could, flailing all four legs. He was so cute. It made me want to go get an aquarium and keep him. But I know he’d be better off living as he was intended to live.

After I took the pictures, Steve let him go at the edge of the woods behind the garage. He’ll probably be back in the garden tomorrow! The neighbors across the street had a turtle in their garden last year and he took a bite out of every cantaloupe!

Speaking of the garden, it’s been a month since we planted everything. May has been a really crummy month for growing things. It seems like all it has done is rain, and its been cloudy a lot. Most of the tomato plants developed a fungus on their leaves and we had to spray them with a fungicide. All the neighbors’ tomatoes had the same problem. But today was hot and sunny, so hopefully the tomato plants will bounce back. We found two little green tomatoes on one plant this morning. Mom’s yellow tomato plant on the patio has a nice tomato on it.

Steve planted a LOT of different varieties of tomatoes. He is going to decide what kind to plant next year depending on the success of this year’s crop.

Fairy Visit

2009-05-24T12:28:00.005-04:00

We have a precious little visitor who is going to be living with us. This weekend I received a box from www.imaginechildhood.com. I was the lucky winner in their giveaway and won a kit to make my own fairy garden!

Max insisted on helping me open the box.

Max and I can’t wait to remove the lid.

Inside there’s a bag of potting soil, some flagstone pieces, an arbor (the gates actually swing open and closed), a bench, a birdhouse, and… some magical fairy dust.

Sarah even added this adorable little fairy to make the garden complete. Guess what her name is going to be – Sarah, of course!

Mom and I have already started designing our miniature garden. I’ll be sure to post some pictures when we get it planted.

Max, Ling and Bella enjoyed the box and packing. Taji was off napping somewhere.

If you are looking for some imaginative, creative toys or activities for your family, check out their website – www.imaginechildhood.com.

Tennessee Wedding

2009-05-07T22:49:00.001-04:00

This past weekend we travelled to Tennessee for the wedding of my cousin’s son. My cousin and her husband graciously put up the out-of-town family at a nice resort condo in Pigeon Forge. It was wonderful to see so many members of my family…we rarely get together since we have spread out geographically. Friday night after the rehearsal we got lost trying to follow a caravan of vehicles in the dark, in the rain, on I-40 in Knoxville. Saturday morning we got up early and bought a GPS before the wedding. Those are fantastic little gadgets. Previously, I’d privately scoffed at the idea of purchasing one – I couldn’t imagine why we would need one. But now I know better.
After I got ready for the wedding, Steve put on his new slacks and decided they were too long. So while he was turning up the hems and ironing them, I ran up to a convenience store and bought some duct tape. He deftly applied the tape and he was good to go. The duct tape lasted just fine. He is so sweet. When Mallory and Jonathan started to exchange their vows, he took my hand and held it. I teared up, of course. He later said he was thinking about our vows. The next morning, a bunch of us met at the Apple Barn for breakfast. There were nine of us, with one spare gal. We kept teasing her, asking why she hadn’t she found a man yet. When we were leaving, the men went to retrieve the cars (in the rain) and all the women were standing under a covered porch, hugging and saying goodbye. A couple who were leaving were trying to get through our little crowd and one of the girls turned around and told them she thought they were with us. They smiled and continued to the parking lot. I called out after the guy and said that he’d almost gotten himself hugged. He turned around, grinning and said, “I heard that one of you was looking for a man”. His wife just kept walking. I don’t think she was amused. Four generations – my Dad’s sister, her daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter.

We Put Our Garden In

2009-04-26T21:27:00.002-04:00

My husband almost killed me this weekend. I “help” him out in the yard, but he typically does the heavy work in the garden. This weekend was planting time, so I helped him plant twenty-seven tomato plants; red, green and yellow peppers; jalapenos, eggplants, and zucchini. Then I helped him put a temporary chicken wire fence around the whole thing to protect the garden from the deer and the rabbits and any other varmints that might want to help themselves to the fruits of our labor. It was almost 90 degrees out, and the humidity was pretty high as well. I still haven’t totally recovered!
Here’s a view from the long side (which is what we see from our screened porch).
We also planted seven new Knock Out roses in the front under my office window.
I already had the evening primrose that I planted two years ago. It has spread quite a bit. I love that it looks so translucent and delicate. I’ve read that it is considered to be a noxious weed by some gardeners, but I have it confined to one area and think it looks nice.
I have million bells that are two years old, too (see the mound down the walk. There are two pinks and two purples.) I cover them up with pine straw in the fall and they have come back twice now. It is so nice to have some of my flowers come back so I don’t have buy all new every spring.
What do you think about our Japanese maple? Isn’t it gorgeous?
In two weeks, we’ll be putting out fresh long leaf pine straw for mulch. We have a lot of beds…it takes about one hundred bales. When we put our yard in we thought we’d be smart and built a lot of beds so we wouldn’t have to mow as much. We didn’t think about what a chore it is to spread pine straw, not to mention how much it costs!

The Loss of a Pet

2009-04-22T11:28:00.002-04:00

One of my dearest friends is going through a difficult time right now because their dog is seriously ill. There’s no way of knowing what tomorrow may bring, and they are just trying to enjoy her and love her as much as they can, every day. Losing a pet is very hard, especially when he or she is part of the family.

We had our dog, Gus, for eighteen years. I adopted him from the SPCA. When I took him to the vet to get him checked out, he guessed that he was part doxie and some kind of terrier. Now, if you have a dog of ‘unknown ancestry’ you can send his DNA in for testing and find out where he came from. But I think the vet was pretty much correct, because Gus had that terrier and doxie attitude and swagger. He would have had such a good time chasing all our cats around. He liked ‘his’ cat, Eldon, but would chase any others. He didn’t try to catch them, he just liked to chase them. He thought he was a big dog and would confront any dog that came near his yard, no matter what its size.

He was like a child to me, and when he was gone, I cried and cried. But one thing helped me through it. I wrote a poem in his honor. Thinking about him while I was writing it helped as well. I recommend it to anyone who has lost a pet. He’s been gone for five years now and I still miss him.

In Memory of Gus
1986-2004

Somewhere above my little dog waits;

He patiently sits at a glistening gate.

His eyes, once clouded, are shining and clear;

His ears, long deaf, prick when my voice he hears.

When he sees me, he’ll bound high and low

On legs that used to be stiff and slow.

Instead of a collar, he wears a circle of light;

He’ll welcome me Home, and all things will be right.

Adventures in Kitty-sitting

2009-04-14T10:32:00.002-04:00

Last week we kitty-sat our kittens’ littermate. His name is Trixie. There was a little gender confusion when they were kittens; one of our girls is named Max. Trixie, being an only child, didn’t know how to play with other cats. When our neighbor brought him in, there was much hissing, spitting and posturing among all five cats. Trixie was scared of us, and he was scared of our girls, too.

He is much larger and more muscular than our kittens. His coat is similar to Max’s, but more mackerel than the classic tabby pattern. After a few days he realized we were not a threat to him, and he wanted to play with the other kitties. Unfortunately, since he doesn’t know proper feline etiquette, he would rush at them, which would cause them to run, spurring him to chase them. When he eventually cornered them, they made the most frightening sounds possible in an attempt to dissuade him from attacking. But all he wanted to do was play. Our kitties were constantly looking over their shoulders for him; ready to flee in an instant.

He was a really good boy. The few times we had to tell him ‘no’, he would quit doing whatever it was, but he always would talk back a little. It was like he was saying, “I’ll quit, but I don’t want to.” He eventually took up with us and let us pick him up and love on him for short periods of time. But we had to be careful because he likes to nip a little, and you have to anticipate when to stop. He never did get to play with his little sisters. After he left, they were exhausted and all of them collapsed into a relieved slumber.

Not Your Mother’s Easter Bunny

2009-04-13T20:20:00.002-04:00

We went to visit our son, daughter-in-law and grandson this past weekend. Of course, we took an Easter basket for our grandson (he’s 3 1/2). At Christmas, of all the presents we gave him, the biggest hit was a reindeer that pooped brown jelly beans. As luck would have it, I found an Easter bunny that poops jelly beans, and it even waddles along at the same time! Again, a big hit.

Little Stevie

2009-04-05T19:44:00.007-04:00

My husband was the youngest of five children. He was always getting into trouble, so they would tie him to something when they were too busy to constantly run after him. Once, when they were moving into a new house, they tied him to a tree. A little while later, a neighbor walked up with a little naked boy in tow, and asked "Does this belong to you"? He'd stripped off his clothes and escaped!

37th Annual Flowertown Festival

2009-04-05T18:58:00.011-04:00

This weekend was the 37th annual Flowertown Festival. More than 200 crafters participate in the juried show. It draws over 200,000 in attendance over a three-day period. This time of year finds the azaleas, redbuds, plums, spirea, and wisteria in bloom...among others. The festival takes place in the Summerville town park, which is full of gorgeous blooming plants and trees. There are also ponds and various sculptures to admire. This year just prior to the festival weekend, we got 5.5 inches of rain. The town workers did their best to mitigate the muddy mess by putting down sheets of plywood, and shoveling sand in low spots, but on Friday, the first day of the festival, we had to slog through the mud.

This year, my husband's brother and his wife were here from Rhode Island and they got to go with us.

Here are my husband and his brother. Their sister and her husband had a booth at the festival (Windjammer Scrollsawing). He's the one who made the letter "G" that I have on my front door.

Easter Decor

2009-03-24T11:26:00.002-04:00

It’s time for the Easter and spring decorations. The arrangement I have on the table in the foyer will stay through spring. The rest of the decorations are specifically for Easter. When I went up to the attic to dig them out, I was surprised at how many decorations I already had. I’d totally forgotten about some of them. I especially love the fat little bunnies. I put Cadbury pastel eggs in the bottom of the glass candle holder on the mantel, but you can't see them very well. It seems a few got eaten before they went into candle holder. Hmm, I need to get another bag. Mom said she thinks the bunnies in the doll room are multiplying.

There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

2009-03-23T20:22:00.002-04:00

Living in paradise does have its downside occasionally. Right now we are in the midst of the spring pollen season. When you are outside, it threatens to close up your throat…your hands feel gritty if you touch anything…the air is so thick with it, you can even smell it.

And then the yellow haze insidiously sweeps onto your screened porch. This is what happens after four cats trample through it. Imagine the amount collecting on the furniture and the floor.

Now think how much of it is tracked inside. Even without opening the windows, the pollen finds its way into the house. Thankfully, this plagues us only a few weeks. Then come the no-see-ums and the mosquitoes.

Just How Much IS a Trillion Dollars?

2009-03-11T20:54:00.002-04:00

When you hear all the media talking about a trillion dollars, they throw out the term casually and you don’t really think about what that really means. A trillion is one thousand billion. A billion is one thousand million.

To put this into perspective, if you could spend one million dollars a day every day since Jesus was born, you still wouldn’t spend a trillion.

I found this neat graphic online, courtesy of www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html.

The graphic depicts an average human being, and the denomination of the money is $100 bills.

A bundle of $100 bills is equivalent to $10,000 and that can easily fit in your pocket. One million dollars would fit inside a standard shopping bag while a billion dollars (stacked on standard sized pallets) would occupy a small room of your house.

With this background in mind, 1 trillion (1,000,000,000,000) is 1000 times bigger than 1 billion and would therefore take up an entire football field - the man is still standing in the bottom-left corner….and notice, the pallets are double stacked!

Eye-opening, isn’t it?

Guinea Visit

2009-02-25T14:01:00.004-05:00

I was sitting at my desk this morning and the dog next door started barking like crazy. She doesn't normally bark that much, so I went to the window to see what was the matter. Nine guineas were in our yard. They pretty much just ignored the dog. Maybe they knew about the invisible fence! I don't know who they belong to, I just hope they found their way home okay.

Ready for Spring

2009-02-22T19:02:00.005-05:00

My husband put in his first garden last year. It was pretty small and all he planted was tomatoes, assorted bell peppers and jalapenos. It did quite well. He canned dozens of jars of jalapenos and I made and froze numerous quarts of tomato sauce. Here's a picture of him last May with his first crop.

He can't wait to start planting this year. Our temperatures have been averaging in the 60's during the day, but we are still getting a frost every so often. He's already bought some seeds and little peat trays to start them in. He's ordered a portable greenhouse and it should be delivered tomorrow. He decided to make the garden bigger this year, so today he dug up the new area and got all the roots out. Next, he'll amend the soil and till it up. Look at the pile of roots he dug out!

He has a friendly rivalry brewing with the neighbor across the street. The neighbor has a lot more garden area, though, and he had a huge assortment of vegetables last year. When we put our lawn in, we didn't think about wanting a garden later and didn't leave a spot for one. We found a sunny place at the edge of the woods just big enough to squeeze in a small plot. We should have known better. Being Italian, my husband has growing tomatoes in his blood. I think I'll have to watch him closely. Next thing you know, he'll be ripping out the grass to make his garden even bigger!

The Baccousa

2009-02-16T16:05:00.008-05:00

Finding a proper place for the litter boxes has always been an issue. At our last house, the boxes were in the upstairs guest bathroom. When we began building this house, we had three cats at the time, and would no longer have a guest bathroom (we were customizing the second bath as handicapped accessible for Mom). Since we would have unused space under the stairs going up to the finished room over the garage, we decided to build a cat door in the mudroom to give them access to this space. We put a door to the area from the garage so we could get to the boxes for cleaning. Their private toilet even has a light. Such spoiled kitties. When the muralist was here, I asked her to come back and paint something over the entrance. I decided on 'baccousa', since my husband is Italian. Baccousa is an Italian-American term for the toilet. I think it originally referred to the back house (outhouse). My sister-in-law still uses this word.

Mural Artist Extraordinaire

2009-02-09T13:29:00.002-05:00

My friend, Kathy Molizon, is such a talented person. She can do anything. Besides being a fabulous mural artist, she does custom sewing and embroidery, refaces counter tops, reglazes cabinets, does faux painting, makes reborn baby dolls, makes slipcovers, purses and numerous other amazing things. Check out the mural she did in our master bathroom that I posted yesterday. She just moved back to the Charleston area and if you want to get something done, now is the time to contact her before word gets out that she’s back and she gets all booked up! You can check out some of her other work at her homepage:

http://www.picturetrail.com/homepage/ladybird438

Bathroom Mural

2009-02-08T19:12:00.011-05:00

A friend of mine, Kathy Molizon, is a muralist. She recently moved back to the area and last week she painted a mural in our master bathroom. The bathroom walls are painted Sherwin Williams 'rainwashed'. I wanted to go with a theme of lily pads with a dragonfly and a little frog. I have several dragonfly and frog themed items scattered around the room, but not too many (I hope). I didn't want to overdo it. I already had a stained glass piece that I had made about 25 years ago when I took a stained glass class. It is waterlillies as well. I am thrilled with the mural. Now our bathroom is finally done. (Click on a picture to enlarge it)

I love the way the afternoon light dances on the mural through the glass blocks. It makes the mural look even more like water.

I had purchased a print that I love from a local artist and initially hung it on the wall where the mural is, but the light from the window over the tub reflected on the glass so much you couldn't see the print. I ended up moving it over by the shower.

Hubby's vanity. Notice mine is more than twice the size of his!

The plate is made by a local artisan. It depicts loggerhead turtle hatchlings as they make their way from the nest to the swirling waters of the ocean.

Groundhog Day

2009-02-01T21:09:00.003-05:00

February 2nd is Groundhog Day. If he sees his shadow, we'll be subjected to six more weeks of winter. Let's all hope we have a very cloudy day!

Ling

2009-02-01T20:52:00.002-05:00

Ling is my husband’s cat. When we met, I had a cat and a dog. My cat was a male tabby named Eldon, who succumbed to cancer four years ago. My husband had never been around cats and thought he didn’t care for them – until he met Eldon. Eldon had such a cool personality, he soon convinced my husband that cats weren’t so bad after all. Hubby decided he wanted his ‘own’ cat and besides, Eldon needed a playmate, so we went to Petsmart to look at the cats available for adoption. He fell in love with Ling as soon as he saw her. She had just been spayed and we thought that was why she didn’t like to be held. But ten years later, she’s still that way. She has an aloof personality, but does like to be petted and brushed…as long as it’s on her terms. She will jump in your lap to be petted, or paw your leg and ask to be scratched under the chin. When she is displeased, she isn’t shy about letting you know. That’s where we got her name – she reminded us of the character named “Ling” played by Lucy Liu on “Ally McBeal”. Beautiful and serene, but if you cross her she turns into a snarling dragon.

Ling pretends to be sophisticated and ladylike, but she isn’t above rummaging through wastebaskets…

And she can’t resist boxes…

This is what she thinks of the kittens…

Ling never did play with Eldon much. I think she thought he was 'beneath' her.

Another Earthquake

2009-01-30T08:39:00.002-05:00

We experienced another temblor yesterday afternoon around 4 p.m. This time, it was only a 2.5 magnitude quake. There wasn’t a lot of shaking, and it sounded more like an explosion this time. But I could tell it came from the same direction as the one we had in December. Charleston has a history of earthquakes. In 1886 an earthquake measuring between 6.6 and 7.3 on the Richter scale occurred around 10 p.m. The city didn’t have electricity and the full extent of the damage wasn’t realized until the next morning. Every building sustained some measure of damage. People lived in tents in the city parks for weeks because they were afraid to go back in their homes. If you are interested in viewing actual photos taken in 1886 following that devastating earthquake, you can see them at this website belonging to the St. Louis University Earthquake Center - http://www.eas.slu.edu/Earthquake_Center/1886EQ/thumbnails.html. Amazingly, the streetscape is recognizable today. Most of the buildings pictured are still standing.

Let’s Spell It Out!

2009-01-26T17:02:00.002-05:00

Down south, we put our initials on everything – purses, flip flops, pendants, bracelets, shirts, jackets, towels…you get the picture. I decided I wanted to put our initial on the front door, so I asked my brother-in-law if he could cut a “G” out for me with his scroll saw. He agreed. First, I printed a “G” using the computer in a font that I liked. I made it as large as possible while still fitting on a standard sheet of paper. Then I enlarged it by hand on a piece of poster board. I’m somewhat crafty, so it wasn’t that big of a deal to sketch out. Then I cut the letter out and gave it to my brother-in-law. A few days later, he had it cut out using a nice grade plywood. I originally was going to hang it with ribbon, so I found a pretty turquoise and green ribbon and matched the paint to it. But after I painted the letter, the ribbon detracted from it. I think perhaps a plain ribbon would have worked better but I’m happy with it just like it is. My husband attached a D-ring hanger on the back and I finished it up by spraying it with a glossy sealer.

Easy peasy! (If you know someone with a scroll saw…)

Where’s An Exorcist When You Need One?

2009-01-22T14:36:00.003-05:00

Yesterday evening I was surfing the web, clicking through blogs just to see what other people were writing, and how they format and design their blogs. I was innocently clicking the ‘Next Blog’ hyperlink that you see in the Navbar that is at the top of most blogspot blogs. I don’t recommend doing that! After leaping through several interesting blogs, I landed on a blog that downloaded a malware bot on my machine. Even though I have anti-spyware and virus protection installed and running, I was attacked. As soon as the blog opened, I knew that it was loading something bad, so I used task manager to close down the explorer session. But it was too late. This malicious code created a pop-up that told me I was in danger and that I need to purchase ‘antiviruspro’ to protect myself. It also disabled the automatic update in my Windows security center. I could not manually reset it. It also opened multiple sessions of Internet Explorer, and as I was trying to close them, more kept opening. I ended up having to manually shut down my computer. Next, I researched ‘antiviruspro’ on the virus and spyware forum at http://www.cnet.com/. It is a particularly nasty one. It even prevents you from running programs that it knows will destroy it. I followed the numerous suggestions of poor folks who also had the misfortune of being infected. I stayed up past midnight last night running various apps and ran more all day today. Almost 24 hours later, I think the issue is resolved, but only time will tell.

I notified blogspot, but I don’t know how long it will take them to remove the blog. I do know I’m not going to visit it to check!

Valentine Decor

2009-01-15T15:55:00.007-05:00

I always like to try to decorate for Valentine's Day. It is my favorite holiday, the holiday of romance. Last year I used a cloche for my Valentine decor. I assembled it using an antique hanky, a vintage pin, a picture of my grandson and a teddy bear.

This year I brought the cloche out again. I used a small figurine, valentine sprinkles, a valentine candle ring and a big red heart. I tied a red ribbon on the knob to finish it off.

"To be content in bliss, without desire or insistence anywhere, this was heaven: to be together in happy stillness." D.H. Lawrence

I Saved a Human Today

2009-01-13T13:29:00.020-05:00

I rescued a human today.
Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels.
I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her. I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn't be afraid.
As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage.
I didn't want her to know that I hadn't been walked today. Sometimes the shelter keepers get too busy and I didn't want her to think poorly of them.
As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn't feel sad about my past. I only have the future to look forward to and want to make a difference in someone's life.
She got down on her knees and made little kissy sounds at me.
I shoved my shoulder and side of my head up against the bars to comfort her.
Gentle fingertips caressed my neck; she was desperate for companionship.
A tear fell down her cheek and I raised my paw to assure her that all would be well.
Soon my kennel door opened and her smile was so bright that I instantly jumped into her arms. I would promise to keep her safe. I would promise to always be by her side.
I would promise to do everything I could to see that radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes.
I was so fortunate that she came down my corridor. So many more are out there who haven't walked the corridors.
So many more to be saved. At least I could save one.
I rescued a human today.

This beautiful poem was written by Carl Nyland. I found it at
http://www.all-creatures.org/

This picture was taken of Gus shortly after I adopted him. I had him for eighteen years. He was a smart little devil, but he definitely had a mind of his own. When I saw him in the kennel at the SPCA, he sat up and begged. I thought he was begging me to choose him. Now I think it was the case of him choosing me, instead.

What Not to Say to Potential Clients

2009-01-12T10:22:00.021-05:00

Last week my Mom's insurance agent came to the house to introduce himself (and to see if he could sell us some additional coverage). He was a polite young man. When he came in, he graciously said how nice our home was and was very solicitous, asking about our health and if we had enjoyed the past holidays. Then he said it. He innocently remarked, "You really remind me of my Mom".

I can't imagine the stunned look that must have crossed my face as I struggled to regain my composure. It was bad enough when the bag boys at the grocery store started calling me ma'am, but having a grown man tell me I look like his mother was almost more than I could bear. I admit I'm only a few days shy of my 54th birthday - and I have a grandson. But I've never had children of my own and I have never thought of myself as a mother. Whatever else he had to say after that was lost in a fog. The poor guy obviously thought he was paying me a compliment, but a slap in the face would have been more welcome.

Even though bifocals and menopause serve as a reminder to the contrary, on the inside I'm still a childless 30-something, wondering what I'm going to do when I grow up.

How to Make a Silhouette

2009-01-11T16:58:00.012-05:00

If you have seen all the silhouette decor lately and wish you could do it yourself, it is pretty easy with software. I used Microsoft Digital Image Pro 7. It's an old program, but is quite simple to use. This is much easier than trying to cut out a silhouette using tiny specialty scissors. Especially if you have issues with close-up work like I do.

The first step is to take a good shot of your subject from the side. After I took this, I realized it would have been much easier to 'cut' it out if I'd lit him up from the side and then took a picture of the shadow itself on the wall with no flash. This worked okay, but I made more work for myself.

Then I uploaded the photo to Digital Image and cut out the the portion I wanted to use. Next I filled it with black (I added his eyelashes by hand). For the writing in the background, I searched the internet for sayings about boys and typed my favorite ones in Word - repeating when necessary. They don't really show up that much. I just wanted something written in a nice script in the background. Another possibility would be to type your child's name, or adjectives describing him. Then I made the writing transparent by fifty percent. When I was done, I printed it on parchment paper.

This is the finished product. I found the perfect frame at Target. (Click on the picture to enlarge it.)

The New Camera

2009-01-06T16:40:00.009-05:00

Santa Claus was good to me and brought the camera I asked for. I was wanting a camera to take indoor pictures of the kittens using just natural light. They move so swiftly, it is very difficult to get a good shot of them except when they are sleeping. Santa brought a Panasonic LX3, which has the option of using either manual or automatic settings. I love it. I am getting some great pictures already - even outdoor pictures of the house with the Christmas lights on.

Our Foundlings

2009-01-05T15:31:00.015-05:00

At the end of June, my husband found an abandoned kitten at work. Since we are animal lovers, he brought it home. It was only three weeks old, and very tiny. But it had a huge voice. We took it to the vet and it was determined to be healthy and a female. I had to bottle-feed her several times a day for a couple of weeks (this also entailed burping and stimulating elimination). We named her Taji - which means 'silver and yellow' in Japanese. Her eyes eventually turned into a beautiful pale aqua. A week or so later, he found two more kittens. A co-worker took one, and he brought the other home. She was so thin and frail, you could feel every bone in her tiny body. She felt as weightless as a little bird in your hand. She was only about half the size of the first kitten. We named her Max. At the time we had a bit of gender confusion, which was cleared up during her first visit to the vet. Max is a brown tabby with amber gold eyes and she has a heart shape on her right flank. Both are now spayed and micro-chipped. They are active, healthy, fun-loving kittens - practically inseparable. Our oldest cat, Ling, ignores them unless they invade her space. If they get too close, she snarls at them and quickly runs away. The younger cat, Bella, now plays with them and they chase one another up and down the hall and all throughout the house. At night, the three youngest pile up on the bed with us. Mom gives them treats every morning when she gets up, and you would think it was the Pied Piper coming down the hall. They practically stampede in front of her, sometimes coming back and winding themselves around her legs, crying plaintively for their treats. Taji is still very vocal, and insistently demanding. She is much more vocal and assertive than Max with her hesitant little mew. Max is the lover of the group. She still wants to be picked up and snuggled often. She will stand up on her haunches and reach up to me to be picked up. Taji likes to be held and stroked early in the morning and late at night. She shows her pleasure by purring very loudly. But they both like to doze on my lap while I'm watching TV in the evening, and curl up with Mom during the day.

I can't begin to tell you how fulfilling it is to know that we've saved two little lives. The love we've received in return is priceless.

Guess what, that isn't the end of this story. Two weeks later, my husband found a fourth kitten, the lone male of the group. He brought it home and our neighbor adopted him. This little boy kitty loves getting baths and being dressed in doll clothes. I can't imagine our two going along with that.

To all non-pet owners who visit and complain about our cats

2009-01-04T21:52:00.004-05:00

They live here. You don't.
If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it 'fur'-niture.
I like my cats a lot better than I like some people.
To you, they are animals. To me, they are adopted children who are short, furry, walk on all fours and don't speak clearly.

Remember, cats are better than kids because they...
1. eat less,
2. don't ask for money all the time,
3. are easier to train,
4. normally come when called,
5. never ask to drive the car,
6. don't hang out with drug-using people,
7. don't smoke or drink,
8. don't want to wear my clothes,
9. don't have to buy the latest fashions,
10. don't need a gazillion dollars for college and
11. if they get pregnant, I can sell their children.

Merry Christmas

2009-01-04T20:54:00.032-05:00

We enjoyed sharing a very blessed Christmas together. We ate until we were stuffed, then ate some more.

Earthquake in South Carolina

2008-12-16T15:39:00.005-05:00

This morning at 7:42 a.m. an earthquake of 3.6 magnitude occurred in South Carolina. It sounded like a big truck going over a really rough road. When I felt the rumbling coming from the south, I realized what it was. Of the four cats, only one was frightened by the quake. Bella rushed in from the back porch with her tail all fluffed out. Mom was still in bed, so I peeked in to check on her. She was awake and asked if we'd just had an earthquake.

Welcome

2008-12-11T10:27:00.003-05:00

Welcome to NeeNee's house. My goal is sharing thoughts, photos, and my varied interests. I have been wanting to start a blog for quite awhile, but being the perfectionist that I am, I delayed doing it because I couldn't decide on the layout, theme, content, etc. Finally, I decided to just take the plunge. I can always change things later. I've already changed this first post about three times!

My primary intention is to keep friends and family posted with happenings in our lives, and maybe along the way I can brighten someone's day. I hope you enjoy reading my musings.

NeeNee