Merry Christmas, One and All

Merry Christmas, happy holidays and happy New Year to all.

It's almost Christmas and I'm really behind. Of course, this is nothing unusual. It's a little bit worse this year because Stefan was sick for about a week and then I caught what he had.

Last weekend we enjoyed a family reunion. It was the descendants of my grandfather and his siblings and we hadn't gotten together in a while. Most of the people I didn't know. It was fun though.

Tomorrow I will hopefully finish up shopping. Then YIKES! Everything has to be wrapped. We're going to my parents for Christmas Saturday night and will come back Sunday evening. We're having early Christmas there since one of my nieces has to fly back to New York on Christmas day. We'll be back home Sunday night then off early the next morning for Christmas Eve at Ralph's family, then back home for our own Christmas. Everyone lives a couple of hours from us, but that 's not too bad.

There's no Christmas tree this year. I know better. Scrappy is 6 months old and shows no sign of slowing down. Worse yet, he is enticing Nikko into doing things Nikko knows he shouldn't. Since they both love trees I think the Christmas tree would be too big a temptation this year. Scrappy is interested in everything. Just earlier he was hanging off the kitchen counter by his toes trying to get a look in the microwave. He rushes into the kitchen every time he hears someone open the microwave door.

After Christmas I need to sit down and try to get a handle on what shows to do in 2008. I'm going to try some new ones this year and pass on a couple I have been doing.

A Tale of Two Tails

An elderly friend of mine passed away last week, leaving behind this gorgeous spayed cat, Sugar Baby. She has long hair with a Siamese pattern and beautiful blue eyes. She has been an outdoor cat. I was told that she was only friendly with Francis, her owner, but she's been really friendly with me and seems very tame. She's a little freaked by being in a strange house. I'm hoping to find a good home for her soon.




Ahh, the pleasures of living in the country. You never know what you'll find on the front porch. (Snakes, a couple of times, and once a peacock.) I surprised this fellow (or gal?) last night when I went to check on the outdoor cats. I saw his tail hanging out from behind the curtain over the dog house door. We keep a light burning in it during cold months for our two outdoor cats. When I opened the curtain he ran for the back, and our cat Callie, who was in the back, took off.




The Opossum did not like having his picture taken. He stayed in the back of the dog house for several hours. The cats were hanging around the door waiting for him to leave. Luckily it wasn't cold. He was gone by this morning. I see him nearly every night, but this is the first time he's ventured in to the dog house. He regularly comes by and eats the cat's food.

Twisted Wire Bracelets

I had a commission to do a set of three twisted wire bracelets so here they are. I used a tarnish resistant copper wire with various colors of glass beads for these.



I'm so pleased with these I did a couple more in different colors. No photos yet. Next I'm doing bird nests, I think, with pearls and crystals for eggs.

The last scheduled show for this year is over, although I may do a show or two at the schools if I can fit them in. I'm subbing the next three days so that will slow me down. This time of year, between now and spring shows is a good time to work on my website and also on more complex jewelry. I think I'll concentrate on wire work and the art clay.

Stefan and Colby skateboarding in downtown Dallas

Stefan is crazy about skating in downtown Dallas so we took him and a couple of his friends this afternoon. The first three tricks are Colby and the fourth one is Stefan.

Ralph and I went to Fry's and Half-Price Books a did a little shopping while we were waiting on them.

Scrappy's check-up

These pics were taken back in August. At varying times of year we have turtles who come by and stay around the yard for a few weeks, munching on cat food in the mornings. Here's an encounter Scrappy had with one.



He wanted to check out the other end but I redirected him. I'm not sure if that turtle would have dropped his food in order to bite him though.




Scrappy had his check-up with Dr. Rife yesterday. He now weighs 9.6 pounds, and most if it seems to be solid muscle. He's in good shape. I was concerned about his teeth. When his jaw was broken some of the jaw bone was lost. He is missing a section of teeth on the left front bottom, including one of the canines. Dr. Rife says his remaining teeth are lining up okay and there are no worries there. He got his shots and is scheduled for neutering next week. Dr. Rife did say that his frequent panting with exercise is not normal. His lungs sound fine, so she thinks he sustained some damage to the sinuses when his jaw was broken. Generally speaking he is in good shape though and we don't expect any problems.

Flaming Hula Hoop Video

Here's the video of Chartreuse Hocake Shockadelica and her Flaming Fire Hula Hoop. This is the first time I've attempted to edit any video. I took this with my digital still camera. I wasn't sure how much video I could take with it so the clips are very short. For still photos go here. I took these clips at Maker Faire 2007 in Austin, TX.

More Beastiary

Here are more photos from November. Mostly I like to take photos of things in macro mode, or really up close. I have a bee, butterfly, hummingbird garden in the yard. The butterfly bush always attracts lots of attention. Here is a Monarch butterfly on the bush. The Monarchs are shy compared to some of the other butterflies and I was lucky to get this one.



There are several of these tiny gray green frogs in the goldfish pond. The larger ones are a little less than the size of a quarter. One day I startled one while I was feeding the fish and it jumped--just as Maize (the cat) walked up. The frog landed spread eagle on her and stuck to her fur. Maize tried to see what was on her but I distracted her while the frog slowly peeled off and fell to the ground. It looked like one of those sticky toys you throw on the mirror or refrigerator to watch it "walk" down the wall. Wish I'd got a shot of that.



This male grackle landed right next to me while I was pumping gas.




Water droplets from the pond outlined the tiny delicate spider web. This spider is only about half an inch long. Several of them make their home above the pond.

As always, you can check out my Flickr account for higher resolution versions of these pictures.

A Beastiary, Plus a Fellow

It's the eve of Thanksgiving which brings up the question, "what are you thankful for?" There are so many things I'm thankful for that it's hard to know where to begin. Most of all I'm thankful for my family and friends.

Here are a few of the pictures I've been taking this month. More tomorrow.

Nikko and Scrappy are play fighting in the yard. That's Nikko on the left with the demon cat eyes. Scrappy can wear Nikko out. Sometimes the easiest way to get Nikko to come in the house is to let Scrappy out. Scrappy has come a long way since we got him.


Here's Scrappy walking away. Notice the tongue hanging out. He's panting.



Nikko is hoping he'll get a little rest.


Buddy isn't fond of Nikko and undoubtedly is thinking about whipping up on him for real.





This is Casper, one of Mom and Dad's cats. He's mostly blind, but usually runs away when he sees a camera. He was really affectionate with me the last time I visited. Mom was recently given a talking scale by the Commission for the Blind. Touch it with your foot and it turns on and says "hello". After a couple of seconds it says "I'm ready." Then you step on and it gives your weight and says goodbye. It's so easy to use that the cats regularly weigh themselves. Casper is 9.4 pounds and uses the scales most frequently.



Here's Dad. Mom didn't want her picture taken. There are more pictures on my Flickr account.