cute pet photo interlude

me, totally zonked out on the couch, covered in cats.

 (This photo is from early January-- I was extra-tired from staying up for New Year's, I guess-- lol!)

Prescott, totally zonked out on the couch, a couple days later.

pet pics--

even with all the bird and craft photos, you didn't think I wouldn't post any pet photos now, did you?? I don't take too many of them (not when they're awake, anyway) since they aren't all that keen on posing for me.

Bisbee and Ariel, just hanging out.

Zola barely sits still at all, so she won't pose nice, for sure!

Krista won't pose, either! :D

Butters, though, now- she poses.

And so does Prescott! 

12 x 12 SB page: 'snuggling'

I did do some scrapping recently (well, in December, anyway)... I found a store in the East Valley that holds a 12-hour crop once a month, so in December, I hauled [some of] my stuff there for the day, and had a great time! (I apologize for the crappy lighting in these photos- I took the pictures after I got back, in the evening, so they're not all that bright.)

This is a one-page layout using some photos Tom took of a rare occurrence: Ariel and Butters, actually being nice to each other, and snuggling together in front of the window! I think most of the pages I made that day were cat oriented, and mostly in a pink color scheme... when you get on a roll you have to stick with it, I guess.

a couple detail photos-- I used a few sequins for accenting the embellishments.

This heart had pre-printed faux-stitching on the edge: a good, easy way to get an extra detail! This page went together pretty quickly, until I realized I should have looked at the paper a bit more closely before I started. Most 12 x 12 scrapbook paper has a 1/2 inch 'branding strip' on the edge that has the manufacturer info on. On this piece of paper it was there too, but the reverse side (the pink I used for the background) was all the same color. Sooo, I actually made my page 12 x 12.5 inches! Thankfully, the page design wasn't compromised too much by having to trim that 1/2 inch off the edge. 

Vocabulary word of the day: hangry.

han-gry (han-gree) adj.  A state of anger and irritability caused by lack of food. Hunger causing a negative change in emotional state.  
(definition taken from the Urban Dictionary.)

See below for example.

Pic 1:  Fixing the kitty dinner; everyone mills around waiting.

Pic 2:  Butters bops Ariel on the head.

Butters gets 'hangry' when she doesn't get to eat on time!! 
(it's pretty funny to watch.)

random photo catch-up

yup, we're still here! We had a pretty low-key holiday that was spent mostly at home, with Christmas day spent at the home of some very close friends. I didn't really take many photos over last few weeks, but here's a few random ones:

Holiday flowers: Christmas cactus and Amaryllis

A couple weeks ago, I went to the local grocery store to pick up something food-related, and came back home with these! I entered the store through the greenhouse section- what can I say? LOL! These flowers remind me of the holidays growing up, because Mom and Grandma would both have their houses full of amaryllis (what's the plural for that, anyway?) and Christmas cacti during the winter. The white Christmas cactus is going gangbusters, while the magenta one, being smaller (it's the one on the left that's hard to see), has only got one flower open right now... the only word to use for the amaryllis is amazing!! There are two flower stalks: the first one has six (!) flower buds, and it looks like all six of them will actually bloom! Hopefully they'll all last, and I can keep them alive through the summer. (I'm not sure if my Midwestern-raised green thumb is up to the task here in the desert.)

Holiday dogs! L-R: Prescott, Bisbee, Krista

 One of the Christmas presents we gave to the dogs (and ourselves) was taking all three of them to the groomers... don't they look pretty?!? It's a big job with a long-haired dog (way too big for us to want to tackle it on a regular basis), and the groomers definitely earn their money! (by the way, Tom is off-camera holding up a treat- that's why they're all sitting so attentively. They don't sit still on command for more than about 1 1/2 seconds, otherwise- lol!)

winterizing in the AZ desert!!

We've actually had a freeze warning in effect for the last couple days, so we had to 'winterize' a few of our plants- the Styrofoam cups protect the growing tips of the cactus arms from getting frostbit. It looks goofy, but it works! This is our night-blooming cereus, which is doing really well, so I don't want it to get frostbitten.

Winterizing method 2- this method doesn't work on cactus, lol!
The plant under here is a natal plum, a low-growing evergreen
shrub native to South Africa: click here to see a photo of it

Mom was asking me recently what winter in AZ is like, and if we really notice a difference. Besides the obvious temperature changes (it does get down to freezing occasionally at night, and every once in a great while- like every 5-10 years- there might be a visible snowflake or two falling somewhere in the Valley), there are some other differences. There are some deciduous trees that lose their leaves; the quality of the light and sunshine is much weaker (it's still lots better than having gray skies for months on end, though); it gets dark much too soon for my taste; and it rains occasionally (not like a monsoon storm, but a wet, damp, cold rain).  

One other way I know it's winter is when I'm running the water inside the house- the water takes forever to get warm or hot when you run it! LOL!! It's an odd thing, but there's a good reason for this: since the ground doesn't freeze here, our water pipes are buried very shallow underneath the ground. Because of this, the water never actually gets bona-fide 'cold' during the summer, and it also takes much longer to heat up during the winter. 

Afternoon-sun-basking kitties

One other way I know it's winter is that the cats get a lot friendlier, both with us and with each other. They get very 'cat-like' and hang out in the sun, or curl up on any blanket or afghan that looks comfortable. (including right on top of us, if we're sitting still!) They would never do this in the middle of the summer (not that they could sit in the sun even if they wanted to, since we have the sunscreens up to block the light). 

So, now it's on to 2013- both Tom and I are sort of glad to have 2012 over with, actually... what with my two surgeries and a cancer diagnosis, a cat illness and surgery, and a mysterious dog sickness (he's finally back to normal, thankfully), 2012 wasn't exactly a barrel of laughs, and we're not sorry to see it gone. Here's looking forward to a year of better health and good things to come, for all of us! 

(except for those pesky New Year's resolutions, one of which is for me to clean up my craft room: we were watching a Hoarders television show marathon over the holidays, and some of it was hitting a bit too close to home for comfort-- lol!)

a quick Butters update

just wanted to write a quick update on Butters; her surgery was last Tuesday, and went fine. She had three very jagged stones removed from inside her bladder and is now on the mend. I wanted to see the stones, so the vet showed them to us when we went to pick her up... she must have been in a lot of pain, by the look of them- I can't even imagine what it must have felt like for her! 

Right now she's on three different liquid medications twice a day (two of which must taste very bad, by the way she fights when I give them to her), two painkillers and one antibiotic. By her behavior, she feels sooo much better than she did before the surgery; she's so much perkier and feisty now, I'm amazed it took us so long to realize anything was wrong with her (hindsight is 20/20, and all that). At least she's back to herself now! She's also eating a ton, and hopefully gaining back some of the weight she lost over the last few months. And, we're working on getting her back to using the litter box regularly, now that she's not in pain anymore... fingers crossed on that front!  

mellow...

The new painkillers make kitty mellow!! lol! She's not quite focusing, here... she took the medicine- or more accurately, I gave her the (apparently very icky-tasting) medicine about an hour before I took this photo. I suppose I shouldn't think it's amusing, but it's kinda funny.

Her surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday. Hopefully after that, she will be able to pee without pain again. (and do it in the litterbox!)

random photos--

yup, I'm still here-- just haven't been taking very many photos lately! Here's a couple from the last few weeks...

Butters, soaking up some sun on the patio.

It's gotten a bit cooler out, now that fall is here-- we can finally leave the sliding glass door open so that we (and the pets) can relax on the patio and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. When I lived in the Midwest, I would wait forever (it seemed, like it, anyway) for spring to arrive so I could enjoy the outdoors... now here in Arizona, I wait for fall, for the same reason!

random self-portrait-- do you know how difficult it is to get a
decent picture of the back of your own head? it's hard to do!

I've been letting my hair grow out now for most of the summer (not a smart time to grow your hair out here in AZ, but I had to go through the summer with longer hair sometime, I guess). This photo was from a few weeks ago; I think I took it because it's finally long enough to pull back with a clip (so I can get it out of my face- and off my neck- if I need to). And, bonus: even with how thick and heavy my hair is, the curl is staying! My goal is for it to be to the middle of my back; we'll see how much longer that takes... I'd love to be able to braid it, eventually. (Mom, do you remember braiding my hair when I was little?? I seem to remember you'd pull it really tight- lol!)

Butters, waiting for a belly skritch...

This picture is from just yesterday; Butters looks  slightly goofy here because she just got a bit of a haircut, so now she can air out her belly! The haircut wasn't by choice, exactly, but I had to take her to the specialty vet on Friday for an ultrasound, and they needed to shave her belly to perform the test (she did really good during the ultrasound, too- they didn't have to sedate her at all). She's been having some health problems for quite a while now; she's been losing weight, and also has been peeing on the floor (which we've come to learn is the universal cat signal for 'hey, something's wrong here because it hurts to use the litter box') for a couple months, so we've been trying to figure out what's going on. 

We thought it might have been kidney disease (which is what Pandora had), but the blood tests really didn't show that. The ultrasound showed it pretty clearly, though; she has bladder stones, which is a 'concretion' of sandy grit made up of of minerals and crystals, that moves around and is scratching the inside of her bladder-- no wonder it hurts her to pee! Now, we just have to wait to find out when she can have surgery to remove it, and what changes (if any) we'll have to make to her diet to avoid a recurrence.

I went estate sale-ing this past Saturday (hit a thrift store, too), and found some more cool things-- I'll post pictures soon!

why do 4-day weeks always seem so loooong??

but thank goodness it's finally the weekend! 

Tom and I did a movie marathon last night (all 3 Bourne Identity movies in a row... I only fell asleep halfway through the third movie, which is good, for me!) Today I ran some errands, which included a stop at Frenzy Stamper to check out the sample journals for Kelly's classes in November (!!! yay!!), buy SW incense (pinon, mesquite, hickory, and juniper- love those aromas!)... things like that. 

Here's a recent page from my 5x7 journal (I'm getting so close to finishing it, but we cleaned the house before the pet-sitter came over last weekend, so I need to get back into the 'journaling rhythm' again... meaning, I need to get my supplies back out into the living room.) 

kitty love... in my journal, this page is now finished; I added
writing about Butters and her latest health issues.  Collaged paper
(including vintage dictionary, French textbook, scrapbook paper)
and a bit of gold acrylic paint that originally was an accident
(it bled through from another page, so I had to go with it and make it
look like it was supposed to be there).

Butters has been looking a lot thinner lately, so we decided it was time for a checkup. (plus, she's been peeing on the laundry room floor, which is usually a cat's somewhat annoying way of telling you something.) Her blood work shows slightly elevated levels of chemicals that may indicate her kidneys aren't functioning 100%. Not surprising, since that's what Pandora had (and she was only 3 when she passed away), but still, it was hard to hear. We need to get some urine for testing, and if it's confirmed, there is a medication that may help in slowing the progress... so, we'll see. (operation 'cat pee collection' commences tomorrow, lol!)

closeup of the cat- stamped on a vintage French textbook page with olive
colored Colorbox chalk ink and colored with tea-dye Distress ink. I love
this stamp; I just don't use it (or any of them) very often.

a bit of random...

At one point yesterday (while we were outside viewing the transit of Venus across the sun), Tom decided to get something from the garage to rest the binoculars on, in hopes of getting a steadier view for photo-taking. While he was gone, I shot a picture of the tree branches above me. (the original of that shot is the second picture below.) 

This Polaroid-type photo is those tree branches, after processing with about 5 or 6 different editing options in Picasa. I have no idea how many, actually, or what they all were, but I think it turned out way cool! (It reminds me of a fabric design, sort of...)

again, below is the original photo-- (I really think the edited one is much more interesting!)

the next photos are a couple random cat pics... first is Ariel, just 'hanging around' the kitchen. Literally. I have no idea why she likes to drape herself over the kitchen chairs like this, but she does it quite often, and in this photo that Tom took, she's actually got her eyes shut, so she must be comfortable?!? (or else she's narcoleptic, and can fall asleep anywhere... wait, every cat can do that, right? haha!!)

Of course, I can't leave Butters out of this now, can I?? (gotta give the kitties equal time on the blog!) Butters wasn't herself a couple weeks ago... not being very friendly, not sleeping with us on the bed, not very active. She's back to normal now, though! (I think it was because she finally got rid of a couple hairballs... icky, I know, but it's part of life as a cat owner, unfortunately.) She spends her evenings either curled up on a kitchen chair, or hanging out on the back of the loveseat like she is below. Either way, it's so she can have a direct view out to the backyard, and any possible bird / stray cat / lizard action.

For something even more random, how about this next pic?? Over Memorial Day weekend, when I was doing my journal-page-painting on the patio, Tom and I got to talking about how sunny it was outside... somehow, the conversation turned to the fact that I'd never done (or even seen) the 'light-something-on-fire-using-the-sun-and-a-magnifying-glass' thing, so Tom proceeded to demonstrate it for me:

awww, isn't that sweet?? lol!! It's going in my journal! (it really was cool, and really, I never had seen it before. and no, we didn't do it on any ants.)

more paper and ink-- and some other stuff

Friday after work, I got out the inks and stencils again. I didn't take any pictures of the process, which I should have-- I was sitting out on the grass, with my papers and inks scattered all around, holding the paper down when the wind blew... I'm sure it was quite comical to watch, although Tom didn't say so (thank goodness).

I got some pretty interesting patterns and colors to use for my scrapbooking and art journaling-- some were 'real' stencils purchased from the art store, but some patterns were made with more unusual things- one of the pieces in the upper left photo has a blue shape that reminds me of a chess or game piece, which was actually packaging from a plumbing fixture, I think (I saved it months ago, so I don't remember exactly where it came from). The upper right photo has a pattern on that's actually from 'sequin waste' which is leftover from when they manufacture sequins. And the lower right photo is my collection of inks-- I have 10 so far, but there's enough space in that container for a couple more, I think!! lol!

a random photo, taken in the side window of my car-- I'm trying to decide between finishing growing out my bangs, or getting them cut again, so they're out of my eyes. --so far, I haven't made a decision.

another journal page that uses some random different things; a magazine image (the greenhouse image), some painted papers, and photocopies of some of my journal pages, both in color and in black&white. (those pieces of paper covered up some writing underneath that I didn't really like the look of-- if you don't like it, cover it up!!) The bottom border is decorative tape (3 different kinds, layered on top of each other).

and, to finish it off, another random shot-- I had these old bath towels out for something (can't remember what) and put them here till I could carry them upstairs. Turns out, Butters thought they looked quite comfy! 

random photos

just some random photos from the last week's activities...

last Sunday, I met one of my friends (Jessica, also a co-worker) at 'As You Wish' for an afternoon of crafty artmaking. This store is one of those place where you can paint your own pottery and get it fired; they also recently added glass fusing to their 'menu' which is what we did. You pay a flat fee for the workspace, time, and colored glass, and pay separately for your glass 'base' (they have sizes from coasters up to a 12 in. platter), then pay for it to be fired in the kiln. You make whatever design you want, leave it with them to fire, then you pick it up when it's done. It was a really fun time!! They provided safety glasses, a cutter, snipping pliers thingamajigs, gloves, etc. and we provided the creativity. 

Here's my design, in progress- I did some abstract (easier than realistic!) cacti; an ocotillo with two prickly pear, sandy desert, and some clouds. It was harder to come up with a design than I thought it would be, but in the end, I liked my result. They provided boxes with pieces in all different colors, and you can cut whatever shape you want-- they also provide containers of 'frit' which is basically ground up glass, like glitter. That's what I used for the sand. The larger pieces are glued in place with good old Elmer's, and the frit is held in place with- wait for it- hair spray!!  That keeps the pieces in place till it's fired, when the layers of glass get fused together with the heat.

 Our rope cholla, with the first couple blooming flowers. There's many more to come-- it's just loaded with buds! The bees were happy about the new flowers, and were quite busy.

 The prickly pear is going to go crazy with flowers, too-- the bulgy bits you can see across the top of each pad are all flower buds!! It's also going crazy with new plant growth, too-- I'll need to prune some of the new pads off before they get too much bigger, to keep it under control.

A cute baby birdy in amongst bougainvillea blossoms. (do you like that alliteration?) This was taken at the Tempe Marketplace mall, outside the 'As You Wish' store... this mall has a lot of really pretty outdoor spaces with flower plantings, fountains, fire pits, and tables and chairs for relaxing. (they also have misting systems for the summer, thank goodness!)

 hibiscus (?) flower- also at the mall

 baby birdy's mama, coming to feed him. She didn't appreciate me hanging out there, so I left them alone after I got a halfways decent photo.

 talk about random, this one is definitely it! I just liked the swirly rainbow-colored design on this vending machine. (maybe I'll use this idea somehow in a scrapbook or art journal page someday.) 

 a couple more 'totally random' things: first is this bike rack design, also from the mall. Second is the fact that the other day I accidentally shut Ariel in the pantry for the entire day! LOL!! I looked for her before I left for work, but couldn't find her-- I figured she was upstairs looking out the window, but she popped right out of the door when I opened it to get the dog food in the afternoon-- darn her, she's quick! I don't know how she snuck in there without me seeing. (and she's quiet; she didn't meow at all, even when I was calling her! Luckily, she didn't destroy the place while she was stuck inside all day.)

 more totally random: just a shot of what can fit in my Fit. We unfortunately just had to get rid of our chest freezer- it finally gave up the ghost after 10 years of use and five moves... :(  Luckily, the local recycle place was having a free bulk hazardous waste dropoff, so we took it there yesterday to get rid of it. 

 the first prickly pear blossom-- when I first moved here, all the bright flower colors took a bit of getting used to, but I've since come to realize that they fit in with all the bright sunshine we have here. Paler colors would just be 'washed out' visually in all that bright light.

Look, our backyard is a putting green! Not really, but it does look as good as one- Tom spent a few hours today out in the hot sun (the high today was 100+) mowing and edging the grass for the first time. He mowed it down a bit farther than usual, to get rid of as much of last season's dead growth as possible. The dogs are still trying to find some leftover grass stems to eat, though!! sadly, no salad for them today.

Butters checks out my finished glass piece... I'm not sure whether she likes it or not; she'd probably like it better if it had cat food on it! I really like how it turned out! I don't think it's going to be used for anything though, except to decorate the kitchen (once I figure out how to hang it, that is).  

a bit of random and a SB page

after yet another dust storm blew through the Valley, it rained this afternoon and evening-- yay!! Some lightning, thunder, and I actually needed to use my windshield wipers (only on intermittent, but still... rain-- yay!!)

Below is another SB page that I've had in my head for a while; I just needed to work out how to lay it out. Quite honestly, it was inspired by a set of stickers that I found in the $1 bin at JoAnn's etc. When I saw them, I knew I had to buy them, and instantly had an idea for a scrapbook page-- I love when that happens!

This is a close-up of one of the stickers (they're 3-D, with printed transparency wings). The detail shot also shows the 3-D effect I got in the grass... lots of cutting with scissors, but it turned out nice!

Here is the entire page... a sort of goofy page about how having the patio screened in is good for us (no bugs) and for the cats (they can't get out into the yard). I used some actual window screen for the page background. Thankfully the bugs in our yard aren't actually that big; if they were, they might be able to fly right through the screen!! LOL!

beauty shop for dogs (warning; lots of cute pet pictures ahead!)

this first picture was from last weekend; I was laying down watching TV, and Ariel decided she wanted to lay down too... now if I could only get her to walk on it when my back hurts!

Prescott, being cute: he loves chewing; he demolishes rawhide chews very quickly which can upset his stomach, so most of the time he has to content himself with rope toys.

Bisbee, just being her happy self!

those were the before photos, by the way-- today, both of them went to the doggy beauty parlor for a day of beauty! well, three hours of beauty, anyway. We give them baths, but we don't have the skills (or the patience- lol!!) to do a good grooming, since their hair is sooo long. This is one of those things that's worth paying for, at least in our opinion, with long-haired dogs. The place we go to is here in town, so it's very convenient-- the Puppy Pet Stylist. Melissa (the owner) loves them (apparently they're very well-behaved; too bad they aren't always like that at home!!), and when I got there to pick them up, she said, "do I have to give them back??" Prescott was ready to come home-- they were pretty excited after not seeing me for a couple hours; maybe he thought I left them?? never!!

this is an after beauty shot. Their hair is so soft and silky after having a bath and blow-dry at he groomers; too bad it won't last! Butters approves, apparently (or maybe she just thinks they smell funny?!?)

Prescott didn't like the bandana, so I thought I'd see what Bisbee thought of it-- whaddya think: is there a future for her as Little Polka Dot Riding Hood?? (she is sooo patient, in letting us to do things like this to her!)

Ariel, on the other hand, wasn't too impressed with their new hairdos: well, I can't put it off any longer- I'm off to finish the laundry, now that I've given you an extra-large dose of cuteness!