A weekend day around the casa...

First we enjoyed the comings and goings at the bird feeder.





Then we enjoyed the company of our youngest three kitties.


(Tallulah, 7 months)


(Gypsy, 16 months)


(Jasper, 16 months)

Later, the girls helped out with the garage clean-up. Ryan helped too but I didn't get a picture of him.





Finally, I looked through our glass door at the afternoon sun. Can't wait to get it sanded, painted and installed!

abundance...

For Christmas, my mom gave me a book of affirmations called The Art of Abundance, a Simple Guide to Discovering Life's Treasures, by Candy Paull. I've just now had time to start reading it and found three wonderful quotes right away that spoke to me. They have a common theme not just about abundance, but about where it is truly found...

One of the hardest lessons we have to learn in this life, and one that many persons never learn, is to see the divine, the celestial, the pure, in the common, the near at hand- to see that heaven lies above us here in this world. ~ John Burroughs

One of the most important -and neglected- elements in the beginnings of the interior life is the ability to respond to reality, to see the value and the beauty in ordinary things, to come alive to the splendor that is all around us in the creatures of God. ~ Thomas Merton

In those vernal seasons of the year when the air is calm and pleasant, it were an injury and sullenness against nature not to go out and see her riches, and partake in her rejoicing with heaven and earth. ~ Milton







Abundance, for me, means enjoying the goings-on in our very front yard. That this Spring-like weather is tricking my daffodils into blooming is only part of it! I've got 17 flowers in my little "daffy patch". I also love the beautiful moss carpet that's shooting up new growth like velvet underfoot. If it wasn't 45 degrees at the moment I'd be out there closer to it. My dad bought a bird feeder for the girls and I after we returned from North Carolina. The birds have finally figured out how to eat from it and we've been enjoying them for about a month now. Sunday morning as I took Puppy-girl out for her potty break, there were 4 robins swooping and darting from the back yard oak to the front yard pines and all manner of other birds hopping and twittering in the sun. This morning there was a squirrel on the porch, teasing the cats as it stuffed its face full of sunflower seeds.





Abundance also means cooking the spaghetti squash that was languishing on the counter and anticipating the eating of said squash as if it were the finest meal in the world. For the record, I sprinkled it with ground sage, a tiny pinch of dried thyme, salt, and liberal amounts of garlic, oh, and a spoonful of smart balance margarine! It was a comfort food much like mac and cheese without the guilt! We won't be doing a "real" grocery shop until Thursday which means I'll have to make do with what we've got in the cupboard til then. A "pantry challenge". Mark just arrived with guinea pig food and hay, potatoes, and bread. We've got rice, pasta, beans, spices, chicken breasts, tortillas, dairy products, sausage, peppers, onions, fresh and frozen veggies, canned tomatoes(and beans, etc, etc.), and more, so technically we could probably eat for another 10 days or so. Having such a bounty is not just abundance but also peace and provision.



I hope you all find similar things to appreciate within the ordinary(and it is SO not, once you take time to observe) this day and this week!! Children seem to enjoy abundance naturally so I take a lot of cues from this chicka. She found the first anole of the season yesterday!

thrifted afghan pictures...

I just LOVE this afghan!! My mom's mom had one and I have always wondered where it went. I'm sure some cousin has it but mom thinks it may have been donated. No telling, that was well over 20 years ago. Anyway, I've never seen one in a thrift store til now and this is a beauty! There are several squares in need of shoring up with some matching yarn but that can wait til we get back home, it won't unravel before then. Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures, it was late at night and I've got no editing software on this computer.










(Nan kicking Bert's butt on bags of our salvaged wool)

Is this cute or what?

My parents adopted two babies several months ago. This is Bert and he weighs about 5 pounds. They look like china cat figurines, very beautiful and delicate. Nan is a bit shy but I've got some pics on my camera. I'm trying to figure out how to get them onto the girls' computer, which is where I'm posting from now. Hopefully I can get it all worked out soon.

Mom and I have been going nuts at the thrift stores with the wool blazers and sweaters. So far we've deconstructed at least 15 or 20 and there are maybe 15 more to work on. We'll end up halving the goods when we're done. I have LOTS of ideas in the works, LOTS! I'm also working on my third batwing shawl. Its about halfway finished.

It was 14 degrees here this morning!! We're expecting snow on Friday but it will be followed by rain and won't stick. When we were here 2 years ago there was the pretty kind of snow that stayed for 3 days. The kids were in heaven. I wish it would do the same this time.

Anyway, that's the goings on here. I don't know what we'll do today for our New Year's celebration. I'd like to cook something, maybe a chocolate pie or something.

more animals

Maybe later I'll have some pictures of my own furbabies in their holiday finery!

My mom called me last night to say they were in Tallulah, Louisiana. Only she actually said Mississippi. Soooo, they arrived around 10 o'clock!! I was supposed to go get their Christmas presents today so mom will have to ride with me I guess. I'm very glad they are here and not driving in any nasty weather. Whew!

Nothing but cuteness...

We're getting there....

Who knew it would take hours and hours to get the lights on a 12 foot tall tree? I was worn out after that activity so we are taking our time putting the ornaments on. Besides, I've got the kids' cold now. Sigh.

Doesn't it look better already?(sorry for dark photos, in my editing program they look just fine but blogger makes them much darker-at least on my monitor they are**edited** they are fine once the post is published so maybe its just the blogger uploader/previewer making them look dark)



Mark and I went to a wonderful Christmas party last night. There was enough food(and I mean good, real food) to feed 4 times the crowd we had(about 50). There was karaoke, a chinese present exchange(the one I brought got stolen twice-that was the limit), and a fire(on a table, not in the fireplace)! A groovy time was had by all. We came home and watched two rented movies, the new Indian Jones(very fun and fast moving) and The Happening(ohso lame).



Ryan had church this morning but we decided against Joe Muggs today. Mark and I went to his office to get a ladder for the tree doings. Then he took Ryan and friends to the mall for the afternoon, making it back in time for the Cowboys game of course.



We have misplaced our ornament hangers so I'm stealing them from my glass things that won't go on the tree due to certain kitties named Gyspy, Jasper and Tallulah. They are fascinated and have all been to the top of it already. We're hoping once the ornaments are on they'll get bored with it.

The Cuteness Continues...

(to the point of amost being unbearable)


(he had just finished bathing her head)


(she woke up and had to reposition)


(ah, that's much better)


(is it sweet enough for you?)

Some Cuteness Going On....

(Gypsy, Tallulah and Jasper taking a nap on Sarah's bed this weekend)

These are all my friend's dogs, Sally and Honey and the cat, Sister. I'm kicking myself for not photographing the 5-week-old cuteness that belongs to the neighbors. Its one of 5 little Golden Retriever/Black Lab/? mixes. The one we got to hold looked just like a Golden. There are 4 others that are fuzzy and black. Oh my stars it was soooo sweet. If anyone local is interested, I'm sure I could score you one for Christmas!!


(Sarah's new best friend)


(Honey is the big one)

TGIF...

I'm following along with Jeanne at Backyard Neighbor again and posting my favorite photo(Friday's Favorite Photo is what she called it, I think).


(Sarah with Tom several Autumns ago)

In other news...

A friend of mine offered up a front door for free so we drove waaaay across town to look at it and will pick it up tomorrow. Its a brick red with about a 2/3 total length leaded glass insert. Just gorgeous! There are a few cosmetic things to fix(some glue runs and a loose molding) and we'll have to frame our door with a 1x2 or something because its 1.25 inches narrower than our current door. I can't wait to work on it and get it installed though, I've been pricing these kinds of doors for a while now and just couldn't see getting one, ever.

This friend has 4 chickens and a rooster so she handed us half a dozen blue, green, and brown eggs to take home. I think I shall scramble them in the morning. Yum!

We swung by and took Ryan's friend home and are just now back to the house. I'm about to start on my broccoli, zucchini, rice, and cheese casserole. Guess I need to get the rice going, I keep forgetting that part!!!

It has been a beautiful day today, very sunshiney with no wind and not too much heat. I'm hoping tomorrow we can spend time outdoors.

As Promised, New Hair!

This is 40 hours after washing it, a windy park day, and a loooong walk with the dog this morning. It can look better, trust me! I didn't straighten or blow-dry it, this is just what it does. I'll put better pics up tomorrow probably.







Gypsy with Tallulah on the coffee table last weekend.





In other news....

We are going to finish working on the garage this afternoon, I think. I would love to park some of the unused furniture on the side of the road and see how fast it gets hauled off. I'm also rearranging our bedroom to make it less easy to pile up laundry baskets full of clean stuff. And cooking spaghetti(we had nachos last night instead), an apple dessert of some kind... Lots of busy work going on here today.

OU/Texas is on tomorrow. I'm a Sooner and Mark's a Longhorn. He has the kids brainwashed as well. Sigh.