Ruby - The Gold Nose Reindeer!

I am REALLY trying to get into the Christmas mode. I just seem to be going in "slow-motion"!

I haven't listed anything on Ebay and I still have not opened up my shop on Etsy. I have been trying to collect vintage pieces for my shop that only reflect what I love. I made a pact with myself that every item would only be something that I would want myself, and therein lies the problem! So many things have found their "perfect" spot in my own house! LOL! I haven't been "creating" anything in my few spare hours. I find myself exhausted after coming home from my "day" job and then tending to the pets. I just started on some little black cat-dolls and have several paintings half-finished and I still need to decorate the house and start my Christmas shopping!

So, to alleviate myself some stress, I definitely won't start up my shop until the beginning of the New Year! So...this is a little vintage reindeer that I found (and love) and she will help me decorate for this Holiday (less is more for me) and then sometime later she will be available to go to her a NEW home. (for now I'll call her "Ruby" after one of my little dogs!)

Giveaway on Lineanongrata!

Julia Freund, this fantastic illustrator that I discovered on Etsy, has a great blog and is having a giveaway every day for 24 days. Please take a moment and check it out!
http://juliafreund.typepad.com/lineanongrata/2009/12/another-year-another-advent-calendar.html
I think I originally discovered her because of her awesome "scratchy cat"!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11393519
Check her out on Etsy too.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lineanongrata

All Quiet, except the sound of SNORING!

It's been a very tiring and stressful few days. I've been very busy at my "day" job, coming in early and staying late. All day long a lot of hard work but the weekend is finally here, hopefully I can rest a little bit. Obviously "Blue" has no problem relaxing!

Hope everyone had a Good Holiday!

OK! I'm crazy

I have a large furry family that consists of one 164lb Great Dane mix, a herd of little tiny dogs, several cats and Jimmy Chew. Jimmy Chew (I originally named him Jimmy Choo like the shoes but when he started to chew up everything, I changed the spelling...like HE knows!) Anyway- he's a Boston terrier mixed with a Cairn terrier (like Toto from Wizard of Oz) and the combination makes for a super high energy dog. He is too much for my little ones and he scares them with all his energy (or he knocks them over!) and my big dog is pretty much irritated with most of his antics. So after a lot of thought, I decided to get him a playmate his size to wear off some of that energy! I answered an ad for a "terrier mix" and found Dexter! He's part Jack Russell and who knows what! And he's a bundle of excitement! He "clicked" with Jimmy immediately! (and of course loved my niece Lily at first sight!) I've had him for 3 weeks now and he's done wonders for Jimmy! Both of them go to work with me everyday and play and play. Then they come home and crash- fast asleep! and the little ones can run around the house and play without being terrorized! I am happy with my crazy idea. Dexter seems to be very happy too. The people who got rid of him said that he barked at the husband all the time and the husband was sick of it (???) - They gave me a crate for him to sleep in and the first night I set it up as instructed, complete with his special blanket, only to turn around and find him snuggled up under the blanket on the bed. So he sleeps with all the little ones on the bed (I KNEW I should have gotten a king-size). I know that a FEW people think I'm nuts to get a dog for a dog but those same people do things that I don't always understand either. Soooo... whatever! (I might change his name though to Ralphie. Not from "Christmas Story" but as in Ralph Lauren! (tee hee -I have 2 little poodles, one named Louis Vuitton pronounced as Louie and the other Vera Wag!) OK! I'm crazy!

A Star is Born!

I have three nieces. The youngest is Lily. She shares my love of animals. She has been my helper at the boarding kennel and at my home. When she was little, she called herself "Balto" and signed all her school papers with that name! I remember driving around with her in the backseat of the car to go yard-saling. She would like to have me play classical music (violin) on the radio and shout "turn it up" when she was only 6 years old. We would argue about everything and when she got really mad, she would call me "Cindia" because she couldn't pronounce Cynthia (which I'm never really called anyway!) She was such a tomboy and wanted to be a Park Ranger.

She's now fourteen, listens to "Taylor Swift" and other music that I don't even know the name of! She still loves animals and still helps me and we still argue. She is now going to be a Photographer. (she took some of the cemetery photos and all the sailboat photos in my past posts.)

A couple of months ago she decided to try out for the school play. She got one of the lead parts!

She never ceases to amaze me! When she first came out on stage I felt like sobbing! Where was that little girl? How had she grown up in an instant!

TOO MUCH CANDY? !!!

I used to fit through these stair rails with no problem!?

Could it be that I ate too much leftover Halloween candy!

Runs in the Family!

Well, it's over.

I decorated the yard with ghosts, including a HUGE one with a pumpkin head. I lit the trees with orange lights, lined the steps with jack-o-lanterns and tried to make the front porch "magical". I got a few little Spiderman trick-a-treaters, a couple of Princess's and a very cute Fairy and even a devil in a red cape Maltese stopped by!

But then the carloads and vans started pulling up and dropping off kids in hoodies carrying pillowcases. A couple of them had TWO, requesting a treat for their "cousin". Oh well, I do think it would have been nice if they had at least SOME kind of costume. I noticed that many of the houses had not turned on their lights at all this year. So, not too long after that I turned off my porch-light and headed off to my sisters.

She had a great Halloween party, completely with a big FEAST! They were serving hard Apple Cider Ale and Cosmos and a table full of good eats. Music and conversation and "Day of the Dead" movie were all going at the same time. Her home looked "magical and spooky" with most people in costume. It was a fun evening hosted by my sister and her husband, check out their photos! -SCARY!