Meet Bizbee- the new kitten...

 This little kitten was the sole survivor of  a litter thrown from a car.  He's just adorable and we waited a week after meeting him, in hopes that someone else would adopt him, but no one did so we went back to the vet's office to get him. He may end up with a shorter leg due to an injury from the car toss, but right now he seems fine and is VERY active, a busy bee, hence the name Bizbee. 

He's very bright and seems to learn something new every hour, like most kittens, I guess.  Our other cats are just starting to get used to the fact that there is an alien in their midst, but these things take time and we prefer to do it slowly.  Right now, the master bathroom is his main room, and he's allowed the run of the office/bathroom, too, so he can really stretch his legs.  He's not allowed any alone time with any of the pets at this time, because he's SO little- when he steps on the bathroom scale, it says "2".  lol  Beez has killed rats bigger than Bizbee! 

He loves to sleep in the top level of the scratching post in our bathroom.  When he lies flat, you can't even tell he's up there. 

 He's so little, his eyes look huge.

 When he finally conks out, he likes a cuddle, either in my lap or on my chest, in the crook of my arm.  It's so sweet, my heart melts.  My arm breaks, but my heart melts.  LOL

 Today he figured out how to get onto the window sill.  First he starts from a small cardboard box up into a rocking chair, then onto the sill.  When he fell off, he went right back to the box to start over, smart boy!

 He loves when Daddy plays with him, that ball can go fast!  And it took 3 days for him to stop being scared of the crinkly tube, but now he's zipping thru it like a champ!

I think his mother must have been a black cat, because Bizbee gets really excited when he sees Sammie, our black cat.  He goes right for Sammie's tummy, which scares our Sammie to death, but he's being really good about the baby.  Sammie always likes the new kids, because he's always looking for a friend, the 2 oldest cats don't like him (or anybody else) and Sammie takes it personally. 

So there you have it- another new addition to our menagerie.  Believe me, we had no intention of adding to the numbers around here, but sometimes stuff happens and you just have to deal with it.  Hopefully he'll fit right in and the others will accept him and all will be right at the zoo.  :) 

Bitty Birthday Bonanza! What a surprise!

 Yesterday was my birthday and I got the most wonderful surprises in the mail!  I received quite a few cards from friends and relatives, which was lovely.  Unbeknownst to me, my friend Kimmie at Flickr organized a bunch of mostly bitty blockers to each make me a birthday bitty.  She had them all send them to her and then she put together a box and mailed them to me, along with one other box from another, so 2 boxes.  Her timing was perfect as the 2nd box arrived on the exact right day and I had saved the first one to open on my birthday because I am a good girl like that, no matter what you think! 

I couldn't believe it when all the stuff started being revealed from inside the boxes!

 I've labeled each block as to who made it, at Flickr, on my photostream, if you're interested in knowing. 

 I was stunned, shocked, thrilled, giddy and all sorts of good things, I never expected this or dreamed it would happen, it was such a fun surprise!  I also got a lot of lovely notes and cards and even some other gifts!

 This is an overview of all the loot! Fat quarters of fabric, a pincushion that looks like a Frankenstein mouse, a Twisted sticker, rainbow star stickers, birthday candle glasses, happy birthday beads, a Rosie the Rotary Cutter panel, printed twill tapes, a tiny purse change purse, magnets, ribbons, mints, candy, jacks, even dried LARVAE or worms, but it's OK, they're BBQ flavored.  No, I won't be eating them!  Ew!  That Kimmie!  I just loved everything, except for the worms!  LOL

 And some close-ups.....

 So much fun stuff, I couldn't believe it all. 

 I can't believe the generosity of all my friends!

I had a great day, a very busy one.  I drove to town and got a haircut, then I went to a laundromat and washed and dried 2 comforters and 2 shams, (I had the place to myself, it was peaceful and different and I got to read my book), went to the library and got more books, saw my parents where my mother deadpanned "you know you're a senior citizen now.", much to my horror.  55 is a senior citizen, really?  Crap!

Then I went to the grocery and got some things and came home for a late lunch, Greek Salad.  We had fun with all the mystery stuff in the boxes in the afternoon and had a nice London Broil and salad for dinner, topped off with strawberry shortcake for dessert.  What a great birthday!

Many many thanks to all my friends and family for making it such a fun, memorable one! 

Back from vacation in TX..... Pincushion swap received!

 I received my pincushion package the other day, it was chock full of goodies from my partner Carol,aka mamacjt at Flickr!  Look at all this loot!  2 fabulous pincushions- a big prince of a frog named Frank and a beautiful wristlet flower pincushion along with some decorative pins that look like cakes and desserts. Also, a box of Jelly Bellies that are drink flavored, and a bunch of prom queen stuff, since Carol was worried that I felt left out because I never went to an actual prom.  Aw, isn't she sweet?  She even wrote a fairy tale about it.  She sent me a Prom Queen sash and a tiara, cool! And of course, the Prom King, Frank.  LOL  The Fairy Tale is a hoot to read and it's very clever.  It incorporates the names of so many Flickr friends, it's just wonderful.

Frank is a chunky fellow, he has a wonderful feel to him and he's gigantic!

Thanks so much for being a fun swap partner, Carol!

Now on to vacation stuff-

(to see this better, click on the link below)

While in TX, my friends took me to a fun quilt shop called The Nimble Thimble, in Tyler.  As I was waiting to have some fabric cut, a lady came in with a really pretty quilt top that she had made for her granddaughter.  This is the pattern she started with, above.   It's called the  "You Are Everything" quilt and it's from Lizzie B Cre8tive.  We all just loved it- my friends came over to see what was going on- one was reading a book on her iPad and the other had her Kindle Fire, they don't sew or quilt, but they enable me to buy more fabric and patterns by cheerfully driving me there, coming inside, carrying bolts, offering suggestions, etc.  I just love those 2 ladies!  Lisa and Jennifer, you rock!

Anyway, the lady needed a backing and binding and I'm happy to say that we all got to be involved in that process and I think we guided her nicely.  :)  She really appreciated the help.  And when we saw her block in the bottom corner that had a red pig and said "the sooey to my Razorback", that struck up a whole new conversation because her granddaughter and I both live in Arkansas.  So this quilt can be personalized!  I want to make a sarcastic one, with things like "you are the thorn in my side" or "the pain in my ass", "the shark in my ocean", "the salt in my wound", "the knife in my back", etc.  LOL  Hey, I could make it for my Flickr buddy Kimmie! 

I had a wonderful time in TX at my friends Jennifer and Charles' house.  Our friend Lisa came up, too, from southern Louisiana with her little puppy, Charlie and he was just a delight.  He really entertained us and made us laugh even more than we already would.  He was so full of beans and he was FAST, running in circles, digging in some freshly turned dirt, getting filthy in the process.  Turned out, some fish carcasses had been buried in that garden and he was on the hunt for fish bones.  When told, my husband said he had a future as a cadaver dog!  lol  That was so funny.  Charlie is a terrier of some sort and weighs about 10 pounds.  I can just picture him working next to the big dogs!

Now I'm home and on a crusade to clean our house, it really needs a thorough deep-cleaning as we have company coming soon and we also need it just because I'm tired of looking anywhere in the house and seeing a mess.  So I'll be busy doing that, until I can't stand it anymore.  This is what I get for going and staying in immaculate houses!  

We went to our friends Blakeley and Sylvia's Open House at their shop, Wilson & Wilson Folk Art Co. in Eureka Springs a couple of weeks ago, and we got these 2 wonderful blackbirds!  They look great on our mantle along with all their other animals.  I just love their work!  These are an early birthday present from my sweet husband.  We got a cardinal last year that is to die for.

 And these are the pincushions I made for our swap- a trash can with a removable lid and storage inside, and a "cardboard" box for pins.  Inside the lid is a removable tape measure.  The trash can is my own pattern, I made it up as I went along.  It's made from felted wool and Timtex.  The box is cotton fabric, stuffed with ground walnut shells.

 I also made the snail from a Vanilla House pattern and shrunk it way down to be pincushion size.  Partner liked the trash can more, though, so I get to keep the snail! 

Our clematis (2 plants) is blooming wonderfully this year!

Have a great weekend everybody!  Thanks for plowing thru all the photos, I should blog more often and make these posts shorter, sorry about that.  I just never feel like I have much to say so I put it off until I suddenly have too much!