Crafty Corner

  I have been so incrediby busy lately that I haven't had much opportunity to spend time in my 'crafty corner'. I really miss it. Since late November I've been busy with Christmas baking, shopping, decorating and preparations, then Christmas de-decorating and the challenging task of finishing off the Christmas cookies (I'm so full!). During all that and until last weekend, I was also in the midst of the black belt cycle at my karate school, not to mention working full time and general living.

But I think things are finally winding down a bit. The holidays are over. The black belt cycle is over - after several years of practice and most-recently, many hours of hard work-outs, runs and other preparation, Snickers, the hubster and I are now black belts! So now I'm really looking forward to spending more time secluded in my corner (whenever the opportunity presents itself). If I can, maybe I'll even share some of the fruits of my labor. I've recently discovered (re-discovered) water colors and have been messing with that.)

But until I get a chance to get things uploaded to share, here's a picture of my crafty corner. It's usually a mess, but as long as I can find a small clear spot to work, I'm happy!

Quack!

The Snack Bush

So, we have this blackberry bush out back. I call it the 'Snack Bush'. In part because in the summer we get a lot of berries from it and that always makes a nice snack. But really, the main reason is that it provides snacks for the wildlife. The squirrels and chipmunks really enjoy the berries. The catbirds have been known to visit it when it's fully loaded and the house sparrows use it for nests, shelter and a general birdy hang-out.

And because the sparrows use it for their hang-out, the neighborhood cats will visit it at snack time. And the other day, a nice big red-tailed hawk visited it. He sat on the deck railing for several minutes, peering into the depths of the blackberry brambles, looking for a tasty snack. He left empty-beaked. This time.

Quack!

{Drool}

I've outdone myself! A delicious, healthy, homemade, cheese danish:

 Quack!

Hobbit Vest

As I was leaving for work the other day Snickers came to say goodbye with a hug. But as he approached he stopped, looked me up and down and said, "Mom, I like your hobbit vest!"

Hmmm. Hobbit vest huh? OK

It was a moss green corduroy fitted jacket. And 'hobbit vest' is a surprisingly fitting description. It's not a 'vest' per se, but is very reminiscent of Bilbo's vest. And since he said that, I spent all day craving second breakfast, elevensies and feeling in my pocket for a ring of power. There were definite times during the day when a ring of invisibility would have been most useful!

"Hey, where did that ginormous duck woman in the green hobbit vest go? We need her to do this incredibly complex task. I could swear she was just sitting there!" 
Quack!

A Box Brimming With Gerbils

So we visited the pet store a few weeks back and were pleasantly surprised to find that they had a new litter of 6 gerbils. We'd been in the market for gerbils for a little while but were having trouble finding a pet store that carried them. It seems those little miniature hamsters (oh my god those things are cute!) are all the rage. But we had our heart set on gerbils, in part due to their cleanliness and in part due to our awesome experience with sweet little Sandy.

So, we came home with a box brimming with gerbils! No, we didn't get all 6, although the ducklings would have liked that. But we did come home with 3 of them. Little sisters named Dusty, Chippy and Toast.

Dusty is a soft dusty gray, Chippy is a brindled brown and Toast is a warm butterscotch color with a white head dot and gray suspenders. They are all so cute!

Quack!

Oreo Piggy

I'm a little behind on my blogging so I'll try to catch you up in my next several posts . . .

It's been a rough year for pets at our house. To be fair, all the pets that have passed on have had fairly long, happy lives, but it seems like they are dropping like flies all of the sudden. I posted not too long ago about sweet little Sandy. Then there were some fish who ended up belly-up. And then this past weekend, sweet little Oreo died. She wasn't very old for a guinea pig, not quite 5, but she had a rough year. Her cage-mate died a year ago. At that time, Oreo lost most of her fur, developed what we affectionately called a 'pig-bump' (a yucky bump on her side) and seemed a little depressed. Well, a few months ago she seemed to bounce back. She grew all her fur back, lost her pig bump and seemed fairly content. But then suddenly a couple of weeks ago she stopped eating hay. I checked her teeth to make sure that wasn't the issue (not that I could have done anything if it was), but they looked fine. And she continued to eat plenty of veggies. But something was going on and now she's in piggy heaven with Eleanor and Bubbles, frolicking in a huge field of clover I'm sure. We'll miss her. Guinea pigs are the sweetest little critters. Not the cleanest, but certainly the sweetest. We'll miss you Oreo!

Quack!

The Arnold of Squirrels

  We had a new visitor to our bird feeder a few weeks back. Or maybe he wasn't new. It could just be that we started to notice him because he was unusual. This squirrel had the best upper body development I'd ever seen on a rodent. He looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger from his body building days. The pecs and biceps on this squirrel were incredible! And why would that be? The poor little thing had to drag himself along by his little squirrel arms. His back legs didn't seem to work. He sort of pushed with one of them, but for the most part his back half just dragged behind him. I felt so bad for him. But he seemed healthy enough. He looked strong and fuzzy. He was even getting himself up onto the bird seed platform, although he sometimes needed a few tries. I thought of maybe making him a little squirrel wheelchair, or a sled, but I didn't think he's let me strap it on.

Sadly though, I haven't seen him in a week now. I'm guessing the weather, cats or other squirrels may have done him in. Poor little dude!

Quack!

Because What Fourth Grader Doesn't Want to be Toast for Halloween?

 So for Halloween Doodlebug was Domo. If you're not familiar with Domo he's a big fuzzy brown square-ish monster. He's the official mascot of Japan's public broadcaster. You can read about him here. And I've blogged about Domo before -here and here.

 

Anyway, a few years back I made an awesome (if I do say so myself) costume out of foam board, duct tape and fuzzy brown fabric. It's like trick-or-treating in a huge cereal box. But Doodlebug loves it and gets lots of compliments. The candy goes into the mouth where there is a box to hold it and it's nice and cozy inside, protected from the elements.

 

There are a few downsides though -
A few people tried to jam the candy through the eye slot. Ouch! I told Doodlebug if they do that, he just needs to grab it with his teeth.

It gets rather heavy when the candy builds up. It has shoulder straps inside, and when there is 10 pounds of candy in the mouth hatch, it puts some pressure on the shoulders. Doodlebug suggested some memory foam for the shoulder straps next year.

And for those who are not familiar with Domo and who do not recognize the big red mouth and white teeth as being from a monster, he may look a bit like toast. Two years in a row, the same house complimented him on his 'toast' costume.

Because what fourth grader doesn't want to be toast for halloween?

Quack!

Like a Tiny Furry Pole Dancer

 I have a bird feeder that gets regular visits from many varieties of birds, squirrels, chipmunks and the occasional rabbit or groundhog. Usually the chipmunks, rabbits and groundhogs stay beneath the feeder, gathering up all the fallen bits, while the birds and squirrels take full advantage of the area and eat from both the feeder itself and the ground underneath. Occasionally we see an ambitious chipmunk scale the birdfeeder pole and balance at the very top, but they can't quite ever manage to get to the feeder itself without sliding down the pole like a tiny furry pole dancer.

 

Until this morning.

I must say, I was rather disheartened when I looked out the window and saw that a chipmunk had managed to reach the seeds in the feeder. Not because I don't like to share with the rodents. And not because I was worried about him falling off. It's because he was INSIDE the bird-feeder, doing a headstand, unmoving, on a 20 degree morning. I thought for sure he was an icemunk. I went outside, figuring I would be removing his cold dead corpse from the feeder. Sure enough, his eyes were closed. But then I noticed he was breathing! Hooray! He was still alive.

I took the feeder down and carefully tipped it, trying to slide him out. He eyed me suspiciously and held on tight. So I shook it gently, then not so gently, trying to knock his fuzzy little butt out of the feeder. But that wasn't working. He was way at the bottom with a perch behind him - he must have squeezed past it so shaking him down wasn't going to work. So I reached into one of the seed-holes and poked his tail with my fingers and told him to get out. So he did.

He turned around, paused at the bird-feeding cup, then dashed out right between me and Doodlebug. I know chipmunks are really really fast, but wow! I have never seen a critter move that fast before! He dashed away - hopefully back to his nest to snuggle up with his chipmunk buddies, to wash my foul stench off his tail and to complain bitterly about the traps we've laid for them on the deck.

Quack!

For a Cat She's Alright

Here's the Dutchess. Doesn't she look sweet? Don't let that fool you. She's still a cat. She has claws. And teeth.

But to give her a little credit, she rarely uses those teeth and claws. For a cat she's pretty cool. 

Do you think she's actually looking out onto the deck at the birds and chipmunks? Or do you think she's just admiring her own reflection in the glass? I think the latter. She is a cat afterall.


Meow!