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!