On the positive side

I get to see the sheep more.
I get to see the donkeys more.
I get to spend more time with the puppies.
I will finally have time to unpack and settle into the house.

When you look, there is always a positive side to everything in life.

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,  "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future "

So three years and two months with my company and business is so slow that I was laid off. My last day is officially tomorrow.  I am getting a severance package and I  have several headhunters helping me find another job that is a good fit. 

God is good. He has a place for me already planned out. I just need to find it.

Cat Cave Complete!

Whew! I started just before 10 AM and finished about 7 PM.  I took a short break for lunch and about an hour break to make and eat supper.  My sister saw this on Facebook and I'll try anything once.  This was tedious!  That says a lot coming from me because I normally do tedious well. 

Cat Cave Complete and drying stuffed with towels

I started by taking a piece of cardboard and cutting a 24" circle.  Then I laid the first layer of color down on the first side leaving some wool hanging over the edge to create an overlap.  This is going to end up being the inside of the cat cave that is visible through the entrance. There were two layers of wool going opposite directions. Each layer was wet down with hot water, soaped down  and worked up until it was felted.

Step 1 Complete

I flipped the project and repeated the steps.  

Roll over and repeat

I only used a couple layers of color then I switched to the white wool.  It felted differently but it seemed to be going well. I did several layers of white. It was slow pulling sections of wool and placing it across the form then wetting and soaping it down to work through the felting process.

Repeat over and over again

I was celebrating at this point.  I was almost done!  I am so exhausted having done this all day long that I'm almost falling asleep trying to write the blog tonight.  It turned out nice.  I like it.  I think my timing for cutting the hole was wrong because the layers separated around the opening.  I can create a fix for that.  

Almost done!

Relaxing Christmas colorings

My sister picked up a Christmas present for me. I had walked by the adult coloring books several times. (Not adult themes! Just designed for adults.) I was tempted but hadn't purchased them.
It's funny when someone knows you so well. Although Dale asked me when I thought I'd have time to color. The answer is simple; when I'm supposed to be doing the dishes! HA! 

I enjoyed seeing the progression of colors. It surprised me to see how much adding each color changed the picture. 

Merry Christmas!

In memory of the birth of Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, God incarnate who became a man to seek and save the lost. He was crucified and was raised from the dead 3 days later, conquering death once and for all.

Nativity Scene

May your celebrations with friends and family be extra joyous!

Christmas dinner around the table

SURPRISE!

Christmas eve's - eve, December 23rd, I received a phone call fairly late in the evening.  It was Don, my soul-sister's husband announcing that there were some strange or unusual people in my yard. 

Yes, it was them!  They had just driven from Foley to Annandale to pick up my spinning wheel which had been custom made by another friend of theirs, Willard. He's in his 90's and still making custom spinning wheels.  He has labeled each spinning wheel with a number. He dates them for Valentine's day of they year that he builds them and puts his special mark on each of them. S.W.H within a heart.  Sweet Heart Wheel. 

When my father arrived Christmas eve afternoon, he found himself torn between checking out the spinning wheel and the 3 week old puppies. :^)

Someone finally decorated

It's not much but it is the first time in 8 years that I've even decorated this much. I  found two totes marked Christmas.  I was excited when I found my Nutcracker collection.  The center one in the back is the one that Dad made for me.

Mom made the Santa with the gift bag. As kids we always had the bag full of candy canes. The Sano the wall was handmade.  I don't remember if mom made it or if I made it. The snowflakes on the Christmas tree were all made by me. Some are crocheted and others are tatted.

Last week I found my cinnamon ornaments.  I wonder where I put them? They will freshen my miniature trees perfectly. 

My Christmas present to me ....

... well part of it anyway. I purchased myself a jewelry armoire. I have a stack of jewelry boxes and I was getting tired of going between multiple boxes trying to find what I'm looking for when I want matching jewelry.

So far I have moved the jewelry out of two boxes into the armoire.  It's like Christmas!  Oh wait,  this is Christmas.... Maybe I should say it was "Oh, I forgot that I had that!"

Now it is time to find a young lady that can make use of these smaller jewelry boxes and make someone else's Christmas.

Looking out my window

Saturday evening I looked out the living room window just in time to see the beautiful sunset.

My bedroom is unpacked.  Most of the kitchen boxes are unpacked and most of my office/art studio boxes are unpacked.  I had a short reflective moment. Imagine all the spare time that I'm going to have to enjoy the sunsets once my boxes are unpacked!

What happened to "Merry Christmas!" ?

I avoid stores as puch as possible around this time of year. I don't like the overcrowded aisles with people staring aimlessly at the shelves trying to decide what they want. 

In other words my sampling is pretty small. Last weekend and today again not one clerk wished me a Merry Christmas.  What has happened this year? Where is the Christmas cheer? Ray Stevens is making up for it. It's almost as if he could see what I was typing. After saying, "Merry Christmas". He said "I hope that I didn't offend anyone by saying Merry Christmas. Just in case I did; MERRY CHRISTMAS!" He finished by yelling at the top of his lungs.

That's what I felt like as I was leaving the stores.  Even after saying "Merry Christmas!" I didn't receive a response.  I'm tired of being so politically correct! Oh wait!  I don't do politically correct.  I guess that I need to say that I'm tired of others being so politically correct.

The crooked Christmas Tree?

I turned the light on to let Misty Blue outside and the puppies caught my eye. If only that blue puppy were just a little more centered, they'd be a Christmas tree. 

Misty Blue is being a good mama.  She watches over the puppies so well.  I can't believe how much they have grown. They are two weeks old today.  Their eyes are open and periodically I see them standing firmly. We only have them for a short 8 weeks.

We are keeping a male fawn that we have named Thor (so far).  Then we will have the perfect family;  black/rust, red/rust, blue and fawn.

Settling in ... finally!

I finished unpacking the boxes in my bedroom. Hurray!  After all, it's only been about 3 months since we moved into the new place.  I guess that is what happens when I get assigned to a special project that requires 90% travel.

Let me walk you around the room. My reading corner has a triangle shelf with some of my Japanese nice nacs. The chair and footstool was my Grandma Erickson's. In my cedar chest was a cloth calendar from the year that I was born.  My mother had saved it for me.

In the other corner is a doll and tea set from one of my step-mother's collections. Above it on the wall is an unfinished cross-stitch that was in my mother's craft baskets. I think that it's time to have it framed.

It is sitting next to my dresser and cedar chest which is topped with stuffed animals. In the far corner is my nice nacs curio cabinet with my jewelry boxes stacked on top.

It is nice to have my room set up. I am sure that I will change things in days to come. But it's a good start.

Guess what just arrived?

300 copies of Hugs,  Hands and Heaven Help Hank! They are available for $5.00 a copy plus $2.00 for shipping. I think that I can fit 3-4 books in one shipping envelope which will save you money. 

In case you missed the recap of this book:

Life is filled with ups and downs. George "Hank" lost three wives to different kinds of cancer in a period of ten years those were difficult times in his life. Yet from his viewpoint he says, "Statistically about half of the marriages end in divorce.  Yet I have had four wonderful, beautiful wives. " Hopefully George's views will help you get through your difficult times or interact with someone else going through a difficult time. 

It's on its way!

Hugs, Hands and Heaven Help Hank shipped from the printers on Monday!  Hurray!

Sledge!

I finally get some time at home that I can spend unpacking and I SICK! For about an hour I hacked with a dry hack. Then it turned into a bronchial hack and I couldn't find my Usnea or the Vicks. By mid morning I had lost my voice. I wore a protective mask when Dad and Pat stopped by to see the puppies. Pat told me to put Vicks on the bottom of my feet and put white socks over it.

I picked up a bottle of Vicks, 2 pair of white booties, Usnea and Collial Silver (a homeopathic antibiotic.) Dale forgot to bring home the brandy for a hot brandy toddy. So I couldn't hit it with EVERYTHING but I'm hitting it with everything I've got!

The dogs were feeling sorry for me. Misty Blue laid on my feet to keep them warm  (before I put Vicks on them.) Duchess acted as my pillow (before I put Vicks on myself.) FYI, cell phones don't take good pictures in a room at dusk when the lights aren't on. Duh. But here it is, me using Duchess butt as a pillow.

BIG 6 BBQ

You just can't leave Texas without going to a Bar-B-Q so Russ went online looking for a BBQ in our section of town with good reviews.  What would we do without the internet? 

Russ entered the address in and we headed off using the GPS to direct us to the location. Finally,  we were close! It said 600 feet but there didn't seem to be anything there. I  told the guys to turn at the light before. Then we went though a parking lot and in the far corner we found...

... a hole in the wall, trailer in the corner of the parking lot.  The reviews were so good that we had to try it. 

It was delicious!  It wasn't what we were expecting.  We were thinking a top rated BBQ joint would have indoor seating. Our original thoughts were " epic fail! " but looks are very deceiving. 

Dilemma on the Katy Freeway

I am working in Houston for the last day this year. At 4:30 this afternoon some commotion on the freeway caught my eye. There was a stalled bus in the center lane on the freeway.

Eventually several police cars showed up behind.  I had presumed they were no people on the bus. That is until a second bus showed up. Then I thought "Oh that can't be safe!"

That was when we left the office so I didn't get to see how they managed the transfer. Sorry for the blurry shots but they were taken through dirty windows from a good distance.  I had the cell phone zoomed in and then I cropped the picture to zoom it in further. 

Christmas Lights in the City

We went shopping near the city center in Houston.  we got a lot of shopping done in an hour. We went in with lists and didn't deviate. I tried to find a special gift for a special young girl.  But the stores didn't have what she wanted.

As we walked out, I couldn't resist stopping to take pictures of the lights. They are so beautiful! We have lights at home but it has been so busy that we didn't have time to hang any of them out.  Because of the puppies at home, I won't have time even drive around to see what other people put up for lights.

But what can I say? I have the perfect Christmas gift. 11 beautiful Doberman puppies!