Surprise Thursday!!!

I've just sent the kids off to school, telling them it's Surprise Thursday. They didn't ask what the surprise was, because I was being vague, and they jumped in with their own idea that there was surpriseS already happening, and started counting every unexpected thing that occurred this morning.

I've actually managed to keep a secret - a HUGE secret since Sunday. It was very hard to keep.
I'm going to spill to you, but first let's look at my fantasy thought bubble. I have photos to illustrate. Keep in mind this is not MY puppy but looks just like him, and we don't have any kittens, but two older cats....REady? here goes the fantasy............





Isn't that great???? First they play all cute, then they snuggle up and sleep together on the couch. Ok ok, it's a scary colored couch. Don't worry, ours is purple! But you see the fantasy story. Now here's the surprise. After school, we are picking up Mackie and going on "an errand". We'll end up at the Dog and Cat rescue location inside PetSmart and be taking two kittens home! The grown ups have already chosen one amazing kitten and our fantasy was to have a fuzzy orange buddy for him. Low and behold, they have a litter of fuzzie oranges ready on Thursday, so we waited. Didn't tell the kids. Sooooo exciting!!!!

I realized how long it's been since I've had a kitten! I was 19, early in college, when my Zoey came along. I was at Saturday Market playing with the last member of a litter of "free kittens" when the woman literally snuck away! I took it as a sign for me and the kitty to be together. Zoey was actually too small to leave on her own, so I carried her inside my jacket to my college classes for the first two weeks. She didn't pee on me even once. It was very sweet and bonding. I could tell she'd had a rough start, and that regrounded her. She and I had an amazing 18 years together. She died two years + ago, and I still miss her. Now I'm ready for kittens again.

The concerns: we have two older cats who are 13. And we have our chocolate lab puppy aged 1.3. I HOPE he loves the kittens and they all play together. He wants to play with the older cats but they aren't so happy about that. We''ve had a year of hissing and scared kitties. They are finally starting to ignore him and not run away!

If anyone has great tips about introducing puppies and kitties, please comment!!!

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I'm off to the studio now. I always sew in the mornings. I'm making tiny zippy bags, I'm calling Bitty Ditties. They are so handy inside one's purse for organizing: change purse, moon time supplies, keeping all punch cards out of your wallet, etc, AND they are very nicely padded, thus a great place to keep your tiny camera, pad your phone, or roll up your iPod Shuffle and headphone cords. Cute tiny 5" pouches. The challenge is that my cute fuzzy padding has been lumpy and hard to control. Very imperfect. The first three have gone as children's presents. :-)

Wednesday - Garden Day

I've decided that Wednesday will be the day to share some garden photos or tell a story. But today, today is weather BLAH in Oregon. We Oregonians have a lot of tolerance for grey skies, but this is seriously damp, chilly, and blahhhhhhh......... So what I have are photos we'll pretend are today- overcast, but not so blah.

This is a feature in the front path garden, next to the Moomintroll Garden. See the mound in the back? That's Singing Rock Mountain. I collect rocks that appear to have open mouths. They gather there, on the mountain to sing. Baby rocks next to mama rock too.



Inspector 86 doing his job in the herb garden. He pronouces the new dirt and "hen proof" fencing satisfactory.


Two weeks later..... herbs getting established, tiny celantros making secondary leaves, alyssums purpling around the place, and pinapple mint getting bushy enough to make a batch of sun tea.




Yesterday, I spent the day with THESE devine creatures. My own Mudslide, and his two delightful classmates. We took a long field trip to the awesome children's museum in Salem. We stayed together and had such a nice time. Hours flew by!

We loved the bubble room, where you can make a bubble form around your whole body! And we liked climbing inside a model stomach. We all agreed that we didn't have enough playground time. Pah!


Finally, one last photo of the day's events. Mudslide and his knightly friend poised for action.

A delightful day to be sure, and I raced home to a hot cup of coffee, and afternoon spent in the studio, making new TEA themed cozies! Oooo, la la!

For Children of the World

Try saying this to a child this week:
You are a marvel.

You are unique.
In all the years that have passed,
there has never been another child like you.

Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers,
the way you move.
You may become a Shakespeare,
a Michaelangelo, a Beethoven.

You have the capacity for anything.
- Cellist, and poet, Pablo Casals

The Weekend Update with Aly

Greetings on Memorial Day, everyone!
This is the weekend update with Aly.

News from Bliss Monkey Studio:
I'm happy to report I've sold my first Bliss Bag. It's the Squirrel Tree purse from vintage slack weight wool. I'm busily making more with their custom appliques. I like giving the world unique bags for unique people.

On the left is the Coffee Cozy: "Caffeinated Kitties Do Yoga". Laughter is good for your health, remember.....


The Grrlz Update: Poor Star hen is very lonely this week. Lacey has taken to the nest for the second time this spring. She's busily sitting on Stars eggs, trying to hatch them. Urban Chicken lesson #7: Hens do not need a rooster in order to lay eggs, but they do need a rooster if we are going to have fertilized eggs that can hatch into chicks....... So Lacey sits in vain on Star's eggs, and doesn't lay any of her own. Star spends her days alone and missing the companionship of her best friend. We let Star out, urge Lacey off the nest, and out to catch some bugs, and we take the egg inside each day. Lacey will walk around the yard for a brief time, and she's all puffed up, looking more like a turkey than a hen, then her inner egg timer goes off and she rushes back to the nest. She'll be back to normal in a few weeks.

Tip of the Week: Do not do yard work in Crocks. I happen to have a dark red pair - very silly looking - very comfortable. I usually wear them a house slippers, but being so comfortable, I forget to put "real" shoes on when I go out sometimes. I was engaged in some yard work along the fence line and put a thorn stick through my shoe, right into my heel bone. Ouch! That was two days ago, and my heel is still swollen up like 1/2 a walnut, and I'm talking on my toes. I don't recommend yard work in Crocks.



I really appreciate being in the treasuries, thanks so much!!!!

Bananas!

Why is felt food so cute and irresistable??!

Moomin Gardening

Yesterday, our package from Finnland arrived at the door! (I did a fabric and Moomintroll goods trade with a friend). We love the Finn Family Moomintroll book series, and were more than thrilled to receive some little moomintroll figures to go in the Moomin garden we have out front. I've been plotting for a YEAR how to make figures for the garden, and it turns out you can just buy them! The kids were so excited.

The Moomintrolls live in a big blue circular house in the story, and I'll have to figure out how to make that. Perhaps cast in cement! For now, the teapot represents their house.

You can just see MamaMoomin in her striped apron, and the Hemulin who is face down in his dress, doing a nematode study for one of his collections....

Holding the little blue Moomintroll carefully, Mudslide creates a walking trail, and stream represented by stones.


Moomintroll gardening .......


A sneek peek at my new applique bags. They are fully lined with fun fabrics, interior pockets, and a zipper closure. I must find a way to photograph them nicely so I can post them in my Etsy shop.

We Love Sock Monkeys

I'm considering going to my own drawings silk screened onto fabric for "Monster Boogers" and the sock monkey in "Hey Banana Breath!" coffee cozies. More unique for the sock monkey, tho this printed one is very cute. And the embroidered monsters are very lovely but labor intensive.