Kitties and Fountains and Moss, Oh My!

I looked over yesterday, and there was Puff, practically BEGGING me to take his picture! :)

Are you all tired of hearing about my friend Jennifer's husband Dwight yet? Well, too bad. He built that patio about 10 years ago, I think, and put this fountain in as he was building it. Hellllooo! How cool is that?!

Look above at what he just built last weekend! Jennifer and I had seen a fountain like this at a garden show earlier this year, and she had taken a picture of it to show to Dwight. Well, apparently he went right to work drilling through some rocks, and digging a big hole, lining it with pond liner, getting some weird plastic decking drain stuff to layer all the stone on, et voila! Fountain! The plan is to put some sort of patio around it, so they can sit and enjoy.

This is Jennifer's incredible climbing hydrangea, making its way up the stone side of her house.

Above is a photo I took right next to the parking lot of a Burger King in Albany the other day. Kathleen just rolled her eyes at me, but you just had to see how cool it looked! I couldn't resist. And speaking of not being able to resist, I had a little fun with it in Photoshop. Don't forget to click to enlarge these for a better look.

My phone takes videos! LOL!

...and sideways videos at that! It's OK....just bend your neck to the left a little. Geesh.

My Garden and Bedroom

Ugh...sometimes Blogger makes me nuts. This pic is supposed to be at the end. ANYway....tell me what you think of my new vignette! BF looked at it and laughed. I think he thinks tools are supposed to be USED or something. Whetever. I bought them for a sum total of $5 at a garage sale, JUST so I could hang 'em up. I could use them if I REALLY wanted to. Which I don't. Because that would mean I'd be digging holes and shoveling gravel and whatnot, which I don't feel like doing right now. So there.

...well, I couldn't resist the kitties on my bed...

Do you think he's looking out at my shed garden? I do!!

There's a spot on the top right, waiting for another vintage floral print or painting!

My lilacs smell SooooooOOO good.

You can catch a glimpse of the hideous dropped ceiling here.....wonder how many years it'll take me to get rid of THAT? eh. whatEV.

I took this pic more for my benefit than yours. I have formulated a plan for a cottage garden out front here. I've got the picket fence (salvaged from a client's home), and I want to box in the yard at the top edge of the hill, creating a sort of courtyard look. I'll sketch something up in Photoshop when I get some time. I think it'll look amazing, though.

I love my poppies.

ahhhh.....and next year, I'm going to plant a TON more tulips. I want to be able to cut them. I didn't cut ANY this year because they all looked so good in the gardens. They're just starting to fade after a nice long stay.

Caught 'im--Mr. Bumblebee! It only took three tries! :) I saw a hummingbird out there yesterday. I'll have to try to catch HIM one of these days.

And lest any of you (Sally..lol) get worried that I'm never going to finish my slipcovers, have no fear! I'm almost done! In fact, I think I'll go finish them NOW!

P.S. The ex is in town--came up with his girlfriend and his mother to see Kathleen starring in Mulan Jr. this week at school. So....the house is clean! :P (I never should have given him my blog address...I can't be snarky! Dammit!)

Red Bamboo?! Crazy Town Part Deux

Puff says: "I don't know. I haven't decided if I like it yet."
Tess says: "Why YES! The fabric matches ME! I think I'll pose with it!"

Gratuitous caladium and maidenhair fern garden porn.

I found my 3/4 yd piece of zebra ultrasuede! I could only do two of the chairs with it, so I need to hunt some more down on ebay. Or somewhere.

I love my new eating area! The table under there is an old painted drop-leaf that was on our back porch when I was growing up in New Baltimore. I "called it" from Mom's house. (My sister and I actually didn't fight over much stuff, surprisingly enough!) I need to paint it, so it can be used without a tablecloth, even though I really like eating on a tablecloth. Lord knows I have enough of 'em!

Details: Spray paint Rustoleum American Accents, Colonial Red, Smooth Satin Finish (Lowes)
Wall Paint: Olympic Premium, Satin Latex, Color: Morning Fog (Lowes)

All of the trim and wainscotting paint is Olympic exterior satin finish white off the shelf.

Don't forget to scroll down and enter my 100th post giveaway! Drawing is Friday!

Cats and Carpets

Would you just look at these two? They're passed out on the bench in the kitchen.
Neither one of them even flinched when I ran to get the camera and started clicking. I think it's so cute the way Tess curls up with her arm over her eyes. She does that a lot.

They are such good kitties. I love to watch them play together, and watch Puff groom Tess. He's such a good boy.

I know, the title of this blog post is "Cats and Carpets" and these aren't really carpets, but "Cats and Rugs" just didn't cut it in the alliteration department, so I took some liberties. Forgive me? This is my new LR rug that I picked up at Tuesday morning the other day--was it Tuesday? Heh. ANYway, I fell in love with the fern pattern, and the colors are nice and subtle, AND upon closer examination, I saw that the tag said "Indoor/Outdoor" hose-off-able rug! Hee! If one of those adorable little kitties has a little barfy accident, I'll be able to clean it right up! Yay! Of course, now that I've actually purchased the rug, and put it in the room, I'll have to seriously get cracking on slipcovering that darn couch. *sigh*

Then as I was rolling up the big LR rug at the store, this zebra rug caught my eye and I just HAD to have it! It's a jute or sisal, and it's awesome! The red chair isn't looking so hot with it, but the new sofa I'm getting from a friend is going to look SMASHING with it, so I'm not sweating the red chair right now. Maybe I'll move that up to my sewing room. I need a place to relax when I'm working too, don't I? (Yeah I'm good at justification.)

I opened that window for the first time the other day, too, and I love the way it looks even though the storm window is still there. I don't want to put the screen in that window...it'll dull the light. I have enough windows I can open and put screens in. This room is actually great for playing my flute right now. I bet the acoustics will go ka-put when I put the sofa in there though. Oh well. I'll enjoy it for now.

So there you have it. I was feeling remiss in not posting more pics of the house. I'll try to be better as the projects get done!

Is it wrong to covet a necklace? "Thou shalt not covet thy Etsy necklace"...lol....I don't think I've heard that one before, what with all my Bible reading and all. Double ha. Anywho...I just listed this yummy garnet and jumbo pearl necklace in my Etsy shop. I hate to part with it. I just Luuuurve it! I listed matching earrings too. I figured I might as well create something for all the January birthday girls out there. I bought these garnets around the holidays, and have been admiring them ever since. They look gorgeous with the pearls, and the little Hill Tribes silver twists I bought around the same time. I didn't have a plan for those, but they all came together nicely, don't you think? (Boy, I need to eat some humble pie or something...lol.)

Speaking of humble...here's the part where I brag about my gorgeous kid. She just made me take some pictures of her since I had my camera handy. Tess just happened to be nearby too. And of course, Puff is being his normal energy-filled self:

I'm off to the grocery store to bring my movie back. Have you guys heard of redbox? It's a big red kiosk that dispenses movie rentals for $1/night! I just discovered it yesterday, and I rented "Good Luck Chuck." You just put in your debit card, and voila, out pops out your chosen flick! I grabbed it on my way out to the car. Very cool. I think I may rent the latest Harry Potter tonight...we haven't seen it. It's a toss-up between that and the Pirates of the Carribean. Hmmm...

Enjoy your evening!

The Story of the Cat

So about four weeks ago or so, our (indoor) cat Puff managed to get outside. We can't imagine how on EARTH that could have happened. (It just COULDN'T have been the unlatched storm door that got left open inadvertently...it just couldn't!) Needless to say, Kathleen was very upset, as was I. We'd had Puff for two years, and he had never even shown an interest in going outside. We looked everywhere for the poor fella...in the fields surrounding the house...down every side street. We posted "MISSING" signs in the neighborhood, and gave out our phone number to countless neighbors. Every evening if I was out driving around, I'd be scanning the corn fields for his silhouette. Nothing. He was gone.

After two and a half weeks of tear-filled "I miss Puff" and "Mommy, I NEED a kitty to cuddle with and sleep with," I broke down and called a friend of mine who volunteers for an animal rescue. She fosters cats, and then they get adopted from adoption clinics at Pet Smart. She proceeds to tell me about this sweet little one-year-old kitty that she had fostered after she had been spayed. She said she was a soft and cuddly, sweet-tempered little girl named Tess. AND she had long hair, which Kathleen just thought was GREAT! Yeah, GREAT! (Can you see me cringing?)

So we go to Pet Smart last weekend, and there's Tess, in all her grey and white tigery sweetness...sitting atop one of those cat tree things...like the queen of the roost. Kathleen immediately says "Awwwww!" without even knowing that SHE was the cat we were going to get!

So we came home with Tess...who really IS the cutest, sweetest girl ever! She's small and dainty, and has a girly little "meow." She and Kathleen played, and then off to bed they went, happy as two clams.

That night, 4:30am. Yes, I said 4:30am. "MeoOWWWW" from somewhere outside in the dark. Again: "MeeeoooowwwWWW" "Mmmrrrrowwww!" It was a cool night, so the windows were open. "Mmmmmrrrrooooooooowwww!" I'm thinking--you're KIDDING me, right? So I wake up Kathleen and we go outside and who is hiding under the car? That's right! The prodigal Puff! We both look at each other with surprise and happiness, and Kathleen grabs Puff and heads inside. Big happy family, right? Mmmm hmmmm. It's been a trip, lemme tell ya'. Puff can't believe that some little girl has come in and tried to steal his "momma's" heart...AND his place on her bed. Kathleen has been very good about sharing the love, but there are some interesting hisses and growls and "mmmmreoerrowooeewow" chasings going on...kind of like those sound effects in the movies--you know the ones I mean--the cat screetching, and things tumbling. But slowly but surely, things are improving. If they can't be friends, I'm thinking they will most certainly learn to tolerate each other. As long as Tess stays out of Puff's food. And off Kathleen's bed. ;)