Good Karma

I am sorry I have been a little lax in posting lately, The truth is there are times that I want to write but I think to myself that I don't have anything interesting enough for anyone else but me to read. So when life is very quiet and boring you won't get to hear from me very much.

But Sunday life in our little bubble changed for the better. I met and fell in love with a tiny puppy at a friends house, I went to visit her a few times and each time I knew I wanted to bring her home with me. So last  Sunday we went and picked her up and brought her home.

Baby Karma

She is a 12 week old black valley bull /pit mix.  Her name is Karma.   I have not had a puppy in my home since my children were very small.  I have never lived anywhere that allowed dogs in that time. So we always had cats instead.   We still do, So now we are a 2 cat one dog family. I had forgotten how much fun and how much frustration having a puppy can be.

We started right away teaching her how we want her to behave, it is very possible she may take after her father Oden who is a very very large dog. So in that event I think it is important to make sure she has manners and is the kind of dog that we can be sure wont hurt anyone accidentally or intentionally.

The first thing we taught her was sit, and she had already learned that a bit from her previous family, stay is a bit harder for her but she is getting it.  We work with her constantly , rewarding her when she does really well. She does really well most of the time. She is a very smart little thing. I am not the only one who is teaching her, Sophie and Storm are teaching her as well.

When we brought her home, the cats expressed their feelings in their own way, Sophie was more curious, and Storm was very unsure and a bit annoyed. He let out a very deep growl and she heard him loud and clear, she backed off and stayed away.  I don't know how much animals understand one another, but I am pretty sure they understand each other way better than we do. Karma must have understood that Storm didn't think much of her because a few minutes later when he decided to exit the room and jumped off his chair she screamed and hid. After that though he tried to get to know her a bit, and decided he doesn't like her and still growls at her when she gets too close.

Storm the night he met Karma, this is not his pleased face.

Sophie has decided that she will have to  teach this little puppy who is invading her world that she will just have to learn to behave like a proper cat.  It might be because Karma has also rapidly become attached to me as her main person. I lead her pack in her mind so she is always near me and watching everything I do. This is a good thing because it has made it easier to train her and she is doing very well. Sophie has always stayed right next to me too, So for that last few days I have observed her with Karma, I am not sure what she is saying to Karma, but Karma is willing to share her toys and her food with simply a look from Sophie and sometimes a little swat if she doesn't listen right away. She plays with her by batting after her tail and then running away so Karma will chase her, then she turns around and chases Karma, they will do this until they fall down tired or one or the other gets bored.

Storm on the other hand has kind of gone into anti social mode. So we decided to leave him be a bit, and see if he adjusts.  Karma showed me that she knows more about what storm thinks of her then I thought.

A day or two after we brought her home, I became worried because she hadn't pooped for 24 hours.  When we take her out we take those little bags with us to pick up the poop to throw away. I don't want doggie doo all over my yard. So I ask John boy, has she pooped when you take her, he said no. So I call the vet and am told, if there is nothing by tomorrow bring her in.  So about an hour later I venture into my living room to dust and tidy up a bit. The living room is where storm has set up his formal protest of Karma, behind the curtain. We don't really use our living room much,  Our sun room which I have claimed for my office has a couch and chairs  its cozy and has a fantastic view of the ocean, Also you can smoke out there, so it tends to be the place where we spend our time,  It might be days before we go into the living room.

There on the floor in front of the exact spot where Storm is hiding were 6 little messages from Karma apparently she wasn't  pooping for me or John because she was sneaking into the living room when we weren't looking. She is a quick little bugger, in a perfect semi circle right around the spot where Storm was hiding were her doggie bombs, clearly she knew exactly what Storm thought of her and she wanted him to know exactly  what she thinks of him. We don't get upset when Karma has an accident, it happens, but this, this really didnt look accidental, while I was cleaning it up she was as low as she could get when she approached me, which tells me she knew she had done a bad thing, Seeing I did not see her make the mess, it was too late to try and correct her, so instead we barricaded her out of the living room so she does not have access, storm and Sophie can go in there as they please but Karma can't, So no more doggie hate mail.

The good thing is she is very smart and I like that, I also think she is going to change our world for the better and I like that too.

Oh boy I can watch people outside

Here is a little video of Karma sitting for a treat.

The monster under the bed

If you have been reading my blog at all, you know I have two beloved kitties named Sophie and Storm. They bring us unending joy, snuggles love and laughter.

 We have had Miss Sophie since she was 10 weeks old, She is beautiful half manx white calico. Her mommy had no tail and none of her brothers or sister did either, for some unknown reason she was born with a tail, She was so beautiful when we first saw her I couldn't help but bring her home. She has been brought up to believe she is a princess ever since.  She is the smartest cat I have ever seen. She has even taught herself to fetch like a dog. She is also the most loyal creature I have ever met. A trait of manx cats is they tend to choose one person in their family to claim as their person. Miss Sophie has chosen me. She never leaves my side.  Never. I can't even go to the bath room with out her, when I leave the house she waits by the door until I get home. Sometimes she falls asleep and does not see me leave the room when she wakes up she cries until she finds me. She is a little needy. She also does not sleep like a cat. She sleeps on her back , or stretched out on her tummy with all her feet straight out from her body.

 If Sophie was a human she would probably be the female equivalent of Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory.

 Even though we have had the same bed for her whole life, the night before last night Sophie noticed there was an under the bed. When she noticed this, she decided there was also a monster under the bed.

 It was about one in the morning, John boy and I had been in bed for about a half an hour. I was almost asleep , but not quite there. It was a pretty normal evening, we spent it watching movies on Netflix and relaxing when we went to bed, the kitties did their usual routine. They came to bed with us, they seem to have an rule whichever makes it to the best first, sleeps at the foot of the bed. The other takes the floor. We are not sure why they do this but they do it every night. Before they settle though, they need their cuddles, then they go to their respective places to sleep. Last night Storm got the bed first, and with a bit of an annoyed flick of her tail, Sophie got some love and left the bed.

 We are not sure what scared her so badly, John boy thinks it was him moving his feet. All we know if there was a loud scramble and scratching on the hard wood floor.

 It was so loud John and I both thought that Storm had jumped down and was picking a fight with his sister. I turned on the light to see Storm blinking sleepily at me on the end of the bed. Sophie how ever was puffed up twice her normal size and was carefully approaching the space under our bed. Her eyes were as big as saucers and she was terrified.

 If you have a cat you have probably seen the whole jump four feet in the air thing cats do when the encounter something strange for the first time.  Our first thought was that there was actually something under the bed. I made john check because the idea of a large spider or a mouse in bed with me was not appealing.  John checked and  swore there was nothing there. The light was turned off and we attempted to sleep. John succeeded but I did not.

 Sophie would not calm down, she kept approaching the bed and then scrambling away across the hardwood floor as fast as she could go.  I am 40 years old, I outgrew monsters long ago. BUT this was not normal even for Miss Sophie.

  I finally could not take it any more , my imagination was running wild on me , she was freaking me out and all sorts of nut job stuff was going through my head, everything from large snakes to big mice and the worst was big spiders, We can get really big ones here. Our second night in this house one very large one ran across our bedroom floor it was so big I thought it was a mouse when I saw it out of the corner of my eye. John had trouble squishing it, because it was so large.  I really have issues with eight legged creatures. Doesn't matter how tiny they are I can't handle them and big ones terrify me.

 Sophie was so upset but she wasn't backing down. Finally she managed to crawl halfway under the bed and stayed there for 5 minutes hissing. Yep I wasn't going to sleep...I don't have an internal off switch like John boy. He sleeps through everything. While this was happening he didn't hear a thing. It was freaking me out, even if it is all in her head, Sophie thinks there is a monster under my bed. And that is enough for me. I got up, yanked Sophie out from under the bed and headed to the kitchen, I went to the bathroom and gave my self a pep talk in the mirror. At 2 am in the dark, things are never what they seem especially when you have a freaked out cat telling you something is off.

 Sophie had already headed back to the bedroom determined to do battle with whatever had freaked her out. I went in and got her again, and did my best to calm her down. I made some popcorn and watched a few episodes of Raising Hope with her clinging to my lap. After about and hour and half she seemed calmed down and I was able to go back to bed. The rest of the night I kept having nightmares of things crawling out from under our bed skirt and crawling over me. Every time I woke up there was Sophie still trying to figure out what was under the bed.

 Once morning came she was still no better, I didn't have time to investigate further. I woke up late and was almost late to log in for work. With me stationary in the office Sophie abandoned her quest and joined me in her usual space at work right beside me.

 On my break I decided to find out what was under there. I went into my bedroom armed with a broom and a can of raid... Just in case. I lifted the bed skirt with care and shone a flashlight under there. I discovered Sophie's monster. There it was among several dust bunnies..... a sock. There was nothing else under there. As I pulled it out to show it to my poor neurotic cat, she ran away. She still wont go back in the bedroom. She will get over it. And I had a good giggle over how I let her make me lose my mind for a night. 

 I wouldn't trade my crazy silly kitty for anything. 

Hand made by me, No two are alike

A few posts back I mentioned in the ABC's of me that I like to make things. To say I am crafty would be a bit of an understatement. I have always done this from the time I was a small child. I have tried almost everything, from painting to building things out of wood, from jewelry making to sewing. Some items are a success, some (like the sewing) not so much.

 My poor husband is always being forced to listen to me prattle on about the new thing I have just got to try, and sometimes finds him self being "voluntold" to help. (Voluntold is like volunteering, except you really have no choice) He is good about it though and only complains once in a while, actually for the most part he seems very proud of my work and often shares my creations with his friends and family.

 I do make a small profit from the things I create, and that justifies me making more, Thank goodness, because I could never afford to make these things just for me and I could never have a home big enough to display them.

 Last year while looking for a new project to try I happened upon a picture of a beautiful detailed snowflake. It caught my attention and I wanted to know how it was made. I learned that it had been made by hand completely out of paper. I was instantly consumed with a need to learn how to do this myself. After doing a little research I found out it was called paper filigree or Quilling.

 I had never heard of it. I asked some of my crafty friends and they hadn't either. So I did more research and found out that Quilling is an almost dead art that was popular in the 16th and 17th century among young ladies who at the time were not allowed to go outside their home with out a male escort.  Looking for a ladylike pastime, they came up with the idea of rolling  strips of paper on a quill and forming them into spirals and designs that they glued together to make designs and pictures or to decorate objects in their homes. The result is quite beautiful. Over time, most people forgot about it and most of the pieces have not survived the test of time. There are a few museum pieces though. Here is one for you too see.

This is a jewelry box that was quilled by a young lady in 1798.

After listening to me babble on about wanting to learn more about how to do this myself, John boy bought me a quilling kit off of the internet for my birthday. Quilling is making a small comeback and there are places on the internet where you can buy supplies. The best part is that they are very inexpensive and that is right up my alley.

So I began to learn and through some trial and error I came up with some of my own snowflakes. I have been making quite a few for Christmas craft shows and for our own tree. Quilling is not limited to ornaments you can make just about anything with it. The surprising thing is although they look very delicate, they are surprisingly strong once glued together or onto something. 

It is nice to make something that no one else is making . That is the biggest problem with making items to sell, too many people try to copy your items and then there is no market for them. 

Here are a few pictures of some of my snowflakes, I hope you enjoy

I have used both white paper and hologram paper although the hologram paper doesn't show up well in the picture.

This one I just finished this morning

Well, I hoped you enjoyed learning about this ancient art and I encourage you to try creating something new today,It doesn't have to be quilling, it can be anything, making something by hand is a wonderful way to relieve stress and gives you a reason to turn off the tv and the computer. It is very relaxing and good for your soul. Have a great day and Happy creating!

Happy October

Well the one of my favorite months of the year has arrived, I began this post yesterday because I thought it was October 1, for most of the day lol. But I happened to glance at the date in the bottom corner of my screen while I was writing and saw it was only the 30th. So I decided to wait until today to finish.

Happy October!

The thing I love about this month is there is a lot to do, October brings cooler weather, but not so cold that you are freezing, The leaves start to change color, and everything is so beautiful. There is absolutely nothing like going for a walk late in an October afternoon and feeling the crisp air on your face and seeing nothing but beauty for miles around. Everything about October is nice, It smells different, it feels different and things seem to settle a bit in October. In September, the kids are just heading back to school and most people are trying to adjust. But once October comes, everyone is settled and used to going to school again and doing homework, life takes on that easy pace everyone loves. It is darker earlier too, which although is not a great plus it always makes me feel cozy inside my home.  

 One of the greatest things about October for me this year is Thanksgiving! My son Brent will be home from university for the weekend and we will be having a colossal meal while he is here. Turkey and all the trimmings, his favorite apple pie, and my favorite pumpkin. We will eat too much and and just enjoy the fact that he is all ours for a whole weekend! We will give thanks for all our blessings and the biggest blessing will be that our family is together.

 After Thanksgiving comes Halloween, for a couple of years I avoided Halloween because without fail, it reminded me that Chris was young enough to still love dressing up and trick or treating when he died. In the last two years though, I have been embracing it slowly once again, he loved it and I shouldn't stop enjoying it because he isn't here. This year I am really in a Halloween mood, I want to decorate and hand out treats, in fact I can't wait to transform my home and yard.  I can't wait to see the children of the neighborhood in all their wonderful costumes out in the area begging for candy and treats, There will be haunted houses set up to scare the kids in fun and there will be corn mazes to navigate and before the end of the month all of the summer clothing will go away,replaced with sweaters, warm coats and flip flops will be a distant fond memory. Visiting family and friends will be abundant and the food, oh my goodness the food.. There will be A LOT of food. Pumpkins both carved and whole will be on most everyone's front steps.

October is the gate way that sends us onto the path for winter, but its not winter yet so I intend to enjoy this month to the fullest.

 There are also a lot of events this month, Fire prevention week is October 6 to 12th, if you haven't checked the batteries in your smoke detectors and made a fire plan with your families now is the time. And if you do not have smoke detectors in your home.. get some. For just a few dollars it could save your life and your home if the worst occurs. To learn more about fire prevention in your home, contact your local fire department or visit Fire Prevention Canada.

  

I also read this morning that October is Brain Tumor Awareness month. One of my friends has been diagnosed with this terrible disease and it has totally changed her world, she often blogs about her journey and the changes in her life. She is funny and strong and she is a fighter, You can read about her journey here on her blog, Tumor Rumor .You can also check out the Canadian Brain Tumor site and make a donation or learn more or volunteer to help raise awareness.

Another great event in October is The Run for the Cure as October is breast cancer awareness month, this is taking place in Halifax on October 6th but in other city's it may fall on another date. You can learn more and find out how to get involved by visiting the Breast Cancer Awareness website. It is a great cause that effects so many women, we need to do all we can to find a cure.

 There will also be many craft fairs and festivals and farmers markets, as the harvests are brought in and people slowly start to think about planning for Christmas.

 I hope you enjoy this month, I know I will, may you find yourself blessed beyond measure this fall. 

Housework Blues

So John boy bought me what is arguably the worst gift ever... A sponge mop. Now before we send out the lynching crew, he was trying to make life easier for the both of us. We like many households share the chores. there are not many jobs in my house that fall only to one or the other... Except the garbage. John Boy does that because in between pick ups it is kept in the basement, and I don't do basements, ever.

 So back to my story. Most people who have floors that need to be cleaned belong to one of four camps or maybe a combo of one or two. 1) String mop
                                                     2) sponge mop
                                                     3) hand scrubbing
                                                     4) wash the floors?? I didn't know they were washable...

I am a string mop gal and when all else fails , hand scrub the crap out of it,  But the truth is I am bad at it. I am not a good sweeper and always seem to leave something behind, So I use the string mop , I like it because I can throw the head in the washer when I am done and its all clean again, John hates it, and he is a great floor washer, he never leaves anything behind.. So he brought this thing home very proud of himself, And this morning I decided to test it out...

Yeah stupid idea, it did clean the floors but I had to go over everything twice as much, going back to my string mop for sure.

So now that you have read the most boring post ever, about cleaning floors no less, I am done venting, and the truth is , John really was trying to be nice, he thought it would make life easier so rather that bitch at him and make him feel bad, I thought I would vent here.

The truth is life is pretty good if all I have to complain about is a sponge mop.

Attitude of Gratitude

Sometimes when things aren't going right it is easy to sink into a sea of "why me? " I admit I have been guilty of this many times. And then I read something online. I can't remember the exact wording, but it went something like, Happy people don't have the best of everything, but are thankful for what they do have. Its not exact wording but you get the point.

 It made me think, when was the last time I said thank you? I may have had some tough times , but I am very very blessed. I have wonderful children and a husband who adores me no matter what, I have amazing friends who brighten my day and always welcome me no matter what. I have a beautiful home which I love, in place that is like no where else on earth. Perhaps if I was grateful, the petty little things that bother me would not be so bothersome anymore.

So I began to make a list of all the things I was truly grateful for, I expected it to be pretty short, but it turns out I filled 3 pages single spaced. And I could have filled three more. Once I completed that little exercise, My whole attitude had changed. I felt wonderful. So I have begun to do this everyday and the change in my world has been amazing. The biggest change is I am finally relaxed, being grateful for EVERYTHING you have has that effect.  It is easy to be thankful for big things, but when was the last time you flicked a light switch and thought to yourself, I am so grateful that we have electricity, imagine life with out it.. Try it for a few days, Its an easy habit to get into. And it tends to rub off on your family members too. My husband has now started telling me what he is grateful for each day, and when he does he is always amazed at all the things he has to be thankful for.

When you are thankful for what you have, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, the things you don't have seem to either seem very trivial , or suddenly there they are just for you. More about that later..

Thank you for reading

Now what???

I am sorry I haven't  written for so long, August was a flurry of activity trying to get my son Brent all ready to go off to university. The month went so fast, that before I knew it it was over and my baby was all moved out.

Brent was accepted into the only school he wanted. Acadia University. It is not far away, only an hour and a half drive, so at first I wasn't worried about him being there and not here. Like most parents I spent his early years just enjoying his cuteness, and thinking that university was soooo far away, Once he reached teenager status there were many days university could not come soon enough. But as the days ticked down in August to the 31st, the day he would actually go, I found myself wishing I could slow things down.

So the day came, we started early and were there just after 10 am. He was whisked away to begin "get to know you" frosh stuff and we went on a tour of the campus, It is impressive, its like a little town all in its self. We got to watch his matriculation ceremony and then we were headed home. I did at least get to give him a hug and kiss before we left. He was so excited, and he was ready for us to leave.

Once we were home it was so strange to see his empty room, and the house is so quiet. For a few days it was almost nice to have it be so quiet. But as the days pass I am beginning to realize a few things,

The first is, we don't watch tv. That big expensive 46 inch plasma flat screen my husband had to have a few years ago has only been turned on once since Brent left. The second is I cannot cook for two people. I have thrown more food away since he left. I also did not realize how much stuff I bought at the grocery store mainly for my kid, like the giant jug of peanut butter that would only last a few days now sits a waste in my cupboard.

 I didn't even notice how much of my day was spent mothering until I had no one to mother. I miss him most in the evenings, A lot of my routine was based around him, making meals , just chatting with him, with out the activity of having him come home for the day and tell me all about his day and then go play his guitar , there is a large part of my day missing.

 Our contact is now relegated to text message and the occasional phone call. He is a busy boy with studies and his new found job. I am having trouble being busy enough. I was used to the routine with him, Now my routine is all messed up, Case in point, a few days ago, my husband arrived home from his job and was tired, as I had not started supper yet, he decided to have a nap, just a half an hour. I was a bit sleepy too and decided to join him. We both fell asleep and didn't wake up until 3:45 am. I cooked supper at 4 o'clock in the morning. Little things like that that never would have happened had Brent still been home.

No one is to blame, I just have to adjust to having lost the longest job I ever held, 19 years of being full time caretaker to my wonderful boy. I will learn to manage without him, probably just in time for him to come home in the summer.

I think the biggest thing is I miss him, more than I thought I would. But I am so pleased for him as well, He has his whole future ahead of him and if he does everything he needs to, no doors will be closed for him and that is a wonderful feeling, and well worth my being a little lost.