Just a small peep.........

Just checking in a bit. Nothing really interesting to mention other then the fact that I’m currently working on many projects. Some paying, some that don’t and some that’s a little of both. One personal project is basically I’m recycling an old blanket in to a homemade quilt. Its nothing fancy but the different old pieces of cloth make it fancy looking enough already. But nothing like some of the professional looking quilts I have already seen at my local church offered up for raffles. But still good enough for me.  The old blanket already resembled a quilt but was apparently a simulated print. Really nice in its heyday but now full of holes. For the old patches of material, I’m using a lot of my formally favorite clothing from the past many from my child hood, such as a favorite pair of hot pink with a checker board racing stripes on the side biking shorts I had when I was little. I still have some pretty goofy pics and videos of me wearing those and playing with friends. I also have some formally favorite PJ’s and or night gowns that I just couldn’t get rid of cause I just loved the cute whimsical characters plastered all over the surface. So they’re going on my quilt too.
Here’s a recent pic of my now former blanket now quilt. Since that pic I made it to the other side of the blanket. Can’t wait to see the results when its finished. 

 Before^

After^

I wonder if any on else has a favorite bunch of clothing from the past and present that you can’t just bare to throw out. Humm I wonder if Chelly has any that she kept. Hummmm!

Animal crackers in my soup part2……

And now for the rest of those pics.

 Some penguins and their cage mates.

 Some more penguins and their cage mates.

 A sunning rhino. 

 A full grown tapir looking for stuff. 

A hidden tiger. Try to find it. 

Some zebras saying see ya later. 

Animal crackers in my soup……

Nope no soup and no crackers but a lot of sub par but fun zoo pics I took several weeks ago on a 2 day weekday vacation if you want to call it that.

On the way home it was a real zoo on the highway on account of a accident some place further down the road and a real long ways at that. Then we had to take an hour or was that more, a detour somewhere in Chatham. It was bumper to bumper with long lines of trucks and a few unfortunate cars in between. We slowly snaked our way though the country side to our proper route to continue home. It was already dark by the time we got back on track. 

Now back to the pics. A two part-r.

 A dining butterfly

Some dining butterflys

  A very bored hippo in his little pond who swims and swims around in a circle pushing a moss covered log in his mouth.

  A group of goosie friends enjoying some nice grass before they fly south for the winter. 

You could hear their happy sounds as they gobbled up the sweet green zoo grass.

  An elephant, fresh out of its house and still with the chains on its feet. Why does an elephant need jewelry?

A very polite o-rang. This ape knows how to wipe her nose with a tissue. She has more manners then some humans. ;)

D-oh!

Did you ever have one of those d-oh! Moments?
A moment where D-oh! So that’s where that was and I could have taken care of this months ago? *face embarrassed* Could have avoided a whole lot of frustration.
Well it was months ago I was looking for a certain function at a certain site I have a membership at. No its not FaceBook. I don’t use that for many reasons. Anyways, I use this web site for certain services and I looked and looked in the dashboard as may of these sites call these areas of different personalized board functions and I could not find it to no avail. Finally found it today in a little teeny tiny place hidden away that you would never think to look at. Question is why do they have to do that? Ugh! That should be part of that “dash board” functions. Oh well, now I know.

Its a stretch

Its always a good time for a big stretch, to let out an occasional bit of gas after a catnap and to see what my human is up to.

Look ma, made pickles!

Made garlic dill pickles for the first time ever last weekend. I used a recipe I found at Instructable.com. I only hope its good and crunchy like a pickle should be.  The recipe was easy to follow and assembling every thing in to a jar or two was just as easy. Just that it was a little hard to determine when to remove the jar out of the boiling water since there were no real significant bubbles to let you know of a hard boil even though I had the temp up to where you would have an ideal proper boil. And yes I gave it some time as well. Guess I’ll have to find out if I did a good job in a few weeks when I open the small jar and give it a taste.

To the watering hole

Sunday was a great day for Meetso to take a break from hunting in the great jungle that is our back yard and relax by our busy little watering hole. The water fall babbled while the light from a bright sunny day danced on the water's surface. The koi fish large and small frolicked in the water causing the new addition of water plants to move from their places. A spider's web hung like a shiny chandler just above the water probably constructed last night to catch supper for a spider.

After that I when in to the downstairs kitchen and made my last batch of strawberry jam for the year. I burnt half of my hand from a exploding jam jar. I had freshly boiled strawberry jam poured in to a jar and then when I went to screw the top on tight, it exploded on me and all over. I was burning in pain of course. So luckily I was very close to the sink. So I ran the cold water and placed my hand under the water. I then filled a near by pot with cold water and place my throbbing hand in that. Later my dad came down the stairs to see how my jam was progressing and saw me in my predicament. He handed me a ice pack from the near by freezer and I placed it in to the pot of water and stuck my hand in again. I held it there for at least 15 mins or more till the pain wasn’t that bad. Then next day things were back to normal. Thank God!. This is like the 3d time I had something searing hot fall on my skin. I healed quite quickly with no real residual effects.

Strawberries on the brain.

Made another nice batch of strawberry jam just the other day and it turned out great.  I think this time it was a bit more soft which I like. But before that I went and picked some more mulberries from the front tree and park across the street.  There wasn’t much left. Kind of disappointing but still its just enough for two more batches of my strawberry jam. Might even have enough for a mixed berry pie if I make one in the future. I think last year there was a bumper crop of mulberries and that’s why there was weeks of picking. As for my peaches, I have a feeling there won’t be any. But maybe some but the squirrels are already picking the best ones even though there not ripe yet. My little jungle tiger needs to be a bit more diligent. Maybe just scare them away. He doesn’t need to eat them. I on the other hand may have second thoughts. I have heard that squirrels are quite tasty.

 Meetso my little jungle tiger watches from his favorite sleeping spot as I pic some mulberries.

 What's this I hear? A tasty toy and snack?

Yum, some tasty mulberries. Gift of the wild birds.  

 Looks a bit like Smurf berries. Don't you think?

Meetso is out of his jungle and out on his grassy plain. " I want a belly rub."

I smell like strawberries!.....

I made some strawberry jam today and boy am I exhausted. It wouldn’t have taken me all night had the counters and table been clean. Sadly no one bothers to help on conquering the filth and unorganization of the downstairs kitchenette/laundry room.  Took me twice as long to do stuff because of all the clean up I had to do. Eventually I got to cleaning and preparing the strawberries right after I cleaned some mulberries I had picked earlier. There wasn’t much in the way of mulberries but for the strawberry jam it was just the right amount.  So I finally finished one batch just before 10pm. Ugh! But at least it turned out alright. But I think it could have been better. I have a feeling its going to be a bit more solid that I would have liked.

Another pic of Meetso. I kind of hope to look all rested like that tomorrow when I get up.
I have yet to take a pic of him with his paws over his eyes looking all hammish. Its kind of difficult to do that since my camera is kind of old and the shutter speed is a bit slow for those kinds of cool shots.
Maybe by a freak of nature I’ll get a shot. 

 

Oh yeah here’s a new Make by me.
It’s a recipe I made my own based on a honey brand muffin recipe. Its called Stale Cereal Muffins.
I came up with the idea because there was a cereal that was just sitting in the pantry that I wasn’t too crazy eating as is with milk. So I thought I try making it in to a muffin since you can do that with regular brand cereal. So I tried it out and it came out really, really good. So I thought I share with you. 

 
Hope it turns out for you too. 

You can find the links at Instructables.com and my web site too.

Belated Meetso

   I was going to share these earlier but with all the craziness of stuff to do it just wasn’t possible. Now its just another type of craziness and catching up to do. So far I managed to get some clip art done, some spring cleaning but more to be done, gone out, checked countless emails, planted seeds, planted plants. 

  Still have to post a few posts in my blogs which I'm currently doing, finish some unfinished personal projects, work on other personal projects so I can have some new things in my portfolios, freshen up my web site since its looking a bit dated, make more clip art before the next paying project, make some jam and probably other things if I get the chance. Yup my plate is full. 

   Anyways these pics of Meetso were taken last fall. Meetso was in a real playful mood so I thought I catch some of his funny antics mostly playing among the blue wisteria. 

                                    

Batting some ribbon among the blue wisteria.^

 Meetso spots a morning dove near the water fall for the small koi pond. ^

 Meetso sniffing around for mice. Such a poser. ^

 Meetso looking down at the world. My favorite pic. I just love the colours and the pose. ^

 Looking all cute. ^

 Play with me, if you dare!.........^

 NahNah!......^

 Pekaboooooo!........^

  Last night he caught his forth bunny. Bad kitty! Although I admire his excellent hunting skills and it’s a great use for catching pests such as mice, squirrels and rats I would really love it if he leave the bunnies alone. Btw I usually catch those bunnies and let them go in a neighbors yard near a park when Meetso is not looking.

Time for a catch up and pic posting!

Playing catch up again.  Thought I post these up already. Its of the new baby doves that hatched during early summer. June that is. One is a male peach colourd, the other is a speckled with white female.
Sadly the female died recently after the holidays of the dreaded egg binding. I discovered the problem too late to really save it.  I tried cracking the egg and she seemed to improve for a while but the stress and probably the bacteria got to her.  Had I discovered the problem early on I would have saved her like I did with another female in the same situation.  The new male is happily wooing the females especially my one handicapped dove who can’t really walk but can fly just fine. He is always bringing her gifts of twigs for her favorite hanging nest, cooing and nuzzling her with affection. Its so cute.

My oldest dove who is about 30 years old is showing signs of sore joints mostly in winter. Going to have to figure out what natural thing I can feed him to make him more comfortable.

Going back to the pics, these were taken in June in their outdoor summer cage.
Enjoy!

Female in the background while the male is in the front.

Boy its been one those of the busiest summers in a long time and that’s not counting the current book project I’m currently working on. That’s priority number one. People and even one new friend pulling you in all directions. Its sort of like juggling a bunch of balls and you have to make sure you don’t exactly drop one because they happen to be eggs.

Anyways yeah been more busier then normal and have virtually no time to really be on line not even to do the little things. Well I am trying to write this latest blog and post it that’s an exception but haven’t really been diving in to the internet, just scanning it quickly among other things.

Only made one batch of strawberry jam and the rest of the local strawberries I had to freeze for future jam making when I can. Going to have to buy a few baskets of local peaches this year if I want to make jam out of that since those darn squirrels took every last peach off of our tree this year. Greedy little things and yet they still go and eat all of the bird seeds I leave out for the wild birds. I’ll probably freeze some of those peaches as well so that when I get the time I can jam with those as well.

Also have some personal things I’m trying to get over with since my mom has been really bugging me to do so. Yet another gorilla to get off my back but it also feels like beating a dead horse too. The personal things, well I really want to keep that between me my self and I because its well a bit embarrassing and it at the same time causes me much anxiety. But it does have to do with a test and the giver of the tests. Me and tests have never been friends. They are my enemy that I would rather shoot and avoid like a plague. Sort of going to the dentist and or doctor or any annoying thing.

Speaking of the dentist, that’s yet another thing I have to get over with but since I have all these things I had to postpone it. Not like I’m disappointed though. My teeth are in pretty good shape any how other then the cracked teeth I have as a result of eating extra hard roasted chestnuts I ate at one time. Haven’t had a cavity in years. Knock on wood.

My birds have been busy as usual and they ended up sneaking in a pair of fertile eggs under my radar. I didn’t catch them right away because of my business and anxiety over coming events. But because I found out too late I let them go. Now I have two healthy roly-poly babies so far. I just hope they don’t end up with splayed legs. That’s when the legs go all funny and they can’t walk like they should. Not fun for any one.

Last but not least I gained an new friend of the furry kind which is pretty unusual in its self. I thought I never see the day unless I got my own place. Yeah I still live with my parents and my dad has this quirky thing about him which make him hard to get him sometimes. But none the less he gave in I guess. The Meowy wheel gets the cat nip. LOL

Any how a few weeks ago well it was the last week of June on a Friday night my mom heard a noise outside. So I went outside to confirm it and find out what it was. It turned out to be a really loud kitten crying. It was apparently coming from across one of our neighbors yard and in the direction of the alleyway. I could have sworn that little kitty was caring a blow horn/mega phone or something cause that’s how loud the mew was. But boy does she have a strong voice box. So I called the little kitty and out she popped out from under some bushes. So yeah I get her and she’s all covered with leaves, burrs and some dirt. So we tried to take her in but she meowed all night in the house so at some point I had to place her back out side. We also had to explain with the neighbors but they seem to be understanding about all the noise. Luckily she still hung around and now we still have her.

So we brought her back in and then she finally quieted down. She still mewing loudly even when I gave her some food I had lying around. LOL It was the funniest thing and at the same time the most pitiful thing you herd.

I kepped an eye out for lost ads at the store and what not but didn’t see any. So since my dad gave in, we as in mom and I got to keep her or is that a he. I still can’t decide since its still sort of hard to know for sure. One the genital aria is small since she still a kitten and also she’s a long hair. So for now she’s a she unless I find out otherwise. She has long hair as I said and has both stripes, spots and is white and orange. On her back legs it looks like she wearing orange striped leg warmers which makes perfect since she’s a real jumper when she plays and looks like she’s dancing. As for her name she’s called Meetsa. Not exactly spelt that way but for your benefit spelt like that on purpose. To me she looks like a butter scotch sundae so I probably would have called her with that relation or many other names I have in my mind but this time it was my moms turn. In my parents language Meetsa is a common name meaning Kitty. So if Meetsa ends up being a male all I have to do is change it to Meetso. No problem. Now I don’t know the exact history of little Meetsa, but to me someone had to have abandoned her. Their lose.

She’s a great and really smart kitty. Sometimes intelligence can get Meetsa in to trouble so I always have to ware her out with playing with her so I had to change my whole schedule just for her. LOL But she is totally worth it. Oh and she follows me around all over the place like a little puppy dog. Makes it easer to keep her where I want her for her safety. Also she loves to go below my butt when I squat, like a chick to a mother hen. I'm not sure why she/he does that but its so cute. Anyways here’s a few pics of her in all her or his beauty. I love to get a few pics where she has her mouth open or in some funny antic. 

The following are pics taken in the first week we got Meetsa before the dreaded bath. 

These were taken a few weeks ago while Meetsa was in her favorite spot for bird watching. 

I think the last one makes her look like a sphinx statue don't you think?

:)

Ok, lets play catch up. Wanted to post about these awhile back but you know when you’re busy you just can’t.

This first one was meant to be posted sometime in April.

That darn egg man

I feel I need to get this off my chest. Not as teed off as I was a few days ago but none the less.

Last Friday my mother and I were on our way home walking after taking care of some errands.

We were walking home minding our business and out of no ware some jerks in a van thought it would be funny to throw an egg at one of us. Unfortunately who ever threw that egg threw it pretty hard that the force hit my mom’s shoulder, it then luckily bounced off of her shoulder and flew at the telephone pole that was just in front near our garage and got smashed. Now my mom sports a nice sore and now probably bruised shoulder. Thanks a bunch, losers. I would call you chicken but that would be too good of a word since chickens are too smart for you. At least chickens are smart enough to know that you either eat eggs or you sit on them. No, the only word that’s good enough for them is coward and losers. My mom takes medications and this practical joke does not help her. What if she really had some kind of heart and or other inflammation issues that might affect the brain in some stroke way?

Luckily I have a photographic memory since I’m an artist after all and memorized the back of their van. It was an older model van. The back window had lines on them. There was lots of chrome that surrounded things and the colour of the paint was a cream colour. Sort of like a beige with a bit of peach. Like a skin colour. Next time I will memorize the license plate. I also believe they live some place in the neighborhood since every so often the houses get egged. On my next walk I will look more carefully.

Over all yeah ha, ha, I know it’s a joke but its no joke when it hurts some one.

Also I know what its like to be severally bullied as a child so who ever did that better be ware.

Still over all I hope that the guy who thought it was funny to waste food like that, gets in to a situation and finally earns some smidgen of an IQ point. Maybe instead of using his so called skill for causing trouble, he might want to instead use it for playing baseball or go to comedy school and actually learn how to be funny.

*steps off of soap box*

Just a crazy quote I came up with at the time with all the disasters and rain at the time. 

Radiated "April" showers "May" bring mutant man eating flowers.

This one was suppose to be posted the other night.

Fudged the fudge.

Well I’m a bit teed off with my self. I already had one of those days where the whole world just irritates me to no end. Well I just found out that you should never make certain things when you’re upset since there’s no real way of it still turning out even if you goofed on the amount of ingredients for a dessert.

To cut to the point, I fudged making fudge. I added too much evaporated milk since I was distracted and did not pay attention. Well I ended up with goopy fudge and there was no really way if fixing that mess since I already tried doing so. I gave up trying to make a dessert that you can pick up with your fingers and put the mess back in to the freezer. I think tomorrow I’ll reclaimed it and make it in to an ice cream topping which is what I should have done in the first place. Sigh…………

And now we’re done.

Still have to find the time to turn that fudgy mess in to some nice ice cream topping.

The work never ends. Kind of like these storms not to mention the cold. The cold air bothers me more. The rain, not so much.

Well-p finally that mattress arrived. But not before waiting for a few more weeks. Boo to Teppermin's for over a month it took and I never even received any thing for free for the troubles.
Oh and the service was rather car sales man-ish too. I was also suppose to receive some cash back as well because of the original wrong order but where is that check in the mail?
Probably won't be shopping there again which is too bad since they had a lot of neat stuff.

Other then that still currently working on illustrating the book and oh I saved a little female sparrow several weeks ago. I found the little bird acting strange and flopping around the yard like it was drunk or something. It either hit its head on the window and or ate bad fermented seeds.
So I caught the little bird, which wasn't so hard to do, placed it in a cage outdoors with some food and water. It got loose several times since the chicken wire holes were a bit large and easy for the bird to come out of. But I guess the bird got the hint that I was trying to help it and after awhile it stayed put. Luckily it ate and slowly recovered. Then one day the bird was gone for good. I figured it recovered since there were no signs of it becoming a predator’s lunch. Over all it took 3 days to get out of that drunk like disorientation.

Been rather busy with working on another book in the same line of Sunny the lion cat, some vector art work and a bunch of other things. But since I'm in between things like waiting for my new mattress which was suppose to come last week but had to send it back since it was the wrong size, I like to introduce a neat little forum for fellow localvoures. http://www.wannaknow.ca/ Right now it only features three local areas in Ontario but with more interest it has the ability to extend possibly at your request. Its a perfect place to share all kinds of helpful information and beyond which can be most important to the people living in around your neighborhood. It has a nice family feel to the whole place.
New people are always welcome.

And the mattress, well I really hope I get the right one this week or else, I'm going t be one cranky kitty who didn't get that proper beauty sleep. ;)

As I wished in my other blog....Merry Christmas.
And yes as mentioned in my other blog Christmas technically lasts beyond December and a bit into January.

None the less, hope every one got lots of presents, got what they wanted and had a nice peaceful one.

Note to self; Got to get around to taking the latest pic of our nativity scene. Its always a work in progress since we as in me and my dad always add something new to it every year. ;)