Girl Kitty Update

She is just doing really well.  Her mouth is healed up and she is eating dry kitty food.  She is ornery and curious and a dear little kitten.  This last weekend the neighbors fed the cats and the 3 kids just played so much with her.  She loves to be up on your lap and her purr is the biggest thing about her. 

She bats around milk lids and clothes pins.

She is about to jump through the air at Smoke.  She will make a family a really good pet.
Please help me find a good home for her.  I just love her but I have 4 cats now.  She is all well and ready to go to a family that will love her a lot.. 

Kevin's knife

This is the beginnings of a knife in Kevin's class this weekend.

I can only show the pictures not explain what went into the process. 

This is before it is sharpened.  The wood on the handle is so smooth!

The finished product, very very neat.  I was quite impressed. 

You really did a great job Kevin.

Fall in the Country

This weekend we are at Tillers International because Kevin is taking a knifesmithing class.  It is near Kalamazoo and Portage Michigan way out in the country.One of my favorite scenes is when the sky is very blue and the trees are changing.



It is a relaxing weekend for Tom and I. We have two days to just do what we want and the major decisions that we make are where to eat lunch and dinner. We visit craft brewerys or go shopping.  I was able to do some well needed clothes shopping. Here the sky was nice with the sun breaking through and showing the white clouds.



I enjoyed the different kinds of trees and bushes.



Here this house had all kinds of railroad signs in their yard.



This was pretty because the leaves were just blowing across the road.  Look ahead and there is nothing.



I just loved this pumpkin patch.  Orange dotting the field.

Hope you enjoyed, thanks for stopping.

 

Finished Pool

The cover is installed and the orange fence is down.  Friday we will learn all the ins and outs of taking care of the pool.  We chose not to heat it, it doesn't have any chemicals in it yet.  We have to get the landscaper out and price fencing.  The cover is very safe and can be walked on, it feels somewhat like a waterbed. 

The spa tub is heating up nicely.  I am very happy with the color and we look forward to enjoying the water this winter.  It should make Tom's back feel good.

Some ominous looking clouds making their way over, but nothing came out of them.

  

                                                                          Thanks for stopping by!

Pool Update

Right now the pool is being filled with water.  This water stays all year round.  It gets cleaned through the filter and of course chemicals are added to it to make it nice.  Tomorrow (monday the 14th) they are coming to remove the forms around the cement and install the retractable cover. The pool needed to be filled before the cover was installed.  Once the cover is on the lovely orange fence will be removed.  Our county doesn't require a fence if you have a retractable cover but I will feel more comfortable getting a fence.  We haven't spoken with any fence installers yet.  We want to get the landscaper to put in the retaining wall in the upper left corner, there is just wood boards there right now.  The landscaper will also smooth out the dirt for us so we can start growing grass again.  

Here is the view from our dining area/kitchen. Just right outside the door.

Easily accessible from the covered porch.  It's all compact and usable.  The pad to the right is where the Spa Tub will be and it also is coming tomorrow. On Friday of this week the man who will tell us how to use all of this will be coming to the house.  I will have my pencil sharpened and spiral notebook out......Thanks for checking in!

 

 

Kitty Update

She is such a good little girl.  She eats up everything with no problem.  She doesn't know that her bottom lip isn't exactly right.  Her chest is damp after she eats, but I am sure she will compensate eventually.  She is growing, probably weighs all of 13.2 ounces now.

Yesterday we took her outside and she had a blast running full tilt back and forth between the plants, up on the porch.  Chasing leaves, walking on everything she could.  She walked across my Ipad and sniffed it.

She had to see what this basket was all about.

Here she is stalking my wiggling toes.

Look at those bright eyes.  The antibiotic has cleared them all up.  Scroll down to the 1st pictures and you can see how well she is doing (this is day 5).  The three neighbor kids came over to see her and she loved playing with them also.  They petted her and held her and she was lapping that up.  They are ages, 4, 7 and 8.  I will get them to play with her often so that she can be used to a family with children. 

I love this picture...she was walking into the garage and one of our cats Lily was sitting there watching her.  Girl kitty noticed her and immediately went up on her toes (they are all spread out) and her fur stood straight out and she was hissing.  Think of the song by Tom Petty- I won't back down.  This last bit of information-she used the cat box all by herself.  No prompting one bit.  She is so smart!  She needs a good family and she will be in good health when she is ready to move.  Please help me find a good home for this little kitty with a HUGE personality.  She will make a great addition and bring lots of love and enjoyment.  She starts to purr immediately when she gets picked up, she just loves people and attention.

Lucky Little Kitten

Yesterday morning I was driving to work on Adams Center Road, which is a very busy commuter road.  I saw a little animal start crossing the road and it was so small I thought it was a chipmunk.  And I am thinking hurry up and get across so the cars in the oncoming lane don't hit you!  Well it gets to the middle of the road on the yellow line and falls over.  It was kind of wobbly like it was dizzy.  When I got up to it I saw that it was a very young baby kitten.  It would have surely gotten run over in a matter of minutes.  I stopped the car and hurriedly snatched the kitten up and put it in the passenger seat.  It started shaking and luckily I had a towel and put it around the kitten.  I think it had just been through some kind of trauma.  I feel it may have possibly been in a car, near the engine and got thrown off somehow.  Her bottom lip is pulled away from her gums and she has some facial scratches.  Her eyes were watering very much also.  Here she is on the towel, in her box in my office at work. We gave her some watered down milk and some shredded chicken and she just lapped it all up, injured lip and everything.  I had to position the box beside me so she could look up and see someone or she would have just kept meowing.

I made an appointment at our vet to have her mouth looked over.  He said she was too little for anesthetic to stitch her up.  She also has a respiratory infection and that is why her eyes were watering. She is a dear cat, climbs and meows, eats, drinks, plays.  This is her home right now, in the carrier.  The vet gave us some antibiotics, and special food with high protein with a milk supplement.  She only weighed 12.8 ounces and can't be more than 5 weeks old if that.  She has a calico head and a tiger body.  I will get her all fixed up BUT I absolutely cannot keep this kitten as I have 4 now.  Please help me find a great place who will love this kitten. 

This picture is from today (Day 2).  A close up of her fur, the body fur is kind of wirey.  She is very alert and loves to be held against a chest.  She just falls asleep purring. 

The antibiotic has kicked in because her eyes are not watering now.  Look at this dear little face!

I was trying to study while she was getting some chewing on taxes book. 

Taking a walk through the mulch with her tail held straight up proudly. 

Her chin is not exactly right and may never will be, but it looks like it will be healing ok.Yesterday  she was bleeding and now it has all dried up.  I must have picked up right after it happened. She must have been thrown into the ditch and was strong enough to pull herself up onto the road and then went so far and fell over.  AGAIN...I cannot keep this cat...PLEASE help me find a nice home for her. Keep checking back and I will put progression pictures on. 

 

 

 

 

 

Baking Powder Biscuits

Last week I wanted to make a batch of biscuits and gravy for the supper meal (or dinner-which ever is used in your house).  I never have biscuits from the grocery on hand but I always have baking powder and flour in my pantry.  These little gems are so light and tasty and take maybe 20 minutes to put together and another 10 to 15 minutes to bake, depending on how thick you want to make them. Here is the recipe:   Cloud Biscuits- 2 Cups of Flour, 1 Tablespoon of Sugar, 1 heaping Tablespoon of Baking Powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup of shortening, 1 egg, 2/3 cup of milk......Cut the shortening into the dry ingredients until it resembles course crumbs using a pastry blender or table knife.  Add the egg and the milk into the dry mixture until the dough forms a ball.  Take the dough and place onto a lightly floured surface to knead it gently about 20 times.  Spread or roll out to the thickness of how you will want the size of your biscuits.  ( I made mine approximately 1 inch)  Cut the dough with a round glass or a biscuit cutter.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at 450 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness. 

 

My Mom's old crock bowl.  It is just the right depth and size for making many things.  I don't know if she bought it new or inherited it from a family member.  It has been around forever.  Mom used to make cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning in it.

Here is the tasty goodness ready to be baked.

They rose to approximately 2 1/2 inches.  One biscuit is perfect for a cup of gravy.  Satisfying but not breaking the diet.  Everything is good in moderation.   I hope you will give these a try!

33 Years

Today is our 33rd anniversary. It's been fun and I hope the next 33 doesn't go so fast.

it's taking shape

What you are looking at is the cement pad with the electrical box.  This is where the heater etc. sits. On the right corner you can see that our lot goes down so a landscaper will have to put a retaining wall  because the pool sticks out of the ground at that end. 

The walls of the pool are metal, the steps down at the far end.  Steps built into the side to the right.  

On this end, underneath the metal plate is where the retractable liner will go.  There is cement poured all around the base on the outside and it is curing.  The gas line has been hooked up and nothing will be done until next week.

Thanks for stopping!

Fall Tree

I did some fall decorating this past weekend.
Brought out my Pewabic Pottery leaves and fell in love with them all over again.

Acorn

Ginko Leaf

red leaf

creamy leaf

pinecone

acorn

Some fall decorations in the foyer. 
The cool nights are great.
I see a few trees starting to turn color. 

Come back again. 

Pool and Spa

We are getting a pool dug soon.  This is the area where it will be going. 

A 10 x 10 cement footer poured over on the left side and the spa will be put there.

The bulldozer just digging away.  It's hard to believe that a pretty pool will come of this.

More progress being made. 
It is going to be 18 x 40 feet.  The depth will be 3 feet to 4 1/2 feet.  I wasn't interested in diving, I wanted to swim, float and exercise.  It will be rectangular and the shallow end will have steps completely across.  I will add more pictures as progress is made. 

Thanks for stopping.