PING PONG

I have a cabinet in the kitchen next to the windows.

The cats enjoy sitting up there and peering out into the yard.

There are birds to watch and the occasional chipmunk and bunny.

Once in a while the neighbors cat will appear in their window and they will have a stare down.

So I decided to put a basket on top of the cabinet with a little retro pillowcase inside.

Just something for them to sit in because cats like that sort of thing....

and apparently dogs do too.

Yesterday as I sat at the table "pinning" things on Pinterest on my laptop,

I looked over and there's Ping.

WTH?!

How did she get up there?

She was in the basket looking out the curtains.

I picked up my phone and said her name "PING"! and took this pic.

Yep, Ping once again, living up to her full name of Ping Pong.

She probably bounced up there.

HALLOWEEN PUMPKINS

A couple of weeks ago one of my co-workers brought in some pumpkins for whoever wanted them, from her garden.
I took a couple and then went to see what paint we had left over at the clinic.
Mostly it was just odd wall paint colors but I found some white and black and a green.
So I painted the pumpkins for some Halloween decoration for the clinic.

Then last Friday a woman came in and wanted to buy them.
I told her they had been out there for a few weeks and might be getting "soft" and I wasn't sure how much longer they might last.
Then she asked if I could paint one special for her, of her dog.
She was standing there with a nice looking Weimaraner and I could envision how easy it would be, so I agreed to do it.
Then she pulled out her phone and showed me the dog she wanted me to paint.

LOL!
I still said OK and that I would have it ready for her to pick up this Monday, today.
So here's her pumpkin -

She was happy, so I was happy.
I painted another pumpkin for our employee pumpkin carving/painting contest.
I'm no good at carving so of course I painted mine.
I thought I had my pumpkin secured in my vehicle but then I heard it rolling around and when I got to work, it was laying against the car door.
Yeah, kinda got dinged up! Oh well....
Here's my pumpkin - 

SUPERBLUE

(I suppose it's obvious that this one is mine! LOL!)

MY HOUSE

My home.

A port from life's daily storms.

Sometimes I will post tiny snippets of it

but I never share the whole thing.

Part of the reason is because I do want to keep it private but

mostly because it's far from being "done" and definitely doesn't measure up to the homes on my blog feed.

I'm slowly working on it but it's taking me forever.

It's due to lack of money and also time.

I work a physically demanding job and when I come home, I don't always feel like working on the house.

So it's taking me YEARS.

I know some people aren't concerned with such things 

but I'm obsessed with decor and design.

It's obviously not because I'm trying to impress people

because I basically don't let many people inside my home.

I know it's for myself, my own satisfaction and  the feeling of peace as I step inside the door to my private space.

Lately I feel like it's creating me stress.

Stress, because I've been a bit overwhelmed emotionally lately

(I'll share at a later date)

and it's been a struggle to just maintain order.

And also I'm having stress because I have a friend I recently reconnected with, after decades

and who wants to come to my home. 

I've said we should meet up for lunch but this friend is constantly requesting to meet Ghost

and Blue and....

asking how many pets I have 

and.....

I don't feel like it's mean spirited at all but it's freaking me out.

I've seen images of this person's home

and I'm thinking I could fit my house into the foyer of hers.

and...I don't want to be judged, critiqued or whatever.

I'm not saying she would necessarily judge me but we are now from two entirely different worlds.

This is my refuge, my safe place

and I don't need the pressure.

Some day I hope to have my house to a point that I won't be self conscious about every little thing

but it's not there yet.

I've tried to nicely convey my thoughts

and truly I don't understand why there is such a need to come here.

I've had been working hard on my home

but right now I just want to stop.

Relax and mess it up with art stuff.

It's nice that technology has enabled us to reconnect with people from our pasts

but hermits like me, are hermits for a reason.

That being said...

I love having people like my niece Lily over.

She comes over and flops down in my big chair and chats.

She opens my refrigerator and doesn't comment on the items inside but just grabs some cheese to munch on.

She eats the Halloween candy that's sitting on the shelf with my art supplies and

she looks at things I'm working on and gets excited.

She joins me on the patio and helps me scoop poop

and plays with my dogs.

She doesn't seem to notice that I still have sample paint colors painted on the wall in the kitchen

or that the bathroom still doesn't have the wallpaper done.

I've had other people who have come over and asked me to put my dogs outside

as they excitedly jump up. I've told them that my dogs are just happy to see them and will settle down in a minute

but I can feel my shoulders tense tight and I feel uncomfortably as their eyes scan around the room taking in the chaos.

I hear myself explaining how I'm doing laundry or working on a project or.....

The thing is, when you live in a teeny tiny house where when you walk in and you are instantly in the living room that turns into the kitchen that turns into the laundry room...

Well, yeah. It's all THERE

right in front of you.

Sigh....

So that's just a tiny bit of the stress that's been bugging me.

I'm tired of it.

I'm tired of defending why this or that isn't done.

I'm tired of saying I have no extra dollars.

I'm tired of having no energy.

I'm tired of people feeling sorry for me.

I'm tired of feeling like I must spend my time on projects on the home when I just want to work on my art/books.

and I'm REALLY tired of people asking how many pets I have and making jokes that I live in a zoo.

All my pets are very well cared for.

I make sure they have what they need even if it means I buy the special food for them and eat cereal for myself.

Besides, I love cereal.

It's easy for me to complain here but hard for me to convey that to the people who don't even realize how much their comments and requests stress me out.

So... I'm really thinking hard about how to deal with THIS

because I have some OTHER things going on that I have to figure out too.

My usual method is to pull out my big scissors and cut the ties, the strings that reach out to tie up my thoughts.

OK, I've got that off my chest!

and here's a photo I found over HERE.

Funny that I love white so much but this just jumped out and grabbed me.

It's how I truly want my home to be.

Warm, safe, comfortable and private....

and no concerns about keeping up with the Joneses, or whoever.

16 seconds of BLUE

So much has been going on.
Stuff that is better that I don't post on the Internet.
Problems at work.
Disagreements, misunderstandings and MAJOR STRESS,
but it's all been resolved so I'm just "LETTING IT GO".
Wiping it from my mind.
Starting fresh....
sigh.
But hey, here's 16 seconds of Blue!

BODY HEAT

I've been really looking forward to Fall.

I love the Autumn colors 

and the cooler temperatures.

Yesterday when I woke up it was 58 degrees in the house

and 39 outside!

I refused to turn on the heat.

I grew up with a Dad who would say -

"Put another sweater on if you're cold!"

So we toughed it out because temps are supposed to climb a little bit.

In the meantime, the critters were using body heat to stay comfy.

Hattie is in the back, Raini in the middle and Louie snoozing in the front.

Then Ghost crawled in...

Pretty soon Mimsy walked up,

"Is there room for me?"

"NO!" they all grumbled.

"Sure there is!" exclaimed Mimsy

She climbed in - "I'll just sort of circle in right over here..."

"Oh Lord! This is ridiculous! I'm outta here!" said Ghost

Mimsy smirked with satisfaction as Hattie noticed the camera and posed.

Louie woke up "I can't breathe! Someone's on top of me,!"

Raini sat up, saw Nora and said "OH NO!" 

"I'm leaving before SHE tries to get in here!"

And then I said "Want to go outside?"

and everyone except the cats did.

YESTERDAY

was Poppy's birthday.

She's six.

She's been mine for..two or is it three years?

I don't really care how long she's been here,

I prefer not to even think about that except to wish she had been here her whole life.

It was hard for me to imagine anyone giving her away. I know I could never do it.

But when she was given to me, her then mom said she was a very picky eater and most times just wouldn't eat.

She also said that Poppy refused to come out her kennel and be with their family.

She said she'd take her out and she would run right back in and just sit there.

Hmmm.

She eats just fine here. In fact she runs up to me and gives me one or two tiny little "barks" in the morning

and then again in the evening, that clearly says "Where's my food?"

I used to put her in her kennel to eat and she would hurry so fast and then bark to be let out, that sometimes she would throw up.

Now she just waits for her turn to eat in the laundry room.

I feed Blue first, by himself.

And then I feed Jimmy and Nora.

Then the rest of the little ones

and lastly, Poppy, Claude and ancient blind Rosie.

They get the "special" little teeny tiny dog bites food.

Those three eat very very slow, so that's the reason they eat last.

Poppy likes to take a piece of kibble out one at a time and place it on the floor, look at it and then place another and another.

She's like a kid with M & M's, sorting them out by color.

She does it at every meal and then she goes back and eats them.

Sometimes Rosie will stumble upon one and eat it and Poppy will stand there and just look at her, kinda stunned

and then she will hurry and go get another piece.

And Claude? He tiptoes between the girls, takes a mouthful and backwards away and munchies.

Back and forth he goes

It's like a well choreographed little dance.

And the thing that really gets me about Poppy is how, somehow...

by some miracle, she has helped heal my heart after my Ruby's passing.

Just looking at her little face or feeling her tiny little body pressed against my shoulder as I drift off to sleep,

suddenly makes it very clear why she didn't fit into her previous home

and was meant to come live with me.