Abby and Coz

The other night, my cats were acting as my personal centurions.  This is something they do often, following me wherever I go around the house.  They seem to know by my rituals whether my movements around the house signal it is their time to follow me or if they should stay put. 

This particular evening, they knew that I was just moving around in the back of the house and would be coming back out. They stationed themselves where they could watch and wait for me to return, in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. 

Something about this ritual of ours struck me as funny and I felt a need to grab the camera.  It seems that by my retreating back to my bedroom, Coz thought it meant that I was going to stay back there and he followed me.  Abby stuck to her post until I laid down on the floor with the camera and then both cats got weird. 

Their expressions are priceless. 

 

Abby and Coz thought it was going to be all snuggly time.

My babies are amazing. 

I love that Abby and Coz need to be around me.  They constantly talk to me.  Coz especially has this range of sounds that he uses when he wants certain things.  Abby has the need to procure anything that is small enough for her to run off with and play kitty hockey.  They have one job function.  They are the exterminators and they are great at it.  They are my furry little compadres.

Okay, this just sounded a lot like that crazy cat lady who everyone grew up with on their block.

Off With Her Head

While shopping at one of my favorite scrapbooking stores in Mesa, called Mystic Paper, I spotted the most enchanting dolls made out of paper clay.

I knew from the class schedules that the artist occasionally will teach a class in how to make these dolls.  I wasn't that interested in learning how to make them, but I was curious if the artist would possibly make me an Alice in Wonderland doll.

Thankfully from there everything fell into place and I received my Alice and Queen of Hearts dolls earlier this week.

Enchanting!!

How I spent My Summer Vacation...

My husband and I spent several days over the July 4th weekend at one of our favorite spots in Arizona, Kohl's Ranch. See my Summer Getaway page for photos of Kohl's Ranch and our outings.

We had such a wonderful time getting away from the heat and being back in a place that holds many happy memories.  From sitting on our patio enjoying cool evening temps and great wine to treking around the Kohl's Ranch property to some fantastic scenery at the Mogollon Rim and Woods Canyon Lake to enjoying time spent with my son Jimmy and also some fun shopping.  It was great.

The most amazing and somewhat humbling experience was spotting the bald eagle at Woods Canyon Lake.  The most surprising experience was finding a really decent Thai Restaurant in Payson.  The funniest experience was locking the club on my car after leaving the key to remove it back at the lodge, then having to hike from across the highway to the lodge to retrieve it.  The best food experience was the Rainbow Trout at the lodge.  Simply to die for!!  The best shopping find, my new amethyst ring.  Oh, and the Tim Holtz stuff I found at the scrapbook store in Payson.

The entire trip was absolutely fantastic and left us wanting to visit again soon.

Cooking Puerto Rican

Last weekend we were treated to a wonderful dinner at my Father In Law's house.  His fiance is Puerto Rican and she prepared chicken fricase, rice, salad with all kinds of veggies and fruit in it and a squash flan.  It was such a fantastic meal, that I decided I wanted to attempt the chicken, rice and salad this weekend while the experience was still fresh in my mind.  We invited our hosts to dinner last night, along with my step sons and their girlfriends. 

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I took.  The wine and the company took my thoughts away for the remainder of the evening.  But I think this picture shows off the main dish well.

A Little Fairy With A Tude

I was inspired to make a fairy paper doll for my 10 year old Great Niece

Elaina this week.  She is coming over with my in-laws for dinner tonight, to help me with my first attempt at making a Puerto Rican dish.

I thought it would be fun to give the doll a little attitude.

Perfected??  Or perhaps it would be better if she had a frying pan in her hand???

Till next time...

Lots Of Paper Dolls

I am in love with Character Contructions paper doll stamps.  The idea of creating paper dolls for my grand daughters, great nieces and even for myself inspires me to play.

I had several sets already but when I took stock of what I had, I realized that I didn't have the necessary components to turn them all into dolls.  Okay, okay, this is an obvious ploy, but it is one that I have successfully used over time to talk myself into a stamp purchasing frenzy. 

I purchased directly from Character Constructions.  Look at how cute they packaged my purchase.  The catalog of mermaid images in the upper left corner are the newest sets and are something to wish for down the road.

Voici, à l'intérieur du paquet

 

Aren't these cool?

I can't wait to play with them.

Walking On The Creative Side

Lately, I have been in a creative mood which is resulting in more pages in my Art Journal.  Take a peek.

Next up, paper dolls for the grand daughters and great nieces.

Glittering Baubles

Yesterday was our 18th wedding anniversary.  My husband treated me to Z Tejas for lunch and jewelry for the afternoon. 

As I grabbed the camera and jewelry to catch the early morning light, my husband informed me that he is just another step closer to getting pipes for his bike.  Of course he is. 

The price of indulgence.

Rebirth

This year, I had several "rebirths" in my garden.  This year's freebies are sunflowers, alysum, snapdragons, and stock.  Talk about getting your money's worth. 

Once again, I was compelled to snap photos of the sunflowers.  It truly amazes me to see a mandala in nature such as the one inside this sunflower.  I find myself staring and tracing the pattern.

Click to enlarge the picture below.  You can see hundreds of tiny flowers opening.

From my perspective, I can understand how mandala's were used as religious symbols throughout civilzation. 

Nature's Art

This is a new plant to the garden.  Sadly I can't remember the name of the plant, but it is a type of Iris and it likes a lot of water. 

The payoff is this beautiful flower.  The flower only lasts one day, but the shoot (stem) has produced 3 blooms so far.  I am hoping this plant will establish itself and produce more of these beauties.

Snow on Superstitions

We had what is probably our last winter storm of the season today and it brought snow to the mountains surrounding the Valley of the Sun.  When I noticed snow on Superstition Mountain, my first thought in was that I should go home, grab my new camera and head out to take pictures. 

  

I am so glad we did this today.  It was a really nice way to spend the afternoon.