A rose for Princess

Not as beautiful as she.

The rose bush we planted in memory of Princess opened it's first bloom today. It's hard to believe it has been 21 days since she died. It's a Melody Parfumee and it has a good smell.

We miss her.

Kisses.

Happy New Year

Now that the holiday madness is behind us I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years day.

Best gift ever from my husband!

 Mine was filled with family and I loved it. On Christmas Eve we had a wonderful dinner at the in-laws and the food was almost as good as the company. On Christmas morning we went back there to open gifts and I got to help make breakfast. It was a great time and I almost didn't want to leave. For the evening we went to my brother and his family's home for dinner. Even my sister and Lacey my niece were able to join us! The kids gave us gifts of pictures they had made themselves and my nephew Adam gave me some BBs for my sling shot in a paper basket, Nathan gave me a drawing of a bunny and Emily had snowflakes she had cut out. I don't think I could ask for a better Christmas. I hope yours was just as wonderful!

The weather forecast was crazy for New Years day! I went to sleep with visions of riding in the snow. Sadly the snow was gone when I got up, but Sylvia and I enjoyed a few puddles on the way to work yesterday. My dear husband had gotten me some new gloves and they rock! No more frozen fingers. Today seems colder.

Weather forecast.

It's going to be a great year! I hope yours is too!

Princess says Happy New Year! (or meh)

Getting Back To Normal

With all that's been going on here I've been crazy busy. It's my own fault though, I'm the lunatic who decided to rearrange the house and revamp my etsy shop. The house is done, but I still have about 200 photos to edit and choose from. On the plus side my husband has finally found the time to help me learn my camera. I got it when I closed my salon, and read the manual, but I was having trouble figuring out the features. It's a green Fuji Film XP50.
I made it a strap pad so I can carry it with me without cutting my throat and I've been taking shots nonstop. No more annoying iPhone photos!

It was once a sweatshirt arm.

It's very soft.

I've gotten all the jewelry done and start on the painting's tomorrow. This will be the third time I've taken all these. but they are much better now. Still a lot to learn though.
I've been riding my bike more now that I have a bit more time and saw this yesterday morning.

It's the sunrise. I still get up early, and it's a good thing because it's getting hot here already.

The moon looks great!

This is Herman, he lives on my porch and eats ants and the bread I throw out for the birds. 

Mostly I've been keeping busy. It's weird having 2 extra hours to fill now that Zelda is gone. I really miss her and Casey; it's not the same here. Writing feels weird without Casey running on the desk. Painting is different without Zelda smacking my legs every once in a while.  I can't make myself sleep in past 5:30 but I'm getting more productive about it. Zelda wasn't sick long and it amazes me how fast you get used to things. Princess is pissed I threw out the box she slept in. She wanted it, so next Costco trip I'll have to get her one. 

A Great Way To Start The Day!

I've never used a saddle this small before and it was interesting! We went for a short ride today because that's all I could handle. I'm still a little scratchy but I had to try out the new saddle.
So far it's about as comfortable as my old one, but I need to make some adjustments. I raised it half an inch when I installed it but I need to raise it more and adjust the tilt a bit down.
I'm amazed that it felt as good as it did with it not being adjusted correctly and not broken in. I can't wait to see how it does later on when it's properly set up and the leather has softened a bit.
It was a short trip, but we made it to the local park and that was a great place to take a break. The grass is starting to turn green and it was beautiful out. I really like this park because of the colorful tables and how clean the neighbors keep it. It's a great place to sit and read in nice weather.

Remember this table from this post?

I only had to stop once on the way back to catch my breath and this lovely bench was there for me. I like how the color sets off Lucy's deeper blue.

A nice place to watch traffic go by.

When I got home Princess was waiting to tell on the other cats and demanding to know where I had been. She also wanted more kibble now!

It was a great way to start my day!

It's good to come home to a smiling face, isn't it?

Princess Caught a Mouse!!!

The other night I was dozing in my bed when I got to have a new experience. I had the window open to the back room so Princess (the cat in my photo) could come in. My cats don't go outside, but the backroom is the next best thing and they all love it.
   I felt her land on the bed and was slowly rousing when she walked on my chest, normally she just runs for the door to be let into the rest of the house. I opened my eyes and there was a tiny slobbered on mouse! I thought it was dead, but it soon ran at my face. Poor thing was only about 1" long and had to be a baby. Princess pounced and picked up in her mouth. She was chirping the whole time. She's such a proud cat, and this was new for her. She was also very gentle, I don't think she wanted to hurt the little thing. She just stared at me with the tail sticking out of the side of her mouth and I could see it moving.
   I reached over the side of the bed and grabbed the first thing that I could, an old shopping bag that I use for trash. I dumped it and got it around Princess' head. Thankfully she spit out the mouse to yell at me and I let her head go. Now I had a tiny mouse in a plastic sack and a pissed off cat. By some miracle the mouse was still alive, I really don't think she was going to hurt it, but it was soaking wet and terrified.
     I got my clothes on as fast as I could; the last thing I wanted was to kill it in the bag. Princess tried to trip me when I opened the door, she was yelling the whole way to the front door. The mouse was scrambling around trying to get out of the bag. We must have been a sight.
   I went off the porch and opened the bag thinking the mouse would run away. Of course not, it just stayed there looking scared, but there was no way I was taking it to the back room. I shook the bag gently and it just looked at me. After a few minutes of staring I did the mean thing and dumped it out onto the ground. Then It finally ran off. I hope it's safe out there somewhere.

Not the actual mouse, just a look alike I found on Wikipedia. Cute little thing.

   Now I need to find the rest of its family and gently evict them, that's going to be fun. Cute little thing though. I now check all the cats mouths before I let them in from the back room, and there's no more bedroom window for them either.

A New Start

I'm starting another blog to get a fresh start. It's really exciting to start a new enterprise like this. Here's to fresh new beginnings!