New Items - Tea Wallets

With all these scraps of fabric here, had to find something useful to make with them. And some are such cute prints too so we came up with tea wallets! Great to carry your teabags and sugar/sweetener with you so they stay clean and nice in your purse. They'd make great gifts for your favorite tea lover too. And now through Cyber Monday, shipping is free to anywhere in the world!

Recycled, repurposed, etc...

So we've been madly working to get some stuff together for The HodgePodgery - a new shop opening up in downtown Harrisburg. All kinds of ideas - just need to see what works and what doesn't. One thing is some reusable coffee sleeves - made from odds and ends of old clothing, decorator fabric samples, scraps and vintage buttons. I think they're coming out kind of interesting looking - quite a variety. Hopefully they'll sell : ) I've stopped by a couple times at the shop now - it's looking very nice - the paint colors are great - love the odds and ends of vintage pieces for display and stuff. Ok...back to the sewing machine...

More on the critter...

So...the little critter continues to keep me busy. We've had a couple trips to the vet - once for a check up and another to check on some intestinal issues. Some antibiotics and we seem good to go. She's getting much better on her feet - scampering around the floor when we let her loose to play - she can move pretty fast these days. Got a giant box that gives her plenty of room to play but keeps her safe since she's still so small. Going on six weeks old now. I'm proud to say she's using the litter box all on her own, but solid food isn't quite all that appealing yet. We're working on that one. She's got this tube-y toy thing to crawl in and play in and the neighbor gave her this little stuffed yellow monkey that she bats around. And my niece got her this green floppy stuffed dog when she was here visiting - she loves to curl up next to it, and even under it if she can. She frequently sticks her head underneath it and all you can see is her little backside sticking out. Hopefully in a few more weeks she'll be weaned and ready to find a good home.

Kitty Update

So far the baby kitten raising is going well. She's growing and getting feisty - it's getting to be a challenge when trying to feed her. We have a battle over the bottle - she claws and gets all fussy periodically...trying to get her to calm down and nurse quietly is not that easy sometimes. Cripes. She's a bit more active now but she still sleeps quite a bit - she creeps around on the floor and she tries to nibble fingers and even faces but she doesn't really have teeth yet. Guess we'll have to come up with some kind of containment larger than the carrier - it will be soon time to set her up with a little pan of litter to get used to, and some food/milk mush so she gets the idea of eating other than just out of a bottle. Boy, is this going to get messy - just like a human infant. At least human babies don't have claws! The little critter is starting to remind me of the plant from Little Shop of Horrors...the meow version of "Feed Me"! Might have to call her Audrey 3.

Baby Mama

Well, I'm a mom again it seems. Sort of. One of these goofy wild cats decided to abandon her baby kitten on my doorstep. She comes back once in a while but refuses to have anything to do with the little thing. I just didn't have the heart to leave it out there to die, mewing loudly as it was, and wandering blindly around. So I brought it in and made it a nice little nest in a cat carrier. Then I went online and scrounged up what information I could find on taking care of a tiny kitten. This one must not have been more than a day or two old. Went out and bought a bottle and kitten formula. Now keep in mind, this is a lot like having an infant again - bottle feedings every couple hours or so, cleaning it's little bottom and holding it. Criminey. It does sort of grow on you though, the funny looking little critter. It's eyes aren't open yet, hardly any ears yet either...but it's soft and fuzzy and it makes tiny little purring noises. Hopefully this fostering thing goes well and it grows up to be a cute little kitten - which will need a home since I'm already up to my backside in cats it seems. Funny, this is pretty much how I ended up with the cats I have now...uh oh!

Toaster Oven Giveaway

I found this giveaway thru Twitter - it's hosted by @mommieswithcent. They're giving away the cutest toaster oven - I like having appliances that look pretty too. And snacks from Tyson too - I've got to try some of them, they sound yummy. Check it out on the the blog here - Mommies With Cents - good luck!

My lawn is taking over...

The grass is growing like crazy these days. I'm certain it knew that the riding mower quit working and thought it could go run wild and free. We did manage to get the mower serviced and all but I really wanted a bagging attachment so all that long grass didn't clump up all over. Went to Home Depot and bought what I was told was the correct item. Major pain putting the thing together...only to find out it didn't fit. Aagghh! Called the store - they said I needed an adapter. Called the company that makes the mower - they said no, it's the wrong bagger entirely. Oh nuts. Took the darn thing back to the store and went to the dealer where we bought the mower. Got a different bagger. Guess what? I can't get this one to fit right either. I can't stand it - the shop said they'd see about sending someone over to help figure out why this one doesn't fit - that works for me. Gotta love the independent stores - they're very nice and helpful. I did have to end up just mowing the yard - it now looks like a field. Might have to try raking the piles of grass clippings if it doesn't rain. Hopefully we can get this yard looking a bit better than it does - I am so not the "Lawn Ranger" : ) And by the way - Happy Earth Day! Go plant something, recycle or reuse something, get some earth friendly cleaning products...or just something to help the environment today - and keep it up!