A goodbye and a hello...

It's been quite some time since I posted. 

 I'm afraid I have a sad update on our sweet Midgie girl.

 We adopted her on August 28, 2016. She was 10 years old. Silly me assumed she would be with us for at least six years since most of our cats have lived to be 16.

That was not meant to be. She got very sick in May and test showed she had severe kidney disease. Despite ours and her Vet's best efforts, in less than a month's time we had to have this little beauty put to sleep. It had become clear that no treatments or fluids or medicines were going to help her and she was clearly not enjoying her life here on earth any longer.

She is now in the arms of the angels, but will always live on in our hearts.

Truthfully, I didn't know when, or even if, I would ever adopt again. It is just so hard when we lose these beautiful, furry companions.

 After Midgie's passing my aunt, who is a huge animal lover, sent me the most beautiful condolence card, kitty magnets (including a black one), and a paperweight with the most beautiful sentiment. The note inside the card she sent encouraged me not to wait to adopt again. She reminded me that there are so many kitties in shelters waiting for homes, and that adopting another cat would in no way lessen my love for Midgie or her memory; rather, it would be a beautiful tribute to Midgie, also a shelter cat, to give another shelter cat a home.

So the search began. And then ended.

I spotted this handsome guy and made arrangements to visit him on July 7th, which was my Dad's birthday. I took that to be a good sign.

Meet Mr. Buffy!

Enter this boy, a 10 year-old buff-colored kitty who'd had a very, very hard life. This sweet guy was found as a stray and needed a lot of loving care to get him looking this good. He had to undergo several hours of anesthesia to shave his extremely matted fur. In addition, he was missing half of his teeth; and the teeth that he did have left were so infected and abscessed that they all had to be removed. As a result, his little tongue sometimes hangs out of his mouth. And if all that wasn't enough, he was FIV+.

This is a photo of poor Buffy, taken before he was rescued. Somebody was putting out cans of cat food for him so he could at least have something to eat. This photo was taken in the dead of winter, which can be brutal here in New England. 

Well, after going to the shelter and meeting him, it was a done deal. 

My heart melted for this boy and all he had endured in his life.

These are some of the first photos I took of both Midgie and Buffy when they came to live with us. It was like deja vu. Both adopted my studio office as their home base, and both Midgie and now Buffy plunk themselves down next to my chair and stare up at me when they want to get my attention. It's almost like Midgie was channeling through Buffy.

 And just like my Midgie in the very first photo, Buffy's favorite place to be is on top of my desk.

Buffy and his catnip toy.

I think he's quite happy here in his new home. I think I even see the hint of a smile!

(He also has a very drooly mouth due to stomatitis, a very painful mouth full of ulcers that is taking a very long time to clear up due to him being FIV+.)

Here he is sleeping soundly on the window seat in the family room.

He is very content to just hang out in the studio, especially if I'm in here.

Now you might be asking how he and Baby are getting along...

 I wish I could say they immediately fell in love, but that's not the case. Baby is not all that keen on our new resident and she has let him know by hissing and spitting at him. At first he ignored it, then he started to get annoyed by it. Thankfully, for the most part, they just stay clear of each other. I hope in time things will improve but, if not, they will just need to accept the fact that neither of them is going anywhere! 

So that's what's been going on here! But one more thing before I go!!

Within the next day or two I'm going to host a giveaway -

These beautiful hand shaped earrings, inspired by the earrings that Picasso gave Frida Kahlo, were designed by my Amanda and created by RA HA jewelry as a limited edition of 50 pairs. Right now Amanda still has the choice of Sterling Silver or 14K Gold Filled in her shop. At the time of the drawing (one week from when I post), you will have your choice if she still has both colors left; if not you will receive the color she has left in stock. She is definitely going to hold onto one pair for the giveaway. If you'd like to read more about them, or if you want to purchase a pair rather than wait to see if you win, you can check them out in Amanda's Etsy shop. Here is a link to the earrings. They'd make a fabulous gift for the upcoming holiday season!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/561261013/hand-earrings-artist-collaboration-with?ref=shop_home_active_7

I'll be back soon with the give-away!

Donna

Embracing Halloween minimalism...

 We're embracing a minimalist attitude when it comes to Halloween decor this year.

Other than some beautiful gourds and a huge white pumpkin from a wonderful Internet friend (thank you, Kathie!), the only other decorations I've put out are my two vintage black cats (who actually sit out year-round);.but when paired with pumpkins and gourds, they definitely up the Halloween aura.

The black chalkware cat and Baby look eerily similar as they stand guard over the gourds.

Pete (my Lefton parakeet) has kindly allowed me to use his cage to display some of the gourds.

Doesn't Baby look positively heavenly in this photo, with rays of sunlight streaming in around her? 

The only problem with this display is that there's no room for Baby on top of the chest or in the window...

... so I decided to rearrange things a bit to make more room for Baby. After all, this area is one of her favorite places to lounge.

I moved the large white pumpkin, some gourds, and the cast iron black cat... 

... to the end table in the living room.

And the chalkware cat and bird cage were moved to the top of the recycling center.

Okay, Baby, the top of the chest is all cleared off and ready for you!

(Not that she is spoiled or anything :)

This week I'm joining Brenda at Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday. 

Pop over and join the fun!

Donna

Birds of a feather...

... flock together, and it appears that cats do the same thing.

Baby has some favorite places to relax. They're definitely not the most comfortable spots, but they all have one thing in common... cat statues!

Here she is practically falling off the edge of our small recycling center, but it doesn't seem to bother her because we have come to realize that Baby really enjoys the company of the many kitties who decorate our little cottage! She not only enjoys cuddling up with them...

... She also assumes their poses, which makes for some pretty cute photos!

It may start with a friendly conversation...

... or a bit of shyness as she gets to know the kitties...

...but before long, she has snuggled up next to her friends (in this case a cast iron cat, which can't be comfortable!)...

...and, as I mentioned before, assumed their poses.

Baby is a very social cat...

... and she really does enjoy hanging out with all of our cottage kitties.

I think I first noticed it last Halloween...

...when I snapped this photo of her posing with the black & white thrift store kitties.

All I know is that I believe she'd miss the kitties even more than I would (in my ongoing efforts to become more of a minimalist), so it's safe to say they are here to stay!

It's still unseasonably COLD here in New England, but the afternoons do warm up a bit. We'll take anything we can get at this point!

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

Donna

The Witch and I are speaking again...

Earlier this week I told you that Patience was giving me the cold shoulder - all because I stole her lampshade hat for (heaven forbid) a lamp!

Well, Bandit lamp and I are happy to report that Patience is in a much better frame of mind these days. The pink fedora has been replaced....

...with a stylish witch hat, and just look at the smile on her face now!

Originally she wanted to wear both the mask and the hat, but I convinced her that wearing both was a bit much...

...so she finally agreed to let Mr. Lamp wear the mask.

It's so much more pleasant now that we're on speaking terms again.

Be sure to head over to see Cindy at My Romantic Home for her Show & Tell Friday post, as well as a list of all the other bloggers participating this week. Happy (almost) Halloween!

Donna

Preparing for winter... let there be light

So about the family room tweaking... There are now 3 floor lamps in the room. The shorter days of winter are rapidly approaching and I will definitely miss the l-o-n-g, sun-filled days of summer.

Therefore, I want to make sure the room is nice and bright, especially when it will be DARK at only 5 p.m. (how depressing). So the first is the floor lamp behind the sofa. It has always been there but it now sports the prismed lampshade that Patience once wore. The second floor lamp sits over by the window and bookcases. It's the one I got for FREE on the curb a couple of years ago. Love it!

The newest lamp in the family room came up from Courtney's bedroom. She didn't want it anymore so I gladly took it. It's a combination marble table & floor lamp. And although the pink, green, & white striped shade looked great down in Court's room...

... I decided to use just a plain white shade up in the family room. (It's so nice having a table next to the wing chair!) Anyhow, I replaced the striped shade with the white shade from the lamp behind the sofa...

...which then left me short a lampshade which is what led me to steal Patience's prismed shade.

And because I put one of the floor lamps over by the window, which is where the white bird cage & stand was located, I had to move the cage to the other wall by the slider. (Why does one simple change always result in multiple changes???)

And after moving the birdcage with the heavy cast iron cat sitting inside of it, I decided it was just too top heavy and unstable with all that weight in the cage...

...so I replaced the cat with a nice lightweight fabric pumpkin...

...and Mr. Cast Iron Kitty got moved to the top of the television (next to yet another birdcage!)...

Phew! Done!!! So that's the "getting ready for the shorter days of winter" tweaking that's been going on in the family room. I hope those 3 floor lamps are a sufficient substitute for the daylight I will be longing for! (Oh, and please excuse Courtney's pile of clothes and shoes next to the wing chair... Lots of sorting and minimizing going on) ........... Donna (who is very frustrated because it's impossible to edit this listing - it won't allow me to edit the spacing, make paragraphs, or even do simple line returns ... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)