M&M Monday

Outdoorsy Girls

Whenever I say, "Do you girls want to go out?" Tabby Bobcat can be snoozing on the other end of the house, and she'll be the first at the door.

Tabby leads the way down the ramp; Maggie follows.

The morning light in this pic is extra-delicious. Sweet Maggie by the clothesline.

She ventures off a bit farther than Millie. Sometimes Millie will join her.

Not this time, tho. This is usually as far as she goes; near the woodshed.

My sweet Millie.

You can't tell, but Tabby Bobcat is behind the base of the forsythia bush there. And poor bush; she has bent some of the lower branches and played with them. She also plays with the rocks; throwing them up with her front paws.

Of course, by the time I switched angles to get a pic, the Kodak Moment was gone!

One of Maggie's other spots.

Another favourite spot of Maggie's by the wood shed.

Whereas the porch is Millie's domain.

We interrupt this M&M Monday for a Tabby Bobcat Special:

This is where Tabby likes to hang out, when she's not accosting the forsythia bush.

Couldn't resist. She's just so stinkin' CUTE.

Back to our regularly scheduled M&M Monday:

Notice the Gluten Free pasta I dropped on the runner? Maggie trotted in  & I thought, "Oh, good. She'll clean it up for me. She sat down next to it . . .

And was completely indifferent.  "MEH."

Perhaps Millie would like some GF Pasta?

But no! Not really all that interested.

Huh?

Back inside . . . 

Tabby on the coffee table. Millie says Hullo.

These are the pix from the the Big Download of 988 photos off my camera. I've been having trouble downloading. I have some wonderful springy pix for next week--I hope!  The girls have really enjoyed being outside more, except as I write this, the wood stove is fired up & roaring with the cold snap. 

I had an interesting experience with Millie this week. She gets panicky when she slides off her bed and can't get back up. Well, without even thinking, I went behind her and lifted up her lower back and positioned her back on her bed. There's NO WAY I could have done that when I first got her. She's the reason for the duct taped runners down my hall. One ferocious warning growl & snap at my hand and I never tried to lift her again--until this week. And she was OK with it. And then--THEN!  I went out the front door and when I came back, she was lying down on the bare floor. *sigh*  Again, this is why I have beds, rugs, & carpets covering the floor because it's slippery and if she gets stuck on there, it's a whole production to get her back onto a textured surface. Except. When I came in & walked to the carpet, she started to get up, but hesitated. I said, "Come on, Mil." And she did. I guess she's feeling safer an more secure.

Years ago, when I was studying with the very-brilliant Eric Jensen, he told of an experiment done with dogs where when they walked across a certain part of the floor, they got little shocks on their feet. (Horrible, I know). They only did it once or twice and then turned the shocky thing off, but the dogs continued to avoid that area. (I know. Wouldn't you?) So then they would walk the dogs over the area to show them that they wouldn't get shocked. How many times did it take before the dogs would voluntarily walk over that area? Can you guess? 25? 50? 100? 

It took 200 times before they felt safe again. Eric was using it as an illustration of learned helplessness, where a child has the ability, but has been conditioned not to respond or perform. (I had a student like that when I was teaching first grade. Repeating first grade for the third time, he was perfectly capable but just sat there like a lump; whistling way beyond passive). Anyway, my point is that it takes time to build new neuro-pathways to create a new habit. It takes practice--and especially if there is an intense emotion attached to it, like fear. I could say this is about Millie, but it's also about me. It only took one warning snap in the beginning of our relationship for me to want to avoid lifting her up. Ever.  But in the meantime, I have massaged and Reikied her almost every day; especially her lower back. So she trusts me to touch her gently and she knows I'm not going to hurt her. So maybe it was really me needing to unlearn a fearful pattern? Hmmm . . . and Millie was waiting for me.

Day of Rest

Mum came for a vizzie on Thursday & we were surprised to see snow up on top of the mountain, but not here in the valley.

Up toward the right. See? [Click on photo to see]

But then I awoke this morning to find this:

I guess the weather people with their Storm Watch were sort of right. Not the 3 inches reported, but a nice frosting.

View of clothesline & driveway. *sigh* Looking FW to those breezy laundry days!

Almost empty wood shed.

View off the back porch.

Snow bird in the hummingbird tree.

Woodpecker at the bird feeder.

Back porch door. Xmas Fa la la la decals add a sense of whimsy & a touch of Xmas cheer year round. [Read with HGTV home decor show voice over]

View out kitchen window yesterday.

View this a.m.

View from living room yesterday.

View from LR this a.m.

Tabby Bobcat paw prints.

Snow laden Forsythia.

I bet the forsythia is surprised!

Feelin' a bit frostay.

Perfect day to have the *twinkle* lights on.  :-)

M&M Monday

In the Office

Maggie comes in to find Tabby Bobcat on her bed.

And settles in on the floor.

Here's Millie on the floor because . . .

Tabby is on the bed.

*sigh*

Tabby looking ferocious, but she's actually just yawning.

Brother Atlasta tells a story from a few years ago that he was backing the car up in the driveway. He asked his wife where the cat was. (Named Fraidy. Get it? Fraidy Cat?) She says, "Fraidy's out of the way. Just chillin'." Brother Atlasta looks over and there's Fraidy doing this:

Just chillin'.

Zzzzzz . . . .

Tabby is not choosy about which bed she usurps.

Note the bedroom slipper near Maggie. She brought it in with her from the bedroom.

*yawn*

Zzzzzz . . . .

Zzzzzz . . . .

All is quiet and well.

HAPPY St. Patrick's Day!

I'm  reposting [a.k.a. recycled hairwash day] a labyrinth design I did a few years ago, "Labyrinth o' Luck," based on a 4-leaf clover. Below is a template for the labyrinth:



There are a couple variations. The first one I did on cardstock and used graphite paper to trace the image. Then I applied the dimensional paint (I use Scribbles). I mod-podged a real 4-leaf clover in the center. I used a gloss varnish for the finger path, and then used gold sparkle paint around the labyrinth. Then I glued it to the cover of a journal.


My favourite way of creating finger labyrinths is to use regular copy transparency sheets (for an overhead projector). I put the labyrinth template underneath and trace over with the dimensional paint. It dries in a few hours. Then you can apply that to a note book, journal, etc.
On this one, I painted the cover of the journal with acrylic paints, and then put the labyrinth on top when it dried. I used a metalic marker for writing.


This is my favourite! Glow-in-the-dark dimensional paint, great fun at night. Also, the dimensional part adds a nice kinesthetic feel to tracing the labyrinth with your finger. You could also close your eyes for a different experience. This one is on a transparency sheet and I put it over a pretty piece of shimmery paper I got from Michael's. I've also used wallpaper to cover notebooks, steno pads, etc. and then the transparency sheet goes right on top.

Luck = preparation + opportunity

P.S. Here's a link from Barbara Martin, with some lovely ideas for creating a Lucky Labyrinth garden. Go see. And thanks, Barbara! :-)

P.P.S. Irish saying: May those who love us, love us. May those that don’t love us, may God turn their hearts; And if he doesn’t turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so we’ll know them by their limping.  

M&M Monday

The Adventures of Maggie & Tabby Bobcat

This is how Tabby tells me she wants to come in the house:

Just hangin'

Going to the watering bowl.

Maggie gets very growly when she sees Tabby at the water bowl. She doesn't drink from that one, she has her own personal small bowl. But that doesn't stop her from grumbling.

Millie pretty much ignores the cat.  "We don't like cats."

Tabby has a favourite box in the hall linen closet. Off she goes.

Zzzzzzz . . . .

I've moved my work back to my office. And I moved a coupla dog beds in . . .

um, for the cat?

Maggie claims her bed.

But Tabby doesn't seem to mind.

Because she's a CAT.

Millie slid off the round bed onto the part of the slippery floor and it took a bit of finessing to get her back onto the carpet. So I put the extra bedding on the floor . . . 

Zzzzzz . . . .

Hullo.

I got M & M some Mercola dental bones. Millie eats them like candy . . .

Nom nom nom & wolfs them down.

Maggie licks hers and never actually eats them!

She just takes it with her wherever she goes . . .

. . . and sits there.   :-)

M&M Monday

Last night it snow-rained. Here's Millie coming up the ramp from her morning outing:

Maggie plops down and stays awhile.

I have other photos, but they are not uploading. So will have an extra-awesome post next week. Stay tuned for The Adventures of Maggie and Tabby Bobcat.