Making new memories

Hi there ~

I'm back from a fantastic weekend getaway with some of my favorite people in the world! I think I mentioned earlier that I was going to Gatlinburg with my lifelong friends/childhood classmates. Our friend Phil suggested the trip after our last reunion. Let me just say that this trip was better than I could ever have imagined! We had such an awesome time! I made some new memories I will cherish forever!!!

Saturday morning a few of us went into Gatlinburg for pancakes. The Village has a scarecrow display that was really impressive.

From l -> r: Karen, Phil, Vanessa, Me

I *LOVE* scarecrows! Fall is my favorite time of the year and nothing says fall more than scarecrows and pumpkins.

David & Phil and an amazing backdrop - from the deck at the chalet!

This stained glass window was part of the front door. Isn't it beautiful?

Saturday morning's sunrise from the deck.

Phil and Vanessa are such a great couple,

lots of fun and truly sweet people.

Even though this was only the second time I'd been around Vanessa,

I felt like I had known her forever! We discussed our love of photography (she's very talented) and knitting. She gave me some helpful scrapbooking tips, introduced me to a vegetarian version of biscuits & gravy, and has even tempted me to want to cook!

(The cooking temptation will probably pass quickly LOL)

Another gorgeous view from the deck. We were so high up we could watch the clouds move in over the mountains!

Vanessa and I always had our cameras on hand

so I have loads of pictures.

Phil, Danny, David, Karen, and me!

Danny, David, and I have known each other since first grade!

We all agreed that it is so special to have friends we've known all of our lives.

Karen and me

I wish I could find pictures of us when we were little girls - we've been friends since she came to our class in 3rd grade and Miss Draper assigned me to be Karen's "guide"

(we later took a blood oath so I guess we are really "sisters" now LOL)

Saturday night we had a blast playing Taboo! I'd never played before but really enjoyed it. Good times!

Back row: (l-r) Danny, David, Phil, & Brent

While we were taking this shot Brent reminded me of how he and David used to lift me up to get a drink from the water fountain when we were in 1st grade!

I love that we all share memories like this!

I'm blessed beyond words to have my friends, old and new

and it never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to come together with this group and pick up right where we left off!

I hope your life is filled with people you love and that you are making happy new memories of your own!

Close to home...

Hi y'all (practicing for my trip south)...

How's your weekend going? Mine is off to a great start. I had a really nice time today. Mavis and I met for lunch in downtown Burlington. It's really a pretty area and not what you might expect when you think of New Jersey. Burlington is quite historic!

It's kinda sad to live in an area for almost a decade without knowing much about its history, don't you think? Do you play "tourist" where you live? I often feel like I should be better at being a local tourist (is that an oxymoron or what?)

The main street through town ends at the Delaware River. This riverboat has been there for a while but I just found out today that they used to do riverboat cruises down to Philadelphia. I wish I had known that, it would have been fun!

Looking across the river: This house is actually in Pennsylvania. It's beautiful and what a view they must have!

The Burlington Bristol Bridge
The midway point is the state line between New Jersey and Pennsylvania

The only postcard I've ever found for Burlington features this bridge, I can't help wondering why when there are other things to see.

Mavis and I had lunch at the Cafe Gallery.

A view from our table

After lunch we went to Olde City Quilts for a one-day quilting class called Hook, Line, and Sinker

It was a great class. The teacher/owner Judy (standing) was exceptionally patient and a lot of fun. The other ladies Joan (far left) and her daughter Lynn (in front of Judy) were so sweet. Mavis (in pink) was a great classmate, I'm so glad she went with me. I had originally signed up to take the class alone and then Mavis agreed to go too. It made it much more fun for me. A big thanks to Judy for putting together a great afternoon class.

My friend Journey is always encouraging me to explore my creativity so this class was one of my ways of doing just that. I am not sure I will ever make a full size quilt but I enjoyed the smaller projects and look forward to trying some more of them. There are so many craft type things that interest me, I love taking classes to learn about them. Who knows, I might even become one of those "domestic goddesses" doing cozy crafting projects. Martha Stewart, watch out!

As you can see, today was spent enjoying simple pleasures - close to home. What simple pleasures do you enjoy?

You know I can't end a blog without a whisker moment so I'll share Dolly enjoying two of her simple pleasures...

Playing with her purple catnip fish - which she loves to dig out of her toy basket (at left of picture)

and being cute!
Have a wonderful evening and thanks so much for stopping by!

I need to pay more attention

Hi there ~

Have you ever had a moment when you think "is it really safe for me to be out on my own?" Yesterday I went to the mall that is near my house. In the 8+ years I've lived here I've been in that mall 100s of times (okay that might be an exaggeration but then again, maybe not). I was walking towards Macy's when I noticed this:

My first thought was "what a cool fountain, I wonder when they installed THAT!" The more I thought about it the more curious I was as to how long it had been there. I went into Macy's and asked someone at the Clinique counter. She said it has been there for many years but that the water is not always running.

Wow, it's pretty scary to think that I might have walked by an elephant in the mall hundreds of times and not noticed it! Another frightening thought is that at some point I had noticed it and completely forgotten it to the point where it seemed brand new to me.

I clearly need to be more aware of my surroundings. There could be a zebra in my backseat someday! Maybe I should also start dropping bread crumbs in order to find my way home!

Has this ever happened to you? Or maybe it has and you just haven't realized it yet ~ until yesterday I would have answered the question with a "no!" I challenge you to look around and see if there's something you've been missing! You can respond here or if you prefer, you can email me your answers I'll post them here and if you send me a picture I'll include it too!

This is an older picture of Toby but I love his curiousity.

Have a great evening and be sure to look around you. There may be an elephant looking over your shoulder!

What I did this summer

Hi again~

Remember when you were in school one of the first assignments teachers would give every fall was to write about "What I did this summer"? I guess we never get too old for that because I was talking to my sister the other day and she was telling me that every year on Memorial Day she prepares a list of projects she wants to complete before Labor Day. Then on Labor Day she reviews the list to see how many she can check off. It's kind of an grown-up version of "what I did this summer." We were laughing about how sometimes the summer goes so fast it's easier to just mark through the year and save the list for the following year. Been there, done that! This year I had quite a few things I wanted to accomplish and luckily I got the most urgent one done!

As many of you know I've been feeding feral cats who have established residence in our neighborhood. My plan was to trap, neuter, and release (TNR). With the TNR the plan is to trap the cats and then to return them to their home area after the neutering has taken place. I had hoped to do that last fall but it didn't happen. Then it was going to be in the winter. Life got in the way of that plan too. As tends to happen, two of the five cats got pregnant and instead of having 5 that needed to be neutered I had 11 ~ yikes! Two of the adults, Punkin & Tigger, have been friendly enough for me to pet. Punkin had three kittens and she brought her three around but the kittens would scatter any time I went onto the porch.

Here's Tigger! He's been a mush ball since birth. Even when he was a tiny kitten he would roll over on his back and let me rub his belly!

Here's a sleepy Punkin! Her picture has appeared on the blog several times before, if you want to see her awake!

I was so very fortunate to find an organization to help with the TNR. Forgotten Cats is an organization in Pennsylvania & Delaware. They provide trapping assistance (they lend the traps and offer instruction on proper use), they then spay/neuter the cats, keep them until they have had a chance to recover and then return them home. They also vaccinate them for rabies and distemper and give them a flea treatment. They do all of this for a very reasonable fee. With their help I was able to complete the TNR of 11 cats in less than one week! Amazing. I know they would appreciate you checking out their Web site. If you happen to be participating in United Way you can allocate your contribution to go to their organization.

So back to the story...now that the 11 cats have been returned Punkin's three have become much more approachable. For the first time I've been able to pet them. Today two of the three were actually rubbing against me. I'm sharing their pictures - the first I've been able to take from the same side of the door (I've often snapped their pictures through the sliding door).

Aren't they adorable?

The yellow guy sitting is Dandy (short for Dandelione), his twin is Daisy (although now that we've discovered "Daisy" is male, I guess he needs a new name). The little gray one in the back is Gigi!

Here are Gigi & Daisy checking me out!

You can see where Gigi's left ear was "tipped" to indicate that she's been fixed. For some reason Daisy's wasn't done.

The other six are much more "feral" and won't pose for pictures. Yet! LOL

So, that's what I did this summer. How about you? Did you have a good summer? Do anything special? Do you have a project list and if so, did you get a lot marked off of it?

Take care! And thanks again for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed your visit.

New Month

Hi Everyone,

Happy September! It's hard to believe Labor Day is just around the corner and school will be starting back soon. I don't have anything lined up yet but know that for many of you there are bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils in your near future. Back-to-school was always so much fun as a kid ~ new clothes, new teachers, etc. What special memories does September hold for you?

I'm pretty excited about September! On September 12 & 13 MEOW (Calgary, Alberta) is hosting their Fall Adoptathon. My friend Barb has sponsored a cage there in memory of Tyler and one in memory of her boy, Forrest. I'm very touched and extremely impressed with MEOW (Make Each One Wanted). Please check out the organization's Web site .

Also this month, two very special friends, Journey & Jenessa, are celebrating their birthdays on September 15. I'm going to Tennessee for a weekend party with my elementary school friends on September 18-20. Then on September 26 the National Book Festival is being held in DC and some of my favorite authors will be speaking. It's promising to be a very good month!

This month I'm going to try to be more consistent with my blogging. Today's pictures are ones I've "borrowed" from Jenessa. I'll have my own tomorrow :)

Jenessa, her mom (and my great friend) Susan, and the rest of their family live near Los Angeles. Jenessa sent pictures of the sky to show how thick the smoke from the wildfires is! Pretty scary stuff. I worry so much about all the animals unable to escape, not to mention those poor people who have watched their homes destroyed.

This is Jenessa's cat, Crackers. Whenever I go to visit Crackers is my reluctant "room mate." I'm pretty sure both of these pictures are Crackers wanting to see if I'm back! LOL

Noah (cat) and Bo Peep (dog) are also members of Susan and Jenessa's family. Aren't they sweet? Bo Peep is such a girl, she just loves anything pink. In fact, she's been known to claim pink things for her very own!

Thanks for stopping by and a big thanks to Jenessa for sharing her photographs. I hope you'll visit again!

On a Rant...Michael Vick & the Eagles

Hi guys...no pictures right now but I just had to post! I just heard the horrible news that the Philadelphia Eagles have signed that horrible Michael Vick to play! What a disgrace. In my opinion the man should still be in jail but if he is allowed to walk free he certainly shouldn't be allowed to play!!! The NFL should have banned him from every playing again. Pete Rose was certainly penalized worse for a much less serious offense.

Now as many of you already know - I am a Colts fan and long have been so it's no hardship for me to hope the Eagles have the worst season in the history of the NFL! Please join with me in routing for any team that is playing the Eagles. For the first time in my life I'll be routing for the Cowboys when they are playing Philadelphia!

I'm furious and looking for a way to voice my anger. Suggestions?

Travel by Proxy (Travelin' Thursday)

Happy Thursday everyone. How's your week going? Is it hot where you are? It's been miserable here, but I guess we have no right to complain since it is August and this is the first really hot spell we have had. It makes me even more grateful for air conditioning though. It also makes me long for a nice cool spot...like Alaska!

I've never been to Alaska but recently Barb's friend Patrick shared some pictures from there (sent to him from a co-worker). I don't know the co-worker's name yet, but I hope to get it so that I can give him/her proper credit. I asked permission & luckily the author of these photos has agreed we can share his/her trip - these pictures are so fantastic I'm living vicariously here! The author's titles were so clever I put them in quotes.

So...to Alaska...

"Triplets"

Barb and I were wondering what brand of bear this is.

Any ideas? Kodiak or Grizzly or...? Whatever it is - I love this family photograph.

"If it itches"

Mama bear giving her cub some expert advice

"Damn bugs"

I've heard the mosquitoes are terrible in Alaska - do mosquitoes bite bears?

Talk about a David & Goliath meeting - LOL

"Checking us out"

Bears have a terrific sense of smell so I bet it's hard to sneak up on a bear.

I would love to know how far away the photographer was and what the zoom was on the camera when these bear photos were taken.

"Beach Baby"

I guess someone felt like having a bit of seafood - or maybe he just wanted to play in the water?

"Wolf Fish"

Uh oh, I don't think this is what the fish had in mind when the wolf invited him to lunch. I know it's all part of the food chain but I still feel bad for the fish. Nevertheless, the picture is spectacular!

"Ya All Invited to Lunch"

I'm not sure who has the most patience for this one - the bear catching his lunch or the photographer catching the pictures. Either way, I think it was worth the wait...

"Come On In"

Back in the old days when cameras used film, photographers said you sometimes had to shoot an entire roll to get one good picture. Although I don't know for sure, I am assuming the photographer is usaing a digital. I would like to know how many shots she/he had to take to get this one. I love it!

Ahhh - I feel like I've been on vacation. And like all good vacations, it left me wanting more! I hope you guys loved the pictures as much as I did. Thanks bunches to the photographer - I felt like I was right there! (Thanks too to Barb & Patrick for getting these pictures to me!)

On to dream of my next vacation....

Dolly & my camera case

Maybe she's dreaming of a fun vacation. Or maybe wishing she were the bear or the wolf catching the fish!!!

Any other guesses what she might be dreaming?

Whatever you're doing - I hope you are able to stay cool. Do you have any clever ways of staying cool or are you like me and just hunker down in an air-conditioned house until the heat passes?

Thanks for stopping by to visit!

Where has the time gone?

Hi again...I hope you're having a lovely day. I was so surprised to see that it has been almost a week since I blogged! Time is just zipping right by - before we know it summer will be over and my favorite season will be with us. I love autumn but summer can be lovely too.

Yesterday Mavis and I went to Peddler's Village, which is a beautiful shopping village located in Pennsylvania but only about an hour from home. We love going there because they have different types of stores than what you might find in the mall AND it's really beautiful. I forgot my camera but luckily my new iphone has a built-in camera that takes pretty good pictures. Here's a glimpse of what we saw:

The building at the top of the picture has a bookstore and some other cool shops. There's also a restaurant to the left of the building that has yummy onion rings and a to-die-for Blueberries and Cream bread pudding. The restaurant is where we have gone for Thanksgiving buffet for the past three years.

This picture was made in the same spot but looking in a different direction. The shops in the village surround a greens area - much like a village in New England would. It's gorgeous, and quaint!

This one of two or three waterfalls built on a stream that runs through the village. While it's really pretty in the summer it's really gorgeous in the spring.

This trip was particularly special because on Thursday Mavis is going in to have a full knee replacement surgery so she won't be able to go play for a while. Hopefully she'll be back on her feet soon. Please send lots of healing thoughts and prayers her way.

Speaking of prayers...many people's prayers were answered today. Did you see in the news where the two journalists were pardoned and released in Korea? It brought tears to my eyes to think of them safely reunited with their families. It's so nice to hear good news for a change. Although, I must say that I've noticed a shift in network news reporting lately. I've avoided watching the network news for years because it's always seemed so sensationalized but NBC's Brian Williams always ends with an upbeat & uplifting story. Kudos to the powers-that-be for recognizing the need for GOOD NEWS!

Today's "whisker moment" was taken while I composed this blog. Toby has been my shadow today (as he is most days) so he decided to keep me company while I was writing. Hopefully you have found my writing at least slightly more interesting than he has....

So what good news has come your way lately?

What was he thinking??? (aka don't wanna go THERE!!!)

Hi again, I hope you're having a wonderful day! Last time I wrote about pictures taking me places I want to go! I hope some of you will send me pictures of other places I might want to visit - it's great fun for me - like a catalog of dreams! I remember when I was a little girl one of my favorite "games" was to "window shop" catalogs! My friend Susie and I would sit with the catalogs and pretended we were grown ups shopping for clothes - with unlimited funds of course! I'm always curious about the games of imagination other people played as children. Did you have any "pretend" games?

On a different note, I was watching a video earlier that was a place I definitely DO NOT want to go. Did you see the video of a kayaker taking a plunge off a 198 ft. waterfall in Washington State? Holy cow - just watching it freaked me out. What was really amazing is that he did it on purpose!!! I guess that's better than doing it by accident but I had to wonder What was he thinking?!?

Not much going on around here today - it's really hot so I've been staying inside watching HGTV and Style. I love Style's show Clean House (with Niecy Nash - she cracks me up!!!) Besides watching television I've spent a lot of time watching kittens. Ms. Punkin's twins have discovered their mom's favorite shady spot under the recycle container. Like most babies, they have no concerns about taking what they want so they have ousted their mommy and claimed the spot for their own...

I'm not the only one who enjoys watching them....

Well, that's about all from this little corner of the world. Have a fun day!

"Oh, I want to go there..."

Happy Monday Everyone!

Do you ever daydream about places you want to go someday or things you want to see? It's a frequent hobby of mine and I'm constantly adding to the list. Today I've added a place and put it near the top of my list! My friend Barb lives in Calgary (Alberta, Canada). She took a bit of a road trip and sent me some fantastic pictures of what she saw! Just looking at her pictures has been like a mini-vacation! I'm so grateful that she shared them with me and agreed to let me post them here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Aren't these begonias striking? I've never seen orange ones before! I love the way the light hits them - they remind me of a tropical sunset!

Barb identified this as Gap Lake - I've never heard of it but I want to go! It's so different from anything around here. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! How cold do you think the water is this time of year? And how breath-taking this place must be with snow on the mountains!

Barb described this as the outskirts of Canmore (Alberta, Canada). The mountains are called the Three Sisters. I've heard the Canadian Rockies are spectacular and from this shot, I can believe it. Notice how clean and fresh everything looks, too! Even though I'm terrified of mountains, I really want to see this area for myself now. Thanks so much for sharing the pictures Barb. It's so fun for me to see places where my friends live and I love adding new "must go there" places to my list!!!

Dolly isn't much of a traveler. She's perfectly content to stay at home and dream about whatever cats dream about. She looks pretty comfy, doesn't she?

I hope that you're exactly where you want to be today. And if not, I hope you have ideas of where you want to go! Dreaming about someday trips makes me happy even when I have no trips planned!