New Family Members: Glub, Glub and Rowrff!

Oh, this is so embarrassing.  This post is so overdue, but there is no way around it.  I just can't start talking about new pets, as if you all knew what I was talking about, when I haven't properly introduced you yet.  Last year, gulp, yes, last year, SR got a fish and JK got a dog.  I'll fill in the details below.

Here is Merope, the reddish Betta fish swimming near the top of her castle.  For all you Harry Potter fans, you'll know who she's named after.  SR inherited another Betta from a friend in March and then bought two others.  All were female, so she kept them in same tank.  Only Merope has survived and flourished.  Amazingly well.  For over a year.  With SR as her caretaker!  So, welcome, Merope, to your new home.

JK turned eight in July (that post is coming too, sheesh), and he really, really wanted a dog.  Our rule was no pets until the child in question turned ten, and we kept that rule for his sisters.  So, for months before his birthday, he cleaned up his sisters' dogs' poop almost every day.  He fed and watered them, too.  He showed us repeatedly that he could take on the daily responsibilities of having a dog.  So on the last Friday in June, we went to the pound and looked around.  There was Alicia, plaintively looking at us from her pen.  With a severe underbite and her quiet nature, she won us over.  We took her into the playroom where JK promptly named her Amber, then changed his mind to Alicia a few minutes later.  Apparently, he thought Alicia was spelled Elicia, but I didn't find that out until her tag was made with Alicia...sorry!  She is a boxer mix and a sweetheart.

Alicia was about six months old, they guessed, when we adopted her.  To make this post somewhat legit, the first two shots are from her first day at home.  Don't you love what the dogs have done to our backyard?  Sigh.  Anyhow, she's taller than the other two and has just been freckling up a storm since we've got her.  She's nearly completely speckled now.

This shot was taken within the first week of bringing her home. She's snuggled on top of GR with Abby on the left and Mindy on the right.  She has shown some aggression to Mindy, our most timid dog, and to Dennis, our cat.  That concerns us, but we are trying to train her out of that behavior.  Most of the time, everyone gets along.  Welcome home, Alicia!

Easter Egg Hunt for Dogs - 2014

In my quest to catch up on all the posts I missed last year, here is a particularly outdated one.  But, you were warned ahead of time.  Anyways, this one is too cute not post, as you'll see.

The kids and I took Mindy and Abby to a local 5th Annual Easter Egg Hunt for Dogs the Saturday before Easter in 2014.  I loved this because it was sponsored by WAGS hotel and had several animal friendly booths out there.  All the dogs were well behaved, and ours enjoyed the day as well.  Below, you'll see some of the shots I took that day.

Here is JK at the kids' crafts table watching how to make a bunny mask.

 Hey, where did JK go?  All I see is this very realistic bunny standing in front of me!

 There was a line for dog tattoos.  Mindy enjoyed her green bone on her rump.  Her outfit took up the rest of her body.

 When Abby saw the dog in front of her get sprayed, she almost bolted.  But, in the end, she was happy with her skull and crossbones.

This is the shot of all the dogs in line at one end of the field.  See how far the line stretches?  That's a lot of dogs!  In the background, you can see the booths.  The hunt is about to begin, and everyone is waiting for the go signal.

Here's my gang.  You can see the ferocity of our pooches as they scope out the best eggs to snatch.  JK calms his nerves with a stiff drink. SR is on the left with Abby, and GR is on the right with Mindy.

 The hunt is on!  Check out their style.  Eventually, the dogs would split up to better scour the field.

 Ta dah!  Here's Abby with her winnings.  Each dog was allowed to find a certain number of eggs, and Abby is so proud she counted correctly.

GR is helping Mindy open her eggs under JK's watchful eye.  Inside the eggs were dog biscuits and slips of paper for bigger prizes.

Guess who won a basket of treats?  Abby!  Mindy is looking on supportively.  Of course Abby shared with her sister.

We'll probably go again this year because we had such a good time.  I'll post that as well, if you enjoyed this one.

Dedicated to Charlene

This has been a hard for year for us and our kitties so far.  We lost sweet Charlene on Friday morning.  We all could feel she had only a few hours left when we loved on her late Thursday night.  GR took her to bed with her, and when she woke up at five, she could tell that Charlene was gone.  I was awake and in the living room shortly after that and saw the two of them snuggled together on the recliner.  GR had been calling Charlene her bro, and so SR gave her Barney Stinson's Bro code on GR's birthday .  GR had read the first half of the book to Charlene that day, and on Friday morning she read her the second half.  It touched my mother-heart, and not only did I cry for Charlene, but I cried for the loss my children would have.  In a few minutes I woke up SR and JK, and we all said our last good-byes to her.  G was already at work.

Charlene and a large male cat that G and I called her brother showed up on our lawn about seventeen years ago and never left.  We named her brother Chuck, and he was definitely her protector.  She has always been docile and timid, and so they were the perfect pair.  We used to have an orange tabby that we had tamed from being feral, and we thought their resemblances were enough that they could have been his offspring.  They were inside and outside at first, but G (and GR) are allergic to cats, so eventually they became outside-only cats.  One day Chuck was under one of our bushes, dead, and we have no idea why, but poisoning came to mind.  Shortly after that, Sparkly showed up, and the ladies grew old together.  Whereas Sparkly never liked the indoors, Charlene was most grateful a few years ago, when she was brought back inside permanently.  G and GR are still allergic, but everyone could see that she loved being indoors.  (Now, G has completely given up, and so Cleopatra and Dennis are luxuriating indoors.)  She adjusted quickly to the dogs and quickly became litter-box trained.  She would pick a favorite spot and not move from it for months, except for necessities.  Then, she would find a new spot.  Lately, it's been in GR's and JK's room.  She is buried next to Sparkly in our garden; JK added a toy, like he did with Sparkly, and GR put in a copy of the Bro Code's cover. SR commented to me yesterday that all her childhood pets, the ones that she had when she was little, are all gone now.  I thought of that too, and it saddened both of us.  We humans are sure lucky when we have such wonderful non-human companions.  See below for some of the pictures taken of Charlene this year.

Here's she's sharing Mindy's rump with Dennis.  Yes, Dennis - I'll get to that in another post.

This time they are sharing Abby.

Here GR has made aluminum foil protective head gear for her and her bro to keep the government from controlling them and finding out their thoughts!  See, GR even made Charlene her very own ear holes in her hat.

She was definitely a sweetie-pie and has long-reminded me of my childhood cat, Squeaky, that I had for seventeen years.  Charlene was gentle and accepting and so easy to love and so easy to miss.  We love you, Charlene.

Dedicated to Sparkly

Our beautiful kitty Sparkly passed away yesterday.  She showed up on our lawn about thirteen years ago and never left.  She was a tough kitty, preferring to stay outdoors and pick fights rather than being pampered indoors.  She tolerated brief visits indoors but was always grateful when she was let out to enjoy the sunshine and grass.  Everyone thought she was a Scottish Fold because of her ears, but they were just deformed in fights.  She hated all other animals but loved her people friends and family.  Over the last several months, we could tell that she was aging rapidly and brought her permanently indoors.  She eventually adjusted to being cared for around the clock and was surrounded by her loving family and held in our arms as she took her last breath in our living room.  Her final resting place is in our beautiful garden area.

We loved you and will miss you, sweet Sparkly.

Love from your family.

Another New Family Member - Mew, mew!

Meet Aurora!

Aurora dozing on my recliner.  She looks long here, but she's just tucked up in its corner.

On Saturday we received a precious two month old kitten.  How we got her has a bit of a short story.  I got an idea in my head last year that every birthday that I had where my age ended in a zero or a five, I should get a new pet.  G mumbled some kind of acknowledgement, but I could tell he wasn't really taking me too seriously.  After all, we already had two cats and two dogs.  But...then came Cleopatra in October, and any mention of me still saying I wanted my own pet with those special birthday numbers, were quickly brushed aside by him because we now had Cleo.

Well, I justified myself by explaining that Cleopatra was in a desperate situation, and we rescued her to be a family pet.  (Never mind that she prefers me...but, of course...over everyone else!)  If you've read a certain few of my posts, you know I have OCD, and when I get something in my head, especially regarding numbers, I can't let it go. 

So, this year in January, I had that birthday that I had been warning G about.  He ignored me, simple as that, but the Blessings, well, they latched on to it.  They love the idea of having a complete kingdom of all kinds and numbers of creatures.  So, I tried to catch ferals.  I suggested we adopt a senior kitty from the shelter.  I reminded and reminded G to no avail.  Well, on Monday of last week, we ran into his niece at his sister's house, and what do you know?  She rescued a kitten that she found on the side of the street!  The kitten had a leg injury that seemed to have healed, and the niece bottle-fed it back to health.  The only thing that appeared wrong with it still was a weeping eye.  She guessed the kitten to now be two months old, and she had had it for a few weeks already.  She didn't want to keep her because she already had seven cats; she also didn't name her because she wasn't going to keep her.  She was actively looking for a home for her.

Cue everyone turning their heads to look at G.  Poor helpless, outvoted G.  One could almost feel sorry for him, the ultimate dog lover's shoulders giving way to a defeated sag, the burly face that frightens strangers on darkened streets softening under the weight of his love for his family, the heart that tries to stay hardened to the world opening up once again to a sweet little girl kitten.  Needless to say, we got her on Saturday.  And by then, he was all for it, and was reminding me to call her to let her know for sure we'd accept her.  She'll be seeing the vet for a looksie in the next couple of days.

So, the only thing that technically makes her mine is that I got to name her, and when all the kids are fighting over her, I get to say, "She's mine. Give her here."  That's pretty much it.  Oh, and I feed all the inside kitties and clean up after them (Sparkly prefers the outside most of the time.).  Yay.  The Blessings are enjoying their first kitten, and she's adjusted amazingly fast to our home and all the critters in it.  All three cats, Charlene, Sparkly and Cleopatra, are acclimating as cats do, on their own terms.  The pups are great with cats:  Abby is curious about her, but Mindy is slightly intimidated.  We are now officially outnumbered six pets to five people.  All the pets are also female, so G and JK are feeling the pinch!  So, now I technically don't have to get another pet for five more years.  Unless...

Gratuitous Pet Pictures - I

I thought it would be fun to put up a post just showcasing my family's animal friends.  I've added the "I" to the title because you never know: I just might have a II or III down the road.  Enjoy the shots!  Pet Power!

First up, here's Cleopatra or Cleo or Crabby Patty.  We brought her home in October of last year when someone we knew had died.  They had hoarded nineteen cats.  She's missing her right eye, and her tongue sticks out most of the time.  She is six years old now.  She has adjusted wonderfully to all the other animals and to the human family members, as well.

Here's a shot of her I posted last year of her in her little abode.

This is Sparkly, a stray that never left over ten years ago.  She's a tough kitty and prefers to be outdoors most of the time.  But, here, she's resting in a computer laptop bag.  JK wants to make sure you know that her meow is the opposite of soft and sparkly, more like a "Reeoorrrww!"  She barely tolerates the others, and they stay clear of her.

Her innocent face.

 Sparkly loves the humans in her world.  Here she is sleeping back to back with JK.

At Christmastime, Charlene found the pile of ornament boxes and thought it a good place to snooze.  She also showed up at as a stray about fifteen years ago.  She gets along well with all family members.  She is now deaf and has one tooth, so she's extra pampered.

A close up of her cute face.

 Charlene convinced herself that she fit inside SR's puzzle box.

 Mindy, one of the two sister dogs, now two years old.  She's resting on one of the recliners.  This is GR's pup.

Here's Abby, Mindy's sister and SR's pup.  That didn't stop GR and JK from finding some Easter grass to top her head.  For those of you wondering, she is fully recovered from heart worm, thank God.

 This is a very common sight in our home: Abby snuggling with G.  She'll flip on her back and look him right in the face.  If he stops acknowledging her in any way (note the remote on his leg), she'll whimper.

 She'll even let Charlene join in the nuzzle time!  Different day, different outfit.

Abby and Mindy weren't too thrilled to be twin Santas at Christmas.  But...that's the price you pay for living with us.  Mindy's got a wink for you!

They are much happier here, ready to party down.  Mindy is on the left as a soccer "rufferee", and Abby is a fairy's sidekick.

 As a final shot, once the Blessings saw the photos I had uploaded, they all voted for me to add this one, as well.  They thought this expressed the dogs' personalities very clearly.  Notice how Mindy's lip is caught in her mouth, and we all love Abby's long, happy tongue.

That's it for now!  Hope you enjoyed the pics and getting caught up.  Your turn!

Personal News Update, A New Family Member - Mowr!,Vegan Picnic, And One Lovely Blog Award

PERSONAL NEWS UPDATE
Hello, Everyone!  I first wanted to assure you all that I have not abandoned my blog.  There have been some extenuating circumstances since I last posted that have kept my attention elsewhere.  I will try and encapsulate as briefly as possible what has been going on.  Since my last post, we have endured three deaths.  Unfortunately, there is a fourth one that is imminent, and when that comes to pass, I may be off again for a couple weeks.  That one is sadly related to another death that happened last year, which I didn't mention at the time.  I am trying to stay matter-of-fact, but this has been a very emotionally draining time for my family.  One of the three deaths resulted in many consequences: somebody came to live on our couch for about a month; that person also had a psychotic break while I was at home with my children, schooling them; we had to have that person removed for a short time for an emergency psychiatric evaluation, and thankfully, they are someplace safe now.  G has been running himself ragged due to all of this, and basically collapsed on the couch.  The doctor diagnosed him with medical exhaustion, and to top it off, he has a gall stone, which is causing him constant nausea.  I have been trying to be the comforter of my family, and we've been spending a lot of time in prayer.  School kind of took a back seat during some of this - my children were learning life lessons, instead.  It's been a lot to handle to say the least.  So, just to let you know, if some of you thought that I had up and left my blog without saying anything, I would never do that.  If I am off for a time, it could be any number of things: I'm sick, I'm focused on educating my Blessings, I'm having crazy computer problems, or sadly, it could be something more tragic like these events.  If I never come back on, then you can assume something's happened to me.  In any case, if I ever decide to stop posting on my blog, I will put up a post saying so; I will not just leave without a word.

A NEW FAMILY MEMBER - MOWR!
That all said, one good thing came out of all of this.  One of the deceased hoarded cats and birds, among other things.  She had over a dozen birds and nineteen cats.  One of the cats is missing one eye, and needed to be adopted by a family that could keep her inside.  G and GR both have cat allergies, so I didn't give it a thought.  But, G kept bringing her up - she's such a darn friendly cat!  So, we decided to take her in on October 1st.  She's five and half years old, and so far G and GR seem to be doing fine with her in the house.  Mindy and Abby, our doggies, love her, and she is tolerating them.  Sparkly and Charlene, our two old lady kitties, are also making their way inside more and more because of their age and cold weather, so we have quite a zoo on our hands now.  The new kitty was originally named KC, but when her eye was removed at five months, her name was changed to Karma.  I didn't like that: one, I don't believe in karma, and two, I don't think a kitten did anything to deserve her eye removed, so karma wouldn't apply here.  I wanted a beautiful name for her, so I thought of how cats are revered in Egypt, and I named her Cleopatra.  She's beautiful.

This is Cleopatra (Cleo, Patty) in her new bed, which sits right on my desk.  She's resting next to me now.  Her right eye was removed when she was a kitten, but it doesn't seem to hinder her.  She's our newest spoiled kitty.

VEGAN PICNIC
Amazingly, during all this chaos, we went to the first annual Vegan Community Picnic in Sacramento organized by a group whose name escapes me right now, sorry.  It was great.  There were several food vendors there and informational booths.  My mom joined my family and we pigged out.  I signed up to be a volunteer for next year.  JK dressed as Larry the Cucumber and joined in the Veggie Parade!

 There's JK in the center as Larry the Cucumber after the parade.  The corn was the leader.  There were about twenty parading vegetables marching around.  You've got to make this photo go full screen to see how much fun JK is having.

ONE LOVELY BLOG AWARD

Ah, a few months ago, Alessandra at Vegan Recipes, awarded me and ten other bloggers with the One Lovely Blog Award.  This is my first chance in passing it on.  Thank you, Alessandra, for thinking of me!  The rules state that I list seven facts about myself and pass this on to fifteen other bloggers. 

*I will try and list seven new facts about myself that I haven't listed before.*

1.  I love playing Internet backgammon, hearts and spades.  If you see an English-speaking expert playing, it could be me...  Watch out, though, I'm good!  :-)

2.  I am thinking of starting a YouTube Channel on cooking up my recipes from my blog and/or promoting vegan cosmetics, skin care, etc.  What do you think?

3.  I'm a fledgling writer.  I've submitted four manuscripts so far, two children's books, and two non-fiction Christian books.  One was with the publisher for a year but didn't make the final cut.  I'm finishing up my first novel, women's fiction, and will be sending it to agents later this year.

4.  I've run a half-marathon, but I can't run anymore because...

5.  ...I tore my meniscus, which has led to early arthritis in my right knee.  So sad!  Won't be doing my dream of running a marathon.

6.  I'm a birth doula with no clients, sigh.

7.  I'm very romantic.  I love Love.  Passionate with a capital P.  TMI???

*The 15 Bloggers who will get this award?  If I've messed up on a link, please let me know.*

1.  My "old" friend, Andrea at Andrea's easy vegan cooking .  One day I hope to meet my Seattle buddy.

2.  Has to be SV at The Shenandoah Vegan .  She always sticks with me, even when I'm gone for weeks at a time.  I usually get a scolding, though.

3.  How about Joey at Flicking the Vs .

4.   For a wonderful outlook on life and beautiful food, there's Gluten Free Happy Tummy .

5. Someone I would like to get to know more is Ingrid at Ingrid Improves .

6.  Someone else I'm still getting to know: Rachel at Miss Rachel .

7.   Millie always cares about me over at  Nuestra Cena-American & Latin Vegan Cuisine .

8.   Let's hear it for a male vegan blogger!  Monkey Man at Simply Vegetarian .

More than halfway there, whew!

9.  Enjoying her journey, is Vivacious Vegan over at Adventures in Veganism in Midwestern America .

10.  Of course, I have to add Food Feud .

11.  Give Claire a try at Almost Skinny Vegan Food .

12.  Another homeschooling mom deserves this award - Jenny at Vegan and so Forth .

13. Why not a singing vegan?  Look at An Opera Singer in the Kitchen .

14.  A not-so-chubby vegan at Chubby Vegan Mom .

And last but not least...

15.   For a rundown on nutrition, food and homeless animals, check out, Get Skinny, Go Vegan .

Thank you all for reading this far down.  It will take me a few days to catch up on all the blogs, and even to notify the winners of this blog award.  I hope to be posting regularly again.  I've got recipes lined up in the queue to share with you all.

Take Care!!

Garden Pictures - January, 2011

Time for more garden pictures! When I started posting pics of my garden last year, I made a plan to do this every five months to illustrate what can grow in a Sacramento garden throughout the year. Well, apparently January gives us a pretty dismal garden, but it's a pact that I made with myself, so it cannot be broken! We had a pretty hard frost that lasted about a week that really took a toll on some of our plants, as you'll see. I didn't photograph everything because some of our trees, as adorable as they are, are just sitting there. So, I'm showing stuff that actually has some action, or I have questions about, and then a strangely sparse ground that has something to do with my husband, G. Oh, and some new pics of the pets, of course!

This is our nectarine tree. We planted her last March, and over the summer she gave us one beautiful nectarine that we shared. I'm not sure what these little bumps are, they aren't quite green buds, but I like 'em!

This is our grapevine. We're not sure if it's dead from the frost, or just dormant. We're new at grapes. Anybody know?

Okay, this shot has a story. I planted rows and rows of seeds for short, stubby carrots. As planned, up sprouted blades of green, boldly reaching for the warm sky that was lurking above the gray pillows hiding it. So, I come out one day to check on them, and they're all gone! It turns out my dear G weeded that nasty grass for me that was growing in my garden bed. I couldn't thank him enough! Now, instead of grassy, non-existent carrots, I have several of these things coming up, which mysteriously resemble my bulb flowers from the front yard. Did they migrate here, over the fence, and around the corner? I'm curious to know what these little buggers will turn out to be. Maybe they're really mutant, husband-resistant carrots, come to plump up my salad bowl!

Oh, this pathetic bed has tried and tried to provide good service to me over the past several months. G has transplanted our too tart, too small strawberries, that nobody likes, in here in the bottom left corner and upper right corner. That sprig of lettuce in the upper left corner has been growing for about a year and hasn't gotten any bigger. Can you make out the purply leaf near the upper middle? That's a beet plant. I planted dozens of seeds, and most of them came up, only to be gobbled up by pesky slugs. This is the lone survivor, but he is badly chewed, and hasn't grown since the frost. I may harvest it just to see what's underneath. In the bulk of the bed, I've just planted green onion seeds. Gulp...they look like grass when they grow, don't they?

Okay, here's the bed that houses my once flourishing artichoke plant and kale. In the foreground is my once thriving artichoke. That big stalk is the original trunk. Well, I wanted to let one thistle completely bloom to see what it would look like, and apparently that's a sign to the plant that it needs to die. And, it did. We were going to pull it, when we saw new signs of life near the bottom; so here it is again, springing forth anew. The one just behind it, we planted last year. They probably won't give us new flowers until next year. Our kale, to the right of the artichokes, has been hit hard by the frost. I'm hoping for a resurgence in the Spring.

This is our little Mandarin orange plant. Look at the cute, little presents she's giving to us!

Here's Mindy. She and Abby are 9 and 1/2 weeks old now.

And, Abby.

Last time I took pics of the cats, their tags showed our info, and I didn't want all you guys, er, I mean the Internet calling me, so I didn't print them. Now, my kitties are private, so you can see them again. Here's Charlene, on our car, looking superior, as she should be.

This is actually a neighbor's cat, Fancy, who's here 95% of the time, so I included her.

Here is cranky Sparkly in one of the three cardboard boxes that we keep putting out for Fancy.

And here is one of the two brand-new cat houses that G made for Sparkly and Charlene, complete with a porch and roof, a scratching post, and a ledge for their food. The blanket is sticking out of their cozy home. But they sleep in cardboard boxes. And, Fancy sleeps on the soil underneath a folding chair by the door. Silly cats.

Our Newest Family Members...Arf, Arf!

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that last April our sweetie-boy doggie, Earl, died from terrible whip worms. He literally took his last breath in front of us while we were in the back yard with him. He was such a good doggie and was perfect with the children. We have all had a doggie-sized hole in our hearts since he passed away, and the girls have been wanting a dog ever since.

So, finally last week we picked up a couple of the cutest little sisters you ever saw! They are 3/4 Labrador Retriever and 1/4 Golden Retriever and were seven and half weeks old when we brought them home. They have brightened our lives. Instead of replacing Earl, they are a tribute to him because he was so special. They are officially the girls' puppies, so I can actually relax when they need to go outside or need to be fed. As Grandma Pup, I get to hold them and smooch them and then hand them over when there is a "duty" to be done with them. Very fun, indeed. I should say that the girls saved allowances and Christmas money to pay for these puppies; we just had to help GR a smidge, but that's it.

Before you see the pics, I start you off with this song from VeggieTales, Esther: The Girl Who Became Queen, sung by a contestant who wasn't picked, poor thing.

"Puppies are cuddly.
Puppies are cute.
They're never nasty or mean. Sniff (inhales deeply through one nostril)
I'd give a home to all the lost puppies,
If ever one day I were queen! Arf! (barks while eye twitches)"

On with the pictures!

Our sweet puppies, Abby and Mindy

Abby

Mindy

SR with her puppy, Abby

GR with her puppy, Mindy

Just so you know, GR thinks her expression makes her look sad, but I think she looks fine!

All four girls!

JK and the pups bonding

Napping together

And they call it puppy love...

Thanks for checking out our new, darling family members. I'll keep you updated with "aw-worthy" pics.