Thursday, May 26, 2016

Thursday-11:15am

Good Morning!
Lots of pics today.  :)
Leah was here on Monday for Crafts.  We started on Christmas card sets--whoohoo!!  And Leah had picked me up some raw sunflower seeds while she was at the store.  They are a huge hit!!
Especially with Little Buddy! 
And, subsequently, Miss Karma--LOL!  When I put some seed out she's glued to the patio screen waiting for Little Buddy...who usually arrives within 20-30 minutes.  And there's no rhyme or reason as to when I put out seed?  Do they have superpower sniffers?  Or does he live close by?
Anyways, today is cloudy and 64 degrees right now.  Beautiful door-open day!! 
Been seeing the pair of grouse almost every day...usually across the walkway.  They tend to graze over there lately. 
Once in a while they come by on this side.  :)
Whenever there's a sunny morning... 
...Karma's catching rays...
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...and fantasizing about catching Little Buddy...
...or one of the black birds...
...or the wee sparrows that come by for a nibble.  :)
Notice the patio door was shut?  Was in the 80s for a stretch and I finally had to shut the place up and turn on the AC for a few days.  Back open today and Miss Karma is thrilled--me, too.  
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Anyways...I started coloring the crazy cat holding the birthday cake stamp.  As I was working on the candle flames...
...I noticed there was a spot on the left hand side of the candles that didn't stamp well on some of them. 
So I got out some drawing pens, wrote on a piece of scratch paper, and actually held the paper under running water to see if any of them would bleed.  None of them did!!
Here are the pens in the actual order as the above testing. 
I already knew Microns were safe, but hadn't tested the rest of those.  Nice to know they're all safe to use with watercolors or markers...any wet medium.
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On Tuesday replacement roses arrived.  Leah decided to order them now because she had also sent flowers to Dagan's stepmother, they're going to visit them over this upcoming holiday weekend, and she wanted to see if a new batch would be decent or not.  If Barb got bad roses, too, there'd be no point in complaining about them if we were just going to get more bad roses, you know?
That's how they looked freshly trimmed and watered.  No comparison!  These were all standing up straight and looking healthy.  They were even packaged with some gel stuff on the ends of the cut stems which had a separate little wrapping over them and the rubber bands were not so tightly wound. 
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The thing is--this company kind of brags about how their flowers come directly from South America, are grown in volcanic soil, are fresher and last longer, etc.  That is why we were so disappointed with those Mother's Day flowers.  It looked like maybe they had subcontracted out or something because they were swamped for the holiday.  These roses looked like the picture on the website, Leah said.  Sure look different than what I got last time.  Like I said--no comparison!  Time will tell, eh?
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We had those hot days--sunny or...  
...cloudy where the door was shut. 
Little Buddy seemed much braver with the door shut--LOL! 
I don't know if you can tell but Karma was trying to catch him through the glass--ROFL! 
If she got too lively...Little Buddy sped off. 
Karma would wait. 
The raw sunflower seeds are just too delicious!  I put out the same amount as I did with the roasted sunflower seeds that took them all 2-3 days to eat--and it was all gone in 6 hours!
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Little Buddy would come back to fill his pouches.  Could have babies--never know.  Babies come out of the burrow in June, I think. 
We got some nice close up looks at his thirteen stripes down his back.  
He's sooooo cute!  
(Or she--we really don't know.) 
I had to chuckle!  You know how cats will taunt dogs on leashes? 
Payback?  ROFL! 
It sure seemed like Little Buddy was doing that to the big cat who was safely behind glass and he knew it--LOL! 
Poof! 
Here at the new apartment I may not see the horizon anymore or the sunrises, but I still am watching the sky and I love those white and blue days!  
Clouds have always fascinated me since I was a kid. 
 Well, and animals, too, as you can probably guess--LOL!
I was thinking yesterday about how intensely grateful I am to be here.  If it weren't for Dagan and Leah, I wouldn't be.  This is a better home than I even fantasized about!!  I was watching Karma and Little Buddy (sans camera) and just welled up with tears.  Thank you to everybody who ever said a prayer or sent good thoughts my way so that I could be right here teary-eyed over an old cat and a ground squirrel.  
Love and hugs!!
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Meanwhile--back at the ranch...
I was busy working on stamping Christmas cards yesterday... 
...and I actually finally heard thunderclaps!! 
Well, between Leah and I, one hundred of the Noel cards are now stamped. 
We have to decide if we are stamping our made-by stamp on the back (probably)...but for now since I have the blue stamp pad out... 
...I'm working on set number two.  Going to say Happy Holidays on the front of these.
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 And look at the roses this morning!!
By day two the other ones were flopped over and dying. 
These are opening--looking and smelling great!
Well, I hope you enjoyed our little visit.  I am just absolutely thrilled to be feeling decent enough to be able to have a big pot of bean & veggie soup simmering on the stove, have written a blog, and am still going to be able to work on cards today.  Life is good!!!  
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For all of you in the US--have a safe holiday.  
May your life be filled with sunflower seeds and sunshine--LOL!
Chat again soon!  :) :)
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"Every time we feel satisfied with what we have, we can be counted as rich, however little we may actually possess."
Alain De Botton

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I KNEW you'd get that apartment & the roses are gorgeous--what amazing colors!!

TexWisGirl said...

the roses look much better this go-round. glad you and karma have such great wildlife to watch there. and i love lil buddy.

Lady Fi said...

The roses look lovely as does the weather! Enjoy the weekend.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Karma TV is exciting! Your roses look wonderful, hope they last a week or more! You sound great!! I am so glad your move has worked out. how are the ladies? We need an old lady report! :)

Mersad said...

I'm sure Karma would love to chase after Little Buddy :D
Those roses are simply gorgeous!

Mersad
Mersad Donko Photography

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I left a long comment about Karma, the goings on outside the window, and the roses. Then I got a "server not found" and had to reboot. Hope your day goes better than mine.

DJan said...

Little buddy is sure cute! And I'm glad you have the raw sunflower seeds, much better for them. Those pictures of Karma's ears and Lil Buddy are priceless. And yes, those roses are just beautiful as can be. :-)

Carol said...

The Roses are gorgeous!!! Little Buddy is a charmer and such ans entertainer :) You have been keeping yourself busy!!!

Intense Guy said...

I'd love to see the shock on Karma's face if she actually did get a hold of Little Buddy. Something tells me she would be dumb-founded and just drop him!!

Or at least I hope so!! Has she caught any mice that you know of?

Divers and Sundry said...

We don't have anything like Little Buddy around here. He looks so big! Reminds me a bit of a chipmunk. Such fun kitty entertainment :)

Krisha said...

Cat and squirrel game.......a new version of cat and mouse??? LOL How funny Karma must be to just sit and watch.

You cards are gorgeous......as well as all the sky photos.

Thank you for the visit and for leaving me a comment. Have a great weekend......so glad you are feeling soooo much better.

Jenny Woolf said...

I am glad you are there too. I always think it looks nice to be connected with the ground and be able to see the passers by even if they are mostly animal! :D not that Karma will mind that.
The flowers look beautiful. I sometimes think florists try to get away with old flowers if the customer isn't there in the shop watching with their own eyes.

~*~Patty S said...

Little Buddy looks pretty big.
Karma has a fun view of nature and doesn't have to get his paws dirty LOL.
Lovely Christmas cards.
Today it 'feels like" 98 degrees here in the Wash DC area.
I want May back :-(
Happy beginning of the weekend oxo

andi filante said...

Those roses are gorgeous! I'm glad they ponied up and gave you new ones. Buddy (or Buddette) is so stinkin' cute! And poor Miss Karma. I can only imagine what must be going through her little head. :) Your cards are turning out great. I'm always so impressed when people plan ahead. I'm much more of a fart in a skillet, myself. :P

-andi

froebelsternchen said...

What a funny kitty entertainment for Karma...lol!
Fabulous photos in that post ! Thank you for sharing!
oxo Susi

Sherry Ellis said...

Little buddie is adorable! He wouldn't last long at my house. Bootsy, my cat, is a killer. I can't believe you're working on Christmas cards already. Wow!

Serena Lewis said...

OMG, little Buddy is SO adorable! I love that you get to see all the local critters up close and personal. I put oats out for the crows and magpies and they seem to expect it now. hehe

Nice tree stamps! I like the cat and cake stamp...makes me smile. :)

Great to see the second lot of roses are holding up well.

Soups are so good! I made a big pot of potato, spinach, and butter bean soup for dinner last night and we are having it again tonight. So yummy!

Enjoy the rest of your week ~ xo

Neesie said...

Rita, I couldn't be more happy for you in your new nest. It sounds like it certainly suits you.
Fantastic photo's of Karma and little Buddy. I'm thinking both of you could watch him/her for hours. He obviously is seriously impressed with what's on offer at your place.
Beautiful roses too. I used to hate the thought that when I was overseas and sent flowers to family, that they wouldn't be of a certain standard. It's very difficult when you're away.
Nice cards although I don't want to think about Christmas yet, even with this wintery blast that's whipped through here over the last two days.
Have a wonderful week xoxo

Harvest Moon by Hand said...

Little Buddy is huge! Oh my gosh...Karma must be going wild to have such an interesting friend to watch. We had the hot spell here too and some storms. It's passing now, but more storms to come...though with cooler temperatures which will be nice.

Your Christmas cards are turning out beautifully.