Give-away

I know why you're here. You heard there's a give-away, right?

                                          My grand-kittyI finally got a photo of him.

 Joe.
                                         "Give-away"

"Yes,  Joe. We know, calm down. We are here to please."

"Thank you and Greetings" to all my old and new followers.
 You are at my site because you either love cats, dishes or both so I took that into consideration when thinking of what to offer for my 4th give-away.
I went to the Log Farm in Beckwith, Ont. to find you a very special little tea-cup.

Remember this place?There are usually 5 cats roaming around but today it was so hot I didn't see one.

 I expect they were sleeping under the shady trees. That's where I wanted to be.

So, here is what I found for YOU.

It's hard to photograph with the glaze on it.

It has a beautiful pink rose and is smaller than your regular tea-cup. It really is pretty. Pastel green, pinks and mauve with a touch of apricot. There is not a name that is legible but it is stamped Germany. Along with the tea-cup will be an interesting assortment of teas for you to try.

 So, if you are not a tea-cup lover but love tea you will enjoy winning this give-away. I hope you like the tea-cup and will leave a comment after this post for a chance to own it. Oh yes, almost forgot. There is chocolate, too. No reason, just because.

And there is more. I'm always wanting to treat your kitties so along with your gift will be a special bag of freeze-dried chicken cat treats. My gang love them and Audrey would sell you her mother for a large bag.

Leave a comment and Audrey will pick the winner of this give-away on Wednesday, August 1 at 6pm if I can hog-tie her long enough to assist me. Yep, she's back and so is her voice.

Leave a comment if you are a follower and..

Good luck!
I'd love for you to drop by a wonderful blog called Morning Minion http://wwwmorningsminion.blogspot.ca/to meet Sharon and her unexpected guests.


hugs, Deb

My little cupboard

Before I do my 'give-away' post I thought I would join in with Brenda of  http://www.cozylittlehouse.com/ at her new 'Tweak it Tuesday' party. I'm always 'tweaking' my little dining-room cupboard. I get tired of how it looks about every week so I change it up. Since I have been lovin' my blue and white lately, here's how it looks today...

You knew there'd be a cat somewhere, right. This is one of 4 coasters I had painted.

So, drop on by and visit Brenda's wonderful bloghttp://www.cozylittlehouse.com/ and all her party guests.

I'm also joining Marty at Table Top Tuesday http://www.astrollthrulife.net/.

and http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.ca/ for Tea-cup Tuesday

hugs, Deb

No more chemicals

So, I sprayed the cats with equal parts fresh lemon juice (squeezed from lemon) and warm water and left it on their fur to dry. That was weeks ago and I have not seen one flea here this year since.

Mr. Ed & Sierra

I think this may work for the cats. No nasty chemicals; just a bit of sticky fur for awhile and some sour-puss's.

Go ahead and try it. I would say it's worth a try. If your cat does not care to be sprayed then dab it on with a sponge. Not too much, just pat all their hair and get it down to the skin. Avoid the eye area. I actually did not put it on their face. Now leave it. Fleas hate citrus.

Details on the give-away coming tomorrow.

hugs, Deb

Cats in windows & company in the kitchen

Now that the heat is a little more tolerable, the cats are back in the windows. Yah!

Lake Ave.

William St.

                                                                     I see you.
Back home, little Audrey was busy in the kitchen window chasing flies that would land on the outside pane.

 If they had been inside they would have become her appetizer before dinner.

The tomatoes are a result of the storm last week. My poor plants took a beating.

 How those tomatoes stayed on the sill is beyond me.

The whole time I prepared dinner, she hunted hers. I think ours was a bit more healthy. Tonight I raided the crisper and chopped up carrots, 2 kinds of peppers, zucchini from my daughter's garden, mushrooms &  baby spinach. I added a hand-ful of nuts and sauteed the works with garlic, onion, basil, thyme, paprika & black pepper. That was served over basmati rice with garlic bread. MMmmmm...no meat...who needs it? I have to show you this; my daughter's watermelons are just starting to grow.

                                                             A baby watermelon
Is that not the cutest thing you've seen in any garden? Apparently this one goes to little Riley when it is all grown up.

Looks like I am nearing 300 followers which means a fabulous give-away. You are at my blog which tells me you either love cats or dishes or both. So, follow along and I won't disappoint you. Anyone care to make another give-away happen?
I want to say "hi and thank you" to all my new followers. I hope I can keep you interested with all the goings-on in a cat-sitters life.
I am heading out to care for Maddie & Joe and maybe, just maybe, they will let me photograph them. They are two handsome fellas and you just have to meet them.

hugs, Deb

I brake for blue and white

Blue and white dishes.

Up until just months ago I had a plate; one plate passed on from my mom.

Now I am looking for odd pieces everywhere.

Most of these were purchased in an antique shop in Almonte. I can't get enough of this beautiful combination.

Aw..would you look at these little feet.

Audrey's food of choice when given medication.

on a china plate

Cat-tip-for-the-weekend

Add boxes to your cats' areas. Stop buying toys when a few odd sized boxes placed side by side will fill their day with fun. Sometimes I put a smaller box inside a larger box. Sprinkle a bit of cat-nip in the box if they enjoy that. Here you see Audrey behind the smaller box but still enjoying the larger box. She will stay in there for hours and eventually customize the box to her liking. Once the boxes are chewed up, find some new ones. You can cut out windows in the larger box for them to see through.

Cheap toys and hours of fun.

Well, time to start hitting the shops. I have a baby shower, 2 birthdays, a mother of the bride dress to find & a new grand-son on his way soon. Where do I start? Maybe I'll have some tea first. ;-)

I'm joining Tuesday Cuppa Tea at http://antiquesandteacups.blogspot.ca/

hugs, Deb

What made your day?

A sweet surprise in the mail.

Annie was so eager to share in the excitement of a little surprise in the mail. It was a lovely gift from Sharon at Tales from Twisty Lane. All the way from Houston, Texas.

 Gorgeous note-pads and a pretty card with kitties on them. Sharon must know how many notes we have to write with our cat-sitting business, right Annie? What a sweet gift, Sharon.
Thank you so much. Your blog is one of my all-time favorite to visit.
Do drop by and meet Sharon at Twisty Lane.http://twistylane.blogspot.ca/

I was on the back roads again today. Not disappointed with what I found.

"Hello sweetheart"

An abandoned stone house

I would have loved to get closer but could not trespass.

then off we went for ice-cream to celebrate someone's 12th bday.

Mmmmmmm...vanilla ice cream.

All these things made my day and Kane was a pretty happy dog with his once-a-year ice-cream treat.

hugs, Deb

Calling on a Dowser & a special Birthday Boy

I had six ticked-off cats last night demanding dinner when I arrived home late from our property.
Even Audrey was all full of herself and in my face the second I walked in the door. I was 3 hours late giving them dinner. That is just unheard of (at least that is what they`d tell ya). Now they are calm and ignoring me so all is back to normal.

We need to know where to dig a well on our property and the retired-guy was set on hiring a dowser to tell us where and how deep to go. Two dowsers arrived  and got right down to business.

Look how dry the grass is. Dead.

 Interesting, I thought. I watched from afar for awhile, didn`t want to get in the way, and I have to admit I thought the whole thing looked ridiculous.  I then joined them and listened to `Lloyd``explain what he was doing. OK...maybe it works. Lloyd is a 6 generation dowser so I have to have faith in that.  It took all of 10 minutes to locate the best spot and how deep we will have to go to find water. Then they let us try our hand at it. We`ll see when the crew arrive to actually dig in that spot that he recommended if he was right on.

The weekend keys have been picked up and this weekend I have 2 tabby & white, 1 calico & Toad to care for. Travel is slowing down now for my clients until mid August when it gets busy once again. I have so many other responsibilities right now that the lull is much appreciated.
We have birthdays, a baby shower, a very intimate, small wedding and a new baby arriving all within the next 2 months.  I have some serious shopping to do.

Someone very special to us turns 12 today.

''Happy Birthday, KANE.'' We love ya, buddy. I suppose a little ice cream is in order.

and a long bush walk has been requested. 

We wish you many more, Kanie.

Audrey is doing excellent and is almost back to her old self. I think she was the easiest cat to get through the 4 days after spaying. Most of our females had to wear a collar so as not to pull out their stitches. The way they close up the incision now is so much better; no stitches visible. She has yet to get her voice back, though. I`m sure it is from the breathing tube they use during surgery. I hope this is normal. I`ll be calling them today.

hugs, Deb

NICE

It's been raining lately and we are not complaining. Our trees and gardens are drinking it all in. 

It's nice to see.

Audrey's voice is still missing. It's been nice for us but I'm starting to miss it. I hope it's back today.

She is getting back to normal. Found her on my bed when I went to make it. So nice!

I get to snuggle and cuddle and pamper Toad today. NICE!

and then he likes to show off his `handsomeness`.

Very dapper, Toad.

Ì have some new teas to try.

Indubitably NICE

Tomorrow I pass the apron to Susan from Just Sayin'. She's my walking buddy and spends many hours making magic happen in her kitchen. She can't wait to see where this apron leads her. It's been nice; I've had fun; now you have fun, Sue."

hugs, Deb

Country roads

I love passing by beautiful old barns when I cat-sit. Some have been here for a century.

 Many clients are off the beaten path.

Not far up the road and just to my right...

two fawns

and their momma

What a treat. Before I moved to this area many years ago I never saw a deer in the wild. Here, it's very common and you have to always watch out for them on the dirt roads.

I just love the country roads. I feel alive, with purpose when I breath the country air. I feel close to nature and all that it offers. I'm happiest here. I can solve the world's problems just by driving down these country roads.

Our little patient is already out of the recovery area and in my office now. She is not touching her belly or bothering her incision which means no Victorian collar for her. She has slept even more than your average cat today.

From having the tube down her throat her voice is all but gone. When she does meow it sounds like something from Alien. When I pet her though, her purr is loud.

hugs, Deb