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Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas

From our home to yours

        we wish you all a very Merry Christmas
              and a Happy, Healthy New Year.
I hope Santa is good to you and that your day is filled with joy, love and peace.

And our Dear Mr. Ed...how we miss you and may God hold you in his arms this Christmas morning.
love to all...Deb & Gary, Kane, Lily, Sierra, Annie and Audacious Audrey.
"Oh Audrey...smile, for heaven's sake. Santa's watchin' "

Monday, December 23, 2013

Four Christmas wishes

That sleigh-bells will ring for miles around
and the snow will still be falling down
That you let your heart delight
on this Christmas eve night

and that you have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
Love to all, Lily, Sierra, Annie and Audrey

"So girls...what do you want for Christmas?"
Let's see...
Lily wants a cozy fire every night in the wood-stove and Annie close by to cuddle.

Sierra wants a date with the mailman.

Annie wants me to stop working and just sit down long enough for her to sleep on my lap.

Audrey wants four calling birds and three french hens....on a plate.

Well, hopefully Santa is listening.
I need to work on Audrey a little.

hugs, Deb


Sunday, December 22, 2013

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night...

The house is so peaceful
on this stormy, icy day.

The Fab Four
Always together it seems

As I was getting into the car I glanced over to the dining-room window.
I thought this looked rather amusing.
That is our Sierra.
And look at those snow banks. It snowed all night.

Freezing rain has come and gone.
I can just see the roads.
I knew it was coming so filled all the cat bowls to the top last night.
Oh, they will all get their meals but some may complain that I'm a tad bit late.
"Hang on kitties."

hugs, Deb

Saturday, December 21, 2013

The many faces of Audrey in 2013

"I'm a cat of many faces"

I shouldn't be up here
"Ha ha, scared you, huh!"

"This is my sultry look"

"You want more of me?....

"My Cod, this is exhausting."
"OK, here we go"...


"In this house of 'pin-heads' I'm forced to  use this expression a lot."

"So that's a few of my faces for you. 
I must go now to see if dinner is worthy of my interest."

                             This is the look Deb loves the best...


I'm resting up for Christmas eve and
I'm working on some new faces for you for 2014.
I know you're excited.

love you all, Audacious Audrey.

Friday, December 20, 2013

On the road...

I do believe this bird is teasing my kitty-client.

You can see how much snow is around but the temperatures have finally risen and we are out of that terrible deep-freeze. The roads have been awful, AWFUL! the last few days; especially the country roads. It is slow driving all the way. Once home, I got a call from my sister. "Just checking to see if you are off the roads". Sweet, huh!
I had five black cats, a tuxedo, a brown tabby and a ginger to care for today. Three of the black cats are alone in their homes so I spend a little more time with them. And, a bonus....they love to be combed. ;-) Is there anything more beautiful than a shiny black cat with gold eyes? They are all exquisite.

Remember Twinkle, the senior tabby I cared for recently? He had lost a lot of weight and was diagnosed with a thyroid problem. He was on medication so he required daily visits at a regular time. He was left in my care for one month. Well, after the owners returned they took him to the vet for a check-up and he had gained weight and the vet was very happy at how he looked.  The owners were so pleased.
We got along like gang-busters and now I miss him. His old, thin body made me think of Ed every-time I held him. His purr was enormous. I'm so happy he is in a very loving home and hope to see him again soon.
The house is quiet as Annie and Audrey snuggle for a nap. Annie is a busy girl making her rounds for cuddles with needy cats like Audrey & Lily.
Audrey wants her time with her momma and Lily, well, bless her heart, she just needs Annie these days. She sits on my lap whenever the opportunity presents itself and has become quite the lap cat, too.

It feels so strange without Ed.
 He was always the first to the dinner plate that held his cut up chicken or beef and under your feet if you were taking too long to serve him. I can't even look over at the wood-stove without imagining him curled up in his box with Lily. I miss his beautiful face; his eyes. I hope I never forget how soft the fur on his ears and face were.


Life goes on, Christmas is fast approaching. I still want to make a few pumpkin loaves to give out to friends.

Hope your last minute preparations are going well. Now....take a deep breath. ;-) and relax.
It will all come together.

Here's a cat-tip for the new year...

We all want to save money, right? I know I do. 
Dry cat food is cheapest in the largest bags available. Smaller bags are purchased because the owner does not want the food to go stale before the cat can finish it. I also think that we just get used to buying smaller bags and boxes of products and don't even look at the difference in price of the larger bags. Just divide the large bag into smaller portions in tupperware or any type of well-sealed plastic containers and freeze the remaining containers. Your food will not go stale like it would just sitting in the bag and each container is as fresh as a brand new bag for kitty.
My cats love when I open a new bag of kibble. I guess it's like me and my new box of ritz crackers. Oh yum! Crunch..crunch. By freezing their food, each container is like a freshly opened bag. 
You will save money.
Many of my clients do this and I think it's great.
I, as a cat-sitter, know for sure that kitty will not run out of food while on my clock, either.

hugs, Deb





Thursday, December 19, 2013

The Christmas staircase

I got a little more decorating done and finally wrapped my gifts.


 I just have the wee ones gifts to finish and stockings to stuff and then it is full speed ahead with cat-sitting.

My staircase is always the last thing to decorate since Annie and Audrey spend much of their time chasing each other up and down like lunatics. Annie was a big help decorating. 
I did it while Audrey slept because I know better.
This is where I show off my Santas.

"Oh, oh...trouble."

There is a little tree at the landing and that painting is of my cat of 20 years, Charity.
She passed away in 1993.

Our little clap-board house is one hundred and twenty years old. Much of the original features including the old wooden staircase has been kept maintained by ourselves and past owners. We stripped every bit of paint off of it years back. The stairs are one of my favorite things about this home. So, I like to decorate it when I can.
On the railing , the wooden ornaments all have moving parts. You pull the string and the legs and arms move. Riley loves them and looks for them at Christmas.

So the house is ready for the grandittles. Other than having to move the Santas to vacuum before Christmas,  I would say I'm done. I think I have time to do a bit of baking even though my sister provides us with all the cookies and squares for the Christmas table. This year I ordered shortbread, brownies, cherry squares, butter-tart squares, macaroons and date squares. I'll be making the pumpkin pies. Geesh....I get a toothache just thinking about all this sugar. Oh well, it is Christmas.

                                                                     Our Memory Tree.
                                         A tree filled with decorations collected over thirty years.

I'm going to send you over to a most beautiful blog to show you how gorgeous Debra's kitchen is this Christmas.       http://www.commonground-do.com/
She has a beautiful home and it is all decked out for the holidays. You'll enjoy your visit.


Then maybe you can have a nap since I'm sure everyone is tired by now.
Sierra is sleeping more these days as she has no intention of missing Santa on Christmas Eve.
                                                   
hugs, Deb



Wednesday, December 18, 2013

First Christmas tree

Little Gwyn is pretty proud of her first Christmas tree.
She thinks mommy and daddy did a great job.

And she's even more excited about her early Christmas present from mommy and daddy.  A
new play-mat. 
It's new, it's exciting and it keeps her mind off of teething.
Look at this smile.
That smile is for Nana. :)

And you haven't seen Hugo and Ruby for awhile.
Well, they are doing fine and both fabulous cats.
Hugo
Biggest eyes ever.
He is beyond a doubt the sweetest cat I have ever known.

Ruby-doo
(Audacious Audrey's sister)

It's time to finish wrapping gifts after I enjoy a delicious egg-nog. Then I'll be Christmasing-up the stairs with much help from Annie and Audrey.

hugs, Deb