Sebastian

Well, it is just about impossible to get pics of this feline. He does not like the camera. Does not want to pose. Does not like being still if you are desiring him to.
And he knows!!!
Sebastian, otherwise known as Sebby to those who know him best...started out life as a feral kitten of a feral mama. He and his siblings got trapped under a shed in a neighbor's back yard. My four adventurous kids went over to help the widow neighbor because she thought she had some baby bunnies under there...but no! Kittens!!!!!!
Two of the kittens went to a neighbor and Sebby stayed with us. And we already had kitties, and needed another one like we needed a hole in the head. Specially this porker!


Turns out the father must have been a Maine Coon, cause that little tiny kitten turned into a HUGE 22 pound CAT! He is almost 7 years old.


He is our BIG and Dumb and Friendly Cat...Will walk right up and bug the tar out of you til you give him some attention, even trusts strange dogs... durrhhh!

Here is a fuzzy pic of him by a coffee table sized piece of furniture to let you see how big he is...


Well, today I just thought I would highlight this big boy since I always talk about my dawgs. So this is his one day of glory in BlogLand.

That's right Sebby. Do your Tiger Roar!! You are on WWW!!!
(Of course I didn't take that last pic...only Kat can take great pics like that...!)
Hope you had a great Monday! Hugs to all.
Thanks so VERY VERY much for praying for our military over there giving it all they got....!

I think I'm back.....

Wow...The last two weeks have flown by, and I think somewhere I blinked, and all that happened kind of went into fast forward, and here I sit. And I know that it was real. It was very stretching...mentally and emotionally and physically.

To put it all in a nutshell, my mom's 12 radiation treatments for the two brain cancer tumors are now finished. She has come through it like a trooper. She is definitely losing her hair, but she is taking it in stride. We will now watch and wait to see what the treatments have done accumulatively to the tumors.

My dad came through his hernia surgery with flying colors, and also was a trooper. I know it was a strain for him with everything he has facing him, but he never complains...ever. He has healed quickly enough like he usually does. He is in good health, and we are thankful for that.

I am spending less time over there now, and giving them back some of their time alone to recover and adapt. Praising God for their healing and recovery.

I thank all of you, dear and sweet bloggy friends who stayed in contact and prayed and those of you just thinking about me. It is so encouraging to the heart at times like this where the world seems like it is closing in and the sky sometimes seems like it may be falling.



Just posting a few things on this Friday as I rejoin the bloggy world that I would call old and some new "favorites" that I came across over the past two weeks in my time on the road running to the hospital or doing errands.
Hooking up with Cindy over at "My Romantic Home."
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

New lovely swan planter from Craig's List (brought me into contact with the lady who was my children's nurse years ago at their pediatrician....small world!!) The flowers are dahlias in the lovely red and yellow Marine Corp colors...is it any wonder I got them?


This little flower wreathed girl is getting old and chippy, but I just can't let her go. She is one of my favorites that sits in what I call the Fairy Garden where the larger hostas and ferns are. (And Kobe loves to come and dig in here for chippys...grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!)


Here is the bird watching/feeding station out front right outside the dining room window. I LOVE to watch the birds fluttering out here early in the morning.



My sweet mama gave me this bird watcher plaque because she is trying to clean out a bit, and I hung it on an old shutter on the deck. So lovely...I'm grateful!


This is quite a large print I found at a Goodwill last weekend. It is the popular vintage poster of "Rosie the Riveter" from the World War II era. I've never seen one framed before. I was very excited to find it, and in such a nice frame. It fits the colors of the kitchen and of course the eclectic taste of this crazy woman.


***Rosie the Riveter is a cultural icon of the United States, representing the American women who worked in factories during World War II, many of whom worked in the manufacturing plants that produced munitions and material. These women sometimes took entirely new jobs replacing the male workers who were in the military. The character is considered a feminist icon in the U.S.***



I don't usually go much for artificial flowers, but both of these silk bouquets were at the thrift and added up to a dollar, and they looked real enough to entice me to get them for the kitchen...so I now have some flowers for year round when the real ones quit blooming.



I'm pretty sure I have shown this froggy lamp earlier in a post as one of my favorites, but it had a plain shade on it, and I have been waiting and looking for a toile shade in that sage color to top it. FINALLY, at the Goodwill down the road this past week, this was brought out while I was there. $1.99! I grabbed it so fast, the store shook! I was thrilled to find it after holding out for so long. Just had to share the perfect match I waited for...



And this beautiful cutwork blue and white hanger was .99 at GW and I got it for the little vintage slip in the LR.

Love thrifting. It is fun and fits the tight budget.... It makes me smile.

Now for Friday Favorites, I saved the best for Last!!
We got a call from Justin our Marine, though it was bittersweet. It was a very bad connection, The first call lasted less than 2 minutes, and the second attempt probably didn't hit 30 seconds. No more calls.... yeah..this mama cried... He said he had gotten 3 of his packages so far, and he had written 5 letters. (where are they??????!!) He said he was fine.

Today we got this in the mail!



Oh how sweet... At least we did get some news since we didn't get to talk. I just thanked the Lord for this double treat...to at least hear his voice and then get some news. OOO-RAH!

Thanks to all of you continuing to pray for ALL of our military over there. They are truly in danger as they are seeking to carry out the missions laid out to do what they must do. It scares this mom, but I trust God's keeping care over my son...as he belongs to HIM.


Good to be back. Looking forward to catching up with every one of you!!!!!
Hugs and Blessings.

Have a Blessed Easter!

Thursday Randomness and Ramblings...

Today is simply a hodge-podge of rambling... :-)

My mom is holding up extremely well, I think...for all that she is experiencing. She may be released from the hospital tomorrow. Thank you all for praying about this.
It is hard to watch what she is going through right now. So a lot of time I feel I am in battle to keep my thoughts upbeat! God is my strength and encourager, and friends are such a blessing, near and far.

How do you like this little red beauty I found at a new thrift store the other day? I passed it on my way to the hospital and made a note to remember and stop for a quick look the next day. Love the pop of red it gives to the bird feeding area in the front yard...not to mention, Cardinals are one of my favorite birds! Katie thought the birds would be scared to eat from it, but not at all! :-)


This little ballerina fairy graces the area just below all the feeders. I love her feminine daintiness.


And this funky metal canine who should be guarding against the squirrels coming to rob my bird seed is NOT doing a very good job. I have to keep letting Kobe out to do the job right!


Here's my favorite bunny ...getting pretty old. Can't believe he has not been knocked over and cracked by the canine gang running around the yard chasing squirrels and chipmunks all the time. It's a miracle!!! Oh I see the leaves still in this flower bed. I have not gotten to this one yet with the rake and gotten mulch in its place. drat! So much to do... Can you see the little fiddleheads of the fern popping up already? love to watch these unfurl more and more each warm day.


Here are a few sneak-peeks of something else I got at the same new little thrift store I visited...I have been spending a few minutes here and there this week working on it..(It needed a lot of work!) I will show you the whole thing when I get done...It will involve some "wiring" by Da Man once again...so I'll have to wait and see. But I was excited to find it.


(a lot of piecing and reconnecting will be involved with the above. it was a mess.)

Here is another little cheerful bouquet I brought in from the yard yesterday afternoon. Flowers always make me smile and make a bright spot inside. I like that.
I remember all the winter posts I kept typing Come Spring!...and here she is...sigh.


And of course today is Maundy Thursday of this Holy Week of Easter. A moment to reflect and remember that last supper Christ had with HIS closest friends and followers. He did something that was a great example and life lesson to us. He washed their feet....their Leader and Teacher, the last one who would have done such, did the servant's job. He came to serve. He wants us to serve. He did one of the lowliest tasks there was to show His undying love for them. What a "live-out- loud" lesson. He wants us to serve others.


Love and hugs to all of my dear and cherished bloggy sisters whether we share the same faith or not. You are true friends in your love and comments and support of things I share and go through in this journey. I am grateful for you.

Thank you for lifting up my Justin, and the other military people you know of who are also serving us by fighting, and defending our lives and freedoms back home.
God bless them and God bless you.

A Respite ...

Yesterday my daughter Kat and I took off mid-afternoon and had an outing together.
It was good. Good for the body. Good for the mind. Good for the soul.
She was supposed to work, but was given the day off. I was not working my usual Tuesday morning job with 3 year olds because of Easter week.
So we grabbed the time and RAN!

I love my girl. What would I do without my Kit-Kat in a world full of lots of testerone? :-) (love that too!, but girls gotta stick together!!!)

First thing we did was go see this super good movie (Dollar day at the theater ~woot!)



yeah I was sniffing through the movie. It was a great story (true).

Then we did a little shopping at Hobby Lobby and Michaels and Wal-Mart.

And then we popped into here...since I've never been there before:


and had some of this:


AND THEN... we both topped it off with one of their 40 shakes. I had blueberry cheesecake, and Kat got Banana Pudding. oh yeah...it was delish. (but my pants were starting to feel tight!!) {:-o

It was a wonderful respite from a lot of concerns and some worries this past week.
I thank the Lord for moments in life where we can step away, and fellowship with those we love, and get rejuvenated and recharged. And I am thankful for the memory to store in my heart and my online personal e-journal of time with Kat.


Thank you so much, those of you who stay in touch via this little blog, for your thoughts and prayers for me, my family, my mom's health, and my noble Marine.
Friends are precious.
God bless you all.

Blessings of Loving little hearts.

Across the miles came a specially delivered package from Plant City Florida and this smiling bloggy sister!

http://marilarkin.blogspot.com/

In her blog this past week she told about a fun day with her sweet soulmate picking strawberries, and then showed a photo of these:



YUM!!! and this is what she typed under it!

"...some of my dear friends might be excited to know, some of these treats are on the way to your home." *Shhhhhh--it's supposed to be a secret!

Oh my. How exciting to get these delicious cookies. and YES THEY ARE!!! (she was wise enough to also include the recipe, knowing I would want it!)

Mari, I thank you for such a very personal and sweet gift. It is yummy and also warms my heart. Whatever small thing I did to encourage you I am so happy I could, and boy is my family glad to benefit from your delicious thank you.

Bless you my bloggy sister, and you have a generous sweet spirit.
Tell your hubby thank you for his part in all the fixin!

Just had to share about another special blog sister in this www. world.

Have a great week everybody. Thanks for your prayers for my mom and for my Marine, Justin. Sending a hug and a smiling heart from me to all of you!

Impossible is Not A Word in God's Vocabulary

Joining Charlotte and Ginger here for their weekly post of giving praise to the Lord.

http://bloggerspirit.blogspot.com/


This is my theme song this year. It is a new one by Kutless.
It is a beautiful message about FAITH.
Thank you for your prayers.
May God bless you today.