Happy Birthday!

"I'm ignoring you."
"No, I'M ignoring YOU."

That pic has nothing to do with the post, but it's typical of hubby's relationship with the cat. They coexist nicely!

Today is my husband's 47th birthday. Forty seven? When we were married he was 21. I was 19. We've spent our entire adult lives together, in various places around the world, doing various things. I can't believe over 25 years have passed since we were married, and forty seven years since the day you were born! The old saying is so true: time flies. Time surely does...it takes wings and is gone before we know it. All the more reason to seize the day and take advantage of every moment given to us. Time is a gift. Life is a gift. It's up to us to choose how we use those gifts, but God has given us a great calling and commission and my prayer is that we continue to use those gifts in the way that God has chosen. His plan is always the best plan...I should know! I've tried to follow my own plan on many occasions and have learned that God has a far better one than I can even imagine. He sees the big picture. I see only my immediate surroundings and circumstances. So...happy birthday to you, my wonderful amazing husband. Here's to many more, and many more adventures serving God together!

The sweet smell of success!

I did it, I did it! It turned out like I hoped it would! Next up...my sewing desk.

Fun stuff...giveaways and cool things

I have discovered the cutest decor! I'm loving it...check it out here at Lewa's Designs. I think I like the dandelions the best. And the trees. And the birds. And...and...and....

Just in time, I say. I'm decorating my "Studio" and I'm getting so inspired just looking at her pictures! I think her stuff would go very well with the way I'm doing it. Pics to follow. Eventually. When I finish. IF I finish! Haha!

You can also go to that same link and follow the instructions for a very cool and generous giveaway. Very groovy, if you ask me! :-) Thank you to Brittany Hughes of Lewa's Designs! (She's from Arizona, like me! LOL)

Have a great day, ya'all!

(Above image from Lewa's Designs)

The Reason Why I'm Tired Today or A Good Excuse to Go Back to Bed

Yesterday was a busy day. It started with this.


All my days start with this around 6:30. Oh yeah! And this too! My coffee pot has a timer. What a luxury to wake up to fresh coffee. It's almost like someone made it for me!



Then I moved on to a little of this.


Actually a lot of this and everything that goes along with it concerning glass cleaner, mops, washing machines, dust rags, dish soap and toilet brushes.

Then I did some of this.


Not on my dining room floor, however. I used them in the garden. (Can you hear the British in the way I speak?) In America it's a yard. Y.A.R.D. A garden is where we grow stuff like veggies. Something I would like to have but don't. In England a yard is a little paved area off the back of the house big enough for a mouse hole and a broken flower pot and one plastic chair. No worries though. It's always raining so you wouldn't even want to sit out there in your one chair and enjoy the view of your broken flower pot.

Anyway.


I wondered why in the world is there an apple tree planted on top of a banana tree in my garden. (It's a garden in my mind. Old habits never die.) Or maybe the banana was planted on top of the apple. Whatever. It's a rented house. What can I say?

I watered my pathetic little mint plant. I am trying to get it to take off and fill the pot with lush verdant growth that will beg me to make tea.


Speaking of pathetic, I contemplated throwing out the basil. I just can't do it though because there is a tiny bit of fresh green in the middle. See it? I'm not sure if that's old green and it just hasn't died yet or if it's new and the thing is going to make it. I suspect it's old, with my fab gardening skilz. There is a reason I don't have that vegetable garden...



I moved into the Studio. (I feel silly calling it that. Let's just refer to it as the pack rat's nest. I'd call it a cave except it isn't dark.) I finished a quilt for a dear friend's daughter who is about to have her first baby. The picture doesn't do it much justice, but it did turn out to be very cute!



I also worked on this.


The plan is that it will turn out something like this. I love it...eccentric and colorful. If it works, and I think it will, I have a desk in that room to do also.

I also debuted a new-to-me Pottery Barn fabric that I might make into a new duvet cover for our bed. (Thank you Goodwill!) The cat approves. She won't get to sleep on it, though because my husband doesn't allow her to sleep with us. She used to be able to, but lately she wakes up at 4 am and walks around on our heads. He kicked her out the other morning and said she's never coming back. Poor baby. He's a mean old man to kick her out into the freezing cold (70 degrees) living room where she has to curl up on the furry throw that lives on the couch. Actually she has her own room. My "Studio" is really "The Cat's Room." She spends most of her time sleeping in there. If she's not outside saving the world from bugs and dead leaves, that is.


The picture isn't the greatest (typical...they look good on my computer but they lose something on the blog), but you get the idea. I love the fabric, but I'm still not sure what I want to do with it.

I finished the day with a this, and a long phone chat with my daughters who live in another state.


I managed to do some other things too, making it a VERY productive day. And now, I'm going back to bed. I need more sleep after all that productivity!

Just kidding!

Maybe...

The Story of Fog, Mr. Gray, and Cats

"Why Cat Feet Studio?" Well, grab a cup of coffee and I'll tell ya.

The first thing you need to know is that when I was in school I loved English. Loved it with a passion. By contrast, I hated math; hated it down to the marrow of my bones. When I reached high school that hate later turned to utter loathing of vilest description. This, however, is not the point. The point is that I loved English and when my English teacher, Mr. Gray, introduced us to Fog by Carl Sandburg I fell in love. With the poem. I was already in love with Mr. Gray but that's not the point either. You can read the poem here.

You also need to know that after I was married (not to Mr. Gray, alas) my husband and I began to keep cats and I fell in love for the third time. (The second time was with my husband, the greatest guy in the world, which really was the first time if you don't count Mr. Gray, making my love of cats my second love--are you following all this???) We've had cats most of our marriage and they are an integral part of our home life. My daughter said, "A cat makes a house a home." I'm pretty sure she's right.

The third thing you need to know is that I love crafts, especially sewing. We currently live in a house with an extra bedroom which I have made into a craft studio. It's also a guest room, but if I have pressing matters to attend to with my sewing machine the guests have to move to a tent in the yard. It's OK. I let them come in to use the shower. Just kidding. Anyway, I have been known to disappear into that room for hours on end and make stuff. Jewelry, cards, clothes, quilts, you name it. Whatever strikes my fancy at the moment or appeals to my sense of creativity is produced there. My cat always comes to keep me company. If she's not outside catching lizards and other miscellany then she can be found snoozing on the bed administrating in my studio.

Moving right along in my story, some time ago we moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. I think this  is where they have the fog factory for the whole world. I'm not really into the fog, if the truth be told. I'm originally a desert rat from Arizona but even I have to admit the fog can be very beautiful. If I'm inside. With the heater on. And the fireplace. And some tea, a book, the cat, and for good measure the sound of my husband tapping away on his computer keyboard.

Anyway, back to the point.

Hence, Cat Feet Studio. The combination of my favorite poem, my favorite pet, my favorite things to do, and the beautiful place I live.

So that's my introduction! Check back and see what's in the shop when I get it up. I'll put a link in the sidebar.

I want to add a clarification: in all seriousness, my very first love is Jesus. I'm a born again Christian, been saved for 27 years at the time of this writing, the wife of a pastor. I love Jesus with all my heart, first and foremost. Everything I write and do and am is against that backdrop!