Miss Sniff, The Cat

My cousin Mary Reaban asked about my childhood calico cat, Miss Sniff.   The cat came from the Reaban dairy farm, Southwest of Saint Louis.  My Father swore that every time she had kittens, we'd move.  Cousin Mary told me about a late 40's children's book and  asked if this might be where the name came from.  I don't know for sure, but I do remember the book.

At some point in the last 45 years, my Mother had given me Miss Sniff's tags. 

So I am sitting here thinking some things have come full circle as I've just adopted another calico cat.  I briefly thought about changing her name, but at 12 years old, Sophie is used to her own name.

She is training me to wake up at 5:30 AM and feed her by 6AM . . . very hard on an old confirmed night owl like myself.

Payson Bead Cave

I spent a weekend in Payson AZ at a bead cave with some great beading friends. We ate, gabbed and beaded while looking out at the mountains. This year we were joined by our two newest members .... catz, Cleo & JJ, who chased moths on the night windows. They were an absolute delight to have around.

I've watched this art doll evolve over the past couple of years and last weekend saw her finished.

Julie's Roller Derby doll most certainly has attitude. Isn't she a beautiful work of art?

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Two of the projects that we worked on were a Zulu bracelet and a Flat Spiral bracelet:

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This is what Julie came up with;

Zulu, center, Flat Spiral, bottom.

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Jo gave her Zulu bracelet a South Western flavor with silver, coral and a flip of turquoise ends.

Lauren really went all out with an experimental Zulu design. She had come with a black & white palette of beads and then found these square orange/clear beads. It took several starts to get it to fit right as the square beads stand up and fill the inside circumference differently than round beads.

This is truly a fantastic Orange Explosion.
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I used the idea of the Zulu bracelet, but not the edge picots. I did a bracelet with graduated crystals between the node beads for a slightly different variation. Now I need to order a few more 4 mm pink crystals as I need at least one more pass to make a proper fullness.

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It's interesting to see how 6 people can take the same basic instructions and make finished items that are so totally different. The weekend was a lot of fun and re-charged my creative spirit. Beading and exchanging ideas with other highly creative people is something I wish I could do more often.

Rescue Kitty - update

Thank all of you for your concerns and helpful information for the abandoned cat. The Tombstone Animal Shelter is a no-kill volunteer shelter and is listed on the petfinder website. I tried contacting previous owners and basically got told, don't bother them with such things they had more important problems. I may be wrong, but I'm involved as the cat has literally moved in here.

Sample Shopping & Cats

I was in Lowe's today and noticed these great free samples. The window covering samples looked like they might be great for scrap booking or as a beaded back ground. I was thinking about counter topping when I picked up the granite-looking laminate samples. However, if I was going to do another Bead Journal project they might also make beautiful backing for a series of bead embroidered pieces. Has anyone else noticed the craft value in the many samples that can be found in home improvement stores?

Isn't she a beautiful cat? Unfortunately her owners didn't think so. After the fire next door the family found somewhere else to live. They didn't bother to come collect their cat and nobody has been back to feed her either. She decided that my back porch was a safe place to sleep. I finally went and bought some cat food. After a couple of days of being very wary and not letting me get too close she decided I was alright and climbed up in my lap tonight, purring away. Now I need to find a home for her as I can't manage a cat with my travels across the country every 6 months. As a last resort, I'll take her to the Tombstone Animal shelter. Tombstone already has too many feral cats and I can't bear to leave another one to fend for itself. People who are not responsible for pets are one of my biggest pet peeves.

the Cats came to Visit

Harley has been visiting me for 5 years. He thinks my apartment is his personal escape-from-the-kids Summer place. Yesterday morning he was waiting at the door when I got up, having been out tomcatting all night. He ambled in, turned around, hissed and growled at George as if to say, "stay out!" then got a snack and took over the couch.
George is the new cat at the big house and is very leery about coming in my door as his housemate Harley, doesn't think he should share. I had put a cat donut out on the porch to give away and George thought it was the perfect place to nap after a hard night of hunting and he can keep an eye on me through the screen door where I sit at the computer. I guess the donut will have to stay on the porch as George was curled up there again this morning waiting for a few scratches and some petting.

My son says that Harley starts going to my apartment door and meowing when the snow is gone and it turns warm in the spring ... as if to say, "it's time, where are you?" I'm blessed when the cats come to visit and curl up on my lap purring.

Summer Tomcats

My summer tomcats are back. They come in, get what they want and leave. This is my son's cat, Harley, trying to tell me to make a decent lap, quit with the computer typing and pay attention to him! That look says it all. With my traveling, I don't have any pets of my own and have to borrow. I'm lucky that in both places, I have two cats and a dog that have chosen to spend time with me.

Cats

I thought I'd share a couple of photos of my "Summer Cat", Harley. I like cats, but because I travel, I don't have a cat of my own... my Son's tomcat moves in with me when I'm in NH in the summer and makes himself right at home. He's great company, but a very poor typist when he perches on the desk tray and trys to chase my fingers on the keyboard.

Too hot for cats

My Son's tomcat escapes from the 3 dogs, 2 kids, and 2 other cats at home when I'm in NH for the summer. My apartment is over their garage and he can come and go as he pleases. He's my "Summer Cat". However, with the heat and humidity climb today when he insists on a lap, I tell him, "it's just too hot for cats". He just looks at me like this and doesn't listen, he just wants a lap!
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I had company today and took time to pick up and neaten my Studio East. I looked at it late today and thought that it was way too neat to bead in. My friend Bev over at No Easy Beads told me to drag out a bunch of beads and lay them around to get back into a beading mood. Nahhh, I think I'll just admire the orderliness of it all until tomorrow. Besides I do have a bead board in bed that has the start of a freeform pink peony bracelet on it. Sort of my emergency beading project. However, in the cleanup I put my latest bead crochet project somewhere and now I can't find it. I know it'll turn up, probably right under my nose.