Whimsy is 5 months

My little girl is 5 months old and not slowing down. Very destructive. Heaven help me and Tayoh.

The daily ritual

When they both want to occupy the top tier of the tower and fighting is futile, the girls call a truce and snuggle in for a nap. It doesn't last.

Into everything

Whimsy is into everything. Even blogging, as you can see. There are all kinds of things to rip and pull down. And jumping into the fridge as soon as the door opens - well, that's just too much fun. The aerial pounce on Tayoh,the older sister, is also a riot. How long does this last...?

Well, it turns out that kitty is a girl! So much for my attempts at sexing. Her name is Whimsy and yes, I am keeping her. Not a lost kitten notice in sight. The vet determined that she's probably 3 months old and is very healthy, coordinated and unbelievably confident. She tried to climb up my leg and has left me in shreds. Now where is that squirt bottle. ..
I tried introducing Whimsy to Tayoh and that didn't go very well. Tayoh is hissing and growling, torn by curiosity and loathing. The little one gave it right back. She's not backing down but is keeping a respectful distance. I suppose this will take a while for them to form some sort a relationship. It's just that I was hoping, unrealistically, that they would be instant friends. I was hoping for a Mabel/Brian response.

Kitten rescued from tree top

Yesterday, as I was walking home from an appointment, I heard a strange howling from above. I thought it might be a squirrel but lo and behold it was a kitten. He was terrified to move and I was afraid he was going to succumb to heat stroke if he didn't get down. I went home to look up some phone numbers for rescuing distressed animals but could find nothing. So I went back armed with a carrier and a long-armed reacher - the kind used after hip surgery. I thought I might be able to jostle him with it but it turned out he was at least 10 feet beyond the reacher. When I returned to him he was hanging limp from the branch and I thought he had died. So I started screaming and banging on the trunk of the tree and managed to rouse him. After an hour of yelling and coaxing, he finally came alive and started down the trunk backwards all the while wailing. I was able to catch him, put him in the carrier and head for home. He's now in the bathroom, isolated from my resident cat pending his FIV, FLE status. But he's so slippery that he's escaped a few times.
I shall watch for posters of lost kittens and if none materializes in the next week, I shall keep him. I really didn't want a kitten but this looks like some kind of destiny at work. I've given him tons of Tayoh's forgotten toys and he plays like a madman. I suppose all kittens are a bit mad. I'd forgotten that, it's been so long.

Claudine Hellmuth's Composition for Collage: Vignette

This week's composition was difficult for me for some reason. I find it hard to link together several different images in a meaningful and balanced way. I prefer to use embellishments such as flowers. And even then I was off the mark. This is the corrected version as suggested by Claudine.

Claudine's Composition for Collage

I too am taking Claudine Hellmuth's on-line class in composition for collage. She's such an excellent teacher and provides lots of examples and exercises. This picture depicts the 'high horizon' background/foreground and is the first exercise that I posted in the gallery. I'm anxiously awaiting Claudine's feedback. I feel like I don't know what I'm doing. Ha. What else is new....

ATC Night

Friday night marked my return to trading artist trading cards (ATC). I was new to the group of regulars who meet once a month at Bizzy B Stamp and Scrap (in Toronto)to trade their ATCs according to a designated theme. This months topic was 'things French'. Apart from being so welcoming to a newbie, each artist shared the techniques used in making her cards. Some very ingenious women, I must say.
In addition, Tony (the owner) graced the table with enormous red velvet cupcakes and apple strudel. Well worth abandoning the diet for a day. Of course, now I want more.
The following are some of the ATCs traded to me. I regret that my photography skills don't do them justice.

The Royal Wedding

Photo credit: Hugo Burnand, AP

Yes, I was one of the fans to get up pre-dawn to watch the wedding. And then I watched it again in the evening. I just love this picture with the kids. They were so adorable and well-behaved under the supervision of Pippa, the bride's sister, a beauty in her own right. Great dress though people were whining that the neckline was too low. Hmmm - grow up.
What intrigued me was the 'fascinator', that little bit from a hat that sat poised near the forehead of the ladies. Some were downright ugly. Take, for example, the baby pacifier on the head of Princess Beatrice. Joan Rivers called it an IUD. The raccoon eyes didn't help either.

Photo credit: US Weekly magazine

I'm given to understand that it is a religious tradition in the Anglican Church for women to wear a head covering while men must remove their hats. So when the Prime Minister's wife arrived sans hat, this constituted an egregious error. The invitation even stated that women must wear hats. Perhaps I'm overly critical.
It was a delightful escape from the woes of the world to pass the time watching this young couple (who are so obviously a 'couple')tie the knot.

Zentangles

Zentangle is a style of doodling with pen and ink that is said to be a ritual that allows one to get in touch with life, solve problems, be innovative and more creative. I don't know about that. I still have a lot of problems. There are specific design elements one can use but basic doodling also seems to do the trick.
I used a rubberstamp of a young girl's face as my starting off point in 'Princess with Crown'. Actually, this is a joke since my doodling doesn't lend itself to titles.
Wonder if my therapist should see these...

Farewell Knut

This week saw the passing of Knut, the polar bear, at the Berlin zoo. He was only 4 years old.
From the moment he was abandoned at birth by his mother and hand-reared by zoo keepers, he achieved great notoriety. In his short life he starred in his own film and made the covers of German Vanity Fair as well as the American Vanity Fair where he posed with Leo di Caprio. His antics were a great source of joy to the public and he will be greatly missed.

When is spring coming...?

As I sip my morning coffee and watch the swirling of another mini blizzard with winds to match, I wonder if the weather will ever lighten up. I'm afraid to venture out with the winds so strong for fear of being blown over. And I have things to do out there. My only consolation is the blooming of my miniature orchid. This year there are 2 extra buds despite the plant being so pot-bound. There's nothing like a blooming flower to remind one of kinder, gentler days.

Keeping warm against the elements

My dog knitting days are over for now and I'm making myself a sweater instead. It's the perfect past-time for sitting in front of the tv.
Last night I tried to ignore the howling wind which was so strong it threatened to push in my windows. They were shaking and rattling in terror. The gusts were 96 km/hr which falls into the definition of blizzard if there had been snow along with it. Since there was no snow it was just called 'windy'. What a joke. Certain streets in the city were closed because of flying debris which included a plaza roof, business signs, hydro wires and little bags of doggie-do. It seems calmer today but that's probably because the wind has shifted to the north. At least I made it out to the grocery store to pick up my favourite marinated artichoke hearts by M'Lord. I'm addicted to them and if I'm going to be a shut-in from the weather, I can chow down on this special treat.
My knitting meanwhile should add further comfort until such time as I have to sew the whole damn thing together. I hate that part like crazy. Wonder if I can pay someone to do it for me. What a coward I am...

2011 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

You're looking at the winner of this year's Best in Show, the Scottish Deerhound. A kind-looking dog with long, gangly legs that moved with ease and grace. This year the show was broadcast live on TSN. So many breeds I never heard of including 6 new ones admitted this year to the Kennel Club. By next year, the show will be adding another hour for judging as the field of contestants grows.

Photo credit: Spencer Platt, Getty Images

Rick Mercer and the Superdogs

As a result of Leslie's posting of Rick at the Weather Network, I found this amusing older offering of Rick with the Superdogs at the Royal Winter Fair. Go ahead, have a laugh.

The View From Here

This is my frosted up window - the souvenir of the 'big' storm we had last night. In fact, it's somewhat disappointing after the news sent waves of panic throughout the city using words like armageddon, apocalypic, blizzard.... Six hundred schools closed for a snow day but I'm still looking for snow. What little there is around here is not ploughed so that poses a problem for getting around. I plan to stay in most of the day. Maybe I'll venture forth to examine things on the east side (the direction of the wind) of the building.

I remember 1999 when we had so much snow the mayor called in the army with tanks to dig us out. Western Canadians had a big laugh over that one. I was talked into staying overnight at work so that there would be staff available should patients show up the next day. For this sacrifice, the CEO gave all employees a movie pass for being so generous. Needless to say, I was pissed since the majority of pass recipients didn't even come into work the following day.

Tayoh examines the outdoors.

Kindle

This isn't a very good picture because of the lamp illumination



After a year of not being able to read because of lack of concentration, or, so I thought, I whined at my doctor for assistance. He immediately suggested I try an electronic book reader as many of his other patients found them successful in alleviating readers' block. So I ordered a Kindle from Amazon.com and I've only just picked up the basics so far. It's the latest version and comes with WiFi and 3G so I can download books in under a minute without connecting to the computer. They say that the 3G will work anywhere, including Europe. I managed to change the size of the font 3-fold and what a difference this makes to reading. I haven't yet made time to read (being out of practice) but look forward to getting back in the groove. What puzzled me was the image that comes on the screen when you turn the Kindle off. I guess it's some sort of screen saver and depicts various authors or book illustrations.



My first read is the book I left abandoned a year ago - The Girl Who Played With Fire. Any recommendations for my next?

Doggie sweaters

This is the first time I've seen my sweaters on real dogs. It's such a thrill and this is certainly the year for bundling up. For any future knitting projects, the wards of Happy Tails rescue will be the recipients.

As time goes by

On Christmas Day there wasn't much going on here so I spent my time cruising etsy and came upon a watch studio that had the most interesting handmade steampunk wristwatches that I found irresistable. This is the one I bought and it arrived from Korea in 5 days! Beautifully giftwrapped. I don't regret this splurge for a minute.
And to caps things off, my second orchid came into bloom. But I noticed that instead of the previous 2 stalks, it now has only 1 and much fewer buds. Beggars can't be choosers....

Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. Next event coming up is on February 3, 2011 when the Chinese New Year begins. It is the year of the rabbit.
Just in case anyone thought I'd given up my bird fascination, here's to you.