Monday Miscellany 9-15-14

 Image source

The glorious and extra fabulous Eddie Izzard!

Awesome:
♦Troll on a bridge. What a fun idea. She is adorable!
♦What happen when one woman refused to sell her house to developers.
♦Take a peek into the bags of creative people

Books
♦On an odd note; The Devils Bible AKA: The Codex Gigas

Beauty:
♦Natural acne friendly face-wash.
 
DIY:
♦Creative ways to use feathers
♦10 creative crafts that use old sweaters


Family:
♦We lost my husband's gramma Honey this year, so Jenny Lawson's story about Meemaw really resonated with me. A loving tribute.

Gardening:
♦Homemade organic antifungal spray   (Great timing, my poor garden needs this ASAP!)

Feminism:
♦Spinster, not what everyone thinks it is...
♦New hashtag about abuse: #WhyIStayed
♦Lululemon founder blames women thighs, instead of their crappy thin material... Gross, what a jerk!
♦Amazing photos of women factory workers during WW2.
♦"As a father of daughters, I think we should treat all women like my daughters" [Satire] Trust me its amusing!

LOL:

Jimmie Kimmel asks Fashion Week attendees what they think of made-up designers. 

(Ex: Chandler Bing, Betsy Ross...)

Noms:
♦Fall inspired floats YUM!

WTF:
♦The most shallow reasons to break up with someone...
♦Gross food and beverages from the 90's (Shudder-Orbit soda was like a drinkable lava lamp.)

Hat tip to Don't Get Rabies!

Which of course...made me think of this song:

I Should Be Allowed To Think ~ They Might Be Giants

Have a great week folks!

Ps. An extra special Congratulations to my younger sister! She got married this week! Wish you and you husband the best!!!!

Lost Our Furry Friend

We just lost our feisty boy Merlin. 

 As a kitten he was raised by his older brother Murphy a German Shepard. He always thought of himself as a dog.

 

He was my husband's cat, but lived with my mother-in-law out on the farm.

He was surrounded by dogs including a Great Pyrenees, but he was still the boss.

 Handsome prince!

 

In spite of his swaggering boss status he was cuddly and affectionate.

 He loved it when I would pick him up and carry him around. I would show him things and let him smell them.

He would respond with his patented  head-butt-of love. He would shove his head so hard up under your chin as if he was trying to melt into you.

 He was also fearless and a bit wild. He policy for new things was: swat first, ask questions later.

Oddly enough he could arm wrestle. He could hold his own against a grown man! (He used both front paws, but still!) If he got a hold of something you...weren't getting it back!

He was a big cat with a big personality. We are going to miss you so much.

Rest in peace Merlin.

(I just wanted to note that he was 16 years old when he passed. He lived a nice long life full of adventures. He had been my husbands little buddy since he was young. Even though we knew this time would come it still isn't easy.)

Thankful For Healthy Nephews

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♥Puppy-sat for one of my favorite snugly dogs.
♥Took three dogs for a walk today. Felt like a bad-ass!
♥Spent time with my friend on her birthday. Yay!
♥Made and awesome sandwich: wheat roll, Cajun turkey, Buffalo wing cheese, spinach, mayo, and mustard. Raspi loved it!
♥Fresh cheese curds!!!!!
♥Rasputin was done with work early today.
♥My nephew's knee surgery went well. *sigh of relief*
♥Buddy was making hilarious noises while being petted.
♥I ordered a super cute set of coffee mugs, and they showed up early! (Its a long story, but I got them for free.)

More From Cooper's House

In the farm house:

 

This is Zoey. She was feeling kind of left out, while every one was cooing over Cooper.

Raspi gave her some love. She was very appreciative.

 

Gorgeous glamour girl!

 

 

Farm yard:

 

Check out the girl on the far right. Cow smirk!

 

Cow smooch.

 

 

I know that most people would think they are just cows, but I think they can be beautiful.

 

The barn:

 

The barn cats.  Griffin the grey.

 

Petey taking a stroll.

 

Griffin the adorable.

 

We had so much fun.  It is always great to see everyone.

I spent a lot of time right next to the wood stove, nodding off.

 

Hans plays the Djembe. So awesome!

 

Later in the evening Todd, Hans, Lynn and Rapsi played together.

 

 Raspi is musical.

 

Please Meet Cooper:

He is Rasputin's new little fur-brother!

Cooper is a Great Pyranees. Lynn and Tod chose him to help watch over their cows.

Look at those eyes!

He is only 7 weeks old and already he is 30lbs!

His huge paws are adorable!

He is a very sweet, calm and gentle puppy. He will be great with the cows.

He fell alseep on Rasputin's palm. Awwwww!

Cooper with his new momma. As you can see he is not fond of being held. We all held him as this may be the last time we physicaly can. He is going to get so huge!

I can't wait to watch him to grow.

Cat's Outta' The Bag

My poor Frankie had a bad night.

Around midnight I woke to quite a surprise! I vaguely remember seeing sparks… followed by a thud.

Then there was a bunch of plastic-crinkling…and Frankie squawking.

Horrified I turned the light on to find  Frankie suspended in a plastic shopping bag* hanging from the bed post!

I plucked the flailing terrified cat out of the bag…literally! I set her down on my pillow to see how she was. She seemed to be in shock. I help her for quite awhile till she calmed down.

Fortunately she was not hurt. She just very scared.

What I am guessing happened was that the poor dear received a static shock. Or, rather several shocks. Which startled her so much she fell off the bed into the bag.

So keep my poor dear in your thoughts.

*I keep an old shopping bag there for used tissues. Darn sinus and all...

Mindful Monday

Source

Advocacy:
♦"My Beef with the “I Love Boobies” Bracelets (in 2013)" (Support the person, don't glorify the body part)
♦Bull=  1: Slaughter house = 0 (Keep in mind that its from the Hong Kong Weekly World News.)
♦Do the children of abusive parents owe them anything?
♦A online resource for parents looking to help their children recover from eating disorders
♦Interview with Jazz. An amazing  girl activist!

Awesome:
♦Super cute gif...go look!!!!!
♦Spot on Calvin...spot on
♦Baby polar bear!!!
♦Bopping kitten and marshmallows
♦Cat wearing socks
♦Daria Quotes
♦Sad? Need a smile? Here is an adorable red panda. Your welcome. : )
♦Gorgeous nature gifs!

DIY:
♦Tea-riffic: how to cold brew tea (I love puns!)
♦Some fun ideas for printing on scarves

Feminism:
♦Brilliant men can get away with being disheveled, but women cannot...
♦"Nice Guys" are the worst
♦"A guy’s guide to approaching strange women without being maced"

Lol:
♦Star Trek logic (Too true!)
♦Somebody threw their hat in the ring to be Pope.....
♦Best Valentine EVER

Noms:
♦Huge list of 33 gluten-free desserts!!!
♦Herb goat cheese souffle
♦Three bread recipes, one is vegan

Self Care:
♦What you can do when you don't love yourself
♦Creating an inspiring creative space
♦The World Is A Kinder Place When You Are Kind
♦Turn around a bad day

WTF:
♦WTF Evolution? (a Tumblr of oddities in the animal world)
♦Scary ventriloquist dummys
♦Get the look: Cannibals....huh?
♦Pizza flavored lip-balm....eww

Thankful For Rasputin, And Our Kids

A still from one of my favorite movies: Amelie  Image source

Comptine D'un Autre été by  Yann Tiersen (A beautiful song from Amelie

 

♥Helped my Adopted Mom pick out a new phone. (Her screen died)
♥Then we had an awesome lunch. It was a fun afternoon.
♥I ended up getting the same cell phone Mom did.
♥Have been trying out oil cleansing. Its been working great so far. It really removes eye-makeup!
♥Found 5 cute shirts, a hoodie, and two cute skirts at the thrift store.
♥Raspi found an Affliction shirt for $10! (Its a low-key one, it doesn't have logos plastered all over it.)
♥Even had fun talking to a nice lady shopping there.
♥Also found a book for a friend, and a calendar for another  (Its a kitten calender  and I am going to make it into a lol-cat calender. Mwaaa ha ha ha!
♥We now have a magnet on our car.
♥Rasputin made me a an awesome Valentine with a corgi on it!!!!!
♥For him, I chiseled ice off of the sidewalk, and shoveled the end of the driveway after the plow went thought. His big surprise is that I am paying for a back massage. (Shhh don't tell him!)
♥The sun came out for a while, it almost felt like spring!

Thankful For My Ancestors

Poor Dylan is not happy with all of the snow.

♥My hair is trimmed, and styled.
♥Discovered a great soap maker. They use goats' milk to makes soaps, and lotions. We love their coffee soap, and their tea-tree lotion.
♥Made a huge batch of lazy salsa. We are sooo stuffed.
♥We watched The Lorax. Awesome.
♥Added a lavender sachet to my pillow...smells awesome. I have been sleeping better too.
♥Watched a great documentary; Farmageddon.
♥Found a pile of old papers about my family history. Some of my ancestors came to the US in 1760!
♥Also found some of my old report cards....ha!
♥Dr. Who Theme!!!!!
♥My mom has a new car! Congrats to her!!!

Holiday Traditions

I had intended to publish this post weeks ago. Sometimes life gets in the way.

My gramma Honey had a bad fall and bruised her whole right side. She was in ICU for several days to monitor her heart and check for internal bleeding. She has now been moved a nursing home for recovery, and is doing well.

I had a surprise visit from one of my estranged parents on my birthday. (Wow, that was intense)

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Very unexpectedly one of my co-workers died on Christmas. He was one of those rare folks who is completely genuine. He was hardworking, kind, and a devoted family man. He left behind several siblings, both of his parents, 4 children and one grandchild.

We were excused from work for a few hours to attend his funeral. It was touching, full of love and so bittersweet. He was only 53 when he passed. My heart goes out to his family.

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I found out shortly after Christmas that one of my siblings are expecting their first child. (To soon to know whether it’s a boy or girl.

***************************

All of the emotional ups and downs in that last few weeks have been difficult for me. My anxiety has been unbearable. I have a difficult time functioning when I am “on anxiety high-alert.”

I had intended to write a nice round-up of traditional foods from many cultures. I even had an awesome collaboration from SpacemanSteve. Unfortunately I was unable to finish this post.

So please enjoy what I did manage to finish.

　

Czech, Slovakian:

♦Czech Honey Cake
 ♦Kolaches (Cookies)My grandma Mona uses a sweet dough, and stewed prunes.

Croatian:

This is an incredibly quick, easy, and hearty one-dish meal that is a perfect winter meals, and my favorite Christmas Eve tradition--especially because of the red and green peppers. It's a variation on a simple peasant recipe that probably is common in many cultures, but this version is a reminder of my Croatian grandma.

  1 package spicy sausage (I like Andouille, but keilbasa works too) 1 large red bell pepper 1 large green bell pepper 1 large onion 2 garlic cloves 2 medium sized, red potatoes or 4 small 4 tsp olive oil red pepper flakes 1/2 tsp paprika salt and pepper to taste water sour cream (for serving) Preheat the oven to about 400 degrees F .Chop sausage, peppers, onions, and washed but not peeled potatoes into similar sized chunks. Peel garlic but leave the cloves whole. In a large bowl mix olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and paprika. Add sausage, garlic, and and vegetable chunks and toss to coat meat and vegetables with oil and spices; spread onto a cookie sheet. Add a little water to the pan and bake for about 45-50 mins, turning and tossing the ingredients at intervals to prevent sticking, until potatoes are tender and sausage is crisp at the edges. Serve with sour cream.

Thanks Spacemansteve!

Greatful for Rasputin, And Snow-Throwers

Meet Mittens! Source

♥Trail blazing for the corgis is a tough workout! Its sort of a stomp/shuffle. I feel like I am doing the sloppy swish.
♥Watching the corgs running around their trails is so adorable! I did panic a little. I thought I lost Bud! (The snow is so deep that I can't always see them in their corg-trails. Sometimes all that I can see is the tips of their ears!)
♥Sometimes the classics are the best. Grilled cheese and tomato soup = yum!
♥So grateful that we have a snow-thrower!!!!
♥No one that I know was hurt in the snow-storm. : )
♥Our family Christmas gathering is coming up.
♥Finaly finished Gramma Honeys photo album/present. I really hope she likes it!
♥Glad that Blogger has spell-check. (I am a terrible speller!)
♥Raspi and I dropped off our car for an oil change. It ended up turning into a fun adventure. (Its a long story)
♥Raspi and I had a nice date at one of our favorite cafes.
♥Pick up Wreck This Journal. Can't wait to get started on it!

Rasputin hates having his picture taken. He always makes this face.

What are you greatful for this week?

X♥X♥

Finn

Thankful For My Job

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♥They cut my hours at work, but I still have a job.
♥My costume turned out pretty good.
♥The Halloween specials have been great.
♥Grandma's birthday party turned out awesome! She was so surprised. : )
♥It was so nice to see all of our family.
♥Happy birthday to Rachel!
♥Two couples we love had their anniversaries! Congrats to the the H. brothers and their lovely wives!
♥Raspi's cousin had her baby! Welcome little one!
♥Raspi's dad refinished a rocking chair for us, its beautiful!
♥We had a nice quiet Halloween. (We don't pass out candy, the kids get the dogs all riled up.)
♥The puppy next door was dressed as a hotdog! So dang cute!!!

Thankful for Gramma Honey

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♥Found a cool site with tons of scarf tying ideas
♥Beautiful picture of love (Makes me teary eyed)
♥So excited for Gramma Honey's party!!!!!!
♥Wathcing the puppies play/fight is so fun.
♥Curry + pumpkin + soup = must try!!!
♥OMG! This made me laugh so damn hard!
♥I need to plant blue berries around my house next year. Yum and beautiful!
♥There was a terrible thunderstorm this morning. It knocked out the power for our neighborhood. A good excuse to go out for breakfast! [Also a good time to check emergency supplies]
♥Knowing that we make Frankie feel safe. She always comes to us when their is a storm, she gets scared.
♥This guy cracked me up!
♥Awww! Cute metal guy snuggling a kitty! This is so Raspi!!!!
♥Snuggling with the puppies.
♥Waking up to a purring foot warmer. (Rue was sleeping on my feet, cute boy!)
♥We have been enjoying the warm weather...while it lasts.

New Gagets

Rasputin and I purchased a DSLR camera. I am still trying to get the hang of all of its functions. (So bear with me!)

We are really excited and hope you enjoy the photos:

One of my Lilies.

Rufus scoping out the world.

The lovely velveteen Frankie.

Bud, being cool.

Cici being sly. (I can't look at this without laughing!)

Bud, and Cici keeping watch from the red couch.

Rasputin reading the news. (On his phone)

My skinny feet.