sugar kittens

they say it's going to be a white christmas in the black hills, with snow beginning mid-afternoon on christmas eve and continuing on to christmas day. so, i leave you with visions of sugar plum snow white kittens, dancing in your heads. merry christmas, one and all.

lost dream tacos

their eyes are open now. for the most part. the little white one with an orange dot on his head is a bit behind, but he's ahead of the others size-wise, so he's clearly been spending his efforts in other ways. i pinched a nerve or got something out of place in my lower back yesterday, carrying our old B&O stereo. it's very painful and i couldn't get in to see the doctor today (it's the autumn holiday and they're short-staffed), but i can get in tomorrow. so today i've been resting and trying not to do too much bending or twisting or driving, since pushing in the clutch is especially painful. i had a dream that husband tried to drive across a wide body of water where there was no bridge, expecting his car to float. it made it most of the way and only began to sink at the end. then we scrambled ashore and lo and behold, there was this guy there making the most awesome mexican food ever. i was just eating the most delicious chicken taco with charred peppers on top when scout meowed outside the window and woke me up. i've been sad about it ever since and i just can't shake the taste and smell of that food. such a vivid dream. and what with losing that delicious taco and the pain in my back (it's radiating down my left leg in occasional waves), i'm not in the best mood ever. and it strikes me that if people want to hear from me more often, they could let me hear from them more often and not just lurk on facebook. communication is a two way street. this is disjointed, i realize, but waves of back pain will do that to you. and all the cute kittens in the world don't seem to make that better. especially in the face of lost dream tacos.

100 happy days :: day 84

teeny tiny kitten.
eyes almost open.
so much happy.

the view from sunday night or what a week it's been

it's been a full week. there have been tiara-wearing kittens (that got a whopping 252 likes on flickr, which is the most any of my flickr photos have ever gotten).

there were days of rain, and blustery winds, but also glorious, golden light spilled through in between showers, making it ok that it went from summer to fall overnight.

there were more photo sessions with kittens, where i came to understand why they say you shouldn't try to herd cats. they are at their most lovely and irresistible right now. i'm enjoying every yummy minute of them.

there was a bit of early access to the series 12 minifigures, which won't be in stores until october (hence the blurry photo). i've got 13 of the 16 and can't wait for them to be released so i can get the other 3.

there was teenage mutant ninja turtle homework to do. i do love the kind of homework i'm asked to do at my workplace, even tho' tmnt aren't my favorites. this little spaceship was mostly an upside down build, which was new for me. it's also quite a lot sturdier than it appears, which is cool.

we harvested the last batch of honey - boosting our total harvest for the year up to 90 kilos, a much better harvest than last year. now we just need a big box of new honey jars so we can fill them up and maybe even sell some.

and when we weren't eating shark burgers, the weekend was spent discussing the school options. we visited two schools on friday and both have their own advantages. so much so that we've not had a gut feeling that one is a better choice than the other. that's been a bit difficult for me, as i normally rely on my gut to tell me things and in this case, it's told me that we should definitely find a new school, but it isn't obvious which one is the best choice. the child, on the other hand, is sure which one she wants, so pending a couple of questions tomorrow morning, we are going to go with that one - she is, after all, the one who has to make the switch. it's up to us to make the logistics of it work and to ensure that she keeps her social circle intact, as well as building a new one. that one, we're not really worried about so much. probably, we'll ultimately choose the public school, because we pay an awful lot of taxes and education is something they should just get right. and the new school gives a good impression of getting it right (of course, we're currently easy to impress in light of how bad things are at her current school).

and the weekend ended with a long walk with husband in the forest. the rainy weather has been good for mushrooms, both the edible and the photogenic kinds (these are the latter). a long walk has a way of clearing out any last vestiges of restlessness and discontent. and now i'm ready for the week ahead.

* * *

molly has been on a roll (of awesome posts) lately.

* * *

me, probably not making all that much sense, 

in danish, on the radio last wednesday evening.

talking about what danishness is.

(hint: full calendars, booking people two months ahead,

being able to talk to the boss no matter your level in the org. 

and being afraid of conflict)

* * *

i'm liking stuckinplastic

what's not to like? minifigs. life philosophies. lemonade. gratefulness.

* * *

a heartwarming story of love that finally happened after 60 years.

* * *

has amazon gone to the dark side?

spring is full of baby animals

little snowy white bunny

our old pony pinky has a fine little filly

mama mira had 6 babies this time - here are three of them.

salt & pepper

our precious molly's precious babies - 4 girls in one batch!

pepper had only 2 this time - little striper looks like the papa kitty that was hanging around.

sabin has named them harry & louis after her favorite members of 1D.

hen & chicks

we had a trip to the vet today with our beloved molly cat. she was obviously not feeling well this morning, so i called the vet as soon as they opened. they saw her immediately and diagnosed mastitis. she got a shot of antibiotics and painkiller and i brought home pills for the next ten days as well. her temperature was 41°C (normal is 39°C and while that doesn't sound like much difference, it's a LOT for a cat). the vet assures me she'll be fine and that what's best for her is to keep nursing her kittens. she's not sure she agrees, but she's doing so for now. i bought a bottle and milk replacer, just in case. i don't want to lose any of them.

tiny kitten perfection

our beloved molly dolly, the kitten we got last summer in minnesota, had her very own kittens today. she was a little confused at first, wondering what it was all about, but she soon caught on and promises to be a good mother. there are four perfect little kittens - one black, one striped, one black tortoiseshell and one stripy tortoiseshell - so two girls and two boys. the perfect first batch.

make hay while the sun shines

the weather is absolutely glorious.
the sun doesn't set 'til after 10 p.m.
we're soaking up the light.
and time with the kittens.
it's good to spend time with kittens.
they live in the moment like nobody's business.

my writing is all going elsewhere at the moment (they pay me for it there).
but i'm bursting with thoughts.
and pieces of sanity madness things that i need to share.
but it feels like there's no time at the moment.
like the words are all gone when i sit down here in this space, where they usually flow so freely.
or maybe i'm just called outside by light like this.

and perhaps my extra words are going to an old friend who just got back in touch.
and it feels like they belong to her right now.
and i like that.

but it's also because business is finally taking off.
and i'm busy.
in a good way.
unexpected projects came our way (two in the past week).
and they're giving me energy.
the good kind.

and i've got plane tickets in hand.
which always feels good.
and it's been far too long.
sabin and i will go to the states this summer, for three weeks.
we'll visit friends and family and play with horses.
and buy converse and go to the gap and starbucks and get a new iPad.

there's so much to look forward to.
but there's also so much to love and enjoy about here and now.
(they promise sunshine 'til next tuesday.)

frankie

 

i dearly wish this photo was in focus. 

i'm not really sure why it's not, except sometimes my macro lens does that.

frankie is our favorite of our batch of four kittens.

they're all boys.

here's some shots of him that are more in focus. 

it's a bit of a challenge getting him to hold still for his photoshoot.

baby animal monday

this is peaches - she's 12 days old. just got her eyes open. and is the most amazing color we've ever seen. i can see a bit of her mama's expression on her face. and i call her her, but i have no idea if she's a girl or not.

this is her sister, creamy. also possibly not a girl, but there you have it. it's nearly impossible to tell with bunnies 'til it's too late.

it's definitely spring around here. we've got baby animals like crazy. the first batch of bunnies all found homes this weekend. we've still got the last two, waiting to be delivered over to sjælland, so we get to enjoy them a little longer, but the other four very quickly found homes.

i suppose we'll have to find homes for these little sweeties as well. husband has declared that he won't build any more bunny cages. apparently five is enough.

and here's our other baby animal - the little black chick. s/he is doing very well. i call it a he all the time, but i do hope it will be a little hen. i wonder if the mama even notices the chick must really belong to one of the other hens. she's moved it back into the main henhouse, from their separate quarters. he peeps VERY loudly if he loses sight of her. she spends most days not far from the henhouse, showing him how to scratch and peck and take a dust bath. she's a really good mama. i'm wholly won over. chickens are not as dumb as they might at first seem.

and today, pepchen had four kittens. there will be photos of them soon - the ones i took were either a bit dark or the kittens were a bit slimy. but now they're dry and cute and perfect and mama is tired, but very content. spring is a very good thing in the countryside.

pinspiration no. 4 - in progress

lest you think i forgot...this is my pinspiration no. 4 work in progress. i picked up this sweet little easter-themed cross-stitch in a second-hand store last week and i'm making something quite different (for me) from it. it took some daring to cut into the fine, even work, but at last i did it. i'm making something to decorate that stick that i hung on the wall in the living room the other day.

i didn't get it finished due to the excitement of the arrival of the new baby chick - i had to run around getting a heat lamp and special baby chick food, plus make a spot for her (him?) and her (his?) mama separate from the other chickens, so they don't hurt the little sweetie (after reading on the all-knowing interwebz that that might happen). but i will show you more tomorrow. it is rather fitting, in light of being distracted by a chicken that this little cross-stitch is of chickens, don't you think?