It's Never Easy to Say Goodbye

We had to have our 15-year old Black Persian cat Pepe put to sleep today. He was diagnosed with feline kidney disease a few months ago, and we were hoping we would have more time with him. Unfortunately his kidneys started failing, so there was nothing that could be done for him.

Here he is in healthier times:

He was a Daddy's boy through and through, so needless to say, this has been especially hard on Mr. S.

Pepe was unique from any other cat I have known in that his favorite treat was Cool Whip. Yes, Cool Whip. He did not like cat treats, the only thing he liked was a dollop of Cool Whip. I will never be able to look at Cool Whip without thinking of him.

Rest in peace Pepe - you were very much loved.

Quick Post about a Fast Project

I am Crazy for Cowls lately. Don't know why. I am just enjoying making them I guess. Last night I made this cowl in an hour, maybe less:

That is the fastest I have ever made one! This is so easy, and would make great Christmas gifts. The pattern can be found here.

All you need is one skein of Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn and a Q hook. I used a color called Honolulu Pink.

Hope you try one, I think you will love it!

Fun Thanksgiving Ideas

I thought I'd share with all of you some ideas to make your Thanksgiving day even more fun. Lots of family will be gathering this year to spend the holiday with my in-laws, so I found some games and activities for us to do before the turkey feast begins!

As usual, I found most of the things on the internet, so I will provide links where I can. For some things, the idea was found on the web, but I ended up having to make the documents in Microsoft Word. If you are interested in any of those, let me know and I can e-mail the document(s) to you.

My husband's family loves to play games, so I created some word games for us to play before we eat. I will put together small prizes for the winners - probably something simple like candy, gum etc. Here are the word games:

1.  Find a Thanksgiving Day word for each letter of the alphabet. I made this as a Word document. You could give a special prize to anyone who can come up with a word for the letter "X."

2.  Make as many words as you can using the letters from the words "Thanksgiving Day." I made this as a Word document.

3.  Put the Thanksgiving Day words in alphabetical order from A to Z. This is also a Word document I created. The words I used were:

• holiday
• feast
• harvest
• pilgrims
• corn
• Indians
• squash
• autumn
• family
• turkey
• pumpkin
• thankful

I think all three of these games will be lots of fun using a timer and only giving the players so much time to complete them!

4.  I created my own Thanksgiving Word Search using the puzzlemaker found here. There are lots of different puzzles you can create for free, like word search, crossword, etc. It takes you through step-by-step how to create the puzzle and was really easy.

5.  For the little ones, I printed out coloring pages of different Thanksgiving items like a turkey, pilgrim, pumpkin, indian boy/girl, cornucopia, etc. I found some good coloring pages here.  Don't forget crayons or markers.

I also wanted to do something special for my father-in-law who is suffering from lung cancer. I am going to have cardstock paper and markers available for all of the family to write messages for him about what he means to them. Then I will bind them all together for him to keep.

I saw the idea on Pinterest for Thankful Rolls, which would be another great idea for the family to do together. Here are the instructions:

Provide small slips of paper for all of the guests. As they arrive, have them write a thankful message on the piece of paper, wrap it in foil, then insert it in the crack of rolls before baking. They're like Thanksgiving fortune rolls!



I'm looking forward to a joyful Thanksgiving celebration with family, and hope you are too!

Inspiration and a Project

One of the things I most love about blogging is all of the creativity that I get to see every single day when I log onto my computer and read through my blog list. I am constantly inspired by all of you talented people out there! Today I was inspired by Doni at Whiskers and Wool. She posted this morning about a cute Christmas ring ornament she made called Santa's Jolly Belly - isn't it cute?

(Doni's pic)

I have lots of those plastic rings (I sew them on my kitchen dish towels so that I can hang them on a hook near my sink) so I went to Ravelry to get the pattern. However, I accidentally clicked on Doni's name instead of the download link. What a happy accident, because it took me to all of her designs that are on Ravelry. Boy, she is one talented lady - you really need to go check out her designs there (many of them are free!)

Anyway, I spotted a Christmas Wreath ring ornament that she made last year and I got to thinking that I needed to make a wreath, but that small plastic ring was not going to be big enough to fit my project. Then it hit me - I had some plastic bangle bracelets left over from a jewelry project I worked on last week, and they were the perfect size for what I needed.

I re-worked Doni's pattern a little and before you know it, my project was completed. Thanks so much for the inspiration Doni!

Oh, were you wondering about my project? Well, this past weekend I attended a Holiday Bazaar and bought several cute things, including this wooden deer made from willow branches and twigs:

Isn't he cute?  I really like him, but the more I looked at him, I thought that he just looked too plain.... he definitely needed something. I thought that a wreath around his neck would be just perfect, and it was:

Now he looks even better, and is ready for the holidays. The change I made to Doni's pattern was to Chain 56 at the beginning rather than 36; I followed the rest of her pattern after that. The plastic rings that Doni uses are 2 inches across, and my bangle bracelet is a little over 3 inches across. I know it doesn't seem like a huge size difference, but it worked for this project. I used a size "I" crochet hook. The yarn I used is by Caron and is called Victorian Christmas Gold. I bought it years ago at Jo-Anns, so I don't know if they even make it anymore.

Are you wondering how the heck I got the wreath around his neck, since he has those antlers at the top of his head? Luckily for me, the crafter who makes these puts them together with dowel screws, so the head, neck and legs all unscrew. I can't wait to put up my Christmas decorations and find a special place for this guy!

Oh and guess what? I just looked at the business card the crafter gave me and she has a website where you can order your own - isn't that awesome? Just go here and you can order your own deer in sizes ranging from small to extra large (mine is a medium). In addition to the deer, she also sells owls, candleholders, napkin rings, photo frames and tic tac toe game boards, all made out of wood. She also makes some gorgeous furniture out of willow (that site is here).  (Please note I am in no way affiliated with her, I just think she makes nice stuff and thought others might be interested in her work.)

Hope everyone has a good week :)