Life in the forest...

For those that do not know, we had to send our little Lita to Rainbow's bridge last Friday...I'm comforted in knowing she will see Ozzy again and that he's been waiting for her ~ bitter/sweet

My last journal drawing was a tribute to her:

And today I did some "Shinrin-Yoku" [forest bathing] --- what a wonderful day!

Looks like Autumn is on its way!

So much love in the forest!

Squirrel Dinning Table!

love and peace always ~ Kathy

"Home is the one place in all this world where hearts are sure of each other. It is the place of confidence. It is the place where we tear off that mask of guarded and suspicious coldness which the world forces us to wear in self-defense, and where we pour out the unreserved communications of full and confiding hearts. It is the spot where expressions of tenderness gush out without any sensation of awkwardness and without any dread of ridicule." ~ Frederick W. Robertson

And the winner is....

[insert drum-roll here] ~ Dave & Cindy Jo!!  Whoo hoo...you both won a pair of those awesome Autumn Leaf Earrings from my last post!!  There were so many entries, I decided to give away two pair.  Congratulations!!  And I can't wait to see what they look like on you, Dave Allen! ~ Epic!

And even though Lita hates everybody right now, she got an excellent check-up yesterday from Dr. Crouch!  Yay...she's on the mend!  10 more weeks to go!

I'll be busy making new stuff today...be sure to stop by the shop later and check it out!!

love & peace always ~ Kathy

 "The power of a man’s virtue should be measured not by his special efforts, but by his ordinary doing." ~ Blaise Pascal

Life, Love, Leaves, Lasagna & Lita...

whew...September has been a whirlwind of activities for me!  Lita had surgery, I shot my very first wedding, I had 2 back to back art shows...and, it's only the 16th!  So, first of all, I had to share this gorgeous butterfly with you...his wings are worn and tattered, but I'm honored he chose his last few days on earth to spend with me in my flower garden...so beautiful!

 I'm so excited!!  I was hired to shoot my very first wedding!  This is my favorite shot from the event.  A wonderful experience and a beautiful young couple :)

And then, my poor little Lita had to have surgery!  She went running down the hill [chasing Ozzy, as usual] and literally tore the tendon in her leg right in half.  The surgeon cut her leg bone, stacked it back up and then screwed it together with metal plates.  But, that's not the worst part...the worst part is, we have to keep her from using it for 6 whole weeks!  Ugh...she's so sad.  We have to take her out with a leash and a sling to go potty...she wants to play so bad :(

So, just to give her a little bit of excitement, I'm going to give away a pair of these beautiful copper leaf earrings and I'm going to let her pick the winner Wednesday morning [the 19th].  Of course, all you have to do to get your name in the hat is comment on this blog post, or leave a comment on the link on my facebook page ~ good luck!

 And these are so gorgeous!  I named them "Ghost Leaves" ~ the copper filigree leaves are so light-weight, you forget you have them on.  I wore mine yesterday and got so many compliments!  And, if you don't win them, they are for sale in my Etsy shop and they are only $10 ~ perfect for Autumn!

I'll leave you with this gorgeous butterfly and my Lasagna recipe ~ it's sooooo good!!!  Thanks for stopping by and good luck in the drawing!!

love & peace always ~ Kathy

"Falling short of perfection is a process that just never stops." ~ William Shawn

Woo hoo!!!!

Yay!!!  Congratulations, Jen!!  You won those awesome pearl earrings from my last blog post!  Keep an eye on your mailbox!  Thanks so much for your comments!!  Ya'll are awesome!  I had to share this tiny little butterfly that was hanging out in the butterfly bushes...he was so dainty and beautiful.  Love, love, love those little guys.  I also love this guy:

His name is Henry and he lives in the woodpile.  I hope he stays around to keep the mice and rats away.  But the best part of the day was this:

What a way to end the day...Lita was in pig heaven :)

love & peace always ~ Kathy

"Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness." ~ Allen Ginsberg

Hey Ya'll!!!

Thanks for all the comments on my last post, everybody!!  I woke Lita up from her "nap" so she could pick the winner of the earring giveaway...I threw all the names on the floor...she just looked at them at first, but finally picked one up and it was [insert drumroll here] ~ DANA!!!  Yay!!  Congratulations, Dana!  You won those awesome earrings from my last post!!  Send me an e-mail with your mailing address and I'll have them on their way to you in two shakes of a lamb's tail!  I know you will enjoy them!!

The weather was awesome today!!  60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky!  So, Wayne and I took advantage of it and went on a hike!  We came across these beautiful horses, grazing in a field.  They were so friendly and sweet!  This one kept nudging my head and rubbing his nose on my face ~ I fell in love!

And then we came across this awesome tree "hugging a rock"...and it made me wonder...what was there first?  The tree, or the rock?  What do you think?

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!  And I'll leave you with some words of wisdom...

 don't forget to brush your teeth!

love & peace always ~ Kathy

I wonder what you see…
when you look at me.
If you’re my friend, I’ll know it…
because your eyes will surely show it. ~ Written today by me

There's No Place Like Home....

Hello, hello!!! We are back home ~ *Yay* ~ We did have a great time visiting with family & friends, but we are soooooo glad to be back home. Especially Ozzy & Lita, even though Lita slept on top of Wayne most of the time ~ this is a picture of them napping in the back of the car while I was driving:

But the highlight of the whole trip were the awesome fireworks on July 4th:
And spending time with Wayne's family. Don't we look happy!!!

We are!!! Life is good :) So tomorrow I'll start back on my jewelry making, since I can't wait to start making things with those gorgeous glass pendants from my last post. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend last week! But before I go, I just have to share this picture of Suzanne & Jack, two of our favorite people:And a quote from Suzanne last night: "I'm spoiled to death by life" ~ Suzanne Schmitt

Have a happy weekend!!! I'll be back soon ~ promise!

xxoo & peace always ~ Kathy

Objects in mirror....

...are closer than they appear! Ozzy's favorite position in the car! We went on an awesome hike today up the "Art Loeb Trail" to "Black Balsam Knob". It was a gorgeous hike & a beautiful day! Click on Ozzy's picture to see all of our photos from the hike!

Happy Friday the 13th! xxoo & peace always ~ Kathy

"The window of my soul I throw Wide open to the sun." ~ John Greenleaf Whittier

Dogs, Houses, Plants & Lynyrd Skynyrd

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a terrific weekend. We were busy with the final touches getting the house ready to sell. So, if you know anybody looking to buy a house in blazing hot Louisiana, tell them to call me. Here's a link to the house flyer and some pictures:

Of course, Ozzy & Lita are so worried about what's going on. They know something is up. Lita follows Wayne around everywhere he goes. Here she is waiting by the door until she can see him. She was whimpering, so he must have been out of site for a few moments:
So while I was out on the porch taking her picture, I took some pictures of my gorgeous "Lipstick Plant" that is bursting with blooms. It is such a brilliant orange ~ It almost looks like it's on fire ~ It's awesome:







I did manage to squeeze in the earrings that I made with these awesome little brass birds that I got from MoonDancer on Etsy. So, while I was making them I start thinking about what I would name them and, of course, "Free Bird" was the first song that came to mind. I remember going to all sorts of concerts "back in the day" {I sound like my Grandfather!}, when tickets were only $7 or $8 each and it was general admission, so you could sit or stand anywhere you wanted. Ah, I could reminisce all day long ~ So, get out your "Bic Lighters" and enjoy my ramblings and these awesome little earrings ~ of course, you know where you can find them.

Well, I'm off to fill a few orders, and then head over to my Mom's to help her with her computer. She changed internet providers and now her stuff is all wonky. Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday!

xxoo & peace ~ Kathy

"Love is the spirit that motivates the artist's journey" ~ Eric Maisel

Dogs, Mamas & Mozilla Firefox!!!

So I used to be one to keep up with all the trends, as far as technology goes. I mean, I love all that "geekie stuff". I have 3 computers, 2 digital cameras, an iPod, a PDA, a camera phone, a server, 2 external hard-drives, 5 printers, etc., etc. Of course, it's all outdated already! I mean, I can't keep up anymore and about 3 years ago I stopped trying. When they came out with the "Blackberry's", I decided that sometimes I need a little quite and I'm not important enough to have to stay that "connected. And now with the new iPhones and those silly looking "blue tooth" things, I've just about thrown in the towel all together. I told Wayne that if he ever saw me with one of those silly things attached to my ear that I would hope he would grab it and throw it as far as he could. I mean, when I see people with those I just want to ask them if they realize how silly they look. They look like "Quark" from Star Trek, just sillier. Maybe it's just me. Anyway, I've been hearing a lot of "buzz" from different places about "Firefox" and how great it is, etc. So after a whole day of getting prompted for a dial-up connection, freezing up and getting "Not Responding" from Explorer, I decided what the heck, it can't be any worse than this crap. So I downloaded it and can I tell you, believe what you've heard. It is way faster than Explorer, no freezing up, no dial-up prompts, no "Not Responding", etc. Plus the toolbar is so easy to use and don't have all of that garbage mumbo jumbo that Explorer had. I love it! Now I have it on all 3 computers and I feel "connected" with the geekie world again {a little}.

Everything checked out fine for Lita @ the Vet, except she can't stand when they try to mess with her butt. I took a stool sample with us just so they wouldn't have to look back there and promised her that they would not touch her butt. Unfortunately, they still had to take her temperature. Poor little thing, you should have seen her. She had that butt pressed down on the floor so hard that both of her back feet were stuck up in the air! I had to literally lift her off the floor, feet sticking out and all, so they could take it. So then I had to promise her a new toy from the Pet Supply store when we went to get her heartworm prescription filled. She didn't even want a new toy. She walked up and down the aisle and just wanted to get out of the store and go home. She just about yanked me to the ground trying to get in the car to leave. I got her a new little toy anyway, of which Ozzy promptly ripped a hole in to get the squeaker out, which i think he thinks is "his job". I mean every toy they get is distroyed within minutes if there is a squeaker in there. I wish they made dog toys without them. So just as I'm thinking this, I get a convo from "Larksmoon" on Etsy wanting to know if I would trade something in her shop for one of my "Head Bangers Ball Bracelets". At first I thought, well here we go, somebody wanting to trade but don't really have anything I want {which is usually the case}. So I take a look and see that she makes these cute little "imps" that are just adorable:

And I think! Perfect dog toy!!! She's making them for me without faces, since I wouldn't want to see her hard work all slobbered on an ripped up. I'll let you know how they work out. I can't wait for the "taste test".

Well I spent most of the day with my Mom. I had to bring some "Shrunken Ex-Boyfriend Bracelets" over to "Nature's Treasures", even after they swore no customers of theirs would ever buy anything that horrible. Well, this is the 2nd batch. I guess they just don't realize how many boyfriends, or girlfriends {since I sold one last week to a fellow that calls it his "Shrunken Ex-Girlfriend}, are worthy of being shrunken! Anyway, we had a great day, grabbed some yummie lunch, visited with friends & enjoyed each others company. So now I need to get going and decide what's for dinner. Hope you are having a great week! I'll be back soon..

xxoo ♥ & peace ~ Kathy

Then give to the world the best you know
And the best will come back to you.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Let Go ~ Go On.....

Well, I've finally learned to do just that! It's only taken me 46 years! I still have lots of things I need to get rid of and lots of things I probably still could, but I need to keep them for a little bit longer. I try to look at everything through Broc's eyes and determine if it would be anything he would even want to have. I did put some things aside to give him, or at least ask him if he's interested in them. Thank goodness the "pack-rat gene" passed him up this generation. I mean, I keep everything, or I did. I put this little picture up right where I can see it and everytime I start having second thoughts about throwing something out I look at it and imagine myself hiking out in the woods, or canoeing down a river and what in the world use would I have for 1,000 pencils {unless I glued them all together & made a raft}. You see, that's how my brain works. I don't just see something for what it actually is, I imagine it's future potential and, when I start doing that, the pack-rat gene kicks in and I "save it for something useful". The only "usefullness" that ever became of most of this stuff was a collection place for dust bunnies, or tiny little critters that became trapped in the boxes & bags. I felt really good bringing that huge car full to "The Salvation Army". They tend to employ people that have slight handicaps, or slow minds. When one of the boxes was being taken out of my car, this cute little man that {it was obvious} had somewhat of a learning disability, or "touched - like my grandmother would say" grabbed a stuffed frog out that croaked "Jingle Bells". Why my Mother even thought I would want that is beyond me. However, I did keep it for 3 years for some unknown reason. I guess because I thought it had "sentimental value". Anyway, the whole trip was worthwhile when I saw the huge smile that came upon this man's face. It made me feel so good about giving stuff away. I told him to be sure and keep that for himself, which I think he probably did.

The box for "Etsy labs" has been transferred to yet another even bigger box. I'm going to be sure and have it all ready to mail out no later than Saturday {before the rates go up}. As it is now, it will probably cost about $50 just to send. But that's ok. If even one person smiles as big as that man did when he saw that frog, it will be money well spent.

And so, my little peeps, I hope you are having a wonderful day and I'll just leave you with a kiss from Lita (she was actually eating grass, one of her favorite pastimes) & this awesome quote:

"What I do with today is very important because I will be exchanging a day of my life for it"

xxoo & peace ~ Kathy