We're Hard at Work in my Studio....

I wanted to show y'all the setup in my studio. I have a craft table that I use for making general crafts and folding laundry on (while watching TV). By the way, we made the table using free plans and it is foldable so that we can put it away if needed. I am going to need to figure out how to raise it up a few inches; but, I am fairly happy with the thing.

Anyway, we turned that craft table into a desk and were hard at work on our tax returns.

But, the reality is....

the cats wanted attention! (I had to resort to using the flash with a faster shutter speed because both of them were too fast.) This is Abby Gail playing with a kick stick. (Dan: "I'm trying to work here!")

And, Gracie wanted attention from Dan.

(In case you do not see her, She is on one of his legs).

FYI: We went out the next day and purchased TurboTax: Premier edition for $25 off. It ended up being worth the cost because it saved us thousands of dollars. No joke! This is the first year we had to deal with stocks and more and we were not confident of our initial efforts. So, my advice would be, when in doubt, seriously invest in TurboTax.

Abby Gail and the Water Tower

We bought a water tower for the cats mainly for when we are gone several days. Abby Gail hasn't adjusted to the tower yet and will only drink water by dipping her paw into the water bowl and then licking it off. I have seen the tower being moved around; but, never seen who was doing what until now.

Dan: Paint Splatter Accident

You should have seen the man before he wiped off his lips and glasses. You can't see it well in this picture; but, he had paint splattered all over his beard along with his left ear and even behind the ear! By the way, he was messing with a spray paint gun when the accident happened.

Wordy Wednesday {The Face in the Bracket}

Dan saw this, thought of me, and snapped a picture. I laughed when I saw the image!

edited to add a comment by Dan:

"For some reason, it reminded me of the skinny guy in the Dire Straits Money For Nothing music video".
{Skip to 20 second mark if you do not want to watch the whole video}

Feline Friday (Epic Photobomb}

I have not let Gracie outdoors in eons due to suspicions that she is allergic to something, even when I brushed her upon returning indoors. When we mow down part of the back yard later this month or early June, I will let her outside once again. In the meantime, Gracie decided to sleep on my Mother's dry sink in the studio. She has been wanting to be close to me of late which is strange for her. But then, she has her moments. I decided to see if I can get a decent picture of her.

I then went to the other side to see if getting a picture from that angle would be better. I snapped a series quickly adjusting the lens and whatnot in between. (FYI: I rarely check the screen after snapping pictures.) The below is what I got.

You can almost see Abby Gail asking "what was that?" after the first click. And then, checking the camera out upon the second click. She made me laugh and I had to abandon the project after taking a few boring pictures with her in focus.

Wordy Wednesday {3 Chartreuse Buzzards....}

Three chartreuse buzzards.
Sitting in a dead tree.
One flew away, what a shame. How many are left?

Two chartreuse buzzards,
....

~ partial lyrics from an old camp song ~

Actually, these are turkey vultures. I looked out the back window and was shocked to see them sitting on some old fence posts. They looked like little old ladies gossiping.

This was the only picture I managed to snap before they flew away. As a result, it is not the greatest picture I could have taken because I did not take the time to set the camera up properly.

What is Wrong with this Picture?

A Cousin of Cousin Itt of the Addams Family

Remember Cousin Itt of the Addams Family?

Well, Dan ran across a cousin of Cousin Itt getting a haircut and snapped a picture without her permission.

See the resemblance? Yes? No?

Well, this person certainly was much happier with her hair cut off.

Oh, it is me! Ha!

This is a terrible picture snapped with my phone. But, I liked it very much and decided to keep it.

Here are a few more pictures of us all cleaned up from a "photo shoot" in cloudy weather as the sun was setting!

I snapped this shot while setting the camera up. I love this one for some odd reason.

He surprised me with a kiss just before the camera snapped a picture.

I stumbled all the way to him and we were both laughing at how ungraceful I was in my boots. But, this happened to be my favorite picture out of all the ones I managed to capture.

We are finally looking "normal". Not a bad photo session considering the odds against me (sun setting and densely overcast).

And oh, the only reason why we were all dressed up on this day (December 4th) was an office party we decided to attend later that night.

Hello 2016!

My New Year's resolution is simply to write 2016 instead of 2015.

I have not even started making a new year's resolution list and whatnot like I have in the past and maybe, just maybe, I will skip it this year. I know! Shocking!

Wordy Wednesday: Broken Pitchfork

Dan is so strong! He snapped the pitchfork into two pieces!

We were outside turning and preparing the garden beds for winter back on November 8th. I was sitting down taking a break while keeping an eye out on the cats when I heard a loud crack scaring me to death. I looked up and discovered Dan laying on his back with the handle in hands and the pitchfork (bottom) part still in the raised bed. I was extremely concerned because it looked like he potentially hurt himself. He was just stunned. After I was assured he was okay, I could not help but laugh! And, we came up the idea to stage a scene for a picture.

And yes, we have purchased a new pitchfork. The old one lasted us for a long time (over 10 years). Hopefully, the new one will last just as long.

Feline Friday {A Word from Gracie}

Hi, my name is Gracie and I'm taking over this spot for the day because my human mother is too busy celebrating her birthday. Yes, the crazy lady takes a whole week and even a month to celebrate.

Anyway, I'm hijacking this blog. My human mother rarely gives me the time of the day on her precious corner of the interwebs. But then, I hate it when she focuses that camera on me. So, I guess it's my own fault that I don't get the spotlight as often as Abby Gail does. Well, I'm changing that now. Today is all about me!

Speaking of the crazy lady, my humans think I'm weird. Why? Because I don't have a regular or a favorite sleeping spot. I may choose to sleep in my human dad's office on top of a box filled with jeans that human mother claims she will use to turn into blankets some day. I'll believe that when I see it.

Other times, I'll sleep on one of the steps on the elliptical machine that my humans rarely use. Sometimes, I'll choose to sleep with them at night and other times, I choose to sleep elsewhere. I may sleep on the small cat tree my human mother purchased for her room to keep us happy. I once discovered a blanket tossed on my human mother's crafting table and made a bed out of that. She wasn't too happy with me; but, she let me sleep after disturbing me with taking of pictures. *sigh*

I surprised my humans and caused them a lot of worry several days ago. Why? Because I chose to climb to the top of the huge cat tree house in the den and I did it while they were present in the room. I sure showed them!

They were so worried about me getting down. They dragged the smaller cat tree out of their bedroom placing it in front of the big one. Pfffhhhhttt! I don't need that thing. But, don't tell them this, it sure does makes it easier for me to get up and down the big tree.

They thought I was a bush dweller because I liked to sleep in low places. Well, I proved them wrong. I love the variety of perches. I've been sleeping on the highest perch lately. It makes my humans both sad and glad -- sad because the highest perches were where my sister, Chessie, slept all the time and glad the tree is being used once again.

The only thing that I do regularly without fail is holler to go outside in the mornings and again when my human Dad gets home for the day. I absolutely love to be outdoors. And, I adore laying and snoozing in an abandoned red chair. Oh, I do let my sister, Abby Gail, use it from time to time albeit grudgingly. My humans have a hard time getting me to go back indoors. If I could, I would stay out there all day.

Well, my human is about to show up and I better get off before she discover that I hijacked her blog. And besides, I'm getting tired. I need to bathe myself and take a nap. So, I'll bid y'all a good day and lots of happy meows.

PS. I'm going to use one of her signatures in hopes of making her think she blogged this even though I did. Do you think that would work?

Phone {Picture} Dump IV

Camera {Picture} Dump I

Camera {Picture} Dump II

Camera {Picture} Dump III

A Gluten Free Bakery, Red Oak Bakery, in New Braunfels, Texas. April 22, 2015

Butterfly, April 23, 2015

I wanted my camera so bad! All I had was my lousy phone as I was waiting for my new camera at this time.

A Minion trying to get into my room! Ha! April 26, 2015

My new garden Hat – not so floppy! April 25, 2015

Upcycle: Old drawers into shelving units. April 26, 2015

Note: I had purchase four old drawers from an antique/junk store for $35.00

My new camera finally came in and what do I do? Snap a picture with my phone. Shaking my head (SMH) April 29, 2015

Pickling cucumbers (first harvest); May 6, 2015

Turned them into pickles! May 10, 2015

Yummo! May 10, 2015

Note: A total of eight jars of pickles were made.

Note II: We had a second harvest of pickling cucumbers and made relish.

Dug out an old UFO (Unfinished Object) to work on. May 15, 2015

"You can take the cat out of the wild but you can't take the wild out of the cat". – Dan

This was his response to my text concerning Abby losing her mind when she attacked me. I had to put her in time out for the first time in ages after she attacked me again a few minutes later.

This lousy picture is of her being loving and "asking for forgiveness" after being released from time out and slinking back into my room. She had worked her way onto me while I was on office chair and on the computer. She purrs, kneads, and snuggles my neck. How can you resist a mischievous bratty loving cat like that? SMH

This is what happens when a ripe pickle is missed in the last harvest – it gets huge and overripe! SMH May 20, 2015

And yes, that is Abby photobombing the picture.

T-shirt. I saw this and immediately thought of my eldest brother… And then one of Dan’s brothers… And then, Dan himself… and then, a nephew….

In case you don’t know, sarcasm tends to run in my family. SMH. May 22, 2015