there’s a new kitty in the house

We adopted a new kitty today. Niko is a beautiful Birman cat. We’re thrilled his previous family chose us to his new family. We drove 50 minutes north to pick him up. His family provided all his toys, his bed, his kitty house, etc., so he has a lot of familiar items to help him settle in here.

Niko made the trip home just fine. He responded by looking at DD when she called him by name and watched her as she sat beside him. He showed no evidence of being nervous.

blue-eyed Niko

When we arrived at home, DH took Niko’s things upstairs to DD#2’s bedroom. I had thought we’d put him in the library for awhile, but DD thought the bedroom would be quieter and it would give him two rooms to explore as it has an attached bath.

Niko came right of his carrier and started exploring the room. He checked on all his equipment. Yes, that’s mine…yes, that’s mine… 🙂

yes, that's mine...

It didn’t take him long to go into the bathroom to look around.

hmmm, a sink?

I had to restrain DD from approaching Niko too quickly. She was so eager to pet him, but managed to hold off until he came to her. It didn’t take too long. He doesn’t seem nervous at all.

Niko is getting acquainted

hangin' out

Buttercup soon figured out something was going on. She sat outside the bedroom door for a while. Niko was VERY interested. There was no hissing, no growling, no meowing…just curiosity. So far, so good, though we will wait a few days before trying any kind of face to face introduction. After about an hour, Buttercup went downstairs and took a nap. She doesn’t seem too concerned.

who's that??

Niko spends some time walking around the room, then sits in his house for awhile. Then back to exploring. He’s letting DD pet him a lot. He is doing great!

kitty condo

~~Rhonda 🙂

what’s not to love?

Just a couple of pics of the grands.

She took her first step yesterday.

Pigtails!

~~Grandma

can’t see the forest for the trees

Disclaimer…I don’t advocate this many trees for everyone! LOL

If you don’t know already, I *love* Christmas and everything about it. I love the decorating, the entertaining, the cooking…every detail. Here’s a little preview of what’s coming.

The living room tree is a 9′ tree that sits on a 24″ box. The ceilings are 12′ high. The tree rotates. Years ago, I found a heavy duty revolving tree stand. I have searched the internet and cannot find the same tree stand available any longer. Ones that *are* available couldn’t handle such a large and heavy tree. The stained glass angel in the window is a gift from our dear friends Gary and Laurie and hangs in the window year round. Gary made the angel and other stained glass pieces in our home.

living room tree

If you’re here at Christmas time, peek inside the living room tree to find the wood gnome who hides inside.

Wood Gnome

The main tree in the dining room is decorated with snowball ornaments and is covered with shredded artificial snow.

the "Snow Tree"

This tree sits in the bay in the library and holds a large collection of nativity related ornaments. It’s wound with a ribbon on which I wrote the Christmas story from Luke 2:1-20. I used gold fabric paint and wired satin ribbon.

nativity tree

A favorite last year, of course, was the grandbaby tree. This tree was a lot of fun to make. Dear friends gave us a “grandpa / grandma” gift of a diaper bag, two soft blankets, little socks, bath scrubbies, etc., and I used those to decorate the tree along with cards we received and photos of the twins and family.

Grandbabies Tree

The tree in DD#2’s room last year was decorated with stamped felt ornaments, wooden stars, and bows. This year, I’ll add some of DD’s own photographs and copper colored balls.

DD1987's tree

The little tree in the laundry room has a garden theme. BTW, that wallpaper is no more. 🙂

laundry room tree

My favorite tree is the “glass tree” in our bedroom. I collect spun glass and glass ornaments and they go on this tree. I dismantled several chandeliers and use the prisms (about 250 of them) on this tree along with the crystal chains as garlands.

"glass" tree

That’s just a small taste of what’s in store. We will have at least one tree in every room of the house. And that doesn’t count trees like DD’s “I Spy” tree…

I Spy Tree

Even the mice are decorating a tree.

mouse house

And you may get a Christmas tree for breakfast!

Christmas trees

You can click on any of the pictures and it will take you to my flickr site where you can see pictures of our other trees.

Christmas decorating is usually well underway by now because we have to have it all ready by the first of December for our annual open house. We are definitely going to fall behind schedule this year because of our remodeling projects, but I’m sure it will all come together in the end. Reviewing some of our pictures from previous years gives me a taste of what’s ahead. I can’t wait to get started in earnest!

~~Rhonda

first tree of the season is up!

What?? I can hear it now…. 🙂 Yes, our first Christmas tree is up.

Buttercup watched while Brooke decorated the tree in DD#1’s room this AM. We brought DD#2’s tree down, fluffed it and were ready to decorate, but one string of lights is not working properly. I’ll have to fix that before we can move on. Because the girls are away at school, we can go ahead and decorate those rooms and shut the doors. I am sure we’ll have company between now and Christmas and they will have to use those rooms as the guest room is under renovation, but I don’t think they’ll mind a little early Christmas cheer. It did my heart good to see the first lights go on!

first tree of the season

The tree needs something more than it has now. I am going to add copper colored balls if I can find them. I have a lot of little 3×5 black frames and plan to print some of DD#2’s photographs to display on the tree. She’s a photography major in school.

One tree up with lights burning brightly! Twenty-one trees to go!

~~Rhonda 😀

how did we ever survive it?

We are in the middle of major remodeling of two spaces. One is the addition (added to the house in 1962) which is the guest room, a hall, the laundry room and a bathroom. The other space is DD’s room. And I must say, she is WAY excited about that!

The mess is getting to me. It makes me wonder how we ever survived the two years of constant renovation and remodeling that we did when we bought the house in 1994. When I look back on that, I can’t believe we did it. Someday, I will scan some pictures and give you a taste of what we went through. The entire house was tuckpointed, roofs repaired, all electric, heating, and plumbing replaced, and air conditioning added, all the upstairs floors had to be taken up for wiring electricity, all the floors refinished but three. Two of those rooms had the floors replaced. The house was not on the city sewer system, so we had to have that installed. Not to mention the other one million and one things that had to be done…makes me nervous just thinking about it.

But back to this remodel…

We emptied DD’s room and put all her toys and stuffed animals and paraphernalia into storage boxes. A lot of that went to the attic for the time being. We peeled wallpaper in the addition, and are going to remove the cottage cheese ceilings, then paint woodwork, ceilings and walls. Oak hardwood will be installed. We emptied four closets, cleaned and painted two of them, and are in the process of getting those two finished so all that stuff can be put away. The other two are in the addition and aren’t done yet.

The upstairs hall closet houses four boxes of DH’s parents’ things that we thought should not be placed in the attic where temperatures fluctuate and it also holds cleaning supplies, a vacuum cleaner hose, a few long dresses and a long coat. We got rid of old clothes and miscellaneous things that had been stashed in there. Currently the items that will return to the closet are stacked in the upstairs hall. The closet is ready (fresh white, so nice!) so those things can go back in today. Yeah!

upstairs hall closet

The downstairs hall closet, which is about four by five feet, serves as our coat closet and also stores cleaning supplies and the vacuum hose. The cleaning supplies are stored in pretty baskets on shelves. There are also baskets for electric cords and light bulbs. The closet has been painted. DH sanded and painted the woodwork in the closet today, and removed the baseboards. He is currently removing the vinyl floor and sub floor to prepare the closet for hardwood which will go in sometime in the next few weeks. Once the old floor is out, we can put all the baskets back on the shelves and get them off the floor in the front hall. Yeah, again! 🙂

downstairs hall closet

This afternoon I met with the decorator to pick out the paint colors and look at furniture ideas. DH was glad I chose paint today. He wants to get the addition painted so we can schedule the floor installation (as do I!).

This armoire, which came out of the guest room, was stained. It will go back into the guest room and is being painted white. I decided to paint the interior with the wall color I chose today. The shelves will be white. The bottom section isn’t painted yet, because (with my bum knee) I am not able to crawl down there to sand and paint it. DH will have to do that part…or turn it on its back so I can reach it. 🙂

armoire for guest room

This afternoon the decorator showed me other glass tiles and counter top samples than those pictured below for the guest bath, but I am leaning this way now…the glass tiles are a milky white with blue streaks. I loved them the minute I saw them. And the Silestone counter top is my favorite…dark blue with silver sparkles. If it sparkles, I love it.

guest bath

We are working under a real deadline as we will have our one year old grand-daughters here for a week the end of the month, and we don’t want the mess of remodeling going on while they are here. And, of course, I have Christmas decorating to think about. My usual schedule is severely disrupted with all this work going on. I am hoping to begin on DD#2 and DD#3 rooms on Friday when Brooke comes to help (hear that, Brooke??).

Well, this is a longer, wordier post than I usually write. And it has just a few pics…but I think it helped…I feel a little more in control than I did this morning. 🙂 Writing/typing things down gives me some perspective, I suppose. If you think about me during the next few weeks, please say a prayer that all goes smoothly.

~~Rhonda %-}

buttercup loves the railing

Last night, while DD was getting ready for bed, Buttercup waited for her by sitting on the railing at the top of the stairs.

Buttercup loves the railing

And this morning, when I came down for breakfast, there she was guarding the newel post.

Buttercup's newel post

She’s been sitting there a lot lately. I’m not sure why she decided all of a sudden that this is a good resting spot.

~~Rhonda 🙂

butterfly #8

The eighth butterfly emerged this morning. Another female. That makes six females and 2 males, so far.

She didn’t seem to mind at all when I stuck my camera in her face.

face to face

Beautiful.

new wings

~~Rhonda

did i tell you we’re painting our bedroom?

DH started the project the other night. We’re going from pinky-rosey-mauvey to brown. This is just the first coat. I don’t like white ceilings. I am really liking this dark brown one!

first coat going up

But the painting is all we’re doing in there…except for new curtains…

~~Rhonda 🙂

menu plan monday ~ september 29, 2008

Have you gotten around to making your own weekly menu yet? If not, you should do it now! 🙂 You’ll be glad you did. It saves time, money, and effort, not to mention frustration at the end of a long day when you don’t know how to answer “what’s for supper??”

We’re having leftover pork chops for supper Monday evening. That was easy, wasn’t it?!

Monday
pork chops
rice
lima beans
corn
green salad

Tuesday
wiener roast

Wednesday
BBQ chicken in the crock pot
40 minutes buns
coleslaw
corn on the cob

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken my way
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
Pour about 1/2 c. BBQ sauce over it. You don’t need to measure. Just squirt some on. This helps give the chicken some BBQ flavor while it cooks.

Cook on high for three hours.

When the chicken can be shredded, drain off most of the liquid. Shred the chicken. Add enough BBQ sauce to coat the chicken well. Stir and cook on high for 30 minutes, with the lid off.

I save some of the drained liquid in case I want to add some back in to moisten the BBQ.

Thursday
spaghetti with meatballs
bread sticks
peas / corn
spinach salad

Easy Meatballs
1 pound leanest ground beef – I use 93% fat free ground round as that is what is available here.
1 box Stove Top Savory Herb stuffing dry mix
2 egg whites
1 cup beef broth
(If you like, you can add spices. Dried onion, garlic powder, basil, oregano, etc.)

Mix all ingredients together well. Shape into meatballs. Place on a cookie sheet lined with release foil or on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in a 350*F oven for 20-25 minutes. Yummy. They are even better after they have simmered in spaghetti sauce for an hour or two. The meatballs can be made ahead of time, stored in the fridge and reheated when needed.

Friday
spicy shredded pork
Caesar salad
steamed snow peas
baked apples

I make “baked” apples in the microwave for a snack sometimes. To make them, slice and core a tart apple (doesn’t have to be peeled), place in a microwave safe bowl, sprinkle with a couple of teaspoons of brown sugar and some cinnamon. Freshly grated nutmeg would be delicious, and you may add a dollop of butter if you like, but it isn’t necessary. Microwave on high for one minute. For more than one serving, it may need to be microwaved for another minute or two.

Saturday
leftovers

Sunday
crockpot chicken
rice
steamed green beans
corn
green salad

There are a lot more ideas for your own menu on Laura’s I’m an Organizing Junkie site.

~~Rhonda

the girls are home :)

Our two older daughters are home for the weekend. A short visit, to be sure, but a good one.

the girls are home  :)

When DH made pancakes for breakfast, DD requested a butterfly. Not bad, hmm? 🙂

butterfly pancakes

The girls leave tomorrow morning for home. We’re glad to have a visit, even though it wasn’t long enough.

~~Rhonda