Bill failed at tricking me

We have a lot of black cats. And Bill thought he could sneak another one in on me, but failed.

Here is Kyara fighting with Keagan on the fireplace.



Here is Kayla laying in bed.


Kayla is now playing with her toy.


This is our pretty girl, Mysti. She is 6 now. So gorgeous and can not confuse her with the other cats.

Then this is Kieran, the male kitten, he is twice the size of Kayla and Kyara.

Last weekend I went to Austin for Connie's (my college roommate) oldest son's wedding. Becky and Tray had a gorgeous wedding and I am very happy for them. On Saturday Bill and Bryan helped with the BioBlitz at the Katy Prairie. There were identifying plants, trees, mammals, birds that are in the area.

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Sunday they were in Galveston birding.

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I get home around 4 pm and this cute face met me at the back door. The first thing I noticed was her meow was not like the other black kittens. Then I noticed she was smaller than the other black kittens. Then I noticed her tail was too short. So I picked her up and she was skin and bones.

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She was so affectionate and adorable. I called Bill and of course his phone was dead. It always is. So I texted Bryan "where did the cat come from?". Meanwhile, she wanted to stay in my arms. And I fed her some wet kitten food which she inhaled.

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About an hour later I get a text - "what cat?". And I said you know what cat. And then I get "you didn't bring it back from Austin?". I said NO.

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When they got home, I hear the whole story. Of course they had a bet that it would take me 2 days to figure out there was a new cat. I said no, 2 seconds. They were at the viewing platform on the Katy Prairie, and this kitten was there. I think she is about 4 months old. Her tail has been cut off about halfway. It has not happened recently. She was starving but her coat was in good shape. She was at least a mile from the closest house. I asked a friend that keeps her horses out there and she said that people dump animals out there all the time.

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I said no more cats. We are trying to catch the stray that keeps having kittens and get her fixed. And I am taking 3 of her kittens to the SPCA on Monday.

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However, little Katy Purree (named after the Katy Prairie where she was found) has stolen my heart. She curls up and sits on my lap or sleeps in my arms while in bed. She is the sweetest cat ever.

Galveston Recovery

Maryloretto and I went to Galveston yesterday to attend the annual historic homes tour. This year the homes did not disappoint us. There were fabulous houses on the tour. We also had several bonuses this year. Along the seawall, artists are painting the concrete benches. This adds lots of color and excitement. Also artists are making sculptures out of the trees trunks of the trees that were killed by Hurricane Ike. The salt water covered the ground then we had a major drought so may trees died plus many trees and limbs were downed by the winds.

If you are looking to purchase a house in Galveston, check out where the high water marks are. The owners are purchasing these plaques! It was interesting to see the difference of the marks in the various neighborhoods.


My favorite bench!


Just as I got to the bench, these people sat on it.


That is a marriage proposal!

The lighting was bad by the time we got to this one. It is so fabulous. We think the Mexcian smoke has invaded our airspace.

I love this one.

Such a cute guy.

Love the frog!!

This is one of my favorites too!

I have the best dressed Nook ever!!

I bought myself a Nook. The reason I went with the Nook over the Kindle is that my friend Ginny has one, my niece is getting one, and my sister got one too. I was a bit miffed when I ordered mine a week before my sister ordered hers and they shipped the same day! On top of that, UPS lost mine. Only after I called them did the tracking information show up. Mine did arrive at my house a few minutes before Becky's arrived at her house. However, it was pouring down rain and I was at the Texas A&M vet hospital with Scarlett. But I came home to the wonderful Nook.

It did take someone with an engineering degree to open the packaging!

The next day I did go to Barnes and Noble to get a frame for it. I tried to go to the one in College Station but they didn't have any accessories. And there was only one B&N in North Houston that had accessories. The frame protects the cover from scratches, dirt, etc. And especially protects the edges. I picked pink because pink is my favorite color and Becky already purchased the blue/green one.



Two days later I got this wonderful surprise in the mail from Ginny in Scituate, MA. I met Ginny in 1988 when I was consulting at the company where she worked. We have remained friends and she came down for the Texans and Patriots game this year! So much fun! Over the years we have shared all kinds of craft ideas! The cover she made for my Nook is so precious. When she was here she showed me the one she made for herself, which is like this in different fabric. She puts fusible vinyl over the fabric so you can just wipe it off. What a great idea ... till I tried to find some! I did order it over the internet. Got to love that interent.

JoAnn's fabrics (where Ginny got hers) looked at me like I was nuts. Hancock Fabrics said it was on their wish list. Hobby Lobby thought it was a fabulous idea. I did read that WalMart might have it. I will go look. Especially now that I know what I am looking for.

Here is the finished product Ginny made. Check out the cute cats!



Here is the book opened up all the way. The cats are so adorable.



Check out the cute cat button for the closure. Ginny is so creative!!



Here is the Nook in it's case. Check out the paw print material! By the way it is very padded to prevent any bangs or hits. The Nook looks so cute in it's case.



Then for Valentine's Day, Becky made this adorable case. It's made from laminated cotton. She padded it with foam and the fabric is very soft. I love the bright colors. It has a zipper compartment that now house my cords! I can always find them. And this is perfect for traveling. It totally protects the screen.



Get your Nooks and Kindles dressed to protect them. But make sure their outfits are fashion statements!

THANKS AGAIN GINNY AND BECKY! No one will ever have a better dressed Nook!

Forbidden Gardens Katy, TX

If you are ever in the Houston, TX area, the Forbidden Gardens in Katy, TX are a must. The site was built by a Chinese businessman to show children Chinese History. It is not advertised very well and there is not a sign at the street. My sister saw it on the Travel Channel. It is a fabulous place and they will be adding more exhibits.

When Dariel and I went it was very hot. Since it is mostly outdoors, it can be extremely uncomfortable. But we still enjoyed it. New Year's weekend my friends Ed, Kathi and Ginny came down from Boston to get out of the snow and watch the Patriots lose to the Texans. I think people will start paying their way down since the Texans are not that great, and they have only seen the Patriots lose when they have been here. The weather was gorgeous and perfect for visiting the Forbidden Gardens.

Part of the entertainment of the weekend was taking them to the Forbidden Gardens.

Here are the full scale Terra Cotta Warriors.

Here is how the Terra Cotta Warriors looked when they were unearthed in China.

This is a 1/20th scale of the Forbidden City.

One of the exhibits that shows how homes were built.

One of the air conditioned exhibits, a model of a seaside village.

This is a must see for the Houston area. So rich in history!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Wow! What a year! What a week!

I'm so far behind on my whole life. I think it has to do with kittens and the house that is a maintenance nightmare. We have been remodeling forever, but I never have time to do it. The bathroom floor in the master is partially done, but kittens have been living in there forever and first it was hot and now it's to cold to cut tile outside.

The new kittens are adorable, Layla, Kieran, Kyara and Kiley. The K cats are all black. Kiley is the only one that is still skittish, but she is getting better.

So this week it SNOWED IN HOUSTON. Wow! Again for the second year in a row, first time ever for 2 years in a row. But at our house it did not stick for the second year in a row. And don't get me started on Global Warming. Global Warming is caused by the ozone layer being destroyed. So it causes extreme heat and extreme cold. The problem is that it is melting the global ice caps during the extreme heats.

Then Texas has to play a game that makes you quit breathing. Hello Texas. Bill desperately needs a new National Champs Polo shirt. He has holes in his old football and baseball one because he wears them all the time. And the last time I checked, I was the one that graduated from Texas. He is a Lamar Cardinal. They have not won national champs in anything.

Now Christmas is 2 weeks away. I do have the cards that I need to address and print out letters. I have some shopping done. Bill's kids are done! One of my sister's is done. But that is it. Oh well. It should not be too hard.

And Ed and Kathi will be here soon for Kathi's beef tour of Houston and the Patriots v. Texan game. I'm still deciding what we need to do while they are here. Forbidden Gardens is a must.

And surprises will be had all throughout the season. Bill will be doing his Christmas bird counts starting next weekend, I think.

I have used my mixer like crazy this year. How was I supposed to know how wonderful one would be? And making all of Kimmie's recipes have been fun. Her taco soup is referred to as Kimmie soup.

Looking forward to seeing Kimmie at Christmas!

Time to address Christmas cards now!

HOOK 'EM! We need that National Championship.

Fallon's Shower

Oh my, it's been a long time since I blogged. It's been crazy with the house, work, and kittens. And nothing exciting has happened.

Bill's niece is having a baby and there was a shower for her in Beaumont this weekend. So I told her I would make cupcakes and cookies. But I didn't tell her what they would be.

A while back, Allison, the fabulous cupcake baker, mentioned she made pink lemonade cupcakes. Since Fallon is having a girl, I thought this would be perfect. So Allison graciously shared her recipe with me. And told me where to get the cute toppers. Of course, she didn't tell me NOT to go the night before Halloween, and me, not thinking, pulled into Party City on Halloween Eve. I was however the only person on the baby aisle.

So here are the cupcakes in my new carrier. What a terrific carrier.

Here is a full picture of the carrier. Great investment.

The cookie idea was stolen from Kimmie, chef extraordenaire. My favorite niece is the source of many of our recipes. In fact today I asked Bill what he wanted for dinner and he said "Kimmie Soup", meaning the taco soup that we got the recipe from Kimmie. My cookies do not even compare to Kimmie's but Bill's family did not know the difference. NOTE TO SELF: Never again do cookies and cupcakes during the week. One or the other.

Here is my cupcake tree. The cupcakes looked adorable on it.

Everyone loved the cupcakes and cookies. The cupcakes got rave reviews. In fact, one of Bill's sisters had not tried one yet, eventhough she had it in her togo box. His other sister said, at least taste the icing right now. Lori did and her eyes just lit up.

Bill ate cupcakes after we got home and we got his seal of approval. This is from the person that likes sheet cakes and chocolate chip cookies. Boring, but that is another story.

I also took a dozen cupcakes to the vets office. I talked to one of the techs today and she said they loved them. In fact the vet took the leftovers to his kids!

So a big shoutout to Kimmie and Allison for their ideas!!

Kittens are growing up

Here is Bianca and Shaylee. They became its this week when they were spayed. They are best buddies as you can see are in the same bed. They are completely mad at me for taking them to get cut open. But they are doing great. But the vet said Shaylee, the fairy princess, became the royal pain and they had to sedate her after she woke up from surgery. She had enough and was ready to go home. Bill picked them up and said Shaylee was very wobbly.


This was Shaylee before her surgery. She is just so cute.



Here is Shaylee and Keagan. They are buddies too.

Keagan is a full grown cat almost. He is 6 months old now. He is the softest cat we have. He also has his Longhorn ears and tail on. He is like a ragdoll. He loves to be picked up and just flops in your arms. He just puts his head on my shoulder and goes to sleep. But if Bill picks him up, he bites Bill's nose.