Sparta and Mama Cat (aka Dad Cat)

Wow! It's been so long since I've made a post that I've forgotten how to properly format things. I'm not going to spend my energy on trying to figure that out right now. Just a quick pop in to introduce Sparta Kitty! I've been seeing this adorable kitten and an older cat around the barn for the past couple of weeks. Every time I'd drive up, I'd see the kitten resting on a cement paver just outside of the old smokehouse/potting shed. It would never let me get very close and would slip in through the small cut out notch in the door. After a few days of leaving food and realizing they were here to stay, I decided to take them to the vet for checkups, shots, spay/neutering, and flea treatment. 

The last feral cat we took in had a crushed pelvis so it was a little different since she couldn't run away very easily. We just wrapped her in a blanket and took her to the emergency vet. However, these two cats were much more elusive. I borrowed a catch-and-release trap from our vet then read a little online about trapping cats. The information that made the most sense to me was to cover the bottom of the trap with newspaper making a trail of newspaper outside of the trap. I then dribbled juice from a can of cat food onto the paper and tossed the opened can to the back of the trap. After that, I covered the trap with an old sheet and let it be. Sure enough, I caught both of the cats within an hour of each other!

I should probably back up and tell you that for the past couple of weeks I've been seeing these cats together, I thought the Mama Cat was a Dad Cat because I saw it lift its tail and spray on the fence just like my male cat used to do. I even asked a friend about this and he told me that cats did this the same way humans did - the male stands up and the female squats. So I just assumed that it was a single dad cat and a kitten.

Turns out (after the vet got to examine both) that Dad Cat is actually a mom cat and Sparta is a little boy too young to be neutered - guessing 8-10 weeks. I was able to bring Sparta home but Mama Cat had to spend the night to have spay surgery the next day and then once again to rest and be under vets supervision. The few days with Sparta started out very delicate. I put him in the bathroom with a bed, a carrier and litter box. He spent most of the time in the back of the carrier just out of my immediate reach. With a little maneuvering I was able to get him out of the carrier and into my lap, keeping him there while hand feeding him recovery canned cat food with a tongue depressor. That went on the rest of the day and evening for about 5 minutes at a time every couple of hours. By about the 3rd day, he was totally trusting of me. Always looking for food and sometimes ready to play. Seriously CUTE! See photo above for physical evidence of extreme cuteness.

I wish it were that easy with Mama Cat. Although she is certainly beautiful with her Liz Taylor eyeliner, she is completely freaked out now that I have her home. She's been up on the light fixture above the sink, on the shower curtain rod and the very last time I checked in on her, she was actually standing on TOP of the wooden shutters. I don't know how she's able to do this. She's extremely agile and is looking for any way to escape back to her free roaming barn cat bird bath drinking lifestyle. We'll see what happens next.

Is this normal for October?

I am amazed every day that I walk past the forgotten "Garden of Weedin'" and see something else in bloom. These are Cosmos and Pineapple Sage this morning. I don't remember anything from my spring plantings blooming this late in the year. I'm not sure if that means I have a bad memory or that the climate is changing. Mother Nature sure has a way of surprising me - most of the time it is pleasant.

Growth!

I am loving this weather, today (the moment we are in now) and the promise of things to come. My Heirloom Brandywine Tomato seedlings are looking like they are about ready to be moved outside. I saved the seeds from a yummy organic tomato we got from our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share last summer and tried my hand at starting plants. I also have tomatillos, Carolina Wonder Red Bell Peppers, lavender, parsley, chives, oregano, thyme, and parsley growing from SEED in the window. It's all very exciting to me! Nothing is in the garden yet. Well, nothing except that lovely mint that came back just in time for iced tea.

The azaleas seem incredibly vibrant this year and finally my wisteria is blooming! I cut it back last fall and I think it really liked the trim. I only have a few small clusters of blooms on both sides of the picket fence but I am thrilled to finally have them after all these years.

Next week I plan to plant my garden. I'm going to follow the suggestions of Farmers' Almanac Gardening by the Moon. Check it out if you haven't already planted your garden or if you still have more to plant.

iPhở Friday

Snow on The Pharm!

iPhone Friday coincides nicely with our snow day and I am loving the randomness of the Toyphone app. Will have to report back with a list of favorite photo apps for the iPhone after my fingers thaw a bit more. It's tea time!

iPhone Photo Friday

I didn't leave the house today other than to sit on the back porch and listen to the rain. I'm just learning to use this new iPhone, so I can't be for certain which filters or apps I used but I promise I didn't edit the photos on my computer. Each shot was taken from my spiffy new iPhone today.

I'm still trying to figure out how to upload to here from the iPhone so I am typing this on my laptop but I did manage to sync my iPhone and laptop in the process. See ya next Friday if not sooner. Dang, I've missed you. iPhone. I just had to say it once more.

Thanks, LK. Once again, you have inspired me to try new things.

New Year / New South

Here's a twist on the traditional southern New Year's Day dish Hoppin' John. We had a late breakfast and Marty wanted to go out for the afternoon. I wouldn't let him leave the house until he'd eaten some black eyed peas, rice and greens for good luck. I sauteed fresh mustard greens from our CSA (can you believe we are STILL getting food from their garden this late in the season??) then threw together some black eyed peas, tomatoes, jalapenos and rice. Nice splash of Louisiana Hot Sauce on top and a glass of iced tea - sweet tea, as they call it down here. If we never do anything else on New Year's Day, we will at the very least always eat Hoppin' John.

Here's to a happy, healthy and creative New Year!

Artful Blogging

My blog collage banner is in the new Winter 2009 Artful Blogging magazine. It was a nice surprise when they contacted me and asked me to submit artwork for the "Banners We Love" section. Although I've savored every issue from the beginning of publication, I never thought to submit any of my own artwork. It's fun to see my little ol' blog banner in such a cool magazine.

I cracked up when my friend introduced me to someone the other night and said "She's published!" How funny. :-)

Breathe

I'm still playing catch up! A few weeks ago we took the "FrankenCamper" (hand stitched pop-up tent camper) to Black Rock Mountain State Park. The fall colors were just beginning to change and it was the first really cold weekend we've had this season. In spite of the cold weather and the lack of water at the state park, it was a great weekend. We hit a couple of flea markets early on Saturday and then back to the communal campfire.

Check out my goodies! I love the paintings - they are already hanging in the kitchen to distract my eyes from the apple motif wallpaper in a small area under the top cupboards. The wallpaper that is half torn off in hopes to motivate me to finally get rid of it completely. That's a whole other story for another time.

Another good find were these 2 gallon plastic bags stuffed FULL of junk jewelry. I don't know that I'll ever go through it all but it's fun to sift through and pull out a piece every now and then. Yesterday I wore a mood ring on my pinkie that I found in the stash. It turned from a dark gray into a beautiful teal blue color - so I must have been in a good mood.





I've been feeling pretty crafty these past couple of weeks. Totally inspired by Ms. Mary Ann and her way cool funky journals, I got out my old sewing machine and began stitching up a few things myself. This is the first thing I did - just a photo sewn onto a 6x9 clasped envelope that I folded in half. It was fun to learn to thread the machine, wind a bobbin and try to figure out what all the buttons actually do. That poor machine got no love for the past 10, 11, 12 years. It was moved from one house to the next, from one closet to another and now it's finally made its way to the dining room table. It's out and it's ON, baby!



Don't laugh, I'm just learning. Okay, you can laugh - I did. I cracked up, actually. I had this idea to use a bunch of personal photos and make a booklet type card for a friend... but my printer jammed after only printing 2 photos. You know how that goes - no time to mess with failed technology when the creative spirit strikes. I shifted gears and started going through my F.ART (Future Art) box. Lots of random things - it's a work in progress with many more layers to be added but it's done out of love.








More news on the crafty scene here at The Pharm...I crocheted a purse! It's a small miracle because I don't even know *how* to crochet. Well, I know 2 stitches (chain and I don't know what the 2nd is called) that someone must have taught me about 35-40 years ago. Seriously, I can not even glance over a page of crochet instructions without feeling dizzy and almost passing out. Even the drawings just confuse the heck out of me and I'm supposed to be a visual learner. So, I made it up. I just crocheted this THING, folded it over, stitched up the sides with that same stitch I know and looked at it. It could have been a sort of squarish hat, or maybe a double handed oven mitt (not safe) or possibly a triangular shaped pillow. Nope, I thought it looked more like a purse than anything so I got two handles and used that same stitch I know to attach the handles to the purse. There you have it - my first crocheted bag. I finished it last night with one of the cats on my lap right before going to bed. I was so proud of it - I took it upstairs and hung it on my dresser to look at.



The next thing planned in the crafty arena is to make place mats. That's right, I am going to actually try to sew cloth to cloth. I'll let you know how that turns out.

Aside from being silly and playing with the sewing machine and crochet hook, I've been enjoying the true fall colors of late. Like my friend said the other day, it's a panoply of colors. Isn't that a great word?! We've got a couple of Japanese Maple trees by the driveway - I always love how the reds pop against the fading yellowy green of the wisteria on the picket fence.



Our CSA friends just harvested fresh peanuts! Another reason that I love this time of year. For those of you that have never seen a peanut plant, here is what they look like after coming out of the ground, before picking off of the bush, washing and boiling. O.M.G. There's nothing that can compare to fresh boiled peanuts. We're about half way through the batch I made a few days ago. I'll be sad when they are all gone.

All Tarted Up

I picked this basket of apples and pears across the road at my 90 year old friend's orchard yesterday. DELICIOUS! The tart I made today with only 3 of the apples.

Apple Bistro Tart

• 1/2 of a 15 oz package (1 crust) folded refrigerated unbaked piecrust
• 1 T sugar
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1 t finely shredded lemon peel
• 2 medium tart green apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1/2 cup caramel apple dip
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 apple jelly
• powdered sugar

Let piecrust stand according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine sugar, cinnamon, and lemon peel. Add apple slices, toss to coat.

Place unfolded piecrust on a large baking sheet. Spread caramel apple dip over crust to within 2 inches of edge. Arrange apple mixture over caramel. Sprinkle with pecans. Fold edge of crust about 2 inches up and over apple mixture, pleating edge as necessary.

Bake in 425 degrees oven about 20 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and apples are tender. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan heat apple jelly over low heat until melted.

Remove tart from oven. Brush melted jelly over entire tart, including pastry. Serve warm. Sift powdered sugar over tart before serving. Makes 8 small servings or 4 decent servings.

I can't remember where I got this recipe but I seem to think it was maybe from Cooking Light about 4 or 5 years ago. I've made it so many times that I don't even use the recipe anymore.

Here are some of my variations:

If I don't have pecans (like today) then I just chop up some raw almonds and use those instead.

If I don't have apple jelly for the glaze (like today) then I just brush on some maple syrup.

I have a small jar of Caramel Ice Cream Topping in the 'fridge that I use instead of the Caramel Apple Dip.

I've also added blueberries to the mix before and I usually leave out the lemon peel but squeeze fresh lemon juice on the apples as I'm cutting them.

We got one of those Pampered Chef Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer things at a yard sale for $2 a few weeks ago. Man, does that ever make for a quick job of prepping the apples! Before that, I used one of those Apple Wedgers and just trimmed off the peel. Still a pretty quick job.

Ridin' Smilin' and Clickin'

"If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space." — Anonymous

Another beautiful day in North GA. Short ride this morning up to Tate to get out and enjoy the scenery. I think I see a pattern forming here. We went to the same little crossroads diner for breakfast.


That's me on the back - ridin', smilin' and clickin' a few photos along the way.

I've been saving up (time and fun tickets) to stop in at this little place. I know there will be something I just can't live without.

Made a stop for a few groceries. I think I'm going to make some iced-tea and add a splash of this limeade in with it. Mix it up a bit - live dangerously.

Here's the beginning of my fall garden. First time to ever plant: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and collard greens.

All of the peppers are looking good. This Jalapeño plant is loaded. My Carolina Wonder bells are just starting to turn red and the Habaneros are a pretty color of HOT HOT HOT orange.


This is the mystery squash - it's a volunteer. I have no idea what it is - maybe a gourd? Maybe a zucchini? The leaves are huge - the blossoms are yellow and smell like a squash blossom but the fruit itself does not smell like a squash to me. Anyone happen to know what it is?

Inspiration abounds!

Here's the first page to my visual journal. As always, you can click on the photo to see a larger version. I started this journal (which I just realized is very close to the word journey) last November after seeing a tutorial on Judy Wise's blog. It was so much fun to create - ripping up old paper grocery bags, dunking them in a sink full of water, crunching them up and then hanging them out on my old wooden clothes drying rack like sheets of pasta. I was up late one night ironing the pages and my husband thought I'd gone insane. I reassured him that it was for an art project - not laundry. I think he would have been genuinely concerned had I been ironing clothes.

I was so proud of actually learning the coptic stitch and completing the bookmaking part that I didn't want to mar its pure beauty with even the tiniest of marks. It sat on the kitchen counter for a few days so I could admire it as I walked by. Then it made its way to the upstairs hallway where I would occasionally notice it in all its recycled handmade glory as I went by on my way to bed. Months passed and it got shuffled in with a stack of other random papers and moved completely out of sight. I guess it was just a few weeks ago when I found it again and exclaimed "My journal! There you are!"

But who was to know that it was actually a journal? I don't even think it knew. It began the descent from the upper story of the house back into my daily life. I carried it with me a few places but forgot to show anyone - tucked between books and then once in a pile of mail it even rode with me over to a friend's house in the back seat of the car. Then finally, one fateful night - I remembered to bring it along to dinner to show my artful friend Farmer Sue.

She fondled it with amazement. Marveling at how the pages looked like old worn leather, she asked how I had done the stitching. It had been so stinking LONG since I'd made the thing, I just gave a sigh and said "I can tell you one thing, it wasn't easy." We sort of sat in silence for a moment and then she tossed it back to me across the table and said "So, what are you going to put in it?"

What am I going to put IN it?! IN IT?! How could she not think it was complete?

Oh, that's right - I was calling it a journal - duh! The time has come. Today it became my journal. Today it was a place for me to scribble, glue, paint, paste, draw, write and wander. It was a place for me to play. A place to put memories down on paper, wonderful memories of a weekend filled to the brim with inspiration.

What was intended to be an informal artist's retreat to celebrate the end of a work study group for Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way - actually turned into the beginning of new friendships. Friendships that I feel will continue to grow as we grow as artists, as women, as individuals. We laughed, we shared, we danced, we even threw off our inhibitions and swam under the bright moon in a clean North Georgia mountain lake.

Just the night before I had read Melissa Manley's inspirational Camp Creed which was ever so fitting for our retreat. We read it aloud that night and then again the next morning. It was just too perfect to not use as a quote for the first page in my very artfully inspired visual journal.

The pictures in the post below titled "And We Danced..." are a few of my photos from the weekend. Another friend Jennifer Carter who actually facilitated (did I say that correctly?) The Artist's Way group has more photos on her blog. I love seeing this magical weekend captured through another artist's eyes. Great job, Jenn!

I am truly blessed to be surrounded by so many artful friends. Inspiration abounds!

AeroPress of Love

My handsome coffee-maker (aka my husband) has been away on business this week. Last night I found a package on the front porch with a small coffee/espresso maker, extra filters and this sweet note...



He melts my heart. When we were without electricity, he used the last bit of power in the computer battery back-up (UPS) to grind fresh coffee, then he boiled water on the side burner of the propane grill and made us French press coffee on the back deck. His resourcefulness and love knows no bounds. *melt*

Moo Swap

Aren't they lovely?! As always, you can click on the photo to see them up close. My first official organized art swap. Thanks to Lelainia for hosting this Moo exchange. How cool is that? I love how she put them on the paint swatches. Now that I've scanned them to post - I get the thrill of looking on the backs to see who they came from.

Color me tickled pink. :-)

Red, Green and Rust

Get your Pharm Phresh Photos here! Finally after 4 days without power followed by much welcomed rain, I took a walk around outside and snapped some photos. I'm realizing there's actually a color scheme here on The Pharm. Can you see it?

Sorry about the duplicate photos - I sort of went willy nilly with the new software I downloaded (Comic Life for Mac). I will try not to abuse it - I've only got 30 days on the free trial version. I'm still trying to learn the art of restraint. For now, it just feels good to throw it all out there.