Kirby the Fearless, as evidenced by these amusing spread-eagle sleeping positions

This is the neighborhood cat who adopted us when we moved in to our house last Spring. First we gave him his own bowl. Then we gave him a name. We took him to the vet when he showed signs of lupus. We spent big bucks at the vet to get him all better. He is fearless. He sleeps butt-to-butt with our sloppy-lovey 75-pound Labrador, Roxy. When the house is too warm, he sleeps soundly in these spread-eagle positions that look somewhat uncomfortable. And now we think he is officially ours. Or we are his. More likely the latter.

Moonset at sunrise from our front yard

Taken at 6:50 this morning. No, that is not a streetlight -- that is the moon. A few minutes earlier, it was huge! Oh, and this is "our" palm tree -- I've always wanted to live in a house that had it's own palm tree!

Snow in Tucson!

Can you see the dusting of snow on the Santa Catalinas? If you squint, perhaps. In the lower center of the pic...

White NJ kitchen cabinet pics for Carmen Rose

Carmen, here are the before and after photos of the kitchen cabinet painting project in my old house in New Jersey. Hope this doesn't make you too tired! As I said, it was a lot of work, but I was so pleased with the results, it didn't matter. (Hmmm... sounds like childbirth, haha!)

Luces Casa Encantada de Invierno.

Luces Casa Encantada de Invierno = Enchanted Home winter lights. I no sooner got these dee-light-full lights up before the string went kaput. But I LOVE the effect so much that I plan to replace them and leave them up all year long.

How to Make a Quilter's Custom Pressing Table, Part 2

I had my handyman/contractor dude attach a power strip on the underside of the table. This way, I can easily turn off the iron at the end of the day by clicking the on/off switch on the power strip. The power strip has a super-long cord so I can move the table around to suit whatever size project I am working on. I also put felt stick-on floor protector thingies on the feet of the table to protect the hardwood floor. We screwed in two hooks to guide/keep the cords where I want them. Here's a photo of the finished table! Yum! Pressing heaven! Totally worth the effort!

How to Make a Quilter's Custom Pressing Table, Part 1

I am sooo excited! I enrolled my super-handy contractor-dude to make a pressing table to MY specifications! What a brilliant notion! The finished size is 22' x 58". Luxurious! I'm 5'10" and my quaint antique ironing board -- a bargain that Ken found for $5 at the thrift store -- was so low I was starting to develop a hunchback. The short height of that ironing board is further proof that people were shorter back in the day.

The surface is 3"inches below my bent elbow, ergonomically perfect for a quilter's pressing surface, according to Lois Hallock in her great book, Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space: Sewing-Room Makeovers for Any Space And Any Budget

Here, I've cleared off the dining room table and laid out an appropriately-sized piece of fabric and one layer of 80/20 batting. Ken found this cute peach and yellow check upholstery-weight fabric for 50 cents a yard at the thrift store. (I tell ya, that man LIVES for thrift stores!)

I had my contractor cut me a big ol' piece of MDF (medium-density fiberboard) to 22" x 58". I then used my handy-dandy staple gun, working back and forth on opposite sides in order to make sure it was stretched evenly.

The corners were a bit too bulky, so I trimmed away the excess batting inside the corners folds.

Check my next post for the finishing touches and photos of the completed table...

My love affair with stop motion

I am in love with stop motion. Here is another dee-lightful stop motion video I couldn't wait to share.

Found on Simply Robin.

Mathilde's Glow-y Reward

Okay, 9:20pm, and Mathilde has finally called it quits for the day. Ugh. Thank heavens! I REALLY appreciate her devoted assistance, but man! What a taskmaster she is. Thank goodness she doesn't run the show around here every day.

My reward is that our contractor installed a power pole and guy wires over the deck just off our dining room today so we could put up these wonderful glow-y outdoor light strings! They're Golden Globe Lights from Napa Style for those of you who are gonna wanna know!

Ken and I have been talking about doing something like this since we moved in. The little courtyard is our Spring project -- we will be doing landscaping and putting in some boulders and rock borders, and planting a bunch of tropical plants. The large corner fountain went in last Spring, and we spent a fair bit of time last summer clearing out the remnants of what was in this area before -- lots of small stones which we moved to the backyard a bucket at a time.

Ken will be so pleased to see this installation complete when he returns from his rough men's weekend at Glen Ivy. He spent the afternoon hanging out in the mud baths. I spent my afternoon with Mathilde. Hmmm... what's wrong with this picture?

Tidy Mathilde - I think I'll keep her around

Mathilde is quite a tidy worker! And industrious. And diligent, too. 5:24pm and she's still going at it. I'm so proud and impressed. Best of all, the end is in sight! She's wearing her flip-flops with the big rhinestones on them. I'm sure that helps. That, and the cheeseburger and root beer for lunch.