Foster Friday

It has been another week of play hard/sleep hard in this foster kitty family. I gotta tell ya, Parsley and Rosemary are some kind of crazy girls.

This was the week of:
*Footwear thievery. Thinking about taking off your slippers while you have your feet up in the recliner? You might want to rethink that. For as soon as they come off, Rosemary will stick her head in one of them and slide around the living room with it.

Parsley will do the same.

Decide to switch to flip flops instead? Better not take those off, either. You'll find those shoes will somehow wind up all the way in the kitchen. Every. Single. Day.

*New toys. This week I bought some of these sparkle balls off of Amazon. They each picked a color and have been having a grand time running through the house with them in their mouths. But don't be surprised when you go to refill the water bowl and find one in there, soaking wet. Crazy girls.

*Bird watching. On the iPad, of course.

*Surprise attacks. When these two ladies start running and jumping and leaping and tumbling and sliding and...and...and... they are dang fast. Up and down, in and out, through and around. I even think sometimes they consider us to be cat trees. What a shock Parsley got when she ran straight up my legs and ran into my phone. I imagine my face looked just as shocked as hers did.

*Hair washing. When the gals finish eating their canned food they plop down on me to clean themselves. (Doesn't happen when they eat the hard food, though.) They clean themselves, my blanket, and my hands and arms and legs. And this week Rosemary decided to head to the top of my chair and work on my hair. Thanks for the wash, missy.

*Sleep. After hours of playing, they finally fall back asleep. When they sleep, they sleep hard and look pretty while they are at it.

Parsley

Rosemary

They are truly lap cats.

With each passing day, we know the time for them to head to their forever homes is getting closer. We'll have to say goodbye and will never get to see them again. But boy, what joy they have brought us these last couple months. 

Make a Quick & Easy Denim Heart Pillow - Tutorial Tuesday

For today's Tutorial Tuesday we are making a pretty quick and easy heart pillow out of denim. Yep, I'm still working off my old pair of jeans!

Note: Some of my links are affiliate links. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support the blog and allows me to continue to provide free content. Remember, I only recommend products I use again and again!

Along with your regular sewing supplies, for this project you will need:

• 11" x 14" piece of denim, cut 2
• Polyester fiberfill
• Sturdy scissors
• Heart pillow template downloaded from here 

Looking for more sewing and crafting projects?
Check out all my free tutorials here!

Ready for the directions? You can find the video right here:

Foster Friday

Did you know two little baby kitties are less work than four baby kitties? Oh, yeah. So. Much. Different.

With Sage and Thyme, the rambunctious boys, off to their forever homes we're down to just two girls - Parsley and Rosemary. Going from four to two kittens has meant fewer litter box changes, less food needing to be replenished, and not nearly as much laundry and cleaning to be done.

The girls have fallen into a schedule where they wake up before 6 AM, play hard, then take an afternoon nap before another playing-hard session. The energy these two have? Whew. Jumping and running and leaping and climbing and sliding. Oh, how they love running as fast as possible on the carpet before hitting the slippery kitchen floor. The legs inevitably go out from under them and they hit the refrigerator. The stove. The cabinet. And even each other. It's certainly fun to watch, but hard to capture with photos. I even tried getting them on video but I can't keep up with their speed.

It's just as fun to watch them when they sleep. The thing about raising bottle babies is they think their foster mama is their napping spot. If I'm in the recliner, I've got two girls with me. If I'm not in the recliner and it's their nap time, they take it and use it as their own.

Miss Parsley sleeping with her head up in the recliner. Crazy.

Miss Rosemary sleeping with her head over the side. Just as crazy.

They did think they might try out watching NASCAR over the weekend. 

Not sure if it was cars or cats with the loudest motors running.

They changed their minds about watching TV. Just a short 11 minutes later they looked like this:

It's so much easier to get pictures of them when they are asleep!

Something about kitties sleeping is calming, isn't it?

Yes, Parsley is sleeping upside down.

Now Rosemary is the one on her back.

Aren't they the cutest?

Another happy Foster Friday in this household!

How to Make an American Flag Large Hotpad - Tutorial Tuesday

As we approach the 4th of July, it's time for picnics and gatherings. Unfortunately, this year we may have to go with at-home socially-distanced versions. Even if it's just you and the members of your household, today's hotpad project made with red, white, and blue fabric strips can add a little festiveness to your holiday.

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new cruising and crafting content.

Along with your regular sewing supplies, for this project you will need:

• Note: all fabric is 100% cotton
• 3 red fabric strips measuring 1.5" x 9"
• 4 red fabric strips measuring 1.5" x 16"
• 2 white fabric strips measuring 1.5" x 9"
• 4 white fabric strips measuring 1.5" x 16"
• 1 piece of blue fabric measuring 5.5" x 7.5"
• Backing fabric measuring 12" x 16"
• 2 pieces of cotton batting measuring 12" x 16"
• Basting spray
• Iron

You can find the directions right here:

Day 101 - The Long Haul

These last few months we've only been going out when absolutely necessary. Just doctor appointments and grocery pick ups (with one short visit to the home improvement store thrown in). We have not been inside a retail store, restaurant, or bar. No parks, trails, or campgrounds. To limit our exposure, we haven't even been able to hug our daughter.

With our outings confined to just the absolute necessities, we saw enough to know. Seeing as many people as we did crowded into spaces with no respect for social distancing and no masks being worn, we knew. 

We're in it for the long haul. 

We made it through several months already, but Mr. Ed and I are starting to mentally prepare ourselves for what is still to come. For the remainder of this year there will be no mall walks, no dining out, and no shopping in the stores. No traveling and no cruises. (Basically, many more months of the same.) Our county has become a hot spot and with the attitude of so many folks it's going to be that way for the foreseeable future. I'm afraid the behaviors of others will be impacting our lives for a long time to come. 

As we expect we'll need to stay away from the general public for many months more, we've started stocking up on food and supplies. We've started pacing ourselves with the home improvement projects. While we had been trying to get them all done in the summer, we are quite certain we need to save some for fall and winter to keep ourselves from going stir crazy.

I'm also needing to pace myself on the blog. I started back with my Picture a Day Project 101 days ago to get us through this time. Thought we'd be done by now, but boy was I wrong. As I can't see being able to find another 101+ days of pictures while still being stuck at home, this will be the last of the daily posts. I'll still be back on Tuesdays for the tutorials and Fridays with the foster kitties, though!

So as my last of the daily photos, today I took some that seemed to reflect the good/bad nature of life these days.

I came oh-so-close to grabbing this huge, nasty, ugly slug as I was picking the rhubarb this morning.

So GROSS!

Even if I had grabbed him, it might have been worth it. Okay, probably not. But if not for picking the rhubarb I wouldn't have made this delicious strawberry rhubarb pie. It is so good! (I have the recipe here, if you'd to make your own.)

Yummy

For some reason, wasps are making a nest in our sunflowers. I'm allergic to them (the wasps, not the sunflowers) so I really don't like them.

Caught ya in the act, buddy. Here comes the spray!

No more wasps means I can find yet another beautiful sunflower to take a picture of.

Having to be up before sunrise to feed kitties (ugh, I don't like mornings) means I get another beautiful sunrise picture.

Remember, tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to start over. I think we're all ready for a do-over, aren't we?

Thanks for following along with me these last 101 days. I'll see you back here on Tuesday for a new sewing project and Friday with foster kitties!
D

Day 100 - Foster Friday

If you read yesterday's blog post, you know Sage and Thyme's time has come and they are ready for their forever homes. They were neutered yesterday and are headed to the adoption floor at Simply Cats. Before they left, we all had some grand times together this week.

Sage learned he liked to watch Westerns.

Thyme figured he might as well follow his brother's lead.

They all decided they liked the morning sunshine. The easy-to-climb wicker was a welcome bonus.

Toy theft was a popular activity. Come close and you'll get a deep growl from somewhere in that tiny body.

Can't get the toy back? Might as well give up and fall asleep instead.

What, kittens sleeping? Oh, yeah.

In between toy stealing and sleeping they somehow found time to pose for pictures.

Parsley

Sage

Rosemary

Thyme

It's amazing how fast they grow up. Remember from the first Foster Friday in May when they looked like this? I had tried to put them in the proper order and they wouldn't go for it then.

Left to right: Sage, Rosemary, Parsley, Thyme.

Now they sit still and even look at the camera. And they stayed in the right order for me!

Left to right: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.

The boys may be gone now, but the girls are still here. We'll see what kind of trouble we all can get into (or stay out of). Stay tuned for an update next Friday!

Day 99 - And Then There Were Two

Today was a quiet day. It was all because of these two dear foster baby boys of mine.

Thyme and Sage

As a foster parent you play an important role in a young kitten's life. You help them grow big and strong and healthy. You teach them appropriate play and provide lots of loving to get them comfortable with people. It’s even more important with bottle babies. You are the one who becomes their mama or papa. Feedings every few hours (including in the middle of the night), burpings, and tummy rubs to get them to go potty (and cleaning up all that little baby pee and poo that sometimes happens right in your hands!) is a lot of work. But you're the parent and that's what parents do. You are their world. And they are yours.

Rosemary just last month

So when you've been raising those bottle babies and get the text to take them back, it's always tough. Always. No matter how many kitties I've fostered, it's a day of mixed emotions. You're excited because you know they are ready to go to their forever homes. But you're sad because you loved them so darned much. 

Thyme and Sage were neutered today and will soon be on the adoption floor at Simply Cats. 

Bye, Thyme

Bye, Sage

Parsley and Rosemary are still with me for a bit longer so they said their goodbyes, too.

Just how cute is that?

I'm thinking the girls have been a bit happy the boys left this morning. It's quiet with no big brothers to bug them. What's not to like about that when all you want to do is sleep anyway?

Parsley

Rosemary

They slept everywhere I went today.

I think us girls will do just fine. Not sure Mr. Ed likes being outnumbered, though!