A bit of this and a bit of that....

We had a wonderful Christmas. Bro came down, brunch at our house, dinner at my mom's. All the food was fresh and absolutely delicious! Here's a picture of Gino in front of the tree. He wasn't quite sure what to do with all the strangeness going on. He got worried enough that he didn't eat breakfast Christmas morning. However with fresh turkey scraps mixed in at dinner, he scarfed that down! One special present I got was a hand knit scarf from my mom and knitted by my cousin. My cousin knitted gorgeous scarves for my mom and I earlier this year with some wonderful yarn we bought at a show (and found some more at a local shop - Black Sheep). We loved the scarves so we bought some of this yarn (in gorgeous lavendar/grey/white) to send to my cousin for a thank you. I REALLY liked that yarn too. My sneaky mom bought some more and sent that to my cousin to make me another scarf. It's gorgeous - and I need to get a picture with it on.

On the jewelry side of things I made some earrings using the gorgeous AAA pearls and wonderful new findings I got for them. Here are 3 that I made (and all 3 are already sold locally!)

Ho Ho Hell has arrived!

Or so my hubby says - LOL! I sent out the cards to far away places, got the lights up outside and now I'm decorating the inside. I love decorating for Christmas - so many little knick-knacks with lots of meaning. Tomorrow we'll bring in the tree and start decorating it. Gino isn't quite sure what to do with it all - he did NOT like hanging outside while I put up the lights. The staple gun sound really bugged him. Eventually he'll get used to our family ways. Hopefully he won't decide that the stairway decorations are his play toys ...

Yay - the rains have come!

It was a rainy, blustery day today and tonight the blustering of mother nature continues. It is a wonderful change from our normal dry, sunny weather. We need rain so badly here - hopefully it is coming slow enough so it can start sinking into the ground instead of running off into canyons and streams.

Gino and I went walking in the rain. He didn't care and I was all bundled up so neither did I. We turned on the fireplace to dry out and Gino loved it! He was quite happy to take a snuggly nap in the basket next to the warm fire. I love having the fire place going - it is an added benefit to cold, stormy weather.

Now Mr. Gino is napping on the couch with a Tony t-shirt keeping him warm. The fireplace is going again (the benefits of a gas fireplace - instant on and off!) so the family room is getting warm and comfy.

Goodbye to our stately old man ...

Our dog Kirby crossed the rainbow bridge today and should be romping with his "bro" Oscar - both of them healthy and full of energy again. We almost lost him about 5 months ago - but he wasn't quite ready for the great beyond. He came back with a small roar despite the tumors in his little body. Unfortunately he eventually started losing control in his back legs (either his arthritis got a lot worse or tumors were spreading) and for the last 2 weeks he has been on pain pills.

We got Kirby way back in 1999 - not too long after we got Oscar. He was 5 and was saved from a not too caring owner by Westie Rescue. When they got him his front legs looked like hamburger because his skin allergies were so bad. They got him all healed up and we got to adopt him. In my research on the web I found some information linking Westie skin allergies to high protein. We put him on a low protein diet (Nutro Lite food was the lowest protein percentage I could find) and his skin problems only showed up when he managed to sneak some of Oscar's food. He absolutely adored Oscar! In their younger years they enjoyed wrestling together and sometimes even played tug-o-war with each other. Kirby was the only one who could get Oscar to play.


Kirby was always the mellow "older" brother and he REALLY loved rolling in the grass and laying on nice cool dirt. Here are shots of him doing both


He also loved sleeping - especially in his basket - but not just there



Kirby also managed to need a surgery I hope I never need - he had to get the doggie equivalent of an ACL repaired. Here he is with his leg all bandaged up and enjoying his favorite activity - LOL!

He loved to play with toys - often by himself. And some of his favorites were some tug toys I got at the $1 store - the pink pig was especially cute against his beautiful white coat - whether he was playing with it or using it as a pillow.

And more shots of him taking naps - anywhere


We sure miss our little old man - but I'm glad we got another 5 months with him so he could teach Gino a few things - like how to really enjoy a car ride by smelling out the window!

Some new designs ...

I listed a couple of new designs and one already sold - YAY! Here is a luscious cranberry and gold bracelet with a little pop of spring green ...

You can find this bracelet for sale in my Artfire store

And here are some fun holiday earrings that I made and sold ...

Aren't they cute?