Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

I have to say first and foremost, thank you so much for all your wonderful support and your wonderful comments on my blog! Thank you for the sweet awards that I'm truly touched to have received!

I find myself a little sentimental on this morning of New Years Eve. We've accomplished much this year and I'm entirely satisfied with the way things have gone. Entirely satisfied!

What was the best part of 2008? Tough question because I think all of it was great. Aside from the cherished time spent with friends and family.. aside from the fact that we are alive, and how wonderful does it feel to be alive? To breathe!

I mean from the adorable kittens at Katie's Place that we helped nurture their hearts from fear to love. Evelyn and her powerful strong heart, offering each and every kitty a safe, warm and comfortable home for them no matter what the circumstance. Creating and manifesting more and more for these beautiful 4 legged beings.

From the time spent at the Burnaby Wildlife Center with the wild birds and animals. Coming so close to them and having that sweet Bushtit looking at me straight in the eye, then peeping so very cheerfully while curiously beeking my wedding band. I do believe that little bird flew snug into my heart for good and forever will this sweet tiny bird stay, chirping cheerfully all the while. A true gift!

Maybe the best part was for just a short second in time meeting Janice at Heart's On Noses and her most adorable piggies ever. Being there to see her love and her faithful dedication to the piggies that she so adores, Janice is an inspiration to all.

Watching my husband kick butt through a very tough and grinding 2 year course to be able to do even more for the world. To come home and offer much needed support to his brother, all the while offering support every single day in his life to strangers who will never even know he was there or what his name was. He inspired me to my toes!

To my son working through is dyspraxia and trying so hard all the time! To my daughter in moving through her shyness to open up and grow into even more. They inspire me.

I guess maybe the theme for this last year was about inspiration. Look at how much room people have in their hearts. Look at how strong a Spirit can be, even sometimes in the face of humanity's worst. Look at all that life has to offer us! Life is a miracle and as Dancing Dragonfly likes to share so often You are a miracle!

So here's to stepping into boundless spaces! Here's to you achieving your true heart's desire! It can be done and it will be done! Here's to Love.

Spread the Love folks and HAPPY NEW YEAR! yay!



With Joy,
Tammy

I am a Flower Smeller

I was nominated for a beautiful award that I am so touched and so honoured to receive. Totally humbled and deeply grateful I give a heartfelt thank you to the amazing people at Go Smell The Flowers. I am a flower smeller. Yes, I am without a doubt one of those people that no matter what I am doing, I will stop and smell the flowers. Are you a flower smeller? I would highly recommend that you go and sniff out some of these amazing blogs here Flower Smellers . They will lift your spirits and bring you home. They will put a smile on your face and will bring a calmness to your heart. Go on now.. check it out. :)

Spread the Love!

Peace,

Tammy

Winter Blessings!

Ahh.. the snow is so quiet.. falling gracefully down.. making sweet piles of bright fluffy crystals everywhere. I love the winters here. This year is it crisp, cold and we have lots and lots of snow everywhere. This is the first Christmas since 1971 that we have had snow all across Canada, including the very beautiful Victoria! This is also the first year since I can remember that I've really, truly enjoyed winter. For the first time in 5 years I have been shoveling the driveway with pure delight and windburn on my cheeks.. knowing that I'm doing it for a reason as it's not going to melt on it's own in a couple of days. I'm finding that inspiration is tickling up through my toes.. my legs... offering whispers of butterfly's in my tummy and my heart is reawakening from a long snooze. My throat is singing and my crown is smiling. All is well. Cheerful faces smiling at every turn.. even the couple in the huge black truck that cut off 3 people running a red light was smiling! Luckily so were the Angels that had everyone stay put on that slippery ice.

I was most inspired by this beautiful poem that a dear friend sent in a Christmas Card. The poem goes as so..

Notice each windowpane has a different

Swirling pattern of frost etched on the glass.

And notice how slowly the sun melts

The glaze. It is indelible: a fossil of a fern,

Or a coelacanth, or a derelict who

Rummages in his pockets and pulls out a few

Apple cores. Notice the peculiar

Angle of light in the slow shift of sunrise.

Where is the whir of the helicopter?

The search for escaped convicts in the city?

Be amazed at the shine and the wet.

Simply to live is a joy.

~Arthur Sze

You know who you are! I thank you beautiful lady. To this poem I was inspired to look yet again at the beautiful frost on our windows and was able to capture a couple of photos for who knows when I'll see the frost like that again.. if ever! :D

Spread the Love!

Tammy

When God Made EMT's

When God Made EMS Providers...

When the Lord made EMT's and Paramedics, he was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

And the Lord said, "Have you read the specs on this order? An EMS provider has to be able to carry an injured person up a wet, grassy hill in the dark, dodge stray bullets to reach a dying child unarmed, enter homes the health inspector wouldn't touch, and not wrinkle their uniform."

"They have to be able to lift 3 times their own weight, crawl into wrecked cars with barely enough room to move, and console a grieving mother as they are doing CPR on a baby they know will never breathe again."

"They have to be in top mental condition at all times, running on no sleep, black coffee and half-eaten meals. And they have to have six pairs of hands."

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way."

"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord, "It's the three pairs of eyes a medic has to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.

The Lord nodded. "One pair that sees open sores as they're drawing blood and asks the patient if they may be HIV positive," (when they already know and wish they'd taken that accounting job.) Another pair here in the side of the head for their partners' safety. And another pair of eyes here in front that can look supportively at a frightened person and gently explain that their spouse of many years has departed this life."

"Lord," said the angel, touching his sleeve, "rest and work on this tomorrow."

"I can't," said the Lord, "I already have a model that can talk a 250 pound drunk out from behind a steering wheel without incident and feed a family of five on a private service paycheck."
The angel circled the model of the medic very slowly, "Can it think?" she asked.

"You bet," said the Lord. "It can tell you the symptoms of 100 illnesses; recite drug calculations in its sleep; intubate, defibrillate, medicate, and continue CPR nonstop over terrain that any doctor would fear...and still it keeps its sense of humor. This medic also has phenomenal personal control. He can deal with a multi-victim trauma, coax a frightened elderly person to unlock their door, comfort an assault victim's family, and then read an article in the daily paper about responders being too slow to locate a house (a house which had no street sign and no house numbers.)"

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the medic. "There's a leak,"
she pronounced. "I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model."

"That's not a leak," said the Lord, "It's a tear."

"What's the tear for?" asked the angel.

"It's for bottled-up emotions, for patients they've tried in vain to save, for commitment to that hope that they will make a difference in a person's chance to survive, for seeing an accident victim walk again, for the family time they will miss while serving the community, for life."

"You're a genius," said the angel.

The Lord looked somber. "I didn't put it there," He said.

This poem was written by anonymous person. An Angel themselves I'm sure. My husband does this work on a daily basis and to him I give a huge thank you. And, to all the emergency workers out there I say thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Spread the Love,

Tammy

Great Poem

Thanksgiving

I have been trying to read the script cut in these hills— a language carved in the shimmer of stubble and the solid lines of soil, spoken in the thud of apples falling and the rasp of corn stalks finally bare.

The pheasants shout it with a rusty creak as they gather in the fallen grain, the blackbirds sing it over their shoulders in parting, and gold leaf illuminates the manuscript where it is written in the trees.

Transcribed onto my human tongue I believe it might sound like a lullaby, or the simplest grace at table. Across the gathering stillness simply this: "For all that we have received, dear God, make us truly grateful."

~ Lynn Ungar ~


(Blessing the Bread)

That first line.. "I have been trying to read the script cut in these hills.." rocks my heart! I have truly, honestly, been trying to read this script as well. I look out over the water.. the rocks.. the mountains.. the trees.. the birds and the bees! hehe.. okay.. and they are all singing (so happily, joyfully.. ;)) or whispering in a language that I can not quite understand. I think they are all explaining how to bring forth from within that state of Grace. Of Wisdom and of Quiet. A place of unimaginable depth. Calm waters that no matter how big a storm whips up around us.. there is and always will be a deep calm silence that resides far within our being. A Peace that blesses our hearts in every moment. I think nature is trying to teach us to be free, to laugh, to allow the experience of great joy and to celebrate being alive! To go with the flow of life with curious eyes wondering what's around that next corner??

What do you suspect the script is saying in these hills?

Spread the Love!

Peace,

Tammy

Indigo Angel

More of my little T's art. :)

Snuggling In

What a success! The move is going very well. We are settling in nicely. I haven't been in a blogging state of mind as of late. I've been in a painting, organizing, decorating, exploring state of mind. I choose a lovely little colour called 'macaroni' for our main living room walls. It's really beautiful and I'm so happy we went with it. We have a beautiful fireplace in our living room and the colour looks amazing next to the deep red brick. I LOVE our red brick fireplace. Waiting for the chimney to be inspected and cleaned before building a fire is pure torture.

Here is my husband doing some hard work, covering up the pasty boring brown walls with our cheery macaroni walls. We have lovely dark wood bannister's and a little hard scrubbing with some Murphy's Oil Soap should get them up and shining bright again. Tomorrow a wonderful and highly sympathetic friend is coming over to help me paint the bedroom(s). I choose a beautiful kind of seafoamy green colour for them. A great colour anyway and it looks amazing with a dark chocolate brown.. going to look amazing with some chocolate brown curtains for sure, and some throw cushions. I wonder what those colours represent? I wonder if there is an aurasoma bottle that represents those colours. I should take a look out of curiosity.

Okay, that's all for me for now. Thank you for hanging in with me and stopping by! Wishing you all wonderful abundance and blessings!

Peace!
Tammy

I Choose Love

.. a little hectic at times preparing for our upcoming move and pretty easy to loose yourself in the stress and react with grumbles and snips and snaps but I Choose Love!




Shawn Gallaway

Spread the Love!

Peace.

Full Speed Ahead

Do you ever feel like everything around you is moving in fast forward and that’s exactly how it’s supposed to move at this time and that’s exactly how you expected it to move at this time but you yourself feel calm and relaxed? Everything, which is alot, is getting done smoothly and without great amounts of effort. This is how I feel with the odd gust of wind, which is good because we all need a cool breeze when life starts heating up. We have so much on our plates right now but everything is in Divine Order and happening exactly as it’s meant to happen! So, this is what happens when you move into total trust and open to allowing the Universe to take control once in a while. Imagine.. life doesn't fall apart!

The kittens that we are fostering from Katie's Place, are doing so well but will be leaving our care on October 30 and I feel so sad but also a little like a proud Mom! I’ve really really enjoyed our time and would continue to enjoy our time if it wasn’t time for us to move full speed ahead with our move. These adorable kittens have really taught us some wonderful lessons on letting go. They arrive full of fear and anxiety and they leave craving the gentle hands of people. Within a very short time these sweet young kittens completely let go of any fears they may have of the huge beasts staring at them and making strange sounds. They dissolve any anxiety they may have about those big hands with long claws coming down towards them and whether they like it or not gathering them up. These little kittens so vulnerable and innocent finally release any lasting thoughts that we may bite them with our big teeth as they sigh into your chest trusting that they are safe in the big warm paws cupping them so securely. A worthy replacement for Mom indeed. They go from Mom’s protective kisses to our protective snuggles. I trust these beautiful babies are going to find the most wonderful and loving homes and I thank them for teaching me a little more about letting go. Just simply letting go and walking right through any fears that may hold us back from reaching our ultimate goals.

Tug

They have moved from the safety of their little rabbit cage to more space in our larger toy room. When things are calm around the house the door is open and they run around having fun with us all. Schooner and Tug like to run back and forth from the toy room to the kitchen to the living room to the... often anyway but Clipper would rather hang with the people. I do the dishes and she often claws at my leg mewing to be picked up. If I ignore her (and offering a hello is being ignored in Clippers point of view) she’ll be sure to get my attention by digging her claws into my leg a little deeper. Beware if you sit down for the first kitty to claim your lap will be Tug! He’s a snuggly little guy and enjoys a good wrestle with the air in the nest of your crossed legs. Somedays he'll play king of the castle in your lap. Schooner will shy in quietly coming as close as she can without attracting your attention. She’s the lady of ladies and could teach many a kittens some wonderful manners. She’s always cleaning herself up and her brother and sister after a good eat. She never pushes or shoves her way in and waits for her turn patiently.. seeing as she’s the largest of the three she seems to know that there will always be enough to go around.

Schooner

Last night I snuck into the toy room and one by one they all opened their eyes and each of them staggered over in sleepy kitty fashion. Their tails lifted high in the air and their little motors started their engines. What surprised me the most was little Schooner started her engine for me also! The first time that she shyly pushed against me and allowed herself to completely relax.

Clipper

Have a wonderful day!

Spread the Love!

Peace,

Tammy

Henna Hands

Henna hands. Our neighbors son is getting married this weekend and we've been invited to the wedding. It's quite exciting as it's an Indian wedding.. the second for us. :) We really enjoyed the first one and are looking forward to attending this weekend. It's a lovely treat to have our hands done with the rest of the ladies. I'm so glad my mouth should be feeling much better by this weekend so I can enjoy all the wonderful Indian food. Yummy! Yay.

Spread the Love!
Peace,
Tammy

Teeth and Kittens

I had my wisdom teeth out today. Yuck. But, in some traditions teeth represent change. And, do we ever have some change coming up! My husband accepted a position in Kelowna! Yay. We've been waiting for this answer for what seems like forever! Really, we've been waiting to go home as long as we've been living down here. Sounds a bit like a waste of time doesn't it? Waiting to go home.. some days it did feel like a waste of time but it hasn't been. It's been a wonderful experience. So, we're very excited for our upcoming move. :) Out with the old energy no longer of use to us (wisdom teeth being pulled) and in with the new, fresh and clean energy.

And what would this be without pictures of the adorable kittens that we are helping to tame from Katie's Place? My husband took these last night, after a long afternoon of playing.

Also, Clipper (kind of renamed Kali).. she purrrs like a fine tuned mustang when you hold her. She snuggled in and her motor was louder then I ever heard it after I got home from the dentist. Talk about stress relief. :)

Also, a sneak peek at a project I started working on last night. :)

Spread the Love!
Peace,
Tammy

Day 11

More fun with the little not so feral kittens now. We've been having alot of fun with them. They don't hiss.. don't spit.. don't claw and 2 don't run when we gather them up after they've been playing outside the cage.

They absoletly melt your heart in the quickest of ways. When you walk into the room they cry and mew and mew and cry staring at you.. begging you to please please let them play. Their little paws are at the top of the cage and they stuff their tiny faces against the bars. Oh my. So, needless to say they are spending more and more time outside the cage but when we are not around keeping a close eye on them then they are back in the bunny run for their own saftely still.

Schooner is still a little shy.. she's just shy period. A very gentle lady little Schooner is. Clipper loves to play on the side of the tub while you shower or bath! I guess being born in a boat she still has some seapaws. :) I feel her name should be Lady as a matter of fact. She's quiet and shy and she would much rather snuggle and lick them wrestle and grapple. As a matter of fact, my daughter watched an entire 1.5 hr movie while snuggling this pretty little lady. Clipper tries to play rough and she rarely fights back.. just cries out and Clipper walks off with her head and tail up high, feeling like the Queen, and looking for her next victum.

However firey Clipper is, she also has a very soft side she showed me today. She prefers the company of people at this time then the company of Roxy. Often when Roxy calls the other two off for a snuggle on the couch, Clipper will continue to play by herself. Today with a little mew she came up to my lap and snuggled in. Before long her little motor was in high gear and she had a lovely little cat nap with what looked to be a content smile. She's stolen my heart completely I'm afraid. With her playful rambunctiousness to her peaceful snuggles.. she's stolen my heart. :)

Rogue has made very good friends with Roxy. He follows her around often and she'll call to them and they all run to be by her side. She's a great babysitter as she's become quite concerned with their whereabouts at all times.

Spread the Love!

Peace,
Tammy

Day 4 with our little ferals

What a fantastic day. Break through! These kittens are wonderful and inspiring as they are coming along so very quickly. My husband broke the barrier by scooping up little Schooner just like Mama might and snuggled her up even before she knew to be afraid.

I feel safe with him too Schooner. :)

The hissing is all but over and we are able already to reach in and snuggle them up to our heart. Albeit, for only about 30 seconds at a time.. they are still kittens after all. I don't let my children hold them yet as they still spook pretty quickly but they are reaching in and petting them as often as the kittens are awake.




My husband has all but fallen in love with the little tuffy Tug and has consequently renamed him Rogue. I came home from dropping our beloveds off at school and off I pattered into the bedroom to find my husband exclaim like a little boy while snuggling with the little black kitten. "His name is Rogue! And, he's mine." lol What am I going to say?? I think his name should be Spirit personally but it's a no go. He's not mine after all. ;)

Our female Roxy has been wonderful coming closer and setting a very good example to teach the babies that humans are fun! They have been watching every move she makes as well.




She was sunning herself on her cat tower and looking very relaxed so I thought it would be a good time to introduce them informally. One by one I took the kittens to see her and she most certainly has her favorite. Interesting that her and Rogue have some stuff to work out between them however. I hope you enjoy the pictures. :)

Not too interested in Rogue.. nope.

Adorable and very playful Clipper. Clipper would rather play on the cat tower then worry about the bigger kitty on it.

Look at that face!

She's such a good seragote watchful Mom kitty!

And, this is how you scratch. Are you watching Schooner?

After you loosen everything up, it's time for a bath. She loves Schooner.

Schooner needs her love also. She would cry the most when she saw Roxy walk by.

She turned her back on Tug.. err.. Rogue. Aww.

But, all is not lost for Roque yet!

He just has to remember his manners and not poof and hiss at the Mama cat.

Spread the Love folks! :)

Peace,

Tammy

The Rainbow Butterfly

Oh my. The rainbow caterpillar did turn into a rainbow butterfly!

More Tiana art!

Update on the sweet wild kittens first thing tomorrow morning with lots of pictures. :)

Spread the Love!

The Rainbow Caterpillar

More of my daughters art.

This is an alien, riding a rainbow Caterpillar that came down from.... a rainbow of course!

Day 2

Day 2:

This is day 2 with our adorable little feral kittens that were born in the bottom of a boat. I have to say.. the first thing I was shocked about is just how messy kittens can beI am astounded with the progress made already in such a short amount of time. Little Tug (he's the pure black one with a tiny bow tie on his chest) is the only one still attempting to scare us off with a couple of hisses. Last night we had them down in the living room with us while we watched TV and chatted. They were all out and about curious and excited but ever so careful as their Mommy taught them well. They are particularly drawn to our female Roxy and whenever she walks by they paw at the side of the run mewing as loud as their vocal cords and muster. She walks by.. gives a little hiss and seems totally disgusted. I have a feeling that they are already starting to win her over however because she seems to enjoy the fact that everytime she looks at her they come to full attention and call out.

Where did she go Clipper? Huh? Do you know Schooner?? Is she coming back?? Can I see too?

I felt it appropriate this morning to remove the lid off of the kennel within the bunny run. They are being more and more social and I don't want to give them a space to keep their fears of people enclosed. This also gives them a little more space. They seem quite comfortable with the new arrangement at this point. I have also added a Rose Quartz and Silver Sheen Obsidian in their space. The kittens are so wrapped up with fear of people that these Spirits are amazing teachers for them to move out of that fear and into love. (And, while not all humans are safe I didn't share that with them because I know the humans that they end up with will be safe) I believe these stone elders are teaching them that Love is a good thing and for them allow themselves to be safe in the arms of love. ;)

I was easily able to spoon feed them some baby food. They love chicken as I was told by Tracey at Katie's Place and she wasn't kidding! When I first put my hand in there holding the spoon our little tuffy Tug gave an Oscar worthy hiss and a good swat at the spoon. The next second however he realized that I have some pretty serious good stuff on that spoon and was blowing bubbles in it. Very happy kittens, very much enjoy being spoon fed.

Oh save some for me Clipper! Clipper.. wait don't eat it all..

Oh yeah.. I'm so getting in on this now.. No more Mr. Niceguy!

The highlight of the morning was that I was able to stroke Clippers tail without him worrying I might chew it off. This was wonderful considering they haven't been in our care for 24 hrs yet. :)

I feel confident that these little kittens will come around in no time at all. :) It's lunch time now and they already mew the moment one of us leaves the room. We are sure to call out to them and say hello and that they are just fine indeed. :)

Spread the Love!
Peace,
Tammy

Day 1 with our Feral little fosters.

We went to our favorite little kitty shelter, Katie's Place on the weekend and found some beautiful kitty's as usual! I was particularily drawn to an adorable instigator named Ginger. Ginger knew the way to my heart as he put his two paws on my shoulder and began kneading and nuzzling. Ginger has been with Katie's Place for a couple of weeks now and I hope he finds a loving home soon.

But, we also found some adorable little feral kittens.. so scared they wouldn't even come out of their kennels and would hiss and growl and swat when you came close. These little kittens are only about 7 weeks old and totally adorable! Evenlyn mentioned they need a good foster home to care for them and tame them so they can easily find a wonderful and caring family to love them forever. I left my name and number to call in case they needed a home for them and lo and behold I was delighted to get one. Off I run with some wonderful instructions and all the necessary equipment to successfully tame and snuggle these wild kittens. Born in the bottom of a boat, these adorable kitty's are named Clipper, Schooner and Tug. This is our little journey with these lovely little kittens. Stay tuned! :)

One half hour into fostering. Curious little clipper checking us out.

I won a prize! :)

I'm so excited that I won an amazing prize from Kerry over at Snickerdoodles (I love that name!) I won a $100 gift certificate to Fig Kids!!!!! Fig kids is an amazing store with organic clothes. I can't wait to do some shopping and get my little ones into these wonderfully ethical clothing! Really, go have a peek at Snickerdoodles.. she has a really fun blog with lots of good stuff to look at and stay tuned for her really awesome contests as well! Also, check out Fig Kids.. it's worth a look. Ethical and organic clothing to put your most precious treasures in. The babydoll dress for girls and the boys muscle shirt are a couple of my favorites! They also have a clothing line for adults! Yay! Thank you FigKids for your generosity and thank you Kerry for such a terrific blog!



This is also Day 3 with the beautiful little feral foster kittens we are caring for. They are becoming more and more curious about us and definitely more used to us as I move their cage to whatever room I'm in. I am really excited about the progress they are making. We can reach in now and pet them and while they hiss.. they don't not swat or attempt to bite. They cry whenever we leave the room and are quiet again when we show we haven't gone far. They are very good little kittens as they use the litter box regularly and are eating and drinking well. Our Roxy girl has a good upclose sniff at them today. They were very excited to see her. She let off one good hiss and with her ears back stalked away again. lol Through word of mouth alone we may have already found 2 wonderful loving families! With a desire to have only an indoor kitty as a part of their family, Katie's Place will surely be happy to hear that. So far so good little kittens! Good work.





Spread the Love!

Something to warm the Heart

Our sweet Toe Matar is still missing but here is a little something to warm the heart. :)



Spread the Love!
Peace,
Tammy

Toe Matar

We're feeling sad. Our Toe Matar kitty has been missing for about 36 hours now. He escaped outside on us. He loves it outside so much we always have to be careful as there are lots of coyotes and dogs that sometimes run loose in the area. This time he escaped and now we haven't seen him for a while. We are pretty worried about him. Hopefully he comes home soon.

Peace.

Purrfect mates