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!

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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.

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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. :)

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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.

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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. :)

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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. :)

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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.





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Something to warm the Heart

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



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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

Too much time on my hands...!

I've got too much time on my hands! Poor me right? But, I'm lonely these days.. I need to have some fun and break out of the daily grind! Do you know what I mean? My husband has been kicking butt this last 2 years in a Advanced Care Paramedic Course. It's been a good 2 years! A fine ride I do say so myself. Only a couple of more weeks and we'll know the long awaited answer that we've been looking for. I don't want to talk to much about it yet. Suffice to say it's crunch time, woohoo. I was hoping to get some AC/DC tickets really bad but they sold out in like 4 minutes! So, my husbands friend said he has some and I said SURE! But, my husband said.. well it's right at that crunch time and what if we can't make it? Hmm.. It's AC/DC! The one band that I've always wanted to see more then any other in concert.

****Random thought alert**** My husband looks sooooo darned sexy in his uniform. He has this one pair of work pants and I have to say to myself.. 'seriously.. does his butt really look that cute in those?' I honestly have a thing for a man in uniform.. like a paramedic.. police officer or firemen... oooh for some reason the forest fire firemen.. yep. Really hard workers and so manly! Yes.. I get all blushy and giggly inside like I have a highschool crush or something.

My little ones are rocking the school thing. I'm soooo proud of them and relieved! They are making new friends by the day and are having a blast! This makes me so happy but I know I'm missing them alot more then they are missing me I'll tell you for certain. To combat my bordom, (my Mom used to always tell me that a bored person is a boring person.. doh!) I've started going to the gym almost daily.. that should be a good way to knock off a few of the extra pounds I put on over the years and keep my brain from running too far ahead of me. Right now I think I've finally at least got a lasso around it and I'm slowly reeling it back in. Slowly settling back down into my body because I can't make anything move by pushing and shoving. Just have to wait it out and be patient!

I haven't been overly creative lately either as I've been fighting off a really ugly headache and earache but for the last two days it's been gone! Finally.. tho I'm still taking a daily shot of Wheat Grass and upping my vits and water intake. The doctor said he could find nothing wrong at all and suggested stress. So, now I'm calling upon my inner Warrior goddess and standing strong back in my center again.

Christopher and Tia did this really fun post yesterday about Pounce. I really want to copy them because I think it's so smart and I also really really love pounce. So maybe I will tomorrow. hehehe

But, for now I went to the shop local feature and found this pretty ring from mareastudiodesigns in Vancouver. It's on my list. Isin't it so simple and pretty?! I've been into the gemstone rings lately. Loving them.. I could have one on each finger if I found it comfortable.

Okay, that's all I have. Little ones are out early today and I'm rather happy about that! :)

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Peace,
Tammy

Bread

The first time that I made bread for my husband I burnt it to a crisp! I was so excited to make it as my Mom used to make bread by hand all the time. All this effort with him poking curiously around me watching and sniffing. I set the oven and set the timer and went off to get read for work. I remember smelling it thinking.. oooh coming along nicely and then the timer went off and like a proud Mama I opened the oven door to be bombarded with the smell of burnt bread. Doh!




My husband seeing my crest fallen face quickly takes the bread and starts scraping off the top saying the bread is still perfectly good inside. He proceeds to show me by slicing the brick of bread and popping it in the toaster while I gave him a hug and kiss and boy was he my knight just then. Off to work I headed out the door while feeling like a million bucks. But, for some reason this day I had forgotten something and so inside I ran back in to find him putting my new bread slices in the garbage and putting 2 new bought slices in the toaster! LOL I set the oven at 475 instead of 375 by the way! Lesson learned. :)

Anyway, today I'm making bread again and thought perhaps I would share the step by step instructions. It really felt quite wonderful doing it and I think I'm going to make it more often and try out different variations of it. My daughter showed a huge interest and that alone is enough for me to keep making it by scratch. :) It's my first time blogging something like this so bare with me okee doke?






Delicious White Bread Recipe from the old Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking Cookbook. This was one that my Mom used to have and handed it down to me. Awesome recipes in it and it never has failed me yet! Duck tape holds it together and the pages are not in order anymore but I seem to find what I'm looking for anyway.







Ingredients:




5 to 6 cups all purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 pkg. active dry yeast

2 cups water


1/4 cup oil or shortening

1 tablespoon margarine or butter, melted


Step by step! :D


1. In large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast; blend well.



2. In small saucepan, heat water and oil until very warm (120 to 130F). Add warm liquid to flour mixture.



3. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed.



4. By hand, stir in an additional 2 1/2 to 3 cups flour until dough pulls cleanly away from sides of bowl.




5. On floured surface, knead in 1/2 to 1 cup flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.











6. Place dough in greased bowl; cover loosely with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in warm place (80-85F) until light and doubled in size, 45 to 60 minutes.












7. Grease two 8x4 or two 9x5 inch loaf pans. Punch down dough several times to remove all air bubbles.

8. Divide dough into 2 parts; shape into loaves. Place in greased pans.











9. Cover; let rise in warm place until dough fills pans and tops of loaves are about 1 inch above pan edges, 30 to 35 minutes.











10. Heat oven to 375F. Uncover dough. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when lightly tapped. Immediately remove from pans; cool ion wire racks. Brush with melted margarine or butter.

Ooops! Those are my sons new rainboots.

Here is the finished product! ;) :) And, not even burnt!

Makes 2 18 slice loaves.

Throw in some raisins and cinnamon if you like raisin toast in step 1. :) Let me know how it goes if you try it also! :D

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Peace,

Tammy