Here We Go Again!

You're not going to believe this!!!

For 13 years, we Lilypadders rolled with at least four (4) cats.  Sometimes more.

We began with Jobie and Rosie, essentially.  They were the Chick's cats before we met.  We added Ernie and Scottie to that mix pretty quickly.  Many years passed before we added Miss Emmie, but once she showed up in the yard with her irresistible seafoam green peepers,  there were five.

Five.  That was a lot.  Sometimes, it felt like a zoo, but other times, we hardly noticed unless it was time for them to strap on their feedbags, as it were.

Then Miss Zoe popped in (She really deserves Her own sentence, yes?)

Ernie packed up for Sparkle Pond about 5 years ago, leaving us with four cats again.  Then Jobie left and we were down to three, but not for long before Lilly came.  Then Toby.

Next, Blueberry came to stay.  (Same as above-- Rabbits need Their Own Sentences!!)

Then a couple of months ago Rosie moved on to Sparkle Pond and last week, Scottie.

We have a lot of turnover!

And, then, there were three.  Plus two Rabbits.

The Chick hates odd numbers.  But we quickly adjusted to just the three.  Things were Calm.  Things seemed a lot less like a zoo and a lot more like, well....a house with a few Animals.

But then, Sunday morning, the Chick said to me, "So, I have to tell you.  I looked at (our friend) Eileen's website for Orphan Angels and I think there's a cat there who needs us."  As it turned out, she had looked at the Orphan Angels' site a few weeks ago before Scottie got so ill, and then forgot all about it when he started doing so poorly.  The rest of us in the Lilypad didn't know that the Chick had already chosen our next cat.
  
(A side note:  that last sentence was foreshadowing...)

But on Sunday morning, she remembered.  And she couldn't stop thinking about this cat.

She texted Friend Eileen who agreed to meet us at noon on Sunday at Orphan Angels, which is her Awesomely Amazing free range Cat Store.  There are two Giant Rabbits there as well, but since it's mostly cats, we call it a cat store.  Anyhow, it is a wonderful place.  We were both excited and nervous to meet this new cat, whose current name was "Ditto."

We already had a new name picked in honor of Scottie (as his real name was F. Scott Fitzgerald, we chose a name from The Great Gatsby) and also in honor of Rosie (we had Rosie, now Lilly, and the new name was also a flower-related name).

Daisy.

Though she was very shy, Daisy was immediately responsive to attention (who isn't, right?).  The second we walked into the room, she looked right at the Chick.  When I began to pet her, she purred and ran to her food dish to eat.  Both good signs.  We packed her up and brought her home.

And that was that.

INTRODUCING.... DAISY!!!!

She is settling in nicely.  

More to come on Daisy later in the week.  We'll see how she feels about Flip Friday.....

(Not a) Flip Friday

Last night, our Beloved Rosie the Cat packed up and moved to Sparkle Pond.

We are excited for her in her travels. We know she has already met up with Jobie, who was her best friend for so many years, and who she has been missing for the past couple of years since he went to Sparkle Pond.

She's also met up with Ernie cat, but as she wasn't that fond of him here in the Lilypad, chances are, that reunion will just be more of a head nod and an "Oh, it's you."

We both had a feeling about Rosie yesterday. For days, she seemed to be doing so much better, and then suddenly, her breathing was difficult and she just seemed different, like something had shifted.

She died very peacefully, though, tucked up in her favorite blanket hideaway upstairs. We were there with her, petting her and talking to her. It was perfect. She just slipped away.

We should all be that lucky.

Rest in peace Sweet Rosie Cat.
We'll miss you so much.
We were so fortunate to know you and to be a part of your life.
We love you!

Midweek Sigh

Come on. Do it with me.

Breathe in. Hold it. Now -- breathe......out.......slowly.

Good. Didn't that feel good?

I enjoy a good sigh sometimes. It gets the oxygen into one's brain. It kind of slows you down and makes you think.

Things have seemed out of control lately at the Lilypad. Not like completely out of control, but you know. Mildly.

For one thing, there's that whole issue with the Rabbit not getting enough (or any) Willow Balls.

Is it or is it not the saddest

little face you've ever seen?

Seriously.

The other day I was at work, and I was telling a co-worker about my weekend. I told her that I couldn't really even recall what we did. That it just seemed like the weekend flowed by without us even realizing.

Do you know what she said to me? "Well, you do have a few things going on. Emotional things. It makes sense to me that you feel how you feel."

I thought... what? What is she talking about?

But then, I thought back.

For one thing, both the Blisschick and I are still majorly trying to come to terms with the deaths of our two beloved Kitties, Ernie and Jobie. Sure they are at Sparkle Pond in the their Sparkle Suits, but we still miss them like crazy.

Just months prior to Ernie's death, my Grandmother passed away under less than comfortable circumstances. My Grandmother was a Very Important Person to me. She was Important to the development of my Soul. Losing her was so hard, and I didn't know how to deal with it. I'm still pretty clueless.

I thought she would come to me in my dreams. And then she didn't. A couple of years passed. I finally had my first dream of her just a few weeks ago, and that dream dredged up some old feelings I realized I hadn't gotten around to yet.

Stupid feelings!! :)

And then, this summer started off with the deaths of two friends. First Susan; then, Ken.

Now, as I write this, my Grandfather is getting very close to his Sparkle Suit. At age 93, he is tired and finding it difficult to recover from a recent broken hip and resulting hip surgery.

Of course, we also have our share of family drama, home drama, and friend drama to add to this. One thing that I've been dealing with in particular (or trying to) is an issue I didn't even really know I had until recently:

I am EMOTIONALLY REPRESSED! WHAT? Who knew. (Well, the Blisschick knew apparently.)

But, it's totally true.

The point of all of this is to say that I think I feel a little lost right now. A little taxed. A little tired. Like I need a vacation, but not the kind where you leave the house and have to go away from your Mammals.

I guess what I need from you is suggestions. What do you do when you feel this way?

Miss Zoe, of course, knows exactly what to do. But she's not talkin'.

See what I mean?

It's up to You to help me.

FUN Friday!!

I know. It's not Flip Friday, but we went through all that on Wacky Wednesday.

And, Miss Zoe and I resorted to Wacky Wednesday only because the thing we had planned for Wednesday wasn't quite ready.

So, now, it's Friday, you've already enjoyed your Miss Zoe movie fix for the week, and it's time to move on to other things. Like the little surprise we have planned.

Don't you love a surprise?

Miss Zoe LOVES a surprise.
Especially if it's Willow Balls coming in the mail.

OK, so first, a little history: You remember how I asked all of you to help me to choose my new logo and you all voted and sent me the most wonderfullest of comments? (Did I hear a yes?)

Well, someone who lives with me who is extremely wise and has long ears (hint, hint), brought up some of those comments a couple of weeks ago. In her great wisdomosity, Blisschick (did you think I meant Zoe?) said to me, "What is it that you really want to be painting? What is it that you want a logo to really represent?"

I thought about that for a moment. I exchanged glances with Zoe. She looked away.

"Because," the Blisschick continued, "you have to think about all that. You made a nice logo and you have lots of ideas, but what is it that you love to paint more than anything else?"

Miss Lilly jumped into the Rabbit Room and cleared her throat. Miss Zoe coughed a bit from behind a pile of hay. I scratched my ear.

They were being a bit obvious, but they were right.

"Animals," I said with confidence. "I LOVE to paint animals. Especially cats and rabbits. But also dogs."

Another cough from Miss Zoe. (She's not too sure about dogs.)

And the Blisschick replied, "Animals. Then that's what you need your Etsy store to be. That's what you need to be painting and focusing on. Paint what you love."

With that in mind, then, I set off to sketch some ideas, which incorporated my new love of milagros with my obvious love of painting animals.

From there, it has all fallen together.

Add this bit of history: Over the past two years, we have said goodbye to the Fur Suits of two extraordinary cats who we were fortunate enough to know and love during this life. Those beautiful cats, Jobie and Ernie, have gone to a place we call Sparkle Pond.

If we want to visit Jobie or Ernie, all we need to do is close our eyes and trek to Sparkle Pond.

It's a gorgeous place. There's the Pond, of course. There's a rock Ernie likes to sleep on that's always in the sun. There's a Paper Ball Tree ripe with juicy, crinkly paper balls that Jobie loves to sleep under. And at night, there's always a clear and swirly sky filled with stars and a bright and lovely Moon. And, the cats are almost always wearing little hats or crowns. Sometimes they glow or wear wings.

And so, my new paintings and pendants come from here. They originate at Sparkle Pond and are meant to celebrate the Lives of Animals, whether they are in Fur Suits or Sparkle Suits.

Without further adieu, I hereby announce the opening of my new and improved Etsy Store, Ordinary Enchantment.

It's a pretty small inventory at present, but it will grow.

I want to thank you all for your help and guidance, for without your comments, suggestions, and votes, I think I'd still be a little lost about what I wanted to work on.

So thank you. Let Miss Zoe know what you think. She'll break it to me gently.

Cool, calm, and collected

Zoe mentioned to me last night as we were having our evening snuggle that she thought my previous posts this week were a little bizarre.

"Bashed in doll heads?" she asked as she licked her shoulder. "Non-edible babies?" (She's not completely over the comment I made about her looking like a Cheddar Bunny.)

As she began giving herself her nightly pedicure, she looked up coyly and asked, "What's up for Friday? Lucky rabbit's feet?"

HARSH!

Of course, I find feet attached to a rabbit to be delightfully lucky, but they have to be attached. I find disembodied parts to be frightful.

Wait, I should qualify that: I find disembodied animal parts to be frightful.

(An aside: Miss Kitty at the library pointed out to me last year that she thought it was strange that I cannot bring myself to eat a chocolate Easter bunny, but I have no problem eating the little chocolate praying hands that they make. But, I guess that's a story for my therapist. Sorry.)

Mmmmmm... chocolate praying hands.
As Homer Simpson would say, "Sacrilicious."

Anyhow, in keeping with the theme of strange dolls and disembodied parts, I thought I'd share with you a couple of my collections.

Now, I'm supposing that sounds a little weird, but bear with me.

First, my "found doll" collection:


When you ride your bike or walk pretty much everywhere as Blisschick and I do, you find some pretty strange things lying around in the street. As a person who has forever been unhealthily attached to inanimate objects, I cannot resist picking them up and taking them home.

Next, my contributions to disembodied parts:

My cat whisker collection.
I've been keeping this collection for about 4 years
and have whiskers here from 8 different cats. WOW!

And, my cat fur collection.

The furs in this bag are only from cats
that live or have lived in our own house.

I don't really think of myself as a collector, but I guess I am.

Of course, Zoe's collection has nothing to do with dolls or disembodied parts. Her collection has to do with her refusal to carry things down to the kitchen when she's done with them.

Zoe's Afternoon Rabbit Salad Bowl Collection.
She prefers to think of it as installation art.
OK. Whatever.

What do you collect?

It's All About Me

I was fairly unsure about what to write today. A little bird told me that Blisschick is posting an interview with me, so I wanted today's post to be good. A sigh escaped me. What to write?

I turned to Zoe to ask her thoughts on the matter. I'll bet you can guess how that went.

"Ah, hello?" she said with a flip of her ears and a fast and mischievous wag of her tail. "DUH!" She turned her back to me, but not before suggesting a title: "On the Importance of Rabbits"

Zoe, suggesting her idea.
She really does have good ones.
(Sometimes.)

Don't tell Zoe, but I'm ignoring her idea today in favor of Blisschick's suggestion, which was to write about how I got started as an artist and why.

In my opinion, rabbits are way more interesting, but here it goes.

An early portrait of the handsome Ernie.
We called it "Ernie's Birds," and it was one
of the first paintings I ever sold. Occasionally,
we run into the woman who bought it,
and she always gives us an update on the painting.

I come from a family where The Arts were important. Growing up, I remember my Grandpa painting and drawing all the time. We used to spend hours talking about music. It's still one of the main things we talk about.

Then, there was my mom, who used to take me out into the woods to draw trees and leaves and just whatever. And, my dad who likes to "MacGyver" everything and instilled in me a love of making things and trying new stuff just for the sake of it.

I was encouraged to try everything that falls under the category of The Arts, and I pretty much did: drawing, painting, building things, taking pictures, writing poetry, playing instruments, singing, listening to all different kinds of music from pop to Latin to jazz, to opera to classical to show tunes to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (that one deserves its own category).

This encouragement and allowance to roam where I pleased within any art and to try everything freely without pressure or judgement was my first step as an artist.

And, I thought everyone was like this. I thought this whole art thing was just what I did for fun.

It is what I do for fun. But that's not really the point.

Enter the Blisschick (a.k.a. Christine). She gave me the perfect combination of love, encouragement, confidence, and constructive criticism necessary to make art more than a hobby. She helped me to see the doodling and sketching I always did as a whole new thing.

Another early painting of North Park Row in here in Erie.
This one now belongs to the owner of the restaurant
with the red awnings in the center of the painting.

When Christine's niece, Abbie, was born in 2000, we went to visit her. While we were visiting, Christine's sister asked me to paint a little something above Abbie's crib. Right on the wall.

When they moved a couple of years later, Christine slyly said, "You should paint something for Abbie on canvas this time. You know, in case they move again."

(She, like Zoe, often has good ideas.)

And that is exactly what I did. I painted a little baby in a leafy sled thing being pulled by a team of butterflies mushing through a night sky past a big, fat moon.

I was in love with painting.

It seems that she created a monster.

Since that, I've gone through a lot of "periods." I started with buildings and animals, then I progressed to animal portraits. Then, I went on to whimsical and fantastical animals and sometimes whimsical and fantastical people. Then, I went back to animal portraits, but with decorative elements.

("Note," Zoe just said in between sips of water, "a certain theme of animals." Yes, yes, Zoe. I think everybody got that already.)

A decorative and representative Zoe
on a tabletop at the Whole Foods Coop in Erie.
(Zoe wants to point out that she is not actually
blue in real life. She'd also like to point out that
she likes the way the painting shows her all pimped out.)

I feel blessed and thankful for so much in my life: for Christine who helps and encourages me and gives me so many ideas; for the beautiful place where I live and the beautiful people and animals who surround me with constant inspiration; for the fact that I was taught from such an early age to see the world in my own way and as a place where things are not "just as they are" or as they "should be" but as a place where I see what I want to see.

A place where I create my own world with my own imagination, my own art, my own music, my own words.

Some people might call that a fantasy world.

I'm fortunate to call it my life.

The writing (well, drawing, really) on the wall

A scene from the hallway up our stairs.

Don't tell my mom, but I've always been a girl who liked to draw on walls. (Actually, you can tell her. I think she knows.)

When I was little, I had giant decals on my bedroom walls of Disney characters. I thought they were the absolute coolest. They were like big murals on my walls, and since then, and maybe because of this, I've remained attracted to murals and to really big paintings.

It's one of the first things that attracted me to Kelli Bickman's art work. She paints big. (She paints small, too, sometimes.) Something about that kind of bigness speaks to me. I love to feel surrounded by art, like I'm a part of the scene. (To read Blisschick's awesome interview with Kelli Bickman, click here.)

So, it stands to reason that I would find it impossible to not draw on the walls of our own house.

I started here, above this particular doorway, with this small painting of Ernie, our orange tabby cat. After he left his fur suit in April of 2007, I felt as though he needed to be memorialized somehow, somewhere. One day, I got out the ladder and some paint, and before Zoe could say, "Why are you painting a cat instead of a rabbit?" it was already done (sorry, Zoe).

I painted Ernie amongst some stars and birds. There wasn't much Ernie liked more than watching his birds, and that was what I wanted to be reminded of each and every day.

Over the next few days, these birds started to fly not only around the rest of the room (as you can see below), but they also began to fly up and down the hallways and down the stairs (hence the picture at the very tippy top of this post). Those birds were out of control. But, in a rather nice way. Not in an Alfred Hitchcock way.


Since then, Zoe has gotten her wish. I've painted a familiar looking, and very pretty little rabbit in her room. I also added our Jobie to the wall opposite Ernie after he, too, left his fur suit. (We call these their "ancestor tablets"). I'll post about these sometime in the near future.

For now, I need to head downstairs to punch down my rising bread dough. I wonder if any pink birds will follow me all the way to the kitchen?