Meet the Kids

In my Me...By the Numbers post earlier this week, I mentioned that we have 5 kitties. Many people were surprised by this since I usually only post pictures of Harley. So I went on a mission this week to get photos of each of our furry kids :) These are all outdoor cats, but they're more spoiled than most house cats! Most of them live in the heated garage all winter and we let Momma Kitty ins the house a lot in the winter. Jesse even buys them wet food and Temptations treats often!

Momma Kitty (originally named Bonnie) is our oldest kitty. She was originally a wild barn kitty that we tamed down. We found her and her brother Clyde (Bonnie & Clyde) back in 2006 and she's been a part of the family ever since :)

We got Chevy from a clothing store...LOL. We were doing some shopping and there was a box of free farm kitties at the door. We couldn't resist taking Chevy and one of his brothers. He's one of the cuddliest kitties we've ever had :)

We adopted Tiger from some friends that were moving out of town. He is such a beautiful cat and has the most gorgeous green eyes! His coat is so soft and he gets along great with our other cats :)

Junior and Keystone are our two youngest kitties. We rescued them from the barn when we found that their mommy wasn't taking care of them (not Momma Kitty, another cat). We nursed them back to health and they've become Jesse's buddies hanging out in the garage with him a lot :)

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I'm proud to say that all of our kitties were adopted/saved/tamed and none of them came from a pet shop or mill. And all of them have been fixed. We've had several cats in the 8.5 years we've lived in the country, but these 5 are part of the family :)

Spoiled?

For an outdoor kitty, I'd say so :)

Friday Jesse worked on putting a new front door on our house. The cats kept sneaking in and after so many times of putting them back out, we just let them stay. At one point I went in the living room to find Chevy fully enjoying his time inside!

I sat down to get some work done on the computer and it didn't take him long to make his way in to visit me :) How could I resist!

The Eye of the Tiger

We recently adopted a cat from some friends of ours who were moving away. When we got him home, we noticed we have a tiger kitty theme going on. All 3 of our kitties are tiger-striped! And isn't it fitting that our new kitty's name is Tiger :)

I just love his green eyes!!!

Of course I have to show you Chevy...

And Momma Kitty too :)

Aren't they all just so cute :)

Wordless Wednesday-Snow Already?!?

Wordless Wednesday-Kitty Lovin'

Summer Night Walk

Harley and I decided to take a nice, relaxing walk before the sun set...and the scary animals came out!

Blue and Chevy even decided to join us :)

I think Harley can find every mud puddle around to drink from...and try and swim in!

Here is the beautiful view we had on our way back to the house.

And the moon shortly after our return.

It was a great walk and I'm glad I took Harley out and about. With me starting back to work today, our time together will be shorter. And when I go back to night shift, there won't be anymore summer night walks. I'm sure glad I brought my camera to remember our fun little walks :)

Blue and Chevy

I finally remembered to take my camera outside and get some more pictures of the furbabies :) I try and go out and see them everyday, but never remember my camera. We spent quite a bit of time outside today, so I was able to get quite a few of my cuties :)

We finally named the two newest kitties...Blue and Chevy :)

They like to follow us where ever we go, but when they get up in the yard, they're not sure what to think of Harley. Once they're around him for a few minutes, they get over their fear quickly. These are a couple funny ones! Chevy is waiting patiently in the yard to see if Harley will notice him. And Blue isn't sure he likes Harley that close to him!

And it wouldn't be fair to show off the kitties and not show a shot of my baby :) He's getting furry again...time for a hair cut!

A New Year-A Great Feature :)

Oh my...where do I start! It's been a little while since I've blogged and so much has happened over the past couple of weeks! My parents have been here from Michigan and I have been spending so much time with them that I had to give my blog a short rest.

I wanted my first blog post of 2009 to be spectacular :) That is why I am choosing to feature Brigitte Marie Fontaine of brigittemarie today :) Brigitte was so kind to make my dad's Christmas present this year and I absolutely fell in love with it...he almost didn't receive it :)

I want you to get to know this great artist, so I did an interview with Brigitte. Enjoy the read :)

How long have you been painting?

I've been drawing and painting since I was little but I really made it my focus in high school, taking 2 art classes almost every year! In college, I double majored in Education and Studio Art, painting and drawing. Fortunately I was able to find a place in Alexandria with enough space for a mini studio! And miraculously I still find time to paint after teaching K-6 art full time. Painting has always been my "me-time" you could say.

What got you started?

I have always done small paintings or drawings for people as gifts.As far as doing painting on commission, when my sister first moved out on her own, she wanted art for her apartment! She "hired" me and sent me photographs to work from. Now five, six years later she still has me doing paintings for her home! She has encouraged me to expand my network through Etsy, coworkers, friends, roommates, etc. I have been working steadily on custom painting after custom painting since!

What is your favorite item in your shop right now?

My favorite item in my shop right now is the print of "Three Satin Dresses." I had a selfish artist moment and just could not part with the original. The painting is from a photo I took while wedding dress shopping with my sister, recently married this fall. I just loved the light from the window shining on the satin, and how odd yet beautiful the three main wedding dresses looked as figures in the display window. There are also three of us sisters in my family so I felt the painting reflected that sisterly bond!!

What work are you most proud of?

My sister and brother-in-law gave me this photograph of his motorcycle on an overlook of the Blue Ridge Parkway down in Shenandoah. I had to make a motorcycle look as "beautiful" as the mountain view! My banner is actually a piece of the photograph of that painting... When the phrase "Motorcycle painting" pops into your head, it is normally not be something you would want to hang in your living room. It turned out to have a nice masculine-feminine balance and I was somehow able to make this quite a lovely painting for their home.

Where can people find you on/off the web? Etsy, Blog, Twitter, etc.

Actually this is my first online endeavor in marketing my skills and artwork so I am only on Etsy! I have not looked into Blog and Twitter. I do love how official, organized, and safe Etsy is to buy, sell, request, etc.

Do you do any other crafts?

I can crochet. I have made blankets for everyone in my family and some scarves! I also dabble in ceramics, which I find very therapeutic.

I hope you enjoyed the interview and will check out Brigitte's Etsy Store :)

Here's to a Successful New Year! And to more great blog posts :)