Harriet!

Auntie A went on a vacation and left us with one member of her growing menagerie consisting of crested geckos, fish, a cat, a dog, and Harriet! We have fallen deeply in love with the tiny little rodent who has been our houseguest for these past 5 days.

This sweet, fat, cream-colored hamster was quite shy at first and would swiftly disappear into a tunnel of her enclosure upon our entering into the room, but, alas, (after numerous offerings of hamster delicacies) she decided it would be acceptable to socialize with us on the third day of her stay, allowing us to let her out of the cage for some exploration and play time.

Once we let her out, she stole all of our hearts with her compulsions to taste and  nibble every new item she encountered from train tracks to castle walls, her obsessively vain need to groom herself at every occasion, and the delightful way in which she examined every food offering before grasping it in her miniature-sized fingers much like one would hold a sandwich before stuffing it into one of her accommodating hoarders' cheek pockets. 

The following is a sampling of Harriet's most endearing qualities and behaviors for those unfamiliar with hamster etiquette and characteristics: 

-her glorious cream colored coat with a splash of white 

-her marvelously rotund body 

-her plump cheeks stuffed selfishly with as much food as will fit

-her inquisitive spirit as she sniffs and gnaws her way through the world  

-her kind beady eyes

-her full rounded shape being stretched and elongated to fit into her habitat's tunnel system with only her pink hairless feet protruding from the opening

-her habit of camouflaging her food dish by covering it with bedding

-her fleshy-toned tissue-paper-thin veiny ears

-her insistence upon burying herself within her cozy nest box to slumber the day away

Sweet hamster dreams Harriet! We were honored to host you and will miss the way you unapologetically live your life as if everyday one might have the pleasure to go searching for earthworms...

Happy "Bird"day Gifting!

The Dreamer, was invited to another birthday party this past weekend, calling, of course, for some gift crafting time! 

Both the Dreamer and the Caveman are intrigued by feathered fauna, and enjoy playing "birds" with little birdcage sets that I created for them after discovering small, affordable decorative birdcages at the craft store. 

Based on this design, we set out to make a gift for the Dreamer's yellow-loving friend for her birthday. 

After choosing a yellow birdcage and a solid yellow handkerchief for wrapping, we set to work to create a little American Goldfinch duo. 

I began by needle-felting a male and female bird to inhabit the cage

Next, I crocheted a nest out of two yarns (a fine feathery and shiny varigated brown and a thicker cotton variegated brown) with a size 10 crochet hook and by starting with 10 double crochet stitches and continuing around twice doubling my stitches two times and then around two more times reducing my stitches. I was not too regimented in this exercise, I basically crocheted around and around until I was pleased with the size and shape of the nest. 

 

I wanted to create some eggs to nestle into the nest, and for this task I decided to consult Pinterest in the hopes of finding an air dry clay. After a little browsing, I discovered the recipe for a baking soda and cornstarch clay that was just perfect for the job. 

Link to making baking soda clay bird eggs: 

http://creativetryals.blogspot.com/2011/04/make-your-own-robin-eggs-with-baking.html?m=1

I cut the recipe in half, but probably could have used only a fourth of the recipe for the molding of teensy tiny Goldfinch eggs.

After letting the eggs dry thoroughly, I painted them with acrylic paint a bluish white hue. 

We were all thrilled with the tiny eggs, especially after inserting them into the cozy nest that would serve as their home! 

Now for the final touch. The Dreamer suggested that we provide some informational text about the American Goldfinch, and I thought that that was an absolutely marvelous idea. Using the yellow kerchief which we had purchased to wrap our cage, I created a banner of information and a favorite haiku about the little birds nesting inside.

Gift complete, happy "bird"day to you! 

        The birthday girl with her gift! 

Family Madness!

Recent family madness in a nutshell: 

The Caveman: 

If I choose to dump out my snack bowl onto the ground for the purpose of entertaining the masses, it will not be refilled.

Woolyworm-style caterpillars make intriguing subjects for observation.  

I fall and scrape my knees when I run on the driveway ignoring the requests to walk coming from those around me.

I enjoy giving my friends a lift in my "jeep jeep".

When I choose to kick people who are helping me to get dressed, they will walk away and refuse to assist. 

Taking a stand against laying oneself down in the bathtub to wash hair will result in water being poured from a receptacle over my head.

Caring for the neighbors' tomato loving dog while they are out of town can be very exciting.

The Dreamer:

Sometimes I fall in love with animals at the pet shop whom I am unable to adopt. 

Allowing people to believe that my magnetic earrings are authentic pierced ears will result in being gifted real earrings I am unable to wear. 

Eating homemade ice cream with chums is incredibly messy and grand.

Starting to pedal a bike by placing a foot on the highest pedal is the secret to getting started.

Longer shoelaces are easier to tie, but increase my susceptibility to trip.

Me:

Sometimes I must pick a course of action out of the sky and give it a go.

Some people are impossible to understand and difficult not to despise. 

Especially when they come in the form of worthless neighbors gifting me used make-up, novelty alcohol bottle key rings, shattered hair claws, dirty purses, stained nap mats, half inflated toy punching bags, ripped clothing and broken kid's meal toys

When my children bicker, argue, and fight it drives me to insanity and I want to run away from home.

The seam ripper retains its permanant position as the "best loved" tool in my sewing repertoire despite futile attempts to "take my time".

Corn is wonderful; it provides an excellent activity (shucking), a suitable last minute dinner choice, and limitless possibilities for corny pun fun. 

My favorite moment of each day is sneaking into the spawns' room before I hit the hay to ensure that they are adequately covered and snuggled into bed. I realize that I love my children most of all when they are asleep.

Mister:

My wife is a crazy woman who is constantly in a manic frenzy and probably responsible for my hypertension. 

When in doubt, go searching for earthworms...

Operation Tie the Knot!

The Dreamer was given converse tennis shoes for first grade; however, she lacked the key ability to tie these new Chuck Taylor kicks. Thus ensued Operation Tie the Knot.  

The Dreamer's initial attempts at tying ended in frustration due to the shoes coming equipped with very short laces. Her tying skills, while accurate, were very loose and the ends of the short laces had an annoying tendancy to slip through the   knot during the final stage of tightening the bow--this caused unnecessary grief for the virgin knotter. Mister replaced these with 54" adult length laces which came with the added bonus of color variety, so as to allow for her to learn with ease. 

I vaguely remembered the existence of a rabbit themed step-by-step for tying shoes, but I lacked the recall skills required to conjure up this tutorial from the recesses of my brain, so I made up a rabbit-themed story tutorial of our own: 

Step 1: Rabbit sleeps in his burrow--

             over and through

Step 2: He hears a noise and sticks out   

            one ear--a loop

Step 3: Rabbit turns in a circle to look  

             all around--wrap around

Step 4: He sniffs with his nose but can't 

            smell a sound--poke tip through

Step 5: Then Rabbit decides to pop both 

             ears out--pull loops