Recycled items for dog toys

 I made the toy and then the dog wouldn't let me get a photo of it. Here is the best I could do, a blurry image of him playing with the toy. Our dogs don't play fetch with their toys. They play keep-away.

The only supplies that you need are an empty and clean water bottle along with an old sock. 

Remove the lid from the bottle and then place the bottle in the sock. Tie a knot at the opening of the sock to prevent the bottle from falling out. We press the bottle a little flat or it is too big for the dogs to chew and carry. That is all you need to do to make your dog a toy.  

Our dogs love these. They make a bit of noise and the dogs can drag them around. The sock protects the dog from any plastic pieces that may fall off. 

Our dogs can't chew through the sock, though. Watch your dog when playing with this or any toy to reduce the risk of injury. 

Mystique enjoying her Christmas Box

We have three cats, but I only made up two of these boxes. That was because our cat, Mystique, likes to sleep in the puppy beds. She seemed to take a liking to the wrapped boxes. Therefore, I wrapped up one for her (cut the hole first) and now she is enjoying hers. 

The cats like to investigate new things around them. I may end up wrapping the boxes in various holiday wrapping paper or even holiday fabric. 

Starch or a washable glue can attach the fabric to the boxes. I can always wash the fabric when it gets dusty. 

Cat in a box

Just what he wanted, a box. 

Lathandar & milk

 Lathandar wanted milk, so I gave him about a tablespoon. Here he is after drinking his milk with milk droplets on his face. 

He turned his head and the drops aren't so prominent in this photo. He is a black cat, but sometimes the flash gives his fur silver highlights. 

Lathandar is the one who lays on the desk to supervise whatever I am doing. 

Padawan hoarding biscuits

Padawan asked me for a biscuit. He sits up and waves his front paws when he wants something. Then I guess what it is he might want. When I get it right, his paws wave faster or he drops to all fours and wags his tail. I gave him and his brother each a biscuit. 

Padawan went to his drawer bed and buried his biscuit under his blanket. I thought I saw another biscuit under his blanket, so I peaked. He had seven biscuits buried! I have raised a hoarder. 

Bow Tie Pet Quilt

Here is a pet quilt made from extra dimensional bow tie blocks from my Bow Tie Quilt. Bow Tie Quilt

This will go into a box labeled "Pet Quilts". If I need any for gifts, I will use them. Once the box gets full, I take the remaining quilts to our local no-kill pet shelter.  

Mystique & Muffins

Here is Mystique claiming the muffins. 

Baby Birds in the spring

 We had baby birds in the spring. Birds built a nest on our outdoor light fixture. The fixture is right beside the front door. 

 We tried to make their stay as peaceful as possible until they grew up and flew away. 

The birds

 A couple of weeks ago, the robins left the nest by our front door. We're not sure why they consider the front door a good place to nest, but they have the last few years. We realized the nest started to change. 

 We put the camera up to see if new birds had moved in. They had. We saw five eggs. Unfortunately, when I downloaded the images onto my computer, I couldn't find this one until after we took the next image. 

 The following day, I had my husband take another photo and this time the nest had six eggs. 

 Here is the progression of the nest. The birds started building over the robin's nest. 

 Then the nest turned into a mass of dried grass, leaves, bits of cotton, and some feathers. The night after we took this image, we had a storm and the wind blew away most of the materials. 

 The birds had started to build again, but we could see the original robin's nest on our light fixture. 

This is a horribly blurry image because we took one quick photo as to not upset the parents too badly. If you look hard, you can see two baby birds. One has his head on top of the other. One has his head on the egg on the right and then the sibling has his head over this guys body. 

We're not sure why the birds think it is a good idea to nest by our front door. It has to be a stressful situation for the birds because the front door is a busy place. We need to do something to discourage the birds from building there. We don't want the babies stressed every time we have a visitor or the mail is delivered. 

Our crafting (not crafty) cats

 I find it adorable and, at times, frustrating that our cats enjoy crafting. I made a quilt that I wanted to tie the layers together. I placed it on the table to start my project.

 Lathandar was the first to join me. He wanted to test the quality of the quilt and be near the action. He is a very sweet cat. He was able to stay until I had to move the quilt so I put him down with a treat. We adopted him and his brother, Vex, in the spring of 2002. They are 13 years old. 

 Then Mystique joined me. She can't resist any type of string. She was adopted in fall of 2007. She is seven years old and very playful. 

Then she got bored and had to test the quality of the quilt. I let her stay until I had to move the quilt again. Then I placed her on the floor with a treat.

 Don't tell the cats but their treats are dry kibble placed in canning jars, which we believe to be more nutritious and more economical than treats. It is the same as what is in the gravity dish, but they come running when we shake the jar. We keep a jar at the desk for when they help with crafting. We keep another jar near our bed for when the cats ask for late night snacks. 

Helpful hint to parents of fur babies. Don't feed the little ones in bed unless you want to start a late night snack habit for them. If you do, then keep jars of something yummy at the ready. 

Cats claim everything

I placed a clean bath towel on the table and walked away for less than a minute. I returned to this. 

Pet quilts for the shelter

I have been working on quilts for the local pet shelter. There are several tops completed awaiting the layering process. 

This is what happened when I tried to take a photo of the first completed quilt. Lathandar decided to test the comfort. I'll wash it before donating, so it doesn't have our cats scent on it. 

The quilt passed inspection and he is now napping on it. Its as if there were no quilts lying around the house for our cats and dogs...except on the three pet beds, one on the couch, the three in various rooms, and the one inside the crate on my desk.

The fabrics were donated by a person who worked at a furniture store. The fabrics were 18 inch (give or take a bit) swatches. Due to the size of the swatches, the quilts will be very colorful with different textures of fabric. I hope the animals find the different textures interesting. I am so thankful for the donation and will put the fabrics to good use. All will be used for quilts for the pet shelter. 

I need to do something about all the wires on the desk. 

Our cat in the box

Here sits our adorable cat, Lathandar. He made me laugh this morning by trying to fit into a 5 1/2 inch by 9 1/2 inch box. I recycle boxes for drawer or closet organizers. I filled this with empty prescription bottles and he tried to get comfortable. He was only able to get his front two legs in. 


I aided the little guy by getting a bigger box. He found it cozy and is now sleeping. Here is the funny part, less than three feet away on the other side of my laptop is the kennel that I put on the desk to make him comfortable. It contains his cushy blanket, but he preferred the empty box.