Island in the Blue Bay

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Slab Boxes, Straw Blowing and Saturday

Whew! What a Saturday. I am so exhausted!

I woke up early again with the Man because... well, no real reason, just because. I was able to get some chores done and play with the kittens before heading off to Fall Fling at Aiken Center for the Arts. Free classes in ceramics, water colors and acrylic? Yes please! I love it when free and art come together! I was running behind due to a last minute photo shoot I had with the kittens.

I hate being late. I dislike being on time. If I'm not 15 minutes early to something I'm late. But this time I was pushing the button and was due to arrive at the center right when the class started. AH! Being exactly on time at the center means that I would have to then walk into the class when it had already started. Well, luck was on my side. The center wasn't even unlocked yet. Crisis adverted!

I had a great few hours. I learned how to make a slab box. Second time working with clay since elementary school so I was very proud- I can't wait to see the finished product! Then onto watercolors. We were working on an under the sea scene. It was my first time working with watercolors. They confuse me. But it was fun non the less. Especially when it was time to make the coral. To do that we drop a few drops of liquid watercolor paint onto the edge of our paper. Then we took straws and blew the droplets around! This left fun splattered trails where ever the droplets went. This technique can also be used to make trees, fun splattered backgrounds, or whatever else you can think of!

The last class of the day was the acrylics class. MMmm. Acrylics. How I love you. This was my second attempt at acrylics and it was so relaxing. The class was only about the pumpkin, but I thought that we needed a tree, and if there's a tree there should be a bird, right?

I had to run a few more errands before getting back to the house. Where I could begin my next crafty venture- tailoring some of my clothes. I have a pile of clothing growing that needs to be either taken in or hemmed or patched- and its about time I get to work on it. I worked on one blouse before I got totally distracted by Once Upon a Time and just ended up watching TV. I love that show! I was so good during the first season, but during the second it was hard to fit it into my schedule. So now I'm re-watching on Netflix and enjoying every minute of it!

I finished off the day with a marathon cooking session. I made Apple Pie Lara Bars. Pistachio Pesto to go in my Paleo-ized Tomato-Basil Pasta Sauce (Rachael Ray). My pasta was zucchini noodles and I pan-fried some almond flour coated chicken. I then made up some Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies for the Man to bring into work- I've been promising them to him for the past few days and finally got them made up. Now, nothing left to do but sit back and relax!

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Caturday Saturday! The Flea Edition

As a pet owner, at one point or at many points you are going to deal with fleas. It happens. You are not dirty. You are not a bad owner. This is life.

No one likes fleas, and they are difficult to get rid of.

Life Cycle of a Flea- the Rachel Version.

Within 48 hours of landing on a host an adult flea lays eggs. And that's up to 50 eggs a day! Imagine if chickens did that!! Those eggs can hatch any time between two days and two weeks. Once these guys hatch their goal is to make a cocoon, and this happens between five and twenty days. They stay in this cocoon until they have matured into adult fleas. They'll stay in the cocoon until conditions are favorable, meaning until a host is near. The scary part is that they can stay in the cocoon stage for months, years. Once they're adults they hop on an adult and the whole horrible process starts again.

My approach to killing the fleas was to attack the environment, both the Kitties and my home. I got foggers, Capstar (for the kittens) and comfortis (for the adults). I have read a bunch of reviews about how foggers don't actually work. But, they make me feel proactive and until I see otherwise I will think that they work. The other benefit to foggers is that they kill all sorts of bugs! So that means less creepy crawlies around my house!!

The Man and I prepped the house the night before. I stuffed as much food into the fridge as possible. And the rest went into boxes in my trunk. I put set up all the foggers so all I had to do was set them off, I got the kennels ready to go, and the flea medication set up. I put some things to keep me entertained in the car and set out my clothes (Thanks FlyLady!).

I started off Operation Kill all the Fleas with an early morning breakfast for the Felines of the house. Comfortis can cause vomiting so its suggested to be taken with food. After everyone had had breakfast I worked my way through the 7 mouths and giving pills. Phase One complete.

I got them all in their proper kennels and in the car. Then I set off the foggers. The foggers take two hours to run their course, then another two hours to "air out". I meandered about town for those four hours, making a few stops and blasting the air in between to keep the car nice and cool. Phase Two complete.

When it was all cleared I brought the cats straight into bathroom and went to town with the flea combs. I already had a small flea comb, but I picked up another one during the morning meanderings- this one was basically the same but had a handle. They both worked the same, but the different handles changed the angle of my combing which picked up different things. After an hour and a half, several bowls full of soapy waters, and several disgruntled cats. It was done. Phase Three complete.

Its too soon to tell if Operation Kill all the Fleas was a success or not. But I think we're off to a good start. In the mean time I'm going to keep up a regular vacuum and comb routine to catch any late bloomers.

Finger, Fleas and Friday

Ow. My finger hurts. Apparently biting my finger is the correct response to getting a pill shoved down your throat- actually, I guess I can't even get mad- that IS the correct response.

Today I ran around like crazy dealing with cats. They have the dreaded F word. Fleas. I currently have 7 cats in my house. Call me what you want- Good Samaritan? Cat Lady? Doesn't matter because I have 4 snuggly kittens in my kitchen! And their Mama. But, alas, with strays comes fleas. And that means fleas on my own two cats. I tried a tri-attack- oral tablets, flea bomb, and a thorough combing. I'll let you know how that worked out. The oral tablets is when my finger took the hit. One of the kittens was not okay with swallowing a pill. But after multiple attempts and a mauled finger- we got it down.

While I was banned from my house I ran around town a bit- at 5:30 in the morning. Hmmm.. fortunately Walmart is always open! It may seem strange why I voluntarily woke up super early to kick myself out of my house. But one thing I know about the South is that it gets hot, and it gets hot fast. So to keep everyone comfortable I chose the wee hours of the morning- nice and cool for the car-ful of fur. No heat stroke for this FurMama!

I did manage to get a delicious breakfast at New Moon Cafe. Second time this week I've eaten there! I did my best to get a Paleo meal by ordering the egg scrambler with spinach, tomatoes, onions, spinach and sausage. It was delicious! A little too delicious, if you know what I mean. I don't know how they cooked those veggies- and I'm not asking! I also got their Unsweetened Ice Tea (the South must think I'm crazy), unlimited refills!

After breakfast I decided that the cats needed a bit of spoiling. They were not happy with the day's events and I thought some new toys could brighten their day (and mine). Not to mention it may help bridge the ever widening gap between the Man and Mr. Stanley Cakes Solomon (aka- my male cat). Some play time and treat time should do them a world of good!

After all the cat shenanigans I had to shower quick- then hop out the door to go be a Teacher's Aide. One of the great thing of job hunting while being unemployed is that you have a bunch of time to do stuff you wouldn't normally get to do if you were at work! Like help out your teacher friend by grading papers and try to keep a straight face with a class full of adorable second graders. Seriously, these kids were so cute! Miss J is such a great teacher, she made it look so easy. Here's a secret: I'm terrified of the thought of being a substitute teacher. Miss J thought if I came in to check it out a little bit I might see that its not all that bad. Well, I'm going back next week so she may be on to something!

I finally made it to Goodwill! My friend Z along with Miss Refashionista have taught me to love Goodwill. So many good deals! You never know what you're going to find! Alas, today was not a successful hunt, but that's okay. I still have several items that I need to re-fashion myself- I really shouldn't add to my pile.

For dinner tonight the Man is having baked KFC Chicken and mashed potatoes. Me? Well, I'm probably going to make a snack plate- some apple, celery, a little almond butter, hard boiled egg? Mmmm, that'll do me good! I'm such a fan of snack plates- and I'm such a grazer! I saw someone's blog where they use kid's divided plates for their snack plate- I think I'm going to have to hit up Dollar Tree to find one for myself!

Well that was my crazy day- its not done yet but its close enough.

Friday, September 5, 2014

Trips, Thirst Quenchers and Thursday

The Man had the day off! So we went to the Columbia Zoo! We had a late start due to our landlord fixing our oven. We've been without an over for two and a half weeks so it was a small price to pay.

Did you know you can save money buy pre-purchasing your tickets online? How cool is that? We passed the drive by listening to Weird Al's new CD Mandatory Fun, and some of our older favorites. I love Party in the CIA. Oh, he cracks me up. I can't wait for his next album.

There were so many animals running around at the zoo! Everywhere you look- a wild boot! Hehe, sorry. Turns out there's an Army Basic Training base, post (?) right in Columbia and we guessed that it was family day as there were a bunch of young soldiers in their uniforms with their families. A few grumbles were to be had from the Man, there is a giant difference between the Marine Corp and the other branches into where it is appropriate and where it is not appropriate to wear uniforms.

So. This exists!

Its a tree kangaroo. It is quite possibly the most adorable, puppet looking animal that exists. Its like a cross between a calf, a lemur, and a teddy bear.

The Man and I got a kick out of the penguin feeding. Well, I suppose I got more of a kick out of the Man's narration of the penguin feeding.

There was also this guy:

This giant gorilla was just lounging on the veranda for a siesta! I love how he has one leg crossed over the one up against the window and one arm draped across his face. Such a human position! I wanted to get the Man to mirror the pose on this side of a glass but he wasn't for it.

We saw lions, and tigers, and koala bears! And we bought some nectar to feed the birds. I was NOT expecting to get swarmed the minute I stepped into the pen. One of them peed on my purse, EW! Fortunately a quick dip in the wash will fix that!

After a few hours in the hot South Carolina sun we were done with the zoo and ready for a drink. We found a small brewery- Hunter-Gatherer Brewery and Alehouse. They have 4 of their beers on tap to choose from. We went with the wheat- the Man got a delicious looking plate of Goldfish Mac & Cheese. I went with a lamb gyro. I took the meat and veggies and plopped them onto my salad and went without the pita to make it as Paleo as possible. You know. To go with my beer.

It was a great day out and about and exploring Columbia!