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Alpacas are awesome!
Learning about alpacas reignited my passion for fiber arts.
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#AtoZChallenge: Kittens
Tikey at the point of adoption 😉 Photo © Diane Weidenbenner There is something irresistable about kittens. Those small bundles of fur and purr are God’s gift and blessing to us. Even people who don’t like cats usually admit that kittens are adorable. Kittens are small and cuddly. Their claws, while sharp, are usually tiny and therefore not painful and rarely penetrate skin or clothing. I love it when kittens yawn. Their faces scrunch up, they close their eyes and they show every single tooth in their head. And, their little pink tongues look like flower petals that have curled. They are used to getting everything they want or need…
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#AtoZChallenge: Junket
Photo © Diane Weidenbenner My friend, Sandy, and I venture out of town whenever we can when the weather is nice. We’ve gone Amish Hunting, which sounds a lot more painful than it really is (at least for the Amish). We love to discover antique stores, barns, civil war graveyards and farms with lots of great animals including but not limited to sheep, cows, goats or the boutique miniatures that have become popular. We both remember when our parents and grandparents would go for “Sunday drives” and laugh at how we like to do the same. We’ve both traveled out of the U.S. so perhaps this is our way of…
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A to Z Challenge: “Z”iggy, the hedgehog
On April 16, I attended an Earth Day celebration where I work, sponsored by White Violet Center for Eco-Justice. It’s my all-time favorite event and there is something for everyone. I met a new friend at this year’s event, while I was helping to staff the baked goods area. His name is Ziggy. He is a pet hedgehog. He is ADORABLE! I’ve seen a sign, advertising pet hedgehogs at a local pet shop in town. I couldn’t imagine having one, until now. Ziggy’s “parents” were a lovely couple who brought him to Earth Day. He enjoyed being held and also, literally, hung out of a backpack as the two walked…
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A to Z Challenge: “Q”uite the hardworkers!
I am fascinated by squirrels. First, they are one of the hardest working animals I know. You never see a squirrel kickin’ back on a Chaise lounge, drinking a fruity drink with a little umbrella sticking out of it. They are always running hither and yon, finding nuts, burying nuts, unearthing nuts, chasing each other (usually over nuts), harassing my dog, attacking our bird feeders (you guessed it – for nuts!) Second, they have incredible memories. How do they remember where they planted their nuts? I can’t remember where I put my keys and my brain is larger (at least I think it is!) In the spring, it’s like they…
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Blogging A to Z: “K”-ittens
There is something special about kittens. Don’t get me wrong. I like grown up cats and dogs, too. After all, eventually all kittens and puppies grow up. We have four cats and all but one were adopted as kittens. No matter how tall or round the cats get, I still see them as those fluffy, adorable, sweet kittens that like to jump on fuzz or feathers as they waft across the floor. Everything is new and interesting to them. And they are fearless. Raja, our most recent rescue kitten, was less than 2 pounds when she first made friends with our dog, Hershey, who was then 50 pounds. Here’s my…
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Blogging A to Z: Eco versus Ego
I work for a Catholic organization that has as one of its ministries White Violet Center for Eco-Justice. It’s goal is to help educate people to walk more softly on Earth by learning about the benefits of buying local foods, supporting ecological justice, organic agriculture and fiber arts. No, this isn’t a commercial for that ministry, but it is how I discovered the graphic to the left. I’ve been a nature nut since I was a child. I love science and because I think God is too big to be put into a box, and limited to only what I can understand, I don’t think that science and spirituality are…
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St. Francis
I’ve always loved animals. When I was young, we had turtles, a Welsh Corgi and my parents raised and showed English Springer Spaniels. Today, my husband and I have one dog, Hershey (although he prefers to think of himself as a person), and four cats (three are rescues). I shared this love of animals with a good friend of mine, Becky, who passed away last year from lymphoma. She was with me when I spied Hershey as a puppy and was supportive of Joe and me adopting him. Did you know that St. Francis of Assisi, who lived from 1182-1126, felt he could communicate with animals and that he was…
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Maine or Rac-coon? – Blogging from A to Z
Shortly after moving to Terre Haute in 2005, we lost one of our two cats to bladder cancer. Two months later, a Maine Coon kitten showed up at my friends’ backdoor with a terrible respiratory infection and she took it to the vet for treatment. My husband Joe and I adopted it as a playmate for our remaining orange Manx cat, Oliver. Lil’ Tyke, as he became known, came to live with us in October. Tyke darted out of the house one Saturday evening in May 2006 while I was out of town and Joe didn’t notice his absence until the following morning. When I returned home, we looked in…
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Blogging from A to Z: Hershey, an apology
Hershey, age 2 months, during his formative years. Note: Hershey is our 2-year-old Australian cattle dog/labrador retriever mix dog. Joe and I are first-time dog owners and we thought it was necessary in our puppy’s development for him to learn the importance of an earnest apology. Here, printed in its entirety, is his letter to Dish Network. Yes, he dictated it to me and I typed it, otherwise the company would not have been able to read his paw-writing. He insisted on us using a younger photo of him although he now weighs in at 51 pure-muscle pounds. Dear spare parts coordinator: My name is Hershey and I am 2…
