“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It Goes On.”
Robert Frost

Friday, January 31, 2014

The Playhouse

As a child, did you ever have a playhouse or treehouse?

When I was little, about 7 or 8, I had an actual house for a playhouse. Our family farm had a one bedroom house set several hundred feet away from the main house behind some trees. It had been built back in the early 1900's for the farm-hand to live in. It had no indoor plumbing, but it did have a sink (the water was caught underneath in a bucket). There was a hand pump outside for water. It also had an outhouse. The house was occupied most of the time up until the mid 1950's and then rendered vacant for a decade or so.  It was finally sold to a neighbor and was moved and turned into a small lake cabin.

During it's vacant period, my cousin and I transformed it into a very fine playhouse for a couple of summers. My cousin was older than me and was good at improvising, we scrounged a few odds and ends from the house that my mother let us have. The cats and dogs were our kids and we had a grand old time in there. We did lots of pretending and dreaming there, many fantasy cakes and cookies and fabulous fun was had!

We were already re-purposing and recycling before it was trendy and I don't think we ever uttered the words, "We're Bored!" once. It was the best playhouse ever!  I think my mother loved it; we were not underfoot and she knew we were safe and occupied!

The sweet little poem below sparked my memory of my playhouse, I hope you enjoy it and the cute illustrations by Lois Maloy.




Tell me about your playhouse! ~ Diane



Friday, January 24, 2014

All Cats Go to Heaven


I want to thank all of you that left such kind words of sympathy and comfort for me.  It has been a rough couple of weeks for the kitties and me.  Guy has especially been missing Ginny and I have given him more attention and cuddles than usual.  He seems to be his fun-loving self today.  I am taking my cue from him and am trying to move on and get into a new routine without our darling Ginny.

Next week sometime I will get back to regular blogging about cute stuff, but I wanted to share one more post about my thoughts on this event.  Some of you may think me crazy, but I dearly love my kitties and would do almost anything for them. 

Ginny had been in advancing hospice care in our household for some time, in the past two weeks her condition worsened and her care needs accelerated to the point where she needed almost constant attention.  We knew her passing was near and spent time with her in our basement, placing her in her favorite chair. She spent most of the time sleeping, but some just resting,  occasionally she would seem to have some distress, trouble breathing or some pain and I wanted to be there to comfort her.  So for her last few days, I spent most of the time with her. 

Part of the time I spent reading to her, it seemed to calm her to hear my voice and it calmed me to be taken to another place for a few minutes to escape some of my grief.  The excerpt below is from a vintage book I own called All Cats Go to Heaven, written by Beth Brown and illustrated by Peggy Bacon. It was published in 1960 and is an anthology of stories about cats complied by Beth Brown. This is one of the books I read stories from.  After reading this story I love imagining my little Ginny flying off to a new world to meet up with her best friend Cocoa.  I hope you enjoy the photo and the passage from the book further below.

Thank you again dear friends. ~~ Diane











"It happened so suddenly.

One moment ago, she was there.  And now she was here.
She had felt no pain, no fear, just the slightest twinge as her shoulders sprouted into wings and the wings lifted her up from the city street, carried her like an autumn leaf high into the sky, sent her whirling through a long, strange tunnel -- and now settled her down in this unfamiliar place, her four paws planted in fog.

There was fog all around her like a sea of surging gray, fearful yet wonderful to her aching senses, particularly to the broken bones in her body.

She drew a deep breath.  Was, this death, she wondered, a matter the cats often discussed as they gathered in the gutters of an evening?  Was she finished with life forever?

Where was she?  She had never felt so lonely.  She had never heard silence so loud.

Then, off in the distance, the mist began lifting, cleaving the blue sky from the green earth.  An eerie glow filled the firmament,  And, suddenly, the blaze of morning lighted the universe and Tatters found herself standing before two immense bronze gates leading to another world, mysterious beyond measure.

She caught a glimpse of blooming tree tops.  The heavenly odor of new-cut grass perfumed the air.  Perhaps these were the green pastures of promise beside the still waters for those who passed on.

No sound came to her ears.  Not a sign of life stirred anywhere.  Yet reality was everywhere.  The gates were real.  The sky was sky.  And the earth had become brown and solid underfoot......."
 from All Cats Go to Heaven by Beth Brown


Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Goodbye Sweet Friend



 Ginny last year in the garden.


It is with great sadness that I share the news that my beloved cat Ginny has passed away. She was sixteen years old and led a wonderful and long kitty life.

She was a sweet, gentle girl.  Her best friend was another cat named Cocoa, whom she dearly loved. Cocoa passed away about four years ago. They were the best of friends and were inseparable. The past years have been met with declining health and illness, and one by one the joys of life slipped away.

With the help of my veterinarian, we sent her on her final journey and her suffering has ended. She will always hold a special place in my heart and will be greatly missed.

The one comfort I have is that in the spring, her ashes will be buried in the wild part of our garden next to her beloved friend Cocoa. Together, forever.




 Ginny at one year old.




Ginny and Cocoa watching TV.




Ginny washing Cocoa's ears.



Ginny keeping watch and Cocoa napping.... Cocoa in pure bliss!




Cocoa Boy and Ginny Girl
True Kitty Love
Together Forever



I'm taking a bit of time off from blogging.  
I will see you all in a week or so. 
~~ Diane ~~



Friday, January 10, 2014

A Look Back

Sometimes parting with my vintage collections is not easy.  Even though most have been purchased with the idea of selling them, I occasionally get attached to an item and am sorry to see it go.

I decided to take a look back at a few of my favorite items that sold last year.
They are all now in their happy, new homes.



Pink Rosina Teacup







Pink Sleigh Planter





Alice in Wonderland Paint Set







Little Brown Bear on Log Planter




Miss Sniff




Puff the Blue Kitten






Red Cat Matchbox Holder






The Sleeping Fairy






The Squirrel on the Log planter




And my all time favorites!
The Cats in Hats framed prints!

Here I have digitally cleaned them up and want to share them with you!
Right click on image and click 'save image as' to download.

I've also included a bit about the meaning of the flowers they wear.  


Rose
 The meaning of a pink rose: Grace, gladness, joy, perfect happiness, please believe me, gratitude, admiration, gentility.



Violet
 The meaning of the violet: Thoughts of you, blue love.




Hope
 The meaning of the forget-me-not: True love, hope, remembrance, memories.



Pansy
 The meaning of the pansy: Recipient is being thought about, loyalty. The flower's name comes from the French word pensée which means thought or remembrance. Because pansies often have three colors in one blossom, they have been symbolic of the Trinity.


I hope you enjoyed my look back at some of these cute vintage items.  
Have there been any items that you have parted with that you 
wish you could have back?


Sunday, January 5, 2014

Get Ready!


The Polar Vortex is on its way!!!  Schools have been canceled state wide and even some business's have chosen to stay closed.  We haven't seen the likes of this kind of cold in over ten years!







We are staying in the house on Monday! All day. No we will not be going out for a walk, maybe to get the mail or paper, if those brave souls get through their deliveries. It wouldn't bother me in the least if they just stayed home too! The high on Monday is supposed to be -15, yes MINUS 15 degrees. With the wind chill that makes it about 27 degrees below zero! 


It's C-C-C-Cold!
See the X!! Minnesota is underneath it!



cat hat



Bundle up, hunker down and have a big mug of hot chocolate!

Hot chocolate






Cold photo maxinecold.jpg






Spring has sprung, Fall has fell, Winter's here and it's cold as ... well, you get the picture!



Love it..too cold

The upside, I'll have plenty of time to catch up on everyone's blogs!
Stay warm out there!! ~~ Diane