Cuteness Carnival for you!

It’s witchypoo’s fault, she posted the cutest photo of a kitten today, I went to get a cup of coffee and found my own gato, Jack posing in all his cuteness and just had to share! It was about 57 degrees int he house when I took this photo, do you think he was cold?

jack-is-cold.jpg

Then I started to recall other cute animal photos I have viewed from all my blogging buddies. Veronica also posted some adorable kitten photos that I loved! One of Veronica’s commenters, Kim posted a priceless photo of a pouting child and I found a great photo of baby brotherly love over at My Little DrummerBoys.

If you are looking for a laugh check out what good old fridge magnets can spell, pretty much sums up my entire week.. LOL!

So, yeah… spent the majority of the night networking, commenting and trying to improve my blog traffic then I thought that since I was needling some blog luv it would be best to give some blog luv away… In order to recieve you must give right?

Oh well, anyway just thought that the abundance of cuteness should be compiled and shared with you all.. If you have a cute item to contribute add it to the comments please, we can all use some cuteness every now and then!

Growing Narcissus- Paperwhites

Today I deadheaded my paperwhites that I forced indoors this winter and I thought I would share some knowledge about growing these flowering bulbs with you today as an addition to my Gardening Reference Section on this site.

Paperwhites are part of the Narcissus family as are daffodils. Unlike most daffodils paperwhites are very fragrant and are a popular bulb that is often forced indoors. They take between 4 and 6 weeks to grow and begin blooming.

Paperwhites don’t require much space, can be planted in tight clumps in soil or rocks, don’t like to be over watered and do not require a chilling period to re bloom next growing season. They actually are not a good outdoor bulb if you live in a frosty location and this is why so many love to force them indoors.

If you want to enjoy paperwhites but live in an area that receives snow you can plant them indoors in a pot with soil or you can decoratively position the bulbs in a nice bowl or jar with some rocks. Paperwhites can be planted in tight clusters for a pretty effect. Like I said before they don’t mind crowding.

Most people will want their paperwhites to bloom indoors during the winter which is coincidentally the time when most bulbs recharge and grow roots for the coming growth season. Forcing paperwhite bulbs indoors will take much energy from the bulbs thus making blooming the following year difficult. It often takes two to three years before the forced bulbs will re bloom again and many people will simply toss their paperwhite bulbs after forcing.

Forcing Paperwhites Indoors-

To force your paperwhite bulbs simply plant them so the bulb top is level with the soil or other chosen growing medium, lightly water and then place the planted bulbs in a cool/ dark place (45 to 55 degrees is ideal) for about 2 weeks. This allows the roots time to develop before the rapid leaf and stem growth begins. Water lightly as needed and when you see that the stems and leaves have begun to emerge from the bulb (if you planted the bulb in rocks you will also be able to see that the roots have grown) you can relocate the planted bulb to a bright/ cool room and watch the beauty unfold!

Planting Paperwhites Outdoors-

Paperwhites are winter hardy outdoors ONLY in zones 8-10 (want to find your hardiness zone?), they are not really winter hardy like daffodils and since they don’t require a chilling period the frosty weather will often do much damage to these bulbs.

If you live in a warmer area where you can plant these outdoors you should do so in the fall. Plant your paperwhites in a location that gets full sun for most of the day and plant the bulbs about 3-4inches below the soil surface. When planted outdoors in the fall they will have the winter to develop hardy root systems and will surface in the spring to bloom.

Care during the dormant period-

Deadheading the spent flowers will help the bulb preserve energy for the next growing season but do not clip the leaves. Leaves should be allowed to die back naturally and photosynthesize (this is part of the recharging process of the bulb), when the leaves are all dead (about 6 weeks after flowering) they can only then be clipped or mowed. In poor soils or when in containers a high-phosphate fertilizer applied in the spring will help the bulb recharge for the next growing season.

Growing Paperwhites as Perennials Indoors in colder climates- 
If you want your paperwhites to come back year after year they need to be grown in soil and provided with ample “food”. If you are like me and live in a colder climate consider planting your paperwhites with another bulb or plant. This way you can allow your paperwhites to grow, die back and be undisturbed until they are ready to grow again. I planted mine in a pot with anemonies and added bone meal to the soil for added nutrients.

Enter a greeting cards scholarship contest!

Calling all poor high school and college students! Could you use some extra money for school? I just found this really cool contest where you create a greeting card that is entered for a chance to win a $10,000 scholarship for school! If you have an artistic flair and want some extra money maybe you should check out the greeting cards scholarship contest!

The contest is being put on by The Gallery Collection who offers corporate greeting cards, business Christmas cards and all-occasion cards via their website and catalog. Cards are sold in large quantities and are great for businesses that buy cards in bulk!

Thanks to the gallery collection you have the chance to win $10,000 and get your art on a greeting card, what is better than that? This contest is great for the struggling artist or art inclined student who needs money to pay for school! You can enter art, a photo or a computer graphic so the possibilities are endless! Use your imagination and let your creative juices flow! The contest runs from October 1st 2007- January 15th 2008 so get busy and get your entry in! Entries are accepted via the website, simply visit the greeting cards scholarship contest page for more info or to enter.

Wildlife swoops in for a visit..

I had a great laugh yesterday when a bird that was tormenting my cats took a wrong turn and flew into my house!! My cats play outside on this fenced in patio area that I have. I have many plants and wildlife in this area and apparently the birds were teasing the cats by dive bombing them and trying to get them worked up. One bird had a close call and ran into my kitchen almost flying smack into my face.

I screamed crouched down and took a few minutes to gather myself…Then I snapped a few pictures while yelling at my cats to leave it alone.. My cats knocked over a few of my plants but did not harm the poor bird. The amazing thing is that the bird actually let me grab it rather than flying away from me. I held this bird in my hand and took it outside, I reached up to allow it to climb onto the bird feeder but it would not leave my finger. Finally, I shook my hand and the poor little guy flew away. I am just glad my cats listened to me and did not hurt the poor guy.

Elizabethan collars and bloody sores…

lamp shade collar

Okay one of our cats (Hailey) has some sores on her chin that Nathan calls “Feline Acne”. She scratches them because they obviously bother her but she doesn’t stop scratching when it hurts her… The result is a yowling cat who is scratching herself bloody and will not stop despite the flowing blood and pain.

Needless to say we went out an got one of those lamp shade collars that keeps animals from scratching themselves bloody. The pet store calls them E-collars, we call then Elizabethan collars… They are great for keeping animals from licking sores and in our case it keeps them from scratching the face.

Anyway the point to this entry is that animals hate them (obviously) and I thought I would share some video and photos of my poor kitty.. They are funny and cute all at the same time.

Cat Collar Video #1
Cat Collar Video #2

A day in the life of ME!!

This post is inspired by a similar post Paper Napkin!!

7:15ish- Briefly wake up, roll over and ask N if he was ditching work today. N reminded me it was still early and that the alarm hadn’t gone off yet for him to get up. I apologized and went back to bed.

9:20is- N comes in to tell me he is leaving for the day and that he loves me. I mumble something and go back to bed.

10:45- I officially wake up and am immediately grumpy because it is lots later than I normally get up.

10:50 – Stumble into the bathroom, blow my nose, pee, say hello to Miss Kitty in the sink and put my bathrobe on. I head straight to my computer to check email and whatnot.

11:00 – Dump 4 gallons of water in to the plants on my patio in my bathrobe. I then notice some flowers need to be trimmed. A humming bird scares me half to death by almost flying into my head.

11:10 – I decide to change into real clothes before going back out on to my patio. Then I find the garden scissors and begin trimming dead leaves and flowers from the plants.

11:15 – I have my first cup of coffee while checking more email and visiting various websites.

11:45 – Turn on my Matchbox 20 CD , turn the curling iron on and begin brushing out my hair.

11:50 – Refill my coffee and begin straightening my newly colored hair while listening to Matchbox 20 and doing some dance exercises.

12:30 – Finish straightening my hair and begin putting my “face on”. I also take a picture of my newly colored hair for my Myspace profile.

12:35 – Mr. Jack is meowing at the door, I go to see what his problem is and discover Andrew has pried open the screen door and is now outside where he should not be. I attempt to got outside and retrieve him, he hides from me so I tell him “f you want to live outside that is fine with me” and I got back inside shutting the door behind me.

12:40 – I go out the front door looking to see if Andrew has jumped the patio wall and is getting lost.. He is still hiding under crap on the patio.

12:43 – Mr. Jack is crying like crazy at the door. I go back to the patio and dig Andrew out from under crap and I bring him inside for “time out”.

1:00 – I sit down to write this blog.

1:05 – I let Andrew out of time out and begin pondering what to have for breakfast/ lunch before I got to work. I also floss my teeth while I am pondering.

1:09 – I decide to have chicken flavored ramen because I am lazy and sick of the usual eggs and toast.

1:10 – I think about practicing my flag choreography in preparation for the upcoming clinic but realize that almost all the moves I need to work on are practically impossible due to the many boxes that are cluttering the living room as we prepare to move.

1:15 – I check the boiling water for the ramen I am trying to make and begin getting into my work clothes..

1:20 – The phone rings, I check the caller ID and see it is a call from Nevada.. I think to myself who is calling me from Nevada? I let the machine pick up the call and of course they hang up on the machine!! “Guess it wasn’t that important” I say to myself..

1:25 – I open up my ramen packet and begin trying to break the ramen noodles as I dump them into the boiling water. I throw about half the dry ramen noodles onto the floor, curse myself and clean up the mess.

1:26 – I text message my coworker Dan about carpooling to work while I am stirring my ramen noodles.

1:29 – Dan text messages me back about who’s turn it is to drive today and I offer to while I am adding the flavor packet to my ramen noodles. I curse myself for letting all the water boil out..

1:30 – I post this blog entry and begin eating my ramen.

1:45 – I leave for work.

Welcome home, come enjoy the vomit with me

So today has been fun!! I first had one of my girls come up to me and declare she wanted to quit the group because she feels she is holding everyone back. So I had to diffuse that situation and I found out some of the other team members are making this girl feel bad. They are telling her she is not trying enough and just not being supportive. That is an issue I will need to address tomorrow..

When I got home N yelled at me “Welcome home, come enjoy the vomit with me!”. He was sitting on our patio that we just decorated with newly bought flowers and herbs. Apparently the lovely neighbors drank too much and vomited over their balcony and onto our patio.. Boy was he mad… He posted some lovely thoughts in his journal that I thought you might like to read…

“I AM FUCKING FED UP WITH NEIGHBORS THAT ARE INCONSIDERATE FUCKING ASSHOLES.

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF YOU WALKING IN THE ROCK LANDSCAPING PAST OUR WINDOW AND OUR PATIO INSTEAD OF USING THE SIDEWALK 10-FEET AWAY.

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF YOU RIDING YOUR MINI-MOTORCYCLE THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE APARTMENT COMPLEX, THROUGH THE ROCK LANDSCAPING IN FRONT OF OUR APARTMENT AND RUNNING THE DAMN THING IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR APARTMENT UPSTAIRS.

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF YOU IGNORING YOUR CHILD…LEFT TO SCREAM AND CRY FOR AT LEAST AN HOUR EVERY MORNING UNTIL YOU GET YOUR LAZY FAT ASSES OUT OF BED TO CHANGE IT AND FEED IT. I HOPE IT GROWS UP RESENTING YOUR POOR PARENTING SKILLS AND THE POOR DECISION MAKING THAT LED TO BRINGING AN INNOCENT CHILD INTO THIS WORLD THAT CAN’T HELP ITSELF…THANKS TO YOU.

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR DIRTY ROTTEN SMOKING HABIT…LITTERING MY PATIO AND LANDSCAPING. I DON’T SMOKE WHY WOULD YOU THINK I WOULD HAVE AN INTEREST IN LOOKING AT YOUR CIGARETTE BUTTS, USED MATCHES AND BURNED MATCH BOOKS THAT YOU TOSS OFF YOUR BALCONY.

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF CLEANING UP YOUR MESSES…HOW ABOUT THAT 64-OUNCE COKE YOU SPILLED ONTO MY PATIO FURNITURE! NOW, ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS PUKES OFF YOUR FUCKING BALCONY INTO MY PATIO…WHAT A BUNCH OF CLASSLESS SON-OF-A-BITCHES YOU ARE.

I CAN ONLY HOPE FOR THE DAY YOU RECEIVE YOUR EVICTION NOTICE AND HAVE NOWHERE TO TURN BUT YOUR PARENTS HOUSE. THAT’S WHERE YOU NEED TO BE BECAUSE YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE NO BUSINESS TRYING TO LIVE IN THE ADULT WORLD.

FUCK YOU ASSHOLES…FUCK YOU!”

We called the office manager for our “luxury apartment complex” (timberline village apts in flagstaff, az)  and asked them to come by and check out what we have to live under. I had to head off to work at 1pm and the apartment manager still hadn’t come by to talk with us. When Nathan got home at about 3pm he said the manager was just leaving our apartment. They were disgusted at the situation and had many questions for us.

The neighbors that are vomiting on our patio also have a miniature motorcycle thingy that they have been riding around the complex at all hours of the night (while holding their infant baby). Other residents have been complaining about the noise of the motorcycle thing and when the management came to see the vomit Nathan mentioned the amount of noise problems we have had to deal with. When the management found out about the motor bike thingy they asked where it was being stored. Well the neighbors are of course keeping the thing in their apartment and that is a violation of the lease agreement. They had the silly thing turned on and they were revving the engine on Saturday right above our bedroom!!

Ugh, anyway I am pretty sure the neighbors are about to be kicked out.. It’s sort of sad but well overdue! I mean first there was the cigarette butts and matches being dropped onto our patio, then the hair clippings, then the spilled soda, then the vomit. The poor infant baby cries all day and is left unattended on the balcony above us in it’s walker, the motor bike they ride late at night, the parties and music everything is just so out of hand and we have put up with so much crap! I am just going to be glad when we don’t have to listen to their music, loud parties, and neglected babies. When we can stop cleaning up their messes it’s going to be a great day!!

VomitonPatioWall2005
VomitonBush2005
DrippedVomit2005
RedVomit2005

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