9:14 PM Household pictures

Efah being silly in the grocery bag. I'm telling you, the paper bag has always been the favorite toy in this household.

This is the one picture I got from Nimue where she isn't dodging my camera. I had to be quick. She dislikes the flash. And she's a smart cookie.

Sweet Taquita Banana. She's like a pretzel.

And Roz and Maizy are enjoying some couch lounging time. They are Both in my spot, but they're just so precious there together, I left them alone.

Lord Dunbar relaxing in his kingdom. Not from his Tower of Power, but from his favorite chair with his favorite afgan.

And the pretty pretty princess Nabisco. Mere moments from this photograph Efah hopped in my lap and plopped down right on top of her. She got really mad. He didn't care.

10:28 AM Holiday shopping for my pets

If you're like me and you love your pets like they are family, you are prone to spending quite a bit of your Christmas budget on the little guys before even realizing what you've done. This year I have made a pact to keep the costs down. At least I'm going to try really hard!

My first obstacle is getting a gift for my aging dog, Maizy.


Maizy is a 13 1/2 year old Catahoula Leopard Dog with arthritis. She is in great health, but her arthritic joints deteriorate a little each year. About a year and a half ago I purchased a very large orthopedic bed for her from Petsmart. She loves this bed because it is huge and she can sprawl out any which way she likes while still sharing the bed with whatever cat decides to bed down nearby. However, within a few months, she began to be uncomfortable on the bed because the foam was breaking down and sagging in the middle. That really doesn't offer much support. So I had decided I was going to just buck up and buy one of those high dollar support mattresses from Dr. Foster & Smith. And then I came across something different.

The Snoozzy OrthoAir Dog Bed.

Image courtesy of dogbedsandcrates.com

This bed looks like it meets all of my requirements and then some for a bed:

1. Supportive
2. Washable
3. Scratchproof

And as a bonus, it is easy to travel with as well as it is accident proof! Maizy has also begun to have little accidents in her sleep, so being accident proof is just about as fabulous as it gets for me. And even better, this bed is much cheaper than even the orthopedic bed I already bought her which is none of the above.

So now I know what Miss Maizy Loo is getting for Christmas. But what to get for the cats?

This idea comes via the Modern Cat website, which was then used to suggest cat gifts on Martha Stewart's website. Meet the Cat Eye Bed.

Image courtesy of dogbedsandcrates.com

I am constantly on the look out for new perches, scratching posts, and beds that the cats in my household will enjoy. They tend to cycle through each one whenever their mood strikes for a change. And since everyone of them will go after my furniture when not stimulated to scratch elsewhere, I am forever trying to keep up! This little bed looks like a lot of fun. And you know what? The price isn't bad either. Sure, it's not as cheap as the modulars I got from Target, but this will actually hold the body weight of one or more of my cats. And in general good scratching areas are always somewhere in the $60 range and above. So the function and price both are just right.

I see my Taquita Banana enjoying this bed most of all with Nabisco in at a close second.

The torti girls

And Roz enjoys scratching beneath her as opposed to scratching on a pillar. She would likely enjoy lounging on the top of the bed.

Sweet Rozaline

My other favored option for pet presents is Etsy. I've never shopped for homemade gifts before, but I've been told that there's some good quality crafts out there for both people and animals. And it sure would be nice to support someone directly as opposed to a corporation.

10:33 AM New Day for MaizyLoo

Today is a first day for Miss MaizyLoo. This afternoon she begins her relationship with a dog walker.

While I'd love to say that I'm doing this just to spoil Maizy rotten, I have to admit that I'm doing it because I have to. Maizy turned 13 this month and her health is such that she needs a potty break in the afternoons now. I've been coming home for lunch the past two weeks to take care of her, but as it takes longer than an hour to get home and back, it's been affecting my work, not to mention the added wear and tear on my car. Originally, Texas Pawprints (the shelter I volunteer with) was going to step in and help me at a very low cost. But they were not going to be able to guarantee to help 5 days a week. I greatly appreciate their generosity, but I need a guaranteed 5 days a week service, so I finally bit the bullet and called professionals.

I'm happy to announce that I now have a business relationship with Companion Pet Services. I had a meeting with the owner and Maizy's dog walker last night and they are lovely people. They even do quite a bit of rescue work, so of course we had Lots to talk about when they met my household of past and present fosters.

I plan on doing a full review of Companion Pet Services' walking service once Maizy has had a chance to walk with them for a while. From last night's meeting, though she took to her walker right away and of course the walker just Loved Maizy, but who Doesn't love Maizy right????

Wish us luck! This service isn't exactly within my comfortable realm of budgeting, so things are going to be much tighter around our house from now on. But in the end, Maizy will get exercise and more social interaction, which will increase her lifespan and even happiness. And that's Really what matters when you get right down to it. I may not aspire to have human children, but I am absolutely dedicated to giving my fur children the absolute Best care they can receive.

12:18 PM Continuing with the Spring lovliness

After yesterday's wonderful First Day of Spring surprises, this weekend has continued on with establishing a lovely and fruitful season.

Today I brought my little dormant dwarf fig tree out of the veggie crisper of the fridge and I gave her a home. I couldn't quite afford to give her a really pretty large home yet, but the helpful folks at Redenta's Garden advised me on a suitable temporary pot that can last her while she's growing. She'll get a prettier upgrade when she needs one.

So without further ado, here she is!

See how pretty her little buds are?

Yesterday I showed you pics of my first bean/pea sprouts. Here's an update on those. It just amazes me how Fast these things grow! Yesterday they were barely out of the soil and today, I can almost see leaves. Maybe tomorrow they'll unfold.

The section of the box that was just teasing me with the one teensy tinsy sprout has exploded like the original section. Those sprouts are about a day behind in development, so they look exactly like what I showed you yesterday.

Oh, remember my lavender that I planted last year that never bloomed?? This one:

Let's take another look at our little lavender.

Did you see it??? One more time.

It's a bloom!!!!! I'm shocked. Seriously, I'm shocked. The Only thing I did different is that I threw some of the dead branches of my basil plant in the pot hoping that the decomposition of those branches would help out a little. It seems I Could have been right about that. But now I also have some food/fertilizer for flowering plants and vegetables that I was told to get for the fig tree and I think I'm gonna put some of that in the pot tomorrow and see what happens.

Here's the whole garden collection all together.

I was planning on doing some square foot gardening this year, but now I'm thinking that I should stick with what I have now as I also still have my pomegranate tree coming. This is my first year to container garden any veggies, much less fruit trees and this many herbs, so I'm a little afraid that I will get overwhelmed and drop the ball. I'm thinking it may be a better idea to get this system established before I expand more.

Yesterday I also showed you a patch of crazy dandelions. Now here's the pretty pre-wish version. There are still a few of these left around the yard.

Miss Maizy Loo loves Spring too.

Nabisco wishes she could be outside gardening with Maizy and I.

But this is about as far as she's gonna get unless she can prove to me that she can behave outside, as in come back in when she's told to.