A Vintage Christmas

I know I've written about St. Charles, MO's, Christmas festival before.  But, it's one of my favorite Christmas activities.  And, anyone, who has visited us during Thanksgiving, has had the opportunity to join us.  There's just something about stepping back in time, taking a moment to breathe in the sights and sounds of Christmas, to remember the reason we even celebrate Christmas.  Every year, St. Charles kicks off their celebrations the Friday after Thanksgiving.  We love to see all the lights and garland and chat with the Dicken's characters.  I was accused by Scrooge of owing him money and I'd better pay up.  This year, John and I went down in time to see the tree lighting.  We sipped a little spiced wine and did a little shopping where I found two new beautiful ornaments to add to our tree.

This one to represent our beautiful Sapphie. 

...and this one to remember getting Ebony last year right before Halloween.  She loves hanging out under the Christmas trees.

 

 

Take some time out during this season to do fun things with your family and friends.  It doesn't have to be stressful...remember you are making memories!

 

Surprise!

It had been a good day already with visiting the bird sanctuary, photographing butterflies, and lunch with a good friend.  While watching the nightly news, the doorbell unexpectedly rings.  You know, one of those, "you answer the door, Hon, it's dark out" moments.  So, John gets up thinking it a bit strange to have a knock on the door that late.  And all I hear from the couch is, "What are you doing here?"  She did a good job, I never had a clue.  There they were, Beki and Corey with two little kittens in hand!  I was totally surprised, but so excited to see them.  I about busted out in tears.  They were only here for two days and one of them they spent visiting her old friends.  On that day, I couldn't resist a few photos of these cutest kittens.  Luna is the gray and white one and Marley is beige.  I tell ya, it's like chasing two year olds around trying to photograph them!

 

They played, they chased,

 

...they explored,

...they hid

 

 

 

...they fought

 

...and finally they slept!

 

Ebony

When I saw Ebony at the veterinary clinic a couple months ago, I fell instantly in love with her.  We went on vacation and when we came back she was still there.

 

I asked if she was being adopted out and she was.  She had been at the clinic since she was 3 weeks old...had I known.  A momma cat with her own kitten at the clinic took her in as one of her own.  She came to live with us at 6 months old, old enough to be a good girl, but young enough to still be full of kitten life.  I forgot how much fun it is to have a kitten in the house.  She has brought joy and laughter into our home and it has felt so good to laugh!  She is full of energy when she is awake.  Her favorite activity is laser chasing.  However, when she's sleepy, we call her our wet noodle!  Unusual for a cat, she becomes completely unaware of her surroundings.

She loves to be near me, but rarely likes to be held against her will, unless she is sleeping then you can hold her and she snuggles right in.  In the morning, she follows me downstairs and curls herself in and out of my legs trying to get attention.  When she's nervous, she hides under anything she can squeeze into.  We've had a few interesting times trying to get her out.  At night she sleeps in our room and after pouncing toes, she prefers to sleep under the bed.  We've had to add an extra blanket over our feet for protection.  We have an open staircase where the second floor looks over the main level.  For some reason, she likes to walk the edge or poke her head out over the edge. 

I'm so afraid she's going to fall off!  She is still learning the "house rules" and I've caught her a couple times on the counter or on the dining room table. 

Sapphie hasn't accepted her yet.  There is still hissing after three weeks, but she is starting to at least tolerate her better.  Ebony didn't have any problem with Frosty.  The first day home, she jumped up right next to him. 

Sadie

Sadie joined our family when Beki was 2 years old and Ari, 5. She was a pretty special kitty, one of the friendliest and gentlest I've known. She turned 16 this past year. She decided she'd had enough of this life and refused to eat. Yesterday morning, we had to put her to sleep...that was really hard. We will miss you Sadie-girl!

Bird-watching

Spent some time today trying to catch a few good shots of the cats. 

Beki took this one of bird. 

Had fun trying to catch this goldfinch in the background.  Beki actually caught a pretty good picture of the bird even through the window.

No, Sadie, you cannot get the bird!

Sapphie is definitely queen of our house. 

I really liked this one of Sapphie.

Can you see it in her face..."you are annoying me."

...and here's Zoey.  She's not ours, but she has sort of adopted all the families in our neighborhood as hers.  She's a sweetheart.  Sometimes we find her sitting on our front window sills looking in like she's longing to be a part.