daly, a token, & flowers

Here is Daly sleeping.  He's very good at this activity, which is why I photograph him doing it so much.  I just want to support his interests.

I thought this was kind of funny.  A couple of weeks before the school year ended, I found this half-sheet of paper in my mailbox.  It says:  'Brooke Knipp  Happy Birthday!  July 30' (my name and July 30 were hand-written, perhaps a reminder to me?), then: 'Hope you have a wonderful day!  Please enjoy this small token of appreciation for all of your hard work as well as a celebration of your special day!  Enjoy!'   

Let me tell you, I have truly enjoyed this half-sheet of paper.  Like you wouldn't believe.  This photo was taken on the day we visited the zoo together.  Of course the paper treated me.  I'm really excited to see what Half-Sheet-of-Paper has planned for my actual birthday.  Clearly, he/she won't forget, the date is written right on him/her.  I mean to sound funny, but I realize I may be coming off as cynical more than anything.  The paper says "small token" and that's what it is, so I can't complain---but I can make fun of it because the paper also tells me to enjoy it.

Here are some shots of the flowers I did for the wedding of a friend of a friend.  The bride's bouquet had roses, ranunculus (one of my favorites), tulips and spray roses.  The bridesmaids bouquets were smaller, white versions of the bride's, but instead of ranunculus we used freesia (smells so good).  Thank you Keri and Charlie for the use of your chilly basement for my work area.  

There is more new stuff in the post right before this one.  I decided to post twice since it's been awhile.   Happy belated 4th of July to you all!  Gabe had been awake since 4 am Colorado time traveling on July 4th, and was asleep before 9 pm...so we didn't view any fireworks this year.   Hope yours was fun ! 

disillusioned daly

Daly has some misconceptions about his actual 8 lbs. worth of self.  I allow him to go on thinking he's much smaller than he really is, because generally it's pretty funny (to us, probably not as much to you, so I apologize for this post).

I knew this would happen, which is why I grabbed my camera.

Steady...

Totally meant to tip this basket onto its side, sheesh.

take your cat to environment link

Happy belated Earthday, everybody!  I had planned to do a special EArth-conscious post yesterday, but G and I ended up going to my school's musical.  If you recall, I mentioned having to stay after school quite a bit to paint sets--that's what that was for.  It was very cute.  Always funny to see 6th graders (esp. boys) next to 8th graders.  They are so much smaller, and yet, not that much younger.  HGH really kicks in somewhere between the end of 6th grade and the end of 8th.

Tomorrow is Take Your Kid to Work Day.  One of my 6th graders came into class today beaming over the fact that it was the last class of the day and that he won't be in school tomorrow because of T.Y.K.T.W.Day.  I asked him where he would be spending the day.  It seems that he will be skateboarding most of the day.  Because Mom or Dad repairs and sells skateboards, you ask?  No. Because Mom or Dad is extremely Earth-conscious and commutes to work on a skateboard?  No.  His mom works from home, so he'll be spending the day at home, "working" alongside her...on his skateboard...outside.  Somehow I think the point has been missed.

 

A couple of mornings ago Daly would not leave me alone.  He basically kept trying to eat my arm.  Had it been 7:00 at night, rather than 7am, this would have been totally in character.  But it was morning, so I could not figure out what his problem with me was, until I noticed both his food and water dishes were empty.  Not sure how long.  At most a full day.  So I cut him some slack and figured he had just reached what he thought to be the "worst-case scenario" that he'd turned over in his mind before.  You know the one where you try to decide which family member's arm you would gnaw off first in efforts to avoid starvation.  Apparently Gabe is too muscly (hi hub:), so Daly has chosen me.  

Lately we've been noticing that Daly is losing a lot of his winter coat.  It's on the stairs everyday, it's in our cereal, it's in my nose, it's in the air.  I keep saying, "I really need to brush him soon."  Yesterday I heard a strange noise from our beloved cat coming from the living room.  I found that he had thrown up hair.  Not a hairball, mind you, but hair.  Lots of it.  He left a trail 10 inches long with globs of hair strewn throughout.  I gagged a little.

So kids, the moral of these stories is, if you don't take care of your pets it'll come back to bitecha in the arm or vomit on your rug.**

 **please don't call animal control on us, Daly really is a happy healthy cat

Here's a helpful link for all of you hippies that want to help the environment.  Enjoy!

pancakes, pollen and paws

You CAN make buckwheat pancakes with one egg.  Yesterday's pancake-making event was my most successful to date.  I have never before managed to not ruin at least one (normally the first) pancake...until yesterday, that is.  I mixed  fresh-cut strawberries into the batter, along with a little cinnamon.  And for the last two I also mixed in white chocolate chips. To top it off we poured the homemade maple syrup G's grandpa makes and bottles. It was scrumptious.

I forgot to post a picture of the lovely sunflowers Gabe brought home for me the other evening. Since I've spent a combined total of six years working as a florist, Gabe is always a little skittish about buying me flowers.  Apparently I've given the impression that I'm picky when it comes to flowers.  I always love getting flowers, no matter what...but there are certain flowers that I personally like more than others.  Sunflowers in spring are a great pick (so are ranunculus, in case any husbands are curious :).
Below is a picture of Daly doing one of his favorite things in life.  Clean-sheet Day ignites all sorts of excitement and energy in our lil' feline.  The game begins when we "ripple" out the sheet over the mattress in order to spread it out.  As the sheet is in the air, Daly jumps with all his might up into the center.  Then the sheet falls on top of him and he assumes army-crawl position.  We poke him once or twice and he swiftly flips over onto his back, creating a tent of sorts with his four paws.  This position enables him to swipe at our pokes with cobra-like speed.  This entertains all three of us for at least a dozen minutes every time.

thanks and lasers

Thank you Kristi, Mom, Sonya, Marla and Jessica for replying to my last post.  I appreciate your thoughts and words of encouragement so so much.  I have a lot of respect for each of you, so thank you again for taking the time to chime in.  Anyone else?  I'd still love to hear what any of you have to say, whenever you have time. I know of quite a few people that have been reading this blog and have yet to comment on it.  Don't be shy, I LOVE reading your comments, so please comment!  It feels too narcissistic to put out a blog and not take in comments.  Those of you that have been commenting, thank you and keep it up!  Like I said, I love hearing from you!  

Last night Gabe and I spent $10 on a laser pointer.  For Daly.  For us, really.  I have to say, I wasn't sure this purchase was worth the 10 hard earned dollars, but now I'm certain we've never made a wiser investment.  That red dot zipping across the floor and up the walls has rocked Daly's little world.  Not only is he getting oodles of exercise, but I'm pretty sure his brain has never been so stimulated.  His mind is blown people and it's friggin' hilarious to watch.  So everyone wins: Target got $10, Daly's world is rocked, and Gabe and I are endlessly entertained.  We're simple folk.

almost...no...close,but...not quite...ahhh, perfect.

daly