Patience is a Gift.....

For Her Christmas gift, I painted a huge canvas portrait of our indoor friends. She was amazed at how patient they must have been. How did I get them to sit still for so long? How did I get them to sit in a row? "Patience", I answered, "is a gift."

Image: "Best Friends" by Cara Kansala 2010 - acrylic on canvas
Nana Bear, Wee Lily,

Antonio Lucca "Foofi" Count FurryBum,

Big Fat Sunny BooBoo and Big Ol' Brother Bear

ON THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME....THREE FURRY "MEN",

TWO CHEWED UP GLOVES

AND A BAD KITTY IN A BARE TREE

A Merry, SCARY Christmas!

Above: Let It Snow!!! by Cara & Pam

Below: Storm Surge !!!

Our little house in Newfoundland is right on the ocean. In fact, we're almost IN the ocean! The past three days have been terrifying as this Christmas storm has passed through. Now we are experiencing the "storm surge". Huge, massive waves, right outside our front door. People are driving by to look at the giant monsters rolling in. Our neighbor said she's not seen the ocean so high and wild in the 48 years she's lived here. Terror!
Tonight we are having a Christmas Eve hors d'oeuvres party and I hope there will still be somewhere to park the cars. On the up side, I am making steamed mussels, and all I will have to do to get the salt water for boiling is open the kitchen window to fill my pot!
Happy Christmas Eve!

Holidays are Hard.......

Poor Lily (above) has always had a difficult time getting through the holidays. To make matters worse, this year BooBoo told him there was no Santa. Then we barricaded the tree so he couldn't tear apart my felted chickadees. Poor little chicken. I made him an extra large cat-nip cocktail to help him get through the week. He is still hanging his head in deep depression.

When BooBoo told the wee Italian there was no Santa, he was shocked. Unfortunately, we think he believed her as he has since given up all efforts to be "nice" and has put his little heart into "naughty". Tree down. Pine needles everywhere. Gift paper torn.

I didn't know that cats like candy canes. All of the ones from the bottom are missing..sticky papers stuck on the floor. At least his breath is pepperminty fresh.

I Come By it Naturally....

Cooking! Baking! Gift Wrapping! Painting! Decking The Halls! So many things to do in such a short time and my elbow has gone wonky. Good thing I come from a LONG line of Cuckoo birds. A close relative told me that the best thing for my elbow was WD 40. Ah...you mean A535, I said.

Nope! said Cuckoo....WD40, the all-purpose lubricant for squeaky doors, machines, etc.

Haha! I said, you MUST mean Rub A535.

NOPE! said Cuckoo, I am serious. Just try it. It WORKS!

As much as I trust and respect said relative, I think I shall give her nugget of medical advice a miss.

It's not all crazy though......my Finnish Mummu used to wear raw, cut potatoes in a knee-high pantyhose tied around her head to draw out a headache. This, in fact, does work. As the headache goes away, you change the potatoes for new ones. I've tried it.....in fact, I am doing it right this very minute and my headache has disappeared. SHE is not going to be happy when she finds out there are no potatoes for her dinner but at least if she yells at me, my head won't hurt!!!!

I ALWAYS KNEW THEY LOVED ME BEST

We arrived home from a fabulous 4 day trip to Halifax on Monday morning and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Dear BooBOO still loves me best.

Last week, I made them a home-made scratching post with old cardboard boxes, tape and string. SHE thought they would prefer one from the pet store and purchased a shiny, new one. It is infused with cat-nip. It has a fancy red ball on a spring. It has a very impressive plastic box. It was $9.99. None of my darlings will go near it. They walk by it with disdain. They give it VERY dirty looks. I always knew they loved me best.

5 Best Things Ever About Halifax

1. Farmer's Market

2. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

3. Pete's Frootique

4. Baked Oysters at Five Fisherman

5. The VERY Friendly people EVERYWHERE!!!!! SO Cheerful!!!

Image: BooBoo is Busy Loving Me Best

My Eyes Are Dim.....

SHE is constantly frustrated with me for losing my glasses. Losing them, breaking them, splattering them with paint.....you name it, it's been done!
As she was screwing and drilling the spectacles to the face of "Agatha, Chairman of the Board" to permanently attach them, she suggested that doing the same thing to ME with MY glasses would solve all of our problems. YES, I said, all of our problems would be solved! .........And after that, let me get my hot glue gun and the car keys ...then you can stick out your wrist and we can solve the problem of your lost keys!

Image: Little Italy has a seat on "Agatha, Chairman of the Board"
Funky Folks Chair by Cara and Pam

"On Saturday, Agnes and Mrs. Puddester Were So Busy Making Cold Plates For the Sunday Church Luncheon, They Forgot to Take the Wash Off the Line"

Everyone is SO busy! Tis the season! So many things to finish up, Christmas orders to complete and menus to plan. (That is HER favourite part...PLANNING menus. I have to execute the plan.....if her party meals get much more lavish, someone is going to be executed for sure!)

Book club is coming up (this month we've done Middlesex....VERY interesting!) and this year we are hosting our gangs New Year's Eve Dinner Party! Can't wait and SHE has even said she'd help me make the beef rouladen. What a doll. I told her it was the least she could do.

SHE said, "How Very Dare You".

SHE said, it was the least she would do.

Indeed.

Image:"On Saturday, Agnes and Mrs. Puddester Were So Busy Making Cold Plates For the Sunday Church Luncheon, They Forgot to Take the Wash Off the Line"

By Cara Kansala and Pam Dorey, Hand-carved Wood/Mixed Media

We Have to Draw the Line Somewhere.....

Winter has arrived! Gretel was chilly during the storm we had last Wednesday so I got out her wooly, winter, happy helmet. SHE said that SHE is "drawing the line". The animals can wear them, but I am forbidden. Really? FORBIDDEN? If I wear the one I am currently making for myself, SHE won't go out with me.

I told HER that I am going to draw a line too. I have my big, lovely, oil pastel and all I have to do is figure out where. Down the front of the yellow peril? Across her orange poofy vest? The possibilities are quite endless! Moreover, who says I can't draw more than one line?

Clearly, WE HAVE TO DRAW THE LINE SOMEWHERE!!!!!

Images: R is for Robin * Cara Kansala

Gretel DerFrankenfurter the 3rd