May is the Month to Blog More!!!!

I really got behind in my blogging.  Each time I thought to post a blog I would think of a million things that I needed to update like my knitting and it just seemed like too much.
So I will do a little each day to catch up.

Here is Charlie.  We have had him for a a couple months now. He had put on some weight and he is sweeter than ever.


His favorite place to sleep is on the back of the couch. He gets himself so wedged into the cushion that he almost slides down between.


Bob is 1 1/2 years old now.  He is growing and we had a fun day on our walk to the park.  It was drizzling on this day but Bob doesn't care.


He has a nice big schnooz.  I love it.  This is a hat I knit. Madeline Tosh DK.
Pattern is by Anne Hanson, Matterhorn hat.  I did a few mods to make the brim heaftier.


You can see that it was a cloudy day.  It did start to pour on us on our way home.
My house is up by those mountains.


Bob did give me a black eye a few weeks ago.  He jumped up as I was bending down.


On another walk to the park it was a warm sunny day.  Bob is my walking buddy.


My next post I will update some yarny and knitting things.
Have a great MAY.  Felic cinco de mayo!!!

{This Moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, visit SouleMama leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Introducing Charlie kitty

We have a new member to our family.  Here he is.


We wanted so much to have a second house cat.

On Jan. 4th I had  brought home a kitten a few months ago.  He bit me when he got scared and saw the dog. He bit so hard that his canine tooth went through my thumbnail. That wasn't the worst of it. What was worse was his other canine went through the joint of my thumb. My thumb swelled up twice it's size. I went to Urgent Care and got an antibiotic shot in my hip, a tetanus shot in my arm and a prescription for oral antibiotics.
Cat bites are nothing to play around with. If you are bit go see a doctor. The bacteria in the mouth of a cat can put you in the hospital. I had many employees at the Vet's office tell me of having to go to the hospital and have IV antibiotics and a drain put in for the infection.
Here is my thumb.


During the week that we had Norman I could see that he was sick. I took him to the Vet and they did a test on his stool for parasites.  The test came back negative. The Vet gave me a big list of what could be wrong with him and that they could take blood and start doing a lot of testing on him.  Well I am on a very tight budget and as much as I hated to return him I did. The animal shelter had a return policy if I returned him in 3 or 4 days.
I gave them all the medicine I had paid for for him.
I looked at the other cats that needed homes but I didn't see any that wanted me so I went home cat-less.  It was a hard decision but I knew that they would have the resources to help Norman get better.

I waited over a month but the desire to have a 2nd cat kept tugging at my heart.  When Peanut was in school I went back to the animal shelter, just to look. :-) That was Feb. 10th. 2012.
There were no kittens which was ok. There were so many beautiful cats. Most of these cats were there because their owners had lost their homes and they had moved to places that didn't accept pets.  It broke my heart. I even cried for these cats. They were all in cages. It was clean, each had food and water with a blanket or towel to lay on but I knew that they were use to roaming in a nice home and sleeping on a couch or their owners bed. Now they were stuck in a little cage.
Some of the cats were very friendly and would reach out. I loved on each and every one.
Some of the cats were curled up in their cat box but they were not sleeping. Their eyes were open with a blank stare.  It was just so sad.

I had narrowed it down between 2 cats that I liked.  One was a 18 month old Tuxedo and the other was all black.  They both had good personalities.  But there was something about the tuxedo cat. He would cock his head to the side and look at me with his big eyes. He would reach out with both arms and never let his nails come out of his paws.  I decided I wanted the tuxedo cat.
So I made the arrangements and paid.  I couldn't take him at that time because he had to be neutered.  I had to wait the long weekend and then I could pick him up from the Vet.

He is a little camera shy.


We tried many names for him. We tried Horice, Jasper,  Samson, and some other names. He didn't respond to any.  Then we tried Charlie and he perked up. I think he liked it.

Charlie show us your handsome face.


Aww come on Charlie, everyone wants to see you.


Here he is.... He has an upside down heart on his nose.


He loves to sleep on beds.


He even has managed to jump up on the refrigerator.


He is the sweetest kitty in all the world. He is very loving and playful.  He loves to be with us and follows us around the house.  He is clean and is very respectful with Coraline our other kitty. She is the boss you know.
See how she just gives Charlie the stink eye and he submits?


And see how Coraline smiles about being the alpha kitty.


But Charlie is cool. He will be larger than her when he grows up but he is a gentleman.
I am in love with him already.

My TWSBI Fountain Pen

I am practicing with my new nib.  It is a 1.1 mm Italic nib for my TWSBI 540 Diamond Pen.




And here is the new nib.




I took a lot of photos because I love this pen so much. I love this nib a lot too.



Isn't she beautiful and colorful?



The nib writes very smoothly and beautifully. I enjoyed every minute of writing with it.
It writes every time I put pen to paper.  I love how this Noodlers ink flows in this pen.


Happy Fountain pen writing!!!

Wedding of Carol and Richard Feb. 24, 1973

On this day, 39 years ago I married the love of my life. Richard Hoover.
He died in 2000 but I always remember our Wedding Anniversary. It was so special. Our marriage was a good marriage too.
Here are some old photos from our wedding day.
We were married at St. Francis Catholic Church in Yucaipa, Ca.


Loretta was my maid of honor.  We are at the church getting ready.


This is a funny picture because we were waiting to go in the church and it started to sprinkle. I didn't want my hair to get wet. This is before mouse was invented so my hair would frizz. I did have a lot of hairspray on it.
In this photo is my dad, Donald Stables, my cousin Diane and you can see my sister's profile Susan.


My dad walking me down the isle. You can see a lot of friends from Yucaipa High School and lots of family. I think we had over 200 guest.


Here is my Wedding Dress. It was worn by several ladies in Richard's family. The dress was made for his aunt Arlene, then it was worn by his mom Dolores. For me the dress is big. I had to wear a very padded bra and heels. The dress is still loose around the waist. The family was always trying to fatten me up so that the dress would fit.
It is a very very heavy satin. There are satin covered buttons from the neck down the back. There are the same buttons on the sleeves from the cuff to mid forearm.  The hat/headband is lace with a heart shape. The neckline is lace with a heart shape and the waist is satin in a sweetheart shape.
The priest didn't want me to wear the veil over my face so I didn't.


After the long mass Richard and I were so happy to be husband and wife.


Here we are for the formal photos.  Richard wore a blue tuxedo. This was different for that time where the groom always wore white and the groomsmen wore a color. I wanted to change that. So Richard is in blue and the groomsmen are in white. My father also wore a white tuxedo.

This is the little church that we attended all of our marriage, almost all. Both Richard and I and our 3 kids were baptized here. Richard's grandfather helped build this church.


Here is the wedding party.
From left to right: Diane my cousin, Susan my sister, Carolyn my friend and Loretta my friend and maid of honor. My sister Heidi is the flower girl.  Then there is Carol and Richard, Jim brother of Richard and bestman, Jim a friend, Mike a friend, and Tim a friend.


Meet the parents.  From left to right, Walter my step-dad, Joan my mom, Carol & Richard, Dolores mom of Richard and Herbert dad of Richard.


Meet more parents.  Here is my dad Donald, his new wife of one week Cristy, Carol & Richard.


And this is my favorite photo of all. After the long wedding ceremony and a big reception at the church we are finally making our get away.  Richard's brother and my maid of honor are in the front seat to drive us away. We are in Richard's grandparents Lincoln Continental car.   I love this photo.  Richard has that look of mischief. I am so happy.

We honeymooned in Mammoth Lakes. It was February so there was about 18 feet of snow. It was so much fun.  Maybe I will post honeymoon photos next week.

Happy anniversary Richard in Heaven. I love you always!!!

{This Moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, visit SouleMama leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.






DAVID AUSTIN ENGLISH ROSE named BELLE STORY
grown in my garden by me.

I rode in a Prototype

Kia Cadenza.  I had a fun ride!!!



my son took me on a long drive, 250 miles yesterday in this car.
Kia Cadenza Bows In Korea replacing Amanti in the USA.  
This car is not available in the USA.  He works for kia and this is a prototype.
he was testing the car and it was so much fun.
the 2013 car may be available to americans sometime. i don't know these 
things.  my son has a great job.
he drove pretty zippy but it was fun. 
Here is my son. I'm so proud of him.