Scrapbooking Open House

There is an Open House at The Cottage Scrapbook here in Midland today from 2pm - 4pm, and also on Saturday from 2pm - 4pm.  They are doing a "Make and Take" which means you'll learn a scrapbooking technique and make something in-store and take it home with you (all for free).  I'll be checking it out today and will post my Make and Take later this evening.

Shameless self promotion wise, this could be a great opportunity for you to go to the scrapbook store and vote for my layout!! (My layout is the one pictured, right). I'm just saying...

Find The Cottage Scrapbook store hours and location here.

UPDATE: I'm back from the open house and the Make and Take was awesome!  We made TWO Valentines Day cards (for free) and learned how to use scrapbooking watercolour paints (I had no idea there was such a thing!).  The open house is on again tomorrow (Sat Jan 29) from 2pm-4pm, so if you want to do something crafty this is a free and fun way to do it!

Here are the cards I made at the open house.  Not bad, eh?

Everything is a Photo Opportunity #2

This is a lovely photo taken right next door of an owl friend who came for day visits a few winters ago.  I was heavy into Harry Potter when this guy started stopping by, so I thought for sure I would be getting a letter from Hogwarts.  We haven't seen him yet this winter, but hopefully he comes back... with my invitation to wizarding school!

Winter Owl Hang Outs - January 2009

Games People Play

I'm a silly human, so sometimes I like to force new things onto the cat, with the hopes that she will actually take joy from the new thing and add it to her daily routine.  I'm silly, because clearly the cat only wants to play with what the cat wants to play with, when the cat wants to play with it!  Pesky human meddling in her life! Geez!

Gary: Seriously, you want me to do what?

I was at Dollarama yesterday and I saw this activity toy for cats.  Treats get locked into a ball that has treat sized holes, and the cat is supposed to play with the ball until the treats fall out.  They generally fall out one at a time for extended play.  Sounds simple right?

Treats that have fallen out of the ball.

I encouraged Gary to play with the ball.  I pushed it in front of her.  Nothing.  I shook it to indicate it contained treats.  No dice.  As she got more and more annoyed, she glared at me like I was a stupid human jerk.

Gary: I don't care about this.

Gary: Seriously!! Just give me the treats already.

I was not giving up!  I was going to force the cat to have fun, whether she liked it or not!  For the most part I just pushed around the ball until the treats came out.  Gary ate the treats and caught on to the idea that the treats and the ball were somehow related.  She had no desire to push the ball, though; that was something a silly human would want her to do.  Periodically she would sniff at the ball, but it only made her angrier.  I continued to push the ball around and more treats would fall out.  Gary would eat the treats and then resume her frustration.  Finally she put two and two together.

Gary: Okay ball, I don't like you and you don't like me...

Giving it a push.

Gary: Something better frickin' happen!

And then.... success:

A little later Gary decided that there was a much better way to get at the treats.  Leave the ball and the human out of it altogether!

Direct access = Smart Cat

Back in Bloom

We still have my Mother's Christmas Cactus, and it is doing exceptionally well.  In April of 2010 the Christmas Cactus successfully bloomed a year after almost dying.  Since then it has showed some wonderful new growth and it looks really happy hanging around here.

Just over a month ago, in early December, the Christmas Cactus began budding, but within a few days all the buds fell off.  I don't know enough about how plants function, but I'm guessing that it wanted to bloom in December (hence Christmas Cactus), but it just didn't have the power to do it yet.

This past week I started noticing buds again, and we had our first full bloom on January 21.  So who knows, maybe by Christmas 2011 it will be right on schedule!  As always with this amazingly tough, sixty-plus year old plant, I say: "way to go, buddy!"

The following are some of the Christmas Cactus flowers at various states of growth:

Baby bud.

Next size up.

Showing a little colour.

Getting long.

Full Bloom!

Awesome of the Week

If you are part of the Monday-Friday crowd, Mondays generally suck. Knowing this, I would like to introduce a new feature here at My Adorable Small Town Life, that will showcase something awesome every Monday.  It's my little attempt to make sure there is something good about Monday.

Today's piece of awesome is inspired by my recent intake of all six seasons of The Sopranos.  The show is as good or better than you've heard it is, and their use of music is beyond stellar.  I won't spoil it for you, but there is an amazing episode that uses the following song by Moby.  The song, "When It's Cold I'd Like to Die" was haunting in the episode and it is equally haunting on its own.  It is also awesome. 

I couldn't find an official music video, but the video below from YouTube has some pleasant imagery.  Enjoy!  Also, if you have already seen The Sopranos and want to revisit the episode in question, follow this link to enjoy it on YouTube.