Meet Junie

Meet the latest addition to our family! This is Juniper Berry, aka Junie!

This past June, or sweet little Penny cat died, and we spent several months in mourning. Then, finally, my husband and I knew it was time to get another cat.

Junie is an odd-eyed white. She has one gold eye and one blue! This was her first photo at the shelter.

One day on my train ride home from work, I saw a post on Facebook showing a cute white cat that needed a home. I showed the post to Terry, and he agreed that her description sounded like just the kind of cat we wanted.

Junie at the shelter. She really wanted to be adopted by someone!

We emailed the shelter, which specializes in rescuing cats and dogs over 5 years of age from kill shelters, and taking them into their no-kill facilities.

Meeting Junie at the shelter.

We filled out the paperwork online, and went in for a visit.

Terry holding Junie at the shelter.

Needless to say, I fell in love with her right away! She was living at the shelter in the "cat room" where the cats roamed free, and was getting along with them very well. This is something we wanted in our next cat. She was very friendly and let anybody pick her up and cuddle her, and she purred up a storm!

Junie in her new home.

While the shelter took a few days to complete our background check, we went to visit her once more. And on December 22nd, we went in, signed the papers, and Junie was officially ours!

She likes to sit by the heat vents for warmth.

Junie loves getting petted!

On our vet's recommendation, we isolated Junie upstairs, away from Phoebe, until we knew for sure that she hadn't contracted any diseases at the shelters she had been since August. Once she got the all-clear, it was time for Junie and Phoebe to meet!

Meeting Phoebe. They stared at each other from their shoeboxes.

Well, at first, Phoebe did a lot of growling and some hissing. She will not let Junie get too close! But both cats seem fascinated with one another. We have to watch their interactions carefully, and have kept their visits to only a couple times a day at first. We've also let both cats smell where the other cat sleeps and eats. I'm hoping, in time, they will become good friends.

Junie and Phoebe having a meeting under the Christmas tree.

Junie is our little Christmas Cat, and we look forward to new cat adventures in 2012!

She loves a sunny window!

Comfort & Joy

Merry Christmas! I can't believe how time flies. It's been three weeks since my last post!

I'm just getting over a nasty cold/sinus infection that's kept me down for the count for several weeks. 'Tis the season to get sick!

I finally sat down last weekend and wrote out my Christmas cards.

I put on some Christmas music, and fixed a delicious mug of cappuccino and some chocolate almond biscotti to get myself in the Christmas spirit.

Terry bought me this Old Country Roses mug years ago for Christmas. He didn't know it was one of my favorite patterns, but he instinctively knew it would make me happy.

My taste buds had started to come back! Yay!

I usually set up the Christmas tree and decorate it, but this year, Terry did it for me! He did a wonderful job. It looks beautiful!

Ordering gifts online is a joy, especially when you're too sick to go to the mall.

2011 was not a good year for us. This past June, our sweet little cat Penny died suddenly. It was a shock, and saddened us for many months. So many of my blogging friends also were writing about losing pets, and I stayed away from blogging so as not to read about any more sadness.

But time does heal, and life goes on.

I wish you all a beautiful holiday season.

Cherish your loved ones. Celebrate life and make merry!

And, in my next post, I'll tell a much happier tale!

Christmas Day

Christmas Day is here!

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday. This year, we will spend Christmas at my brother's house, and tomorrow will get together with my husband's family. We are both so lucky to have our families close by.

This morning, Terry and I exchanged gifts.

The cards have all been delivered and are displayed on our door.

The mistletoe is hung in a most convenient place!

I bought myself an early Christmas present. I just couldn't resist this beautiful Christmas lamp!

I love this framed lithograph Terry picked out for me a few years back. The image contains so much of the things I love!

This penguin and polar bear bring a bit of cheer to our chilly winter!

I usually put this buggy near the tree. This year, I also decided that the antique doll and settee would also make a nice vignette near the tree.

The buggy contains my 3 teddy bears: Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat and Cocoa Wheats.

Penny approves of this year's vignette.

And so does Phoebe!

I used to place a beautiful handmade lace tree skirt under our tree. Then Penny came along. She is very mischievous around the tree. The lace tree skirt had to be replaced with a white sheet. Many of our beautiful ornaments have to stay packed away because Penny thinks the tree is one giant Cat Toy Holder.

Little angels waiting for Santa.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Tree Tour 2010

Where did we leave off?

Ah yes, the Christmas tree!

After the lights were put on the tree, a strand of candle lights

are added for an old-world touch.

Next, strands of wooden cranberries.

The angel comes out of her box to adorn the top of the tree.

Add all the ornaments and...

Voila!

I created a video that shows a lot of our ornaments.

The music is a fantastic Christmas medley played by the

local concert band at a live concert we attended a few years back.

Click the picture below to watch the video on YouTube.

Here are some of our ornaments shown in the video.

Of course, we have a fair share of cat ornaments!

And other animals besides cats. We're both big animal lovers!

Of course, the tree would not be complete

without the angels.

Some ornaments are mementoes of special days

in our lives.

And some are just for fun!

I hope you enjoyed the tour of our 2010 Christmas Tree.

Here's wishing you all a beautiful Christmas

filled with love and good cheer!

Deck the Malls

What a busy month this has been so far! Winter has definitely arrived in Chicago. Here is a recent view of the garden...

... and here is the Merchandise Mart in downtown Chicago, all lit up for Christmas and Hanukkah. Here's a fun fact: the Merchandise Mart is SO big, it has it's own zip code!

This Saturday, we went to the stores and malls to do some Christmas shopping.

I think we're done, and that's a relief! Look, there's Santa!

The stores were packed, and the parking lots were full, so going back would be a major headache.

Sunday was "Put The Christmas Tree Up Day."

I've declared it as such because it literally takes me ALL DAY to just get the tree up and decorated.

I began at noon. I know, I should have started earlier.

Here it is, going up in stages. There are 11 tiers of branches on a 7-1/2 foot tree.

This year, we ran into a few snags. When I finally got the tree put together, I dragged out the box of lights. I started stringing them onto the tree, when I came across 2 major strands that were not working!

It was 4:30 by this time. We hopped in the car and drove to the nearby Ace Hardware and bought 2 new strands. As we were approaching Ace, Terry noticed a car on the other side of the road losing control, spinning out, jumping the curb and hitting some evergreen trees. We stopped to call the police and waited until they arrived, then continued our shopping.

When I got home and opened the first set of lights, it did not light completely! A faulty set! The other set was fine, so I got that one put on the tree.

The entire tree fits in these two bins

By this time it was too late to go back to Ace, which closes at 5:00. So we drove all over the area looking for more Christmas lights.

Menards, Target, Home Depot all were out of lights! I couldn't believe it! Luckily, I decided to pull into a Walgreens on the way home and they had some left. Whew!

Once I got all the lights on the tree, it was time to take a break and eat dinner. I made us a yummy asparagus casserole. Mmmm! It warmed our cockles on such a chilly evening!

OK, so this is no Tablescape Thursday-type photo! Just my everyday dishes which do not match the tablecloth. And my everyday husband Terry. Nothing fancy going on here!

After dinner, I went back to the tree. I got the rest of it all done by 10:45 on Sunday night!

I'll leave the rest of the tree photos for the next post. I did manage to pull this angel out of storage for our table centerpiece. The rest of the Christmas decorations will have to wait for another day!