How my faith can be tested.

We’ve had Maxwell for a little over 8 months. He’s the craziest, most rambunctious cat that I’ve ever owned. He loves to charge at things without a real plan and attack whatever may be in his way.

His blue eyes tend to get him out of a lot of trouble.

I’ve become so accustomed to him screeching around the house at 90 m.p.h., that I no longer think there’s a boogie man in my house at 2 a.m. I know it’s just this guy blowing off steam.

He also rests at 90 m.p.h.. It’s either full-on tackle mode for him or full on sleepy-mode, complete with whisker twitches, weird lip movements and tiny noises as he dreams.

I am fully in love with him-which was hard to do after we lost my buddy of eight years, Cowboy.

I’ve opened my heart to him and can’t imagine my life without this little bugger.

Two days ago, he started laying around and wasn’t eating. He threw up three times and made horrible sounds before he did so. I decided to take him to the vet and we found out he had a 105 degree temperature (4 degrees above normal for a kitten). He then received an antibiotic and a anti-nausea shot, which is presently at work in his tiny little body.

Here’s the thing. I’m going to be real. I don’t know if I can handle doing all of this again. It broke my heart to give Cowboy almost daily IV’s and watch as his body wasted away. Losing him was extremely difficult for me. I didn’t understand why God didn’t heal him. I know God cares, I know he’s faithful, I know he’s good. I still ask “why” from time to time.

I know it’s just a cat to most of you and to the rest of the world, but he’s become my little sidekick. I hate to see him in pain and I miss his rambunctious ways. We need your prayers, blogosphere-him for healing and me for peace and understanding. Thank you!

Because I don’t want to….

This is what I should be doing this weekend.

I cannot remember the last time I’ve washed our car which is found underneath a layer of dust and bright purple bird poop splotches. The neighborhood birds have been eating some form of black berries which seem to pass through them at lightening speed and they are using our car for target practice. Thanks, birds.

The tea, coffee, flour and sugar tins on my counters are sporting a mess of water spots, food tidbits, and fingerprints. But hey, who cares?

The rugs have a fine layer of white cat fur resting atop of them. But if you shut the door to the living and dining room, you don’t know that it’s there. Job done.

And then there’s all of this that I could do but haven’t.

Instead, anytime Biceps puts his studying material down even for just a second, I want to be there to offer him this. I’m such a doer, a get-it-doner, that it’s hard for me to ignore all of the chores that should be done. But, they’ll be there tomorrow and Biceps will be back at the fire department. I’ll still have the laundry, but not the lips of my beloved.

I hope that’s ok with anyone that visits my house this weekend. If not, come back later.

DIY Ant Deterrent

There are ants in my garden! Who invited them?

I’m trying to keep my garden as free from weed and bug killers as possible. These chemicals rob the soil of vital nutrients, making my job harder when it’s time to plant.

But, I still don’t want these guys around, either. They are pretty pompous and arrogant, in my opinion. They need to go.

And I have just the solution!

Here’s all that you need to make your very own Homemade Ant Deterrent:
Spray Bottle
Water
Mild Dish Soap

Fill the spray bottle with water. Add 4-5 drops of the mild dish soap and shake vigorously.

Spray the solution on the plant-wherever the offenders are and watch them slip and slide all the way to the ground. I usually do this either in the early morning or right before the sun goes down, to avoid scorching the leaves. After a heavy rain, you might need to re-apply the DIY Ant Deterrent solution.
This won’t harm your plant, but let’s see what it does to our ant friends….

I bid thee farewell, small ant. And take your brothers with you.

A few of My Favorite Things

If you are a new reader here, it might be a lot for you to comb through all of my back posts looking for juicy tidbits to make your day. I thought I’d make that easy for you and show you a few fun things I’ve done over the past year or so. One of these projects might just become your favorite, too. A girl can dream, right?

Broken Mirror Art from recycled mirror bits and pieces. When the light hits it, the whole room shimmers!

A Springy, Silk Scarf Shirt is the perfect answer for a wintery wardrobe. And, it’s so easy & cheap to make yourself!

If you haven’t seen my DIY Spinning Composter already, here she is. (And here’s the video of it in action.) This composter design speeds up the composting process from months to weeks. And made from recycled/salvaged materials makes it easy on the pocketbook, too.

Make your own Simple, Organic balm quickly, easily and cheaply. I love it better than my Burt’s Bees. I ain’t goin’ back, baby!

In an effort to rid my house of nasty chemicals, I made my own Cheap, Organic Face Wash-made from ground oatmeal. So easy. So lovely. So breakfasty.

Use an old tablecloth or curtain to make this Lace Cape Shirt. Simple, practical and it looks great with a little tank top underneath.

I wanted to replace the cleansers in my house with something more organic and cheap. My Homemade Household Green Cleansers list several recipes to get you ready to boot out nasty chemicals from your house, too!

Hope you’ve found a little something that suits your fancy. If not, I’ll keep trying to get you hooked. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.