Of duckies and blossoms or It's too beautiful to stay inside!

It was simply too pretty of a day to not go outside, so I took my camera once more and Gizzy to walk around Lake Irma this afternoon. I hope you will enjoy the photos and the little movie clip I recorded of the ducks.


Walking down to the lake, I passed the two pear trees that have been giving me pears for stew and they have started to blossom.  Then, I noticed the two newcomers of the four ducks that are permanent residents at Lake Irma. I brought some popcorn to feed them as Gizzy looks on.

Walking further around the lake (looking for the other two ducks) I admire the water as the sunlight dances on the rippling waves. There was a gentle breeze, the sun was shining and all seemed well with the world today. I just love the way the water sparkles and glistens as the sun beams seem to dance and twinkle on the water, like chips of diamonds or tiny glow worms (or fire flies.)

I looked and looked, squinting against the sun and could not find "my" duckies for a very long time, hoping all the while they weren't taken (or killed.) When suddenly, I hear this very loud quaaaaack, quaaaaaack, coming from clear the other end of the lake and when I called them "ducky-ducky-ducky", they started to paddle as fast as they could till they made it over to my side. How cute is that? They are the sweetest ducks.

I must tell you that the all white one has gotten quite big, I fear for his health come next Thanksgiving. I'm still amazed that they made it through the past holidays alive. Quite a few Chestnut Village tenants come down to the lake just  to feed them. You see them in their power chairs, toting plastic bags full of bread - no wonder these ducks are getting fat. Everyone enjoys them so much and loves to feed them.

After they had their fill of popcorn and bread (from me) they proceeded to play around in the water. Gizzy and I were sitting on the park bench watching them, when I decided to make a short film of them. I have to confess, this is my first time I made a You Tube video, but that's the only way I could figure out to get it on my post.



After watching the ducks, I kept walking with Gizzy and continued enjoying the scenery:

Gizzy was yawning in the photo on the right, but doesn't he look like he's calling me or yelling at me to hurry up?

We met up with a friend and her two dogs whom I have not seen for a long time, so we sat on the bench and chatted for a while, till it got a bit chilly and we had to move on.

On the left is a beautiful, red Camelia (with some tiny white specks) and on the right is a photo of a big tree that's covered with those tiny red berries. I don't know what it is, but I have always enjoyed its color.

On the left another bunch of blooming daffodils - they are popping out all over the place - and on the right, another photo of a Cardinal sitting on the ground in front of my neighbor's apartment. She has a bird feeding station and it's a good place to bird watch, especially in the early mornings when they all congregate there for breakfast. I know my cat, Middi, enjoys watching them too from the window.

Thanks for walking with me - it truly was a glorious day  today!

Good morning from Mr. Cardinal!

I saw him in the tree this morning and couldn't resist taking a few photos. My camera doesn't zoom very far, but I came as close as I could without making him want to fly away. Enjoy!

Random photographs from my neighborhood

We have had a couple of very nice Spring-like days and I wanted to share some photographs from various places that Gizzy and I like to visit.

Duck watching at Lake Irma on a sunny day (I think ducks have such friendly faces):

 

Gizzy is sitting on top of my rollator (his poop-out wagon) enjoying the sunshine...

The Japanese Magnolias are starting to blossom (right) ... I love the contrast of the delicate pink hues with the dark branches, as they are generally void of foliage while blooming.

I love the pink blossoms on these trees, only I don't know what they are called. They are always the early birds and really steal the show.

I took this photo at Roquemore Park as the sun was setting and glimmering through the bare branches of my beloved weeping willow tree.

A view at Roquemore Park whilst walking on the sidewalk (left) and a spooky, little shack amongst trees in a small swamp area off to the side of the road - I can almost hear the banjo playing and the hound dog howling...

Brave little daffodil being the first to test the weather (left) and brave Middi cat inside of Gizzy's bed keeping a watchful eye on him above in the chair.

Evening moon over Chestnut Village.

Hope you enjoyed my little presentation.

Spay Day 2010 Pet Photo Contest & Rooster Giveaway

http://www.hsus.org/

Until March 4th:  Read on to learn how you can get a FREE crocheted cock-eyed potholder, or be included in a drawing to win one (free shipping to US and Canada)

I just entered my boy in The Humane Society's Spay Day 2010 Online Pet Photo Contest. I just learned about it and thought I would ask you, my dear friends, to help vote for my boy. It's not so much about him winning, but more importantly and foremost, about raising money to get our pets spayed and neutered. I still can't believe how many people I talk to that still do not want to spay/neuter their pets so that they can breed them.

Did you guys know that four million cats and dogs—about one every eight seconds—are put down in U.S. shelters each year?  If you stop a moment to ponder on those numbers - it's a mass murder of animals that we, the human race, could prevent. I don't think that this is what God had in mind when he gave us dominion over the animals, do you? To me this boils down to two wide-spread human traits: selfishness and greed!

Believe me, if this were about Tupperware or Avon, I would not be approaching you here, but this is a subject near and dear to my heart, and in my opinion, very important. It's all about saving lives. Our pets need to be spayed and neutered to prevent overpopulation and euthanization...not to mention countless other cruel and horrific ways a stray animal can succumb. I often wonder if it were mandatory for potential pet owners who believed in breeding, to work in an animal shelter for a couple of weeks and were forced to personally euthanize animals, if they would still be as readily eager to breed their pets. I feel sorry for the people who have to do that. I know someone who does, and he hates it. I would not want to do it. I'd never stop crying.

Voting continues until 10 P.M. Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, March 4, 2010.

For every $1 you donate, my Gizzy gets another vote. For those of you that can dontate (and I totally understand if you can't) I will sweeten the deal for you by giving the first five (5) people that donated (and voted for Gizzy) at least $5 (or more) one of my crocheted rooster potholders. I sell them for $12 each, so you'd be getting one for less than half price. Plus, your donation is tax deductible too. So, please, send me a message as soon as you have voted for Gizzy and donated (we're using the honor system here) and I will send you one of my roosters (with postage paid to the US or Canada)  first come, first served.  After the first five people have donated, I will enter subsequent names in a drawing to win another one of my rooster potholders. I will also enter the names of people who post about this on their blogs and/or put a link to this article on their blog's side bar. Remember to notify me after you have done this, so that I can include your name. I will draw a name after the contest is over, on March 4, 2010.

I really had a difficult time deciding which photo of my Gizzy to enter, but I finally opted for the one that shows him off the best.

We were visiting Bank's Lake that day. He looked so handsome and proud sitting on that fallen tree trunk.

(NOTE: this photo was entered as a memorial to a pet who is no longer with us -  namely my beloved Bootsie boy!)

Like I said, Gizzy won't win, because I entered him too late, but it's not about him winning, it's about raising money to spay and neuter our pets. Please, vote for my boy and donate at least $5 (if you can) and I will either mail you or enter you in a drawing for one of my handsome, crocheted rooster potholders.

This is the link that takes you to the voting section of the website, so you can find Gizzy quickly. If you go to "Pet Search" be sure and search for Gizzy by his last name (Sturm) because there are many Gizoms and Gizzys entered (all of them very cute.) Select "Last Name" in the drop down menu and type in Sturm, or just click here:

Vote for Me (Gizzy!) and Help Save Pets' Lives

Thank you in behalf of the animals!

...and the Winner is...

Drum Roll, please...

Crochet Bouquet

(check out her lovely crocheted flowers)

Congratulations and I hope you will enjoy your rooster potholder - Cock-a-doodle-dooooo!

Also, I have recieved some inquiries about the pattern for this rooster. I used this pattern:

Cock-A-Doodle Rooster Potholder

and then tweaked it a little to fit my needs. Enjoy!

Earth Hour

Earth Hour is coming up again next month. Let's fight climate change together by turning our lights off on Saturday, March 27th, just for one hour, from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm (any time zone.)

Good time for a romantic dinner by candle light! Please mark your calendars for:

March 27th, 2010 from 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm




_______________________________________________________________________________

On a side note: if I've not visited your blog, it's not that I have forgotten you or stopped following, it's just some blogs are easier for me to open up than others because my internet connection is so slow now. Don't give up on me - hopefully I'll be able to upgrade soon.

Ash Wednesday and Good-Bye to Boots

Today is Ash Wednesday that marks the beginning of Lent. I'd be interested to hear from you, who observe Lent, what you are giving up during that season? I'm not into candy, junkfood, cigarettes or booz, but I am a very bad procrastinator. I've decided to make an honest effort, every day, to do what I have set out to do. That means either setting my goals smaller - and therefore more obtainable - or doing/finishing what I intended to. This is also one of my New Year's resolutions, including losing weight, but that's another story.

I also will try to be more charitable in terms of sharing my time - and being more patient - with people, including those that I'm not particularly fond of. As I have no monitary items to give, other than my crochet work, I have no cash or resources to offer, I can give only my crocheted work, my time and offer people rides in my vehicle as long as they can pay for the gas.

On a sad note, one of my neighbors (and friend) discovered Boots dead on the lawn near my apartment this morning. She had her ex-husband pick him up and bury him. I didn't go out to see Boots. I was too upset. I just learned from the Site Manager that at 1:30 am last night, my immediate next-door neighbor (the difficult one, who stays up all night talking on the phone) saw two of the big dogs that have been roaming our neighborhood at night, going at it with Boots and pulling him, one on each end, till he was dead. I was told that he wasn't mauled and aside from a little blood on his hind quarters, looked pretty much intact. Apparently these dogs are trained hunting dogs who know exactly how to kill game (something I do not ever want to witness.) To me hunting is just another word for murder. I'm somewhat miffed at my neighbor for not calling me, and/or the law, so we could have tried to stop it, rather than just watching it happen. Heck, she keeps me up all hours of the night with her midnight phone calls, why not when it was so important? I, and the apartment manager, suspect the reason she didn't call me is because she wanted the cat dead. She makes no secret of disliking animals, especially cats and dogs, because she's allergic to them. She's allergic to everything! If it were up to her, all the trees would be cut down and all animals detroyed and then she'd probably find something else she needed to get rid of because she's allergic to it. She is one of those selfish people that thinks the world revolves around only her. Please understand that I'm not making light of people with allergies. I have them too, but I try not to impose my afflictions onto others, man or beast. Poor Bootsie did not deserve to die like that. He was a smart cat. The dogs must've surprised and cornered him before he got a chance to climb up a tree (he had all his claws.) This will take me a while to get over. My stomach is in knots and God help me to curb my tounge next time I see my neighbor wanting to talk to me about "her" problems. If you removed the words "I, Me and Mine" out of the English Dictionary, she would not be able to carry on a conversation.

Anyway, the Apartment Manager said she will talk to our local Animal Control person about what happened and see if he can put a stop to these marauding killer dogs. I went outside before in the middle of the night to shoo one of them away from my front porch. It only caused him to turn around to bark at me defiantly. I am generally not afraid of dogs, but I went back inside just in case. Please understand, I love all animals, especially dogs, but I have zero tolerance towards violence, aggressive and dangerous so called "pets" and people who practice irresponsible pet ownership. I know it's not the dogs' fault (after all Gizzy hates cats too, but he's only 10 lbs. and always under my supervision. I'm thankful he's so little, because if he were a full-sized dog, I'm not sure I could handle or keep him. He's a little stinker sometimes.)  It's the owners' responsibility to keep their animals contained.

Call me paranoid, but I would not be a bit surprised if someone purposely put these people up to allowing their dogs to kill our community cats, because a lot of people hate them around. It would be so typical for this place!

My mind keeps wandering to last night when I saw him and I keep thinking that I should have insisted that Boots would come in, but it was going to happen sooner or later as long as those dogs are allowed to terrorize our neighborhood at night. Of course, I can't help but thinking about "if only's" and "I should have's" ...but it is what it is!

I also learned that one of my further down neighbor's (on the other set of buildings a few feet down) saw one of her "community cats" (strays) all bloodied and now he's gone. He was the blind one that slept on her front porch, because he fell victim to someone's evil doings with the spray bottle (we have our suspicions) - plus two other cats are missing.  This is definietely not an animal friendly neighborhood and I will move away from here just as soon as I am financially able. Meanwhile, I will have absolutely nothing to do with anyone else (except the three ladies that help feed the strays.) I'm crawling into my hole and bury my head (in my yarn) till I can move away from here. My heart can't take this anymore!

Sorry, guys, I normally don't open up like this, but this is the final straw! I have swallowed a lot of injustice here, but have been trying very hard to concentrate on positive things (and will continue to do so) because life is too short to be miserable, but I think I have finally been beat up by this neighborhood and the mentality of the people around me. I give up!
God is really testing me. I promised to be nicer and more patient with "difficult to love" people and my neighbor falls in that category. Now that I know she could have prevented Bootsie's death (or at least tried to) it will be doubly difficult for me to follow through with my promise.

May you rest in peace Bootsie, my sweet feline friend. You had to find your home another way - - -

I will never forget you!

Happy President's Day Giveaway!

Today is President's Day and a lot of businesses are closed and some people are off from work. I hope you will have an enjoyable day.

I learned that today is also National Gumdrop Day, Candlemass and Singles Awareness Day... go figure!

Since I've been gone for a while, I thought I'd kick start my comeback to blogland by holding a small giveaway. I will draw a name next Monday (2/22/10) from any people leaving a comment on this post. If you want to increase your odds of winning, be sure you become one of my Followers because any comments I recieve from my Followers automatically count as two entries.

I will send you this Patriotic Rooster potholder if you win. Good luck and God bless!

Happy Valentine's Day to you, my dear friends

from Doris and Gizzy (yes, from Middi and Boots too)

may you lay on a cloud of a pink pillow surrounded by your favorite person(s) and good eats ... just like my boy here today! (I'll take him for his Valentine's walk a bit later this afternoon.)

I crocheted these items to give to a couple of my neighbors today: A double thick strawberry potholder or trivet  (left) and a pink cotton dish cloth with a rose crocheted on top of a nylon scrubbie. I hope they will like them.

It never did snow again the other night, so I'm glad I took those few snow photos (on my previous post). Someoene told me it has been more like 15 years since it snowed here. My, how time flies - except when you're waiting for a paycheck - or  a cure!

Happy Valentine's Day to all my friends and family.

It's snowing in Southern Georgia!

Apparently it's been 12 years or longer since it snowed here. We're just 30 miles from the Florida border, so having snow is very unusual. Tonight my entire neighborhood's in an uproar. People calling each other and yelling and yippeeing as if they won the lottery.

I took some photos, but since it was dark (and my camera isn't the greatest) the pictures look accordingly. It's supposed to be 20 degrees tonight and if it keeps raining/snowing, maybe we'll have a nice, white blanket of snow to wake up to and then I can go out and take better photos.

Here's my boy on top of my car checking out the snow...it came down more like clumps of ice rather than snowflakes, but still, it's very unusual to have this happen here. I don't think Gizzy ever saw snow, at least not with me. I got him when he was 3 years old, but I doubt the previous owner took him up to the mountains.

One of my neighbors petting Gizzy on top of my car

looking out the back door it appears as if the grass is starting to get covered with a white blanket

I know it's not much, but it just started, so maybe by tomorrow there will be more to see.

my neighbor's car.

This might be it, but perhaps tomorrow morning I'll wake up to a big surprise and see a bunch more.

Over and out from the snowy deep South ;-)

Dolly-rama or hooked on couture

I've been on a dolly kick since I've not been able to blog for a while and decided to crochet all my dollies a new dress. Some of them I had for a while, some were gifts and some I purchased inexpensively at crafts supply stores or rummage sales. No matter what the condition of the doll, after being outfitted with a new dress, they all look like a million bucks (in my humble opinion.)

When growing up, I preferred Teddy Bears over dolls, because Teddies were squeezably soft and never poked you in the ribs during the night. I did, however, enjoy my dolls for playing school or having a coffee klatsch. My great aunt was a seamstress and therefore my dolls never lacked in pretty dresses that where custom made just for them from leftover materials.

I hope you will enjoy my crocheted dolly couture:

I love this color combination of white and blue. It reminds me of snow and ice. If you notice, the hat has a big snowflake sewn on top. I gave this dolly to one of my 86 year old neighbors, who couldn't have been happier.

This is one of my dolls that I purchased a while back in California. She is my Southern Belle. She has a white petticoat underneath. She had pretty a pink outfit on and a lovely wide rimmed hat with a pink featherlike rim. I didn't want to crochet her another hat, because I like her hair too much to cover it up.

This is also a doll I purchased when I lived in California. She used to be "my Russion girl" because of the warm, brown clothes she wore. Now she's wearing a royal blue dress with a butterfly on it and her hair is bundled up in a snood with a flower. The blue really brings out her eyes. She looks more cheerful now.

This is one of my favorites. This is my doll and I will not sell her. She was quite expensive and a gift from a dear friend. I named her Diana. Her original outfit made her appear somewhat of a tomboy, but I gave her a carefree look and bloomers, leaving her barefoot to run through the meadow collecting daisies for her hair (look at her crocheted daisy chain crown she's wearing.) She definitely looks a lot more comfy and feminine now.

When my next door neighbor saw the dresses I crocheted, she hinted at one of her dolls needing a new dress too. So, I offered to make her one for her as a birthday gift. After she gave me her little doll, I used my neighbor's favorite colors to crochet her this dress. My neighbor was so thrilled - she showed it to everyone!

This is one of my smaller doll girls who has a boy doll companion. I named them Hansel and Gretl, but now Gretl looks more like a Suzie and if postage were not so expensive, I'd send her to my mom in Germany for Mother's Day, because lilac and purple are her favorite colors. (We'll see...)

The upcoming Valentine's Day inspired me to crochet this bon-bon of a bed doll. I named her Candy, because her dress reminds me of a Valentine's candy box. When I took her next door to my neighbor (at dusk) to show her what I made, she told me that she thought I was bringing her something good to eat...I especially love that eyelash yarn on the bottom ruffle and around her top.

I crocheted a pretty white and magenta dress with mohair flowers for my "Chemo baby." This dolly lost all her hair. Apparently the stress from being in her storage bag for so long, made all her hair fall out. When I lifted her out of the plastic bag, all her hair was lying on the bottom - looking sort of desintegrated. So, I crocheted her a pretty hat with a beautiful mohair flower and voila, no more crying over spilled hair ;-)

I love the color red and red roses! What a romantic Valentine's dress this turned out to be. I just love this doll! The pictures don't do her justice. This dress is designed to fit over a spare toilet tissue roll, but it can stand alone or over a vase. The doll is intact, so there has to be room for the legs somewhere. I call her my Spanish Senorita! She looks so exotic to me.

This is my latest creation. I finished her just this morning. I call her LavenderPrincess. The dress is also designed to cover a spare toilet paper roll - or anything else that accommodates her long legs. I hope you enjoyed looking at them as much as I did crocheting the dresses. If you want one in a particular color to match your decor, just let me know and I'll make one for you. The cost is anywhere from $30 to $65 depending on the cost of the materials and time involved. Remember, I give a 15%  Discount to all my blog followers!

Well, I'd best get ready for tomorrow morning. I have to be at the hospital at 8:30 am. One of my kind neighbors (and fellow anmial lover) will be driving me.

Glad to be back online.