follow the leader

Nowadays that my husband is working from 9am to 6pm I usually get home before him and the cats are all outside, by the door waiting to be fed.

But the thing is that the dogs are also upstairs waiting to be walked.

So, I usually go upstairs first, leave my handbag, change into my flip flops and proceed to walk the dogs first, and then on my way back go and feed the kitties.

Well, lately I've been walking the dogs on a [sort of] empty lot next to our house, part of it's empty but there's also a small house in mid construction phase.

But to my surprise, the past couple of days during our walk, we seem to have acquired an entourage!!!!

The very first day it happened, it was only Shadow (the black cat) and Al (the white one).

But yesterday all the other 4 joined in and walked with us, all of them keeping their distance

It was so fun to see them following us...

The dogs are not acting aggressive about them anymore and although I like to think that they are getting used to seeing them and perhaps the cat smell on us is making a difference. Still I don't fully trust them so I keep them on a short leash and they never leave my sight.

Isn't it cool how the cats are walking with us? I love it and it makes me so happy to see them around, so yesterday on thanksgiving I added yet another reason to love walking my pets!

Happy Weekend :)

practice makes [thanks] perfect!

Although I do like the concept of Thanksgiving as a holiday, I think this only makes sense as a celebration, if we practice gratitude every day of our lives.

So how can we thankful for everything, everyday? Easy, just be!

You know the saying, "practice makes perfect", right?

If there's many people that are way less fortunate that we are and they still make the best out of life, and perhaps are even thankful for it, so can we!

In fact, "We have no right to ask when a sorrow comes, why did this happened to me?... Unless we ask the same question for every joy that comes our way", right?

But if we still having trouble been thankful for what we have and the life we are living, maybe we should think about this more often...

So now, let's all celebrate Thanksgiving every day in our hearts and in our daily life, counting our blessings and subtracting our sorrows.

Happy Thanksgiving to your and your family, may you always have many days and many reasons to be thankful for!

finding my inner artist

“The world is but a canvas to our imaginations.”

Henry David Thoreau

On Monday night during my short visit to Cayman Brac I saw my dear friend Aidan, he is 7 years old and I know him from 5 months old, around this time...

He has grown so much since then, now 7, he is a very imaginative boy that loves animals, the ocean and it's a fantastic swimmer as well.

much recent photo of Aidan

But he is also in that phase when he is shy at the first encounter, even though he knows me, he always plays is it "hard to get" at the beginning, until a few minutes later he grows out of that and he is himself again.

Well, Monday was not an exception, as soon as he saw me, he covered his face with his sweatshirt, of course, I still grabbed him and hugged him.

So his Mom (and my friend) Liesel said to him: aren't you going to ask her what you want?

Minutes later, he found his "not really lost" courage and we had this conversation :

Aidan- "My Mom says you are a pretty good artist, would you paint me something for Christmas?"

Me- Well, if I can, sure! What would you like?

Aidan- I want you to paint me a American Bald Eagle, flying on top of some pine trees, with flowers, grass and a house, mountains.... [and he kept on going with a whole bunch of things, that I can't even remember].

Me- Oh my, not sure if I am that good of an artist, but I could try!!!!

Now, I'm in trouble, because I really don't want to disappoint him by not doing it for him, but also I am afraid to disappoint him by not doing a good job with the painting...

Anyway, I am going to try my best and do it anyway, hopefully he will love it and with this I will be able to find my inner artist once again!

Will share my progress and the final work of art when I have it!

Happy Wednesday :)

Brac & back!

Just got back from Cayman Brac this morning it was a [way too] short of a trip.

Got there yesterday at 3pm, got ready for the documentary presentation at 6:30pm.

After we were all set up for the show, we managed to squeeze in a little island tour as my boss and his wife never been to this island before.

Here are some picture of my favorite part of the island "the lighthouse at the bluff".

path to the 180ft bluff drop

the edge

I am so glad I found that my camera phone has a panorama mode on it, cause I got this awesome shot, click to enlarge and the full panoramic view experience...

the bluff view

And for today's sunrise [well, "sort of "sunrise at 6:30am!], view from my room.

Like I said short too short but sweeeet! Wish I was still there.

Happy Tuesday!!!

Pretty Pots Project

With Christmas just around the corner, sometimes we think that finding that personalized and unique gift for somebody, is either too difficult or simply just out of the question.

But what if you could take the "blah" out of something and turn it into a cute little present for you or anybody special? Here's a fun little project that might just be what you were looking for.

All you need is:

Terracotta Pot (medium, small or large)
Fabric (about 1/4 yrd for a size showing below)
Fabric Mod Podge or Cold Silicon Glue
Brush & Scissors

So, with those materials you could go from this

To this....

With the fabric Mod Podge and the brush, glue the fabric to the pot, making sure you leave enough on the top and bottom edges. Also make sure that you spread the glue well enough with the brush just so there's not big amounts of it that might go through the fabric.

If you decide to use a fabric like the one shown above (with white background) you might need to do two layers so no terracotta color can be seeing through the fabric.

Now, all you need is to find the right fabric.

If using cotton and you want to put a plant in it, make sure to buy an indoor plant so the fabric doesn't get wet in the rain. But, you find a nice outdoor fabric then you can use for an outdoor plant.

But, if you are given them away as a gift, the possibilities are endless.

Instead of a plant, buy some seed packets (or pods) and put those in there, or perhaps if the person is really into gardening, buy them a pair of garden gloves and a garden tool [this is the part to get creative].

Aren't they pretty? I love them and I'm giving one to my brother and sister in law for their new apartment, I hope they are going to love it too!!!

On another note, today in the afternoon I am going away for the night to Cayman Brac, as we are showing the Grouper Moon documentary. I am very excited to go a see some of my friends and although I will only be there for a few hours I will take it over nothing!!!!

Happy Weekend!