Thank you, thank you very much!

Since it's the last day of 2008, I want to take this chance to thank all of our readers and followers! I look forward every day to reading the comments left on my blog because you are just so dang sweet and so funny you give me many chuckles! I certainly appreciate your visits!

Awhile back I mentioned that Sadie does an Elvis impersonation by lifting her lip up on one side and leaning her head to the other when we come home and I've been trying to capture it on video. Because she moves so fast it's been nearly impossible. When we leave, Sadie sleeps on her own futon in her own room with a fan blowing on her so she sleeps very, very hard. One day we came home and woke her up with the video running and she didn't have time to wake up fully (notice the red eyes) so I sort of captured the Elvis impersonation before she had a chance to get up and run down the hall. Oh, and you can see her bent ear too which is what she also does on occasion and is cute also! Best enjoyed with sound but I apologize for the weird giggles!

Thanks again to all my readers, followers and commenters! I wish you all a happy and healthy 2009!

Taking It Easy...

With the excitement of Christmas this past week and all our new toys to play with, we're taking it easy today. Yeah, okay, we take it easy every day but today we're doing it even more so.

Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday!

Warning to Kitties & Woofies - Squirrel ahead!

I know this post may be unsettling to certain dogs and cats out there but it's just too cute not to share! Awhile back I came across an Etsy shop called LittleOddMe and it initially caught my attention because she had photos around where she lived in Longmont, CO, which is where my husband and I worked for many years when we lived in nearby Loveland, CO. In addition to her landscape photos, her photography of critters is fabulous! She sells her photos on Etsy and also on 1000Markets so be sure to check out her beautiful work on both venues! Recently in her Etsy shop I found a bookmark made from this photo:
Isn't that squirrel adorable? I purchased the bookmark and received a note from Lori saying that she was going to donate the profits from my purchase to a local ferret shelter in her new home state of Connecticut! Of course I think that is absolutely wonderful! Lori has a ferret named Weezer and this video of him has got to be seen as it is too cute and it is sure to make you smile:

Told ya' you'd smile! Have a great Monday!

Tax Time is Around the Corner!

Since I am a tax accountant, tax season is on my mind but in case you don't live and breathe taxes, here's some reminders about charitable contributions - since this is near and dear to my heart. If you plan on donating cash or non-cash items to a qualified charity and deducting it on your 2008 taxes, the donation needs to be made by Wednesday, December 31st. If you donate by personal check, the check needs to be in the mail on or before December 31st. For donations by credit card, it must be charged to your card in 2008 to be deductible in 2008 so plan accordingly. You cannot deduct a cash contribution, regardless of the amount, without proper documentation. This can be in the form of a written receipt from the charity, a copy of your cleared check or bank statement, or a credit card statement.

If money is tight these days, there are probably things around your home that you no longer use or want and are in good condition, that you can donate and be able to deduct the value of the items now, not what they cost new. Many communities have thrift shops that sell items to help support charities. In our town, the thrift shop we donate items to supports the local humane society. This is a relatively painless way to help support causes important to you while clearing your home of unwanted items. It's a win-win situation!

If you received Christmas presents that you don't particularly want, rather than re-gifting, you can donate these items. Or you can exchange the item for washable dog and/or cat toys for example and donate them to a local animal shelter. Another idea is to exchange it for children's clothing and donate to a cause that helps low income families. By donating unwanted gifts, you help spread the holiday cheer to those in need and that feeling is priceless!

Christmas Outtakes

Laser eyes, red devil eyes and grumpy dogs all fall into the outtake category. Here's more of our Christmas fun that didn't make the first cut:

Sadie, you need a breath mint.

Christmas Fun!

Hello everybuddy! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas! We sure did! Yesterday we got to see what was in our stockings. Our stockings were filled with the bestest gifts ever! Toys from Casbah Kitten! We got a Pickle, Jelly Beans, a Fatberd and our very own cell phone!

Hello, Santa? I LOVE my presents!

Isabella carried the cell phone all over the house. Mommy took a video of her although it's a little dark.

Here's another video Mommy took of us playing, well, me watching Isabella play. At the end, you'll see that someone else was hanging around too watching us.

Now that Christmas is over, Mommy is having a Year End Sale in her BeadedTail shop! Everything is 20% off (excluding shipping, custom orders and gift certificates)! As always, the proceeds will go to animal awareness causes!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is finally here and we are wishing all of our readers a very Merry Christmas! We hope your day is a joyous one filled with love and happiness!

We also hope Santa brought you something special!

What do you mean I have to share with my sisfur?

May you have wonderment!

Well, okay, just dig right into those presents...

Anyway, have a very Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve!

Almost time to open presents! I think this one is mine!

I think this one has my name on it!

Angel, did you hear that? Was that reindeer on the roof?

We're wishing you a wonderful Christmas Eve!

Tortie Tuesday!

Isabella wants to remind everyone to take a little time during this busy part of year to relax, lounge around and enjoy the holiday season!

We'd also like to thank the following for giving us such wonderful awards!

Duni from Lovely Purses gave us this Lovely Blog Award

3 Scrapbooking Ladies gave us this Kreativ Blogger Award

As I've stated in the past, I am truly grateful for all awards received. It's an honor to have such great visitors to my blog let alone receive awards. Thank you both so much and in the spirit of the season, and the fact that I can't choose from the many blogs deserving of these awards, consider them passed on to you!

Cookies for Woofies!

I made cookies for Sadie and the neighborhood dogs yesterday. I had to make various sizes since the dogs range in size from a Pomeranian to a really tall Doberman.

I kept feeling like I was being watched.

Everywhere I turned I felt a pair of eyes on me.

Sadie, we're making cookies for the neighbor dogs, what do you think of that?

Dog treats may be fun to make but they are much more work than cat treats!

Another Lazy Sunday

We plan to spend a relaxing Sunday watching football, baking cookies for the neighbors and their dogs (as if the dogs need cookies) and also wishing for sunlight once again!

Mommy picked this picture of me today because Colorado State University won the New Mexico Bowl yesterday and she got her Masters degree from CSU. Don't tell Mommy but that degree isn't any good because we know who the real Masters of the house are!

Snow Day!

It's been snowing quite a bit here in the Pacific Northwest. It makes everything in the backyard so pretty.

So magical.

So easy to see the birdies!

Do you see any Isabella?

Oh where oh where are those birdies?

A Girl Can Dream...

I am the Queen Husky and everybuddy worships me! I get all the treats I want, anytime I want!

Sadie. Sadie. My kingdom is calling my name...er, what do you want Mommy? You interrupted my dream to tell me it's snowing outside? Uhm, it's nice and warm and comfy right here so no, I don't want to go out right now.

Now, where was I? Oh yeah, all the treats I want, anytime I want...

Christmas Traditions

The EtsyBloggers Blog Carnival hosted by Stormy Designs had the following choices:

1. Christmas traditions & recipes- Share Christmas traditions or your favorite holiday recipe.

2. Christmas spotlight- Show & tell of a Christmas item in your shop or your favorite gift idea in someone else's shop.

Since I recently showed some great gift ideas, I'll choose to share Christmas traditions. As a child I remember we always had a real tree that we'd go pick out from a tree farm and my dad would cut it down. Nothing smells better than a real tree! My husband and I continue that tradition but have only had two trees since moving to Oregon - where there are Christmas tree farms pretty much every where you go! Pictured below is our first Oregon tree in 2005 along with Sadie and KC - I sort of went overboard when picking it out and it was a lot taller than expected!

We always fix a special meal for Christmas Eve dinner that we don't have any other time of the year. Well, let me clarify that, I pick out the recipes and my husband cooks the meal since he's the chef in our family! My favorites are chosen from an Emeril Lagasse cookbook or inspired by other countries such as Chinese food or Italian food, etc.. As soon as dinner is complete we start a fire in the fireplace and open presents. We always have plenty of gifts for the pets and it's so fun to watch them open their presents - or just play with the wrapping paper! After all the presents have been opened and the parents called so I can report what we got, I love to go on walks around the neighborhood on Christmas Eve because it's so peaceful and the Christmas trees are all lit up and I love looking at the decorations on people's homes.

On Christmas Day we just have another fire going in the fireplace and enjoy a nice, relaxing day with just us and the furbabies!

Thankful Thursday

I'm a little behind in posting awards and giving thanks were it's due. I am always very honored to receive awards for my blog and I'm extremely grateful to my readers. So, without further ado...

Two Greyhound Town gave me this wonderful award:

“These blogs invest and believe in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers, who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

Hot Rocks honored me with the Butterfly award!

Of Cats also passed a Butterfly award to me along with the I ♥ Your Blog award!

Be sure to check out the blogs of the three listed above! You will see adorable pictures of the most beautiful greyhounds at Two Greyhound Town, see gorgeous jewelry at Hot Rocks, and learn fascinating facts about felines at Of Cats!

As for passing on these awards, it's nearly impossible to pick a few when so many of you deserve it. I must say that I absolutely love the comments you leave me and especially when you talk of your love for animals. It makes my heart so happy to hear all the wonderful things people do for animals and I am thankful every single day for everyone who reads and takes the time to comment on my blog. Thank you all so much!

Wordless Wednesday

Spreading the Word

The reason my mom and I decided to sell jewelry through our BeadedTail shop was to raise funds for animal awareness causes. Each month I donate the proceeds from our shop to a worthy animal charity. In October the chosen charity was Alley Cat Allies and I want to share what I've learned from them about feral cats and bring awareness to issues resulting in the deaths of countless cats every day. Here are some of the things that we need to be aware about:

• 
  
  Over 70% of cats are killed in our nation’s animal control pounds and shelters. That number jumps to virtually 100% for feral cats.
  


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  A revolutionary change in shelter practice and policy is needed that protects the lives of cats, and there is a movement pushing for change.
  


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  There are multiple programs that are a humane method of care for all cats, including affordable, accessible spay and neuter services available to everyone and Trap-Neuter-Return programs for feral cats.

The issue of feral cats is very near and dear to my heart because the alley behind my husband's and my first house was home to many feral cats. Of course I befriended several of them and one even was brave enough to come into our house but didn't want to be touched very much. Our two kitties, Reebok and Panther, were actually orphaned feral kitties that we found in the alley and raised from the bottle into adulthood. We lost Reebok to cancer in 2001 and Panther was 18 years old when she passed away in 2006.

What I have since learned from the information provided by Alley Cat Allies is that if anyone had taken those feral cats into a non-no kill shelter thinking they were helping the cats by getting them off the streets, there would be no chance of adoption and the cats would be killed. The reason being is that shelters handle adoptable cats and one that is afraid of humans certainly doesn't fit that criteria.

I just want to spread the word and let people know that feral cats do not belong in animal shelters. If you come across some feral kitties that you want to help, please check out Alley Cat Allies website for information. Together we can educate others about the need for Trap-Neuter-Return programs to reduce the cat population and keep feral cats out of shelters. We can make a difference and save lives!

Kitty Entertainment

There's always something fun to watch outside...

Sadie's Sunday Shopping Ideas!

It's starting to snow here and I'm all excited! It doesn't snow much here but a husky can dream of more snow can't she?

Yesterday Mommy gave some gift ideas aimed at kitty lovers but I wanted to point out that there are great gift ideas out there for dogs and dog lovers too!

Here's some of my ideas including some inspired by dogs we met through their blogs:
Siberian Husky Dog Art Signed Print by Ron Krajewski by dogartstudio

Alaskan Malamute/Husky Ornament by TheMagicSleigh

Red Siberian Husky Hand-Made Pin by dreameyce

Greyhound on Dichroic Glass Pendant by FrumsGlassMenagerie

Underwear Dog Toys by casbahkitten

I hope you enjoyed my choices! And I suppose I should point out that every single shop represented here also has cat stuff if you want it. I happen to think there is nothing better than dog stuff but just letting you know!