Maybe I should take pictures of the flowers before the dogs destroy all of my hard work. I don't know why they insist on laying on my plants when they have dog beds, houses, and an entire woods to lay in. It is most aggrivating! Hopefully, everything will still be pretty by tomorrow and I'll be able to snap a couple of pics.

 Here they are!

Today is a breezy spring-like day here and my little man is going out for baseball tryouts.  Yeah, that means winter is almost gone and I couldn't be more happy. I was starting to get a serious case of cabin fever. Hope it is beautiful wherever you are!

I had to remove the Artfire shop preview because the code was messing up my site, but there is a link in the top left module to get you there to see the beads. I'm going to try keeping both my Artfire and Etsy stores stocked once it warms up enough for me to torch. The few warm days we have had the last couple of weeks I've spent hauling water and splitting wood...

First, let me say that my dad was an alcoholic from before the time I was born, which was quite a feat since he was only 17 when I made my debut. He stopped drinking for a short period of time when I was small and then never really tried to quit again (although he did slack off for a few months when he found out that he had the beginnings of cirrhosis and emphysema). I don't think he thought that anything that brought him such pleasure would actually kill him, especially since, in his mind, beer wasn't as bad as other types of alcohol. He was convinced that he would end up with cancer, like his father before him, and that that would be his ticket out of this world. He was wrong and died of liver failure at the horrifically young age of 52. He left four daughters (I being the oldest and the only one from his first marriage) to deal with the mess he left behind. His disease caused each of his marriages to fail and broke many hearts, those of his daughters included.

Having said all that, he was also one of the most genuinely funny and good natured people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. It didn't matter how bad a day I was having, he could always say something to make me laugh. Granted he could also be the reason I was in a snit in the first place, but that is for another story another time. I'll cherish my memories and photographs and try to keep him real for my children; even though, I fear time will take their memories of him. He was and will always be loved and I guess when it comes right down to it...a person couldn't ask for more. 

Two of our kittens were just neutered so they are staying inside until they are all healed up...which means I can't torch for fear of lighting them a fire. They are very curious and persistant about seeing what I am doing. I made my mother-in-law a necklace and earrings for Christmas and had to remove them from my workbench no less than fifteen times a piece. They're cute, but they are also serious pains in the backside. LOL!