Who Do You Think You Are?

There is a great program on NBC right now called Who Do You Think You Are? and it comes on Friday night at 8/7CDT. If you are interested in genealogy be sure to watch it. I have been watching the entire series and the shows are extremely well done.

Perhaps you have often wondered why you gravitate towards certain areas of the country, a particular interior decorating style or style of home that you purchase or very often a given profession You might be surprised how much influence your ancestors have had in shaping your life!

There are also the genetic factors involved in your makeup, as to why you might be left handed vs right handed, blue eyed vs brown eyed,or more prone to certain diseases.

Be sure to tune in if you have even the slightest inkling about genealogy and be totally captivated.

Little Bit AKA "Miss Piggy" Ruler of the Roost

This week's McLinky Blog Hop is all about pets!

I have 3 cats that rule the roost at my house. Well, lets correct that, 1 of the 3 cats  rule the roost. Cat in question, is Little Bit, who now has a new alias, "Miss Piggy."  This cat will do anything for people food, including turning over the kitchen trash can in the middle of the night to get leftovers out of it. This can is tall and I finally figured out how she is navigating to get into it.  She hops up on the chair, then to the 1/2 wall and the trash can sits beneath that wall in the kitchen. She literally jumps into the trash can in order to retrieve chicken bones, or whatever else in there that is tantalizing! 

At first when I heard the huge thump in the kitchen, I thought someone was trying to break into the house. Once the haze of my sleep disappeared, I realized it was not the sound of glass breaking but the sound of the plastic trash can hitting the floor. Of course this action sends Little Bit AKA "Miss Piggy" scurrying out of the kitchen with the speed of light, looking for the nearest piece of furniture that she can hit under and play the total innocent. What is really funny is the way that she will peak out from underneath, with wide eyes, as if she is scared to death!  Maybe she is if she thinks I am going to be coming after her.



The trash can now gets emptied out nightly so I am sure the midnight raids are over and all I will hear is the sound of her purring as she sleeps next to me in bed.

Little Bit was the last cat to join the family. Now mind you, this cat is over a year old now and was just the size of the palm of my hand when I got her. She was the runt of the litter and still looks like she is only about 6-8 months old. For such a small pint she sure throws her weight around. Misty the Siamese is about 10 years old now and she tolerates her antics. Little Bit tries to get her to play to no avail and they end up in a boxing and hissing match.

Miss Kitty, the old lady of the group was a rescue kitten when I first moved here. We found her up in a tree, in the middle of winter and there was snow on the ground and more coming down. I pulled her out of the tree, wrapped her in a towel to warm her and then fed her. From that day forward she was our kitten. At this point in her life she just lays around on the window ledge soaking up the sunshine, or on the bed sleeping. She gives Little Bit that look that says "don't bug me," then closes her eyes and goes back to sleep. Little Bit has enough sense not to get into her territory.

It seems like Little Bit is always into something, but then she turns right around and melts your heart. She will come hop up on the bed, put her front paws into the palm of my hand, lay her head on top of her paws and go to sleep. As I listen to her purring in total contentment, I can't stay angry with her for long.

Share your stories about your pets with me on McLinky!
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Decorating For Men

One of the things that I tend to forget is that there are many single men out there with homes of their own and they prefer an entirely different style of decorating.

A certain young man in my life is in the process of making some major changes in his life. There will be a new job and a new place to call home and he is now single so will be wanting to make this a more masculine bachelor pad.

So what should come in my emails today but one from one of my favorite decorating sites and they are doing several articles on Decorating for Men.  Perfect timing!

Now I know that my son loves Craftsman style homes (example of a great one from the house plan shop)

and he likes Frank Lloyd Wright style homes.  He also likes heirlooms as well as furnishings with clean cut lines so I guess you could sorta call him an Eclectic decoratoring style.  He has some things that he just won't part with, like his great grandfather's bookcases with the glass slide up fronts that were originally in his Judge chambers and then moved to the house when he retired.  There is also a small little dresser that belonged to his great great grandmother that he also will not part with. Family history and heritage are very important to him so I am sure that these things will be reflected in his home.

He is going to have a great time decorating his new home to fit his personality and needs. He's a Texan and enjoys the wide open spaces and horses!  Since he is very much into "green building" I am sure that he will use many items in his new home that meet that criteria.  In the article above, I happened to see some things that he would probably love to adapt into his home.  I love the way that a huge poster was made out of a handwritten envelope that was written by the man's great grandmother to her uncle.  I also liked the pillows that were used outdoors on the bench that were made out of antique blankets!

I am sure that his new home will be very interesting indeed since he is an architect and has a wonderful eye for color, balance, and design I am sure it will be very attractive and functional.  I will do a follow up article on this as he finds his new "digs" and starts the decorating process.

I can see him decorating with comfortable over-sized leather chairs and sofa in his living room, lots of bookcases to hold all of his books and heavy based large brass lamps on the end tables.

Spring Is In The Air

I just looked at the weather report, we are to have 60ish weather for the next 10 days!  I think Spring has finally sprung! This means I can get outside and start turning up the dirt and get some of my outside planting started. I am so excited!  I can hardly wait to see some beautiful color out there in my yard.

The garden has been drawn on paper and now it can actually become a reality.

I have so many outside projects that I am yearning to get started on.  There's painting to be done and getting the patio set up for outside entertaining.

I don't know about you but I am ready to open up the windows and let the fresh air blow throughout my house!