A little more progress …

I decided to bring the drawers of the bureau/secretary inside to paint since the weather has been cold and rainy and the garage dreary.  I actually have this in front of KittyCam part time, but I’m not sure how much you can see.  The kitties are certainly curious and, as predicted, Kalahari is downright destructive, but I think I have it out of reach?  Famous last words.  The drawers are stacked on a little rolling thingy I have.  It’s going to make a heck of a clatter if the cats topple it over.  Anyway here it is so far.  As usual I’m kind of making it up as I go and it’s becoming something entirely different than my first hazy concept.  There’s been some conjecture as to whether it’s a sea horse or a sea dragon or something else entirely:

A few more Jitterbug photos

Jitterbug is 11 weeks old today!  I gave her a bath yesterday and managed a few photos before she waded back into her food:

New Jitterbug photos

It’s becoming nearly impossible to catch still photos of this little kitten unless she’s sleeping…. here are a few of the latest.  The photos inside with “Donnio” in the file name were taken by a photographer friend of mine, donnio.  (sorry about the uppercase “D” in the file names, donnio, but I needed to separate the words somehow).  I really shouldn’t put donnio’s photos in the same batch as mine — her snazzy camera makes mine look dull.  The reality of Jujuba’s coloring, though, is probably somewhere in between.  I think donnio’s camera has a ‘brighter’ outlook on life and enhances things a tad.

Oh, and BTW, anyone using WordPress for blogging (Bobin?) — I logged in today to find the interface all changed.  It took me 45 minutes to figure out how to even make a new post and I almost didn’t find the “dashboard” for customizing the blog at all.  WHY DO THEY DO THAT?

Mythicbells Calendar + Jitterbug action photos

I announced on Facebook yesterday that I managed to pull together another Mythicbells Calendar.  It was a bit “iffy” with all that’s been going on – broke down computers, Jitterbug, and myriad other projects.  However a bit ‘thrown together,’ it didn’t turn out too bad.  Throughout the year, I get messages and comments on various photos along the lines of “OH! Be sure to save this for the calendar.”  Always welcome kudos, but the  reality is only too often that the photo is not of a high enough resolution or is a bit too out of focus for print — you know how those darn kittens are! they never sit still — and I also tend to be a bit picky about the background for out put.  No dirty underware, filthy rags, cleaning bottle, clumps of cat fur — the usual.  SO, I sift through the year’s photos and reluctantly reject some of the really cute ones.  Fortunately there is a lot of ‘cute’ around here.  I also like to divvy up the months evenly so that each kitten and/or each litter gets equal time, then I fill in with the adult kitties.  With five kittens and three parent kitties, it came out even.  Each kitten got two months.  Well, you’ll see what I’m talking about if you decide to get a calendar, or you can just go check it out:  Mythicbells 2012 Calendar.  I will also put a link over on the right and one will be on the Mythicbells website links list under “extras.”

Here’s some Jitterbug photos taken this morning and, sigh, all just a bit out of focus:

More Jitterbug photos

We have some nice action shots from this morning and a couple of inside photos taken soon after Jujuba’s bath last night.  Her visit to the vet this morning went very well.

Here, Mom is RE-bathing The Buglet

In progress photos – cabinet project

Here it is — what there is of it.  The slanted slab (table surface) and the pink upper doors are just laying on the cabinet so I can see what hey look like.  The doors are done and new glass is waiting.  The table flap is almost done — more blue thingies to paint, but getting there.  I just finished the bottom (floor) panel design today.  The top panels are done on one side, but not the other.  I’ve started the design on the sides, but don’t know if I’m going to like it yet or not.  I’ve dreamed up and discarded several designs for the drawers and have no idea yet what will go on them.  I had envisioned something more along the lines of the rocking chair with design painted everywhere, but as I progress, wide expanses of the dark blue are becoming more appealing.  The question is — is that the arthritis in my hands talking? or a smart artistic choice?

Cabinet looking from bottom to top

Bottom panel design

Cabinet from top to bottom

Side view

Small photoshoot in the enclosure this morning…

Okay, so Gypsy Rose in the box was taken a few days ago.  I also REALLY tried to get some outside shots of Jujuba but they were all either blurred or by the time I clicked, she was out of the frame…

The rest of the photos!

We are now up to date:

YIPEEEE! A new update at last….

My old computer died completely just after I managed to transfer the last file to the new computer.  Such timing!  It’s fun having a new one and even more fun having one that doesn’t need to be rebooted ever ten minutes.  I received my new Photoshop software today and installed it.  I know I was being stubborn since all computers now have photo processing software, but it allows me to re-size and process photos en-mass, plus the old computer was so slow that the entire process became a huge undertaking.  Below is the first batch and I have some more in the camera for another post.

Any news to report?  Not much.  Most of you know that Jujuba is doing fabulously and earning a reputation for being painfully cute.  She is an unbelievable joy.  She’s 9 1/2 weeks old.  This week I gave her complete run of the house even at night (except the bedroom).  I hadn’t planned on doing that at all.  I usually keep kittens in the nursery at night right up to adoption day but picture this: the purple French door is closed after tucking Jujuba in for the night and I’m almost ready to go to bed myself, but I hear this little scrabbling noise and look down the hallway to see little Jujuba bouncing on her hind feet and pawing at the glass.  It was just more than I could bear. She’s also eating with the big kids and has had several forays in the enclosure which she loves LOVES.  I do very little monitoring of her in regards to eating, litter box, etc. as she is now just one of the gang.  This is a sign that she’s nearly ready to take on the world and will be able to adjust nicely in her new home.  Adoption day is December 3rd.

Work has progressed, albeit a bit slowly, on the painted cabinet project and I hope to have some more in-progress photos of it soon.  I think it’s going to be kind of pretty.

That’s about it for newsworthiness.  Many of the photos below are a few weeks old.  You can estimate Jujuba’s age in each photo by looking at the file naming convention: YY MM DD.  Note the pretty material covering the cushion in the photoshoot chair in the most recent photos.  It looks a bit blue in the photos but is, in fact, a perfect “Mythicbells Purple.”  Thank you JAFO!!  She surprised me with this a week or so ago.  It’s only wrapped around the cushion at the moment, but I have explicit JAFO instructions on how to make a “real” cushion out of it, though she did give me permission to just wrap it around.  WHEW.