Our Weekend in Weston

Our B&B ~ The Hatchery
Our Room (with a fireplace too!)

View from our private balcony - gorgeous!

Rocky the resident cat. He was so sweet!

Hiking at Weston Bend State ParkGraceland Cemetery

Beautiful sunset from our balcony

Looking at these pictures makes me want to go back!!! We had such a nice, relaxing weekend in Weston. Now I get to look forward to going back next month! My girlfriends & I are going to the annual Holiday Homes Tour. Can't wait!!!

Alice & Chessie

I keep hearing about Tim Burton's new "Alice in Wonderland" movie coming out next spring & decided to do an Alice painting. Here she is with the Cheshire Cat. I'm really happy with how it turned out! "Alice & Chessie" is up for auction on ebay now right HERE!

We had an awesome time in Weston last weekend! The leaves were at their peak for color & I can't even describe how beautiful the Missouri bluffs were! I did NOT want to come home on Sunday! As soon as my hubby gets pictures uploaded I'll post some.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rainy day so I plan to get some more painting done. I have a little wooden box all primed & ready to paint so that's probably what I'll work on. Happy hump day!

Autumn Leaves are Falling

Koda having fun in the leaves
Who wants to rake?

St. Francis

Begonias still going strong~with leaves mixed in!

I don't think I've EVER seen our fall foliage as brilliant & colorful as it is this year! I mean it is absolutely gorgeous! I wish I could've gotten some good tree pictures around town but you'll have to settle for my backyard. Only thing is, it's been SO windy here the last few days all the pretty leaves are getting blown off the trees. I just hope it doesn't happen too fast. Craig & I are leaving tomorrow for a weekend in Weston, MO & we're hoping the trees aren't bare before we get there! The town & surrounding countryside are usually just amazing with fall color in October! Weston is a little town on the river about an hour north of Kansas City (where I grew up!). We stay in our favorite bed & breakfast & everything we want to see & do is within walking distance ~ antique & gift shops on Main Street, Pirtle Winery in an old church building, O'Malley's Pub with live music, the wine bar at the St. George Hotel & we love to just walk the residential streets to look at the quaint houses all decorated for Halloween! There's even an old cemetery I like to stroll through & read the old headstones ~ SO interesting! Can't wait! You can read all about Weston on their website HERE!

My poor art studio has been neglected lately. Next week I plan to start some new paintings though ~ maybe some Thanksgiving themes. Last week I took a few of my fleece kitty beds to the Humane Society & the kitties just loved them! They immediately curled up on them & I decided right then I needed to make more. One bed I'd laid on a chair had 3 cats all trying to fit on it - ha. So, yesterday I spent the afternoon at my sewing machine stitching away & brought 16 with me to the H.S. today. I wish I would've remembered to bring my camera to get some shots of the kitties curled up on them. SO CUTE! I will next time.

Ok, gotta finish packing. Everyone have a wonderful fall weekend!

Thank you Brian!

Just a quick post tonight. I want to say a big purry thank you to Brian, the brown & grey tabby for giving me this nice award! My first award from a cat ~ awesome! I'm told the saying is "This blog is a dream". I'm very happy & honored. Blogging has been such a great way for me to share ideas, get ideas from others, learn so many interesting things & meet such wonderful, friendly people! Thank you ALL for visiting & commenting! It really does touch my heart!

I'm supposed to forward this award on but I have such a busy week I'm afraid I don't have the time right now so all you deserving people out there feel free to stamp yourself & feel good about what you do! Oh, & please go visit Brian the Tabby at his pawsitively marvelous blog right HERE!

The hubby & I are heading out of town Friday morning for a weekend in Weston, MO ~ my favorite little town in the world! More about that tomorrow. Good-night!

Happy National Feral Cat Day!

Be their voice!

Happy Friday all!

Just a quick post to call attention to National Feral Cat Day. Homeless kitties everywhere need our help for food, shelter & LOVE! Please do what you can to help when you come across a stray or feral kitty. They have no voice so WE need to be their voice! Most important of all ~ SPAY & NEUTUER your pets!

Alley Cat Allies is the wonderful organization that founded Feral Cat Day. Please visit their website HERE for all kinds of ways you can help & learn about the Trap-Neuter-Return program to control cat colonies.

God bless you & God bless the precious alley cats everywhere!

xoxo purrs ~ Jill

Cozy Fleece for Shelter Kitties

Happy Thursday everybody!

I don't have any new paintings to show but that's because I've been busy sewing up new fleece catnap pads for the kitties at the humane society. It's getting so chilly here & I know the kitties would LOVE some fleece to snuggle up in! Plus, I've found fleece holds up pretty well in the jumbo commercial washers & dryers they have there. The cats have pretty nice accomodations at the shelter but the floors ARE hard & bare & the metal climbing structures & platforms I'm sure are just plain cold! The kitties always have something to cozy up with ~ usually old towels, but I want to give them something a little more comfy & warm ~ & stylish - ha! As you can see in my pictures, Zoolou & Markie were more than happy to test them out for me. I think they both rated them a 10 on the comfort scale!

Have a nice evening & stay warm! Hugs & purrrrrs...

Silly Cats

No. 1 reason towels don't get folded.
Empty bags are always more fun than the contents inside!

No. 1 reason the bed doesn't get made.

Just a few cute cat pictures to give you a smile for your Tuesday!

Witchy Woman

Witchy Woman

I've had a touch of the flu (or something) the past few days but somehow still managed to finish another Halloween painting. I like her cute witch outfit & I'm happy I gave her a Siamese to hold instead of the black kitty I'd planned on. The colors just fit. I have to laugh at my "Witchy Woman" title for this painting. In grade school, it was around Halloween time & one of our assignments in art class was to draw a picture while listening to the Eagles "Witchy Woman" song playing over & over & over - ha! I remember drawing a witch with raven black hair, ruby red lips, sparks flying off her fingertips & little moons in her eyes! I think I was in 5th or 6th grade & can still picture that drawing! I just loved art classes in school, especially during the holidays. The kids all called me Leonardo - ha. If only I could paint like HIM!!!

Check out Witchy Woman on Ebay HERE!

My daughter Kayla is having friends over this evening for scary movie night! I think I'm as excited as she is! We really wanted to do it out back on the deck & patio with the outside tv, the fire pit roaring, snacks & spooky lights hung up but who knew it would be 35 degrees & windy??? Brrrr ~ too cold. Instead, we cleaned up the basement family room, set out some metal pumpkin tea light holders & filled the table with snacks ~ popcorn, pumpkin cookies, candy corn & peanuts, cheese puffs & fun size candy bars. Yummm! I wanted to make caramel apples but just didn't have the energy. Well, the house is filling up with giggling girls (& a few boys) so the party's on.

Happy Saturday! Happy Fall!

New Halloween Painting

Wanted to share my latest painting with you ~ a cute little jack-o-lantern & curious kitty. It sure is feeling like fall around here! Today was cool & cloudy & later this evening it turned even colder & rainy with really creepy looking clouds. A perfect day to paint but I did other housework instead-yuck. We drove to a small town north of us to watch our niece play volleyball tonight & on the way home saw lots of lightning! Very Halloweenish! Jack-O-Lantern Friend is up for auction on EBAY right now. Take a peek!

Have a ghoulish evening! BoooOOOOOoooOOOooo!

A Sweet Award

Thank you Janine!

Thanks to everyone for your sweet birthday wishes! I had an extra little surprise from Janine at Join Janine in the form of a blog award. Thank you so much Janine! I am honored.

I'm supposed to list 7 things about myself & pass the award off to 7 others. Here goes...

I'm crazy about cats (but NOT a crazy cat lady)!

I love antiques & primitives

I love scary movies & thunderstorms

I volunteer at the KS Humane Society

Fall is the BEST season ever!

I think I could live on bread & wine (& coffee!)

I worry too much!

Now I'm happy to bestow this award on:

Carrie from The Snippets

Jenn from Noodle & Lou

Christina from Folk Art of Christina Colwell

Shelley from The Charming Place

Miss Peach from Miss Peach's Meowz

Michelle from Enchanted Inspirations

Noir the Texas Tuxedo Tabby from Noir's Nook

Happy Tuesday everybody! Purrs....

Happy Birthday to Me!

Walter's Pumpkin Patch ~ Pumpkins for Sale!
Pumpkin Salsa
The awesome craft shop!

Good grief, it's been FOREVER since I've posted! This past week has been a really stressful one for me for various reasons. My brother gave us a health scare (he's fine) & I've been trying to catch a little grey kitty at our Walgreens parking lot for about 3 weeks now with no luck. It's so frustrating. I went to leave food the other night & actually ran into another woman who was looking for it & told me she'd been feeding it too. Turns out she's an artist too! Seems cats & art just go together! Well, I had already sat in the parking lot 5 different nights with my trap set & then sat another 2 nights with my new cat rescuer friend. To our disappointment, we didn't see the grey kitty, but saw 2 other cats! There are houses around the area & we don't know if the kitties are stray or have homes & are just coming over for a free extra meal. I suspect they are feral though & that makes me sad. I'm the type that will go home & worry about them. Anyway, I've talked with the other woman & told her I needed to take a break for a while & she said she's happy to keep feeding them & trying to catch them so I'm trying not to worry about them too much. I have a husband & 3 kids & my own furry children to take care of at home & just can't spend so many late nights away. I do feel guilty though. I just wish cats would make it easy & LET you help them & not run away!

On a happier note ~ today is my BIRTHDAY! I had a really nice day. The weather was gorgeous & I told my husband I wanted to go to the pumpkin patch. My daughter went with us along with her friend & we drove out to the country to Walter's Pumpkin Patch in Burns, KS. It was awesome ~ pumpkins & gourds, hay rides, giant corn maze, creek, woods, 2 really cool gift shops with baked goodies & all the fun crafty items I love! We had the best pulled pork sandwich - yum! When we got home later Craig (the hubby) & I had a glass of wine out on the patio by the fire pit & later grilled hamburgers & hotdogs followed by birthday cake ~ chocolate with chocolate frosting of course! I had mine while watching Desperate Housewives-ha! A perfect day!

Hope your weekend was perfect too! Back to painting tomorrow. I have a commission to finish!