Minnie the Queen of the Carnival & The Furry Children

This is my newest doll, "Minnie". I think she turned out so sweet. She is holding some vintage balloon birthday cake toppers. Did I mention that I love balloons? I can't remember if I have but there is something so innocent and comforting about them for me....they take me right back to childhood.

I attached these little copper bells underneath her frame skirt and they reminded me of the old flying saucer rides at the carnival. When you blow on them or a slight breeze comes up they swirl in circles. Her skirt reminds me of the tents the carnival rides would hide beneath waiting for the excited little child to discover. And, a chance to paint a girl with pink hair and violet eyes? Yes please!

We just lost one of our kitties; sweet George. I will tell you about him at the end of this post. And, I realized, I didn't have many recent pictures of him. So I thought I would post pics of all of our furry children today because, as we've been grieving his loss the last few weeks...you never know when you may lose one. And, there is no more unconditional love then from these little guys.

Above is Bagheera but we call her Boo. She is the sweetest girl and will be 14 this year. Below, is our little Chloe. Both of these ladies were strays from the street and it took Chloe a long time to warm up to us. But, she is a love now...she will be 11 this year. We found out that she is a diabetic about 2 & 1/2 years ago. I have been giving her 2 shots of insulin a day ever since. You can't believe how well she tolerates those shots.

That little one hiding down there? Well, she's not so little...hehe. That's Sake. Another girl from the street and she will be 10. She is shy but when you get her on your lap you'll get a belly up of fatty goodness. :)

Below is Henry, also a stray that we picked up from the shelter a couple of years ago. He is 4 and he is the sweetest most grateful little dog we have ever known.

This is his "sister" Sunday. She's 3 and cute as a button as you can see. Sunday believes she is a princess and we all act accordingly. Even her farts don't stink. I swear. :oP

Below, is Nemo, also from the shelter. He will be 8 this year. He is a true little boy full of energy and curiosity but can also be a big love.

Look at this sweet girl in the window! This is Kitty and she will be 5. Kitty is truly, one of the sweetest cats I have ever had the privilege of having. She lets the kids lay on her and plays with Sunday & Henry. She is sweet like no other and pretty darn cute to boot.

And, sweet, sweet George below. :( We moved into our house in 2002 and had three of our other cats already. We don't let our cats outside because where we live there is a lot of traffic and coyotes. But we noticed this sweet orange and white cat staring in the windows at us. He would even sit on the outside wall and stare into our bedroom window at night. We asked the neighbors about him an they said the old owners just left him. Whaa! Well he defintely loved to be outside so we built him a house and bed by the back door and decided that he would be ours if he would have us. We joke that George really adopted us. So, we're not really sure how old he was when he came into our lives possibly 2-4? Then we had him with us for the past 10 years. We miss him terribly.

He was that sweet face sitting by the front door whenever we came home. Sometimes, he would be sitting on the corner of our cul-de-sac and when he saw our car would start running towards the house. I love you Georgie. And, I know you're in a better place laying in the sun and chasing birds. Until we meet again...

xxx