Well hello there....lots going on around here that at present doesn't include any new art.
Let's see......I'll start with the furniture because I am leaving the extreme cute factor for last....don't cheat now. :)
I have a hutch that was my parents...I think it may be maple. In the days when "antiquing" kits were popular my dad redid it. Well in those days "antiquing" was this horrible baby poop brown stuff that I never liked it. When they moved we got the hutch and it stayed that color for years...go figure! Finally we took the hutch shelf top off and I painted the bottom black....yes black and a white top a few years ago, it was one of those "what was I thinking?" things because it constantly showed finger prints and dust and just wasn't done right. You can see it below....looking at this old photo it even looks like something spilled down the front it.....though I don't know what that could have been or I would have cleaned it (really). The shelved top we took off is going to be hung on the wall in my studio. Anyway.....
After that we inserted beadboard in the panels of the door and I painted it with robins egg blue chalk paint......distressing it a bit. See below.
Now I liked it for sure but it was just too big in the kitchen so we moved it to the living room. Recently it's been bugging me that the living room was void of pops of color so once again ye old hutch got a redo. Funny to see picture because those shelves on the wall are now black, the table has been painted and those chairs are gone replaced by benches,.
This red is Valspar Heirloom Red and it just sings in the room. I love the combo of red and turquoise.
Which brings me to the next thing I painted. Again, from my parents house were 2 armless chairs that at the time were green silk tufted. They had been in one of my brothers garage and their dog chewed a corner of them but I took them anyway. At the time I had them reupholstered in a heavy chenille....in colors that I grew to loathe. So I had one redone in a lighter fabric using some I already had. BUT the cats scratched the back and pulled some threads.....these poor chairs. Sadly I can't find pics of the chairs before. So the other day I decided to add more pop in the living room (and not being able to go to the reupholsterer right away) that I would PAINT it! Yes paint the fabric. So I gessoed it and then painted a couple coats of Valspar Seafarer and then painted the exposed wood a sort of taupe-y brown. I I am really happy with it as it sings like the red hutch.
It looks like leather doesn't it? I am going to make or PAINT a colorful throw pillow for it. It resembles a bedroom chair a bit (they aren't, they were in my parents living room)....they are meant as side chairs for extra seating. It can now be wiped off and it's still comfortable to sit on. Paint is an amazing thing, isn't it? The sad thing was I wanted to do the other chair which was still the old chenille but it literally SUCKED up the paint and was stiff and ugly. Soooo.....the plan is to have that one eventually reupholstered in a print that combines all the various colors around the room. I will share it all when it's done. Have you ever painted a piece of upholstered fabric? Do tell!!
Ok now for the other new developments around here:
Last week in the early evening we found 3 wee kittens running the street, 2 going under BohoHandyman's truck out front. Our next door neighbor found the 3rd across the street. We put them on the side of our house hoping the mother would come for them.....she never did. They remained huddled and alone. Then I heard mewing out front the next day and there was a kitten across the street in the gutter...I called to it and it ran to me only to run back across as it got to me and went in to some bushes. I couldn't find it. By now we'd put the other 3 in a cat carrier and that evening BohoHandyman found the 4th one. We put them all together. I called everywhere but NO ONE was taking kittens as it's kitten season and there is an abundance. We did NOT want them put down!!! So we took the troop to the local pet supply store to get supplies and ask questions. There happened to be a vet doing a clinic so she checked them out, 2 girls, 2 boys. They needed immediate flea treatments she said because there were so many the fleas could kill them. So we got that, did it and the fleas died in droves and they already look cleaner. We got formula, a bottle etc. The first night we had them I only had a dropper and mixed soy milk with distilled water. They loved it. So we then went to Petsmart and there we talked to very knowledgable gal and I received a call from a woman I'd emailed with more info. These babies are about 5 weeks old.......they eat wet food with a bit of goats milk mixed in. They still drink a bit from the bottle (goats milk and a wee bit of formula). They now have a litter pan in the big dog crate they are in now. We got a litter made from walnuts to be safe. We feed every 4 hrs. We are in love. We cannot keep them because of our other animals BUT we are fostering them until we can get them adopted. We have done a sort of bath with kitty wipes and they need it again...messy buggers. But they love to eat and be held and be stroked and pet. For now we are using gloves as not to pass anything to the cats or the dog. The large dog crate gives them room to move, a place to climb and an area to eat. We plan to get them a hammock too.
Each day we change what's under them but they are messy right now (as you can see.... we changed it after this photo), tonight we got disposable pads. Can you even handle those faces? Melts the heart doesn't it?
They just love each other and are really used to us already. We put an old cat scratching post on its side in there and they climb all over it. They use the pan at the back but again, messy messy litter everywhere! They rarely mew mew except when hungry, otherwise when we go out to check them they are either huddled sleeping or playing. You have to know I am in mommy mode and worry about everything...I just want them to flourish so they can go to good homes. It will be so sad when that happens but at least we'll know we gave them a chance!
Here is more cutest to feast your eyes on. (they have blue eyes)
From left to right they are (you KNOW I had to name them) Max, Dharma, Jack and Atti. (Atti is short for attitude as she had one at first - she was the 4th one we caught) Dharma is the "runt" of the litter and still hasn't got the hang of eating from the dish so she sucks down the bottle.
Dharma, the second from left is, as I said, the "runt" (for lack of a better word) and she is a love. She would be happy if I held her all day and believe me I wish I could. We have to be mindful that since they were born feral we don't know if they have anything so for awhile we keep the gloves on and I wear an apron. In a few weeks they can get their first shots and at 2 1/2 pounds spayed or neutered. I hope we can get them good homes where the new parents will act responsibly. We can get a voucher for the spay/neuter from the local Humane Society. We have good resources for help if we have questions so that's been a blessing!
So there you have it.....things have been busy around here and I haven't even told you about our new garden plans. Next time. For now it's time to check on the troops. Our cats have no idea they are even out there but Sadey, our dog, is curious.... funny enough BohoHandy man just came in and said he was out there and Sadey came in....and stood up to see the cage - it's up from the floor. Wee Dharma saw her and started to hiss while the others backed away. HA! She may be wee but I guess she's mighty.
I tell you my blogger friends.......they are irresistable! If you live in the SF Bay Area and have a hankering for a new kitty or kitties please feel free to email me. ONLY if you are serious about wanting one though.
You can be sure I'll be showing more photos.....
Until next time...
P.S. We have not seen hide nor hair of the mother cat.....not even a meow. I just have to wonder if something happened to her OR she just abandoned them. Sad. Unfortunately our neighborhood is riddled with litters and most of the time the mother moves them around once we see all them. We have had few litters born in the back corner of our yard and then the mother moves thems.... Other neighbors have had litters born in a corner of their yard too. It's no doubt more than one mother but we think the father is a randy bugger that's been around awhile who really needs to be caught and clipped! (although we haven't seen him lately) SPAY or NEUTER your pets people........please!!!
