A Little Princess

I have been fostering kittens continuously for about a year now.   I have had two dogs in that time that I fostered.  One puppy I kept over night and she was adopted at Petsmart's Adopt-a-thon the next day.  The other was a little hairless terrier that we called Wiggy.



She was a doll who went to a recuse after a couple weeks.

Yesterday I went to the shelter to get a kitten some meds and walked in to see a one of the workers holding this little girl.


Can you stand it? I couldn't! I said, does she need a foster home?  They said yes, they'd received about 40 dogs in the past three days and were out of room.  She was in a crate in the garage area because they had run out of room.  No way I was letting that little doll baby sleep in a cold garage over Christmas. ;)  So I brought her home.   And I'm trying very hard not to fall in love.  I'm not sure it is working.    The woman who surrendered her mentioned she was part papillon.  My dog is a papillon rescue and my mom had a teeny papillon about the size of this girl.  She has the fragile structure of my mom's pap at that age and some extra hair on her ears, but she also looks very dachshund to me.  I looked online and found there is an English Cream Dachshund, so I think that might very well be her other 'part'.   It is such a cute combination.  It reminds me of a teeny Saluki which is one of my favorite large breeds.

Be forewarned....cuteness overload:



She's a blur!




Kittens are considered old enough for spaying and adoption at 2lbs.  She's as small as the kittens I foster.  My big puffball, Sylvester rubbed his head on her right way, welcoming her to the house.  Have I mentioned how much I love my cat?  He's soooo sweet!!


I get you, kitty!






Go, girl, go!


As I said, she has the structure of my mom's little pap.  To make a long story short, my Dad did not want a house dog.  Of course he fell in love and he adored her, but he was kinda mad when mom got her without asking.

My mom passed away from breast cancer and about a year or two later the dog, Cricket, passed away too.  After that Dad was on edge that we'd say he was lonely and get him a dog without his consent.  He said they were too much work.  And when he comes to visit he tells me my foster kittens are too much work and that people didn't need animals, because they are too much work.     And for my birthday he gave me some cash and said 'go crazy'.  This is pertinent and will make sense in a second.

So you see, in a few days when we have Christmas together I must take the puppy.  And I have to freak my dad out.   I will either say,  "Hey I spent the money you gave me on a dog", which will upset him or (and I think this is it) I'll put a big bow on her neck and say "Merry Christmas, Dad!!"



Either way, it will be a Kodak moment. ;)

Christmas Kitties

Getting friendly kittens in and taking care of them until they are old enough to be neutered and go to Petsmart is the easier part of fostering.   Twice now, I've gotten a set of feral kittens.   They require lots of patience and time and they steal a part of your heart the other kittens don't touch.  You feel sorry for them, because you know they are genuinely afraid and then you are so touched when (and if) they finally show you their trust.  They are such gentle little souls.    With my first set of feral fosters, we tamed two, kept one, and then one was sent back to us from Petsmart because she wasn't tame enough and no one adopted her.   So, more time was spent taming her and after having her 6 months she was finally adopted with the Christmas rush.  

I have three more little ferals right now.  The two boys are more tame than the little calico girl.  With the Christmas rush they will likely get adopted.  Hopefully they go to good homes  that understand the trust of a wild kitten is a treasure and they never raise their voices to them or break that trust.    So here they are.  Three little Christmas angels.

His little goatee and mustache I think he looks like a little Spanish Conquistador or V from V for Vendetta.  I went the Spanish route and named him Don Gato.  The girls call him "Mini Me" because he looks just like our adopted feral, Sylvester. 





Very timid, very shy little Giselle and Sylvester peeking through the door with a look of betrayal. You can't see it, but trust me it is there.  He ran in when I opened the door to go out - silly boy.


She is just going to be stunning!!


And my little Gray Baby aka Grayson.


See I can touch him without him fleeing!  ;)  I worked to achieve this.  When I brought them home from the shelter they were wild as ginueas and hopping around like hissing mexican jumping beans.



Ginseng isn't feral.  He's the complete opposite.  He is half cat and half parrot.  Super snuggler he didn't go with his litter to petsmart because he wasn't quite ready to be neutered - boy issues.





Thanks for looking and if you fall in love with one - hurry fast and contact:  http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/KY167.html

I apologize for the lack of posts recently.  We had a very rainy dark week not very conducive to picture taking or doing anything blog worthy.   I don't have my Christmas decorations up yet, although I've been getting them out.   Here's hoping for a better week to come. 

Vintage Recipe: Million Dollar Fudge

Today, first lady Michelle Obama promotes active lifestyles and healthy eating choices, but before Mrs. Obama there was a Mamie Eisenhower -and Mamie Eisenhower brought the American public the most decadent fudge recipe ever: Mamie Eisenhower's Million Dollar Fudge.

This is a marshmallow cream based fudge. There is also a recipe on the back of marshmallow cream called Fantasy Fudge, but it calls for 3/4 cup of butter, where Million Dollar Fudge uses two tablespoons, so I suppose I am paying a bit of attention to the healthiness of my Christmas candy. Mrs. Eisenhower's Million Dollar Fudge was found in publications across America through the 1950's during which her husband was in office. Mamie's recipe can be found online in the Eisenhower Archives (link).

The instructions are simple, although it is not fail proof.  I can fail any recipe - we'll discuss my 15 year love hate relationship with no-bake oatmeal cookies another time.

Mamie’s Million Dollar Fudge
4 1/2 cups sugar

pinch of salt 

2 tablespoons butter 

1 tall can evaporated milk 

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate bits 

12 ounces German-sweet chocolate  (I used milk chocolate chips)

1 pint marshmallow cream 

2 cups nutmeats  (I used walnuts)

Boil the sugar, salt, butter, evaporated milk together for six minutes.
Put chocolate bits and German chocolate, marshmallow cream and nutmeats in a bowl. Pour the boiling syrup over the ingredients. Beat until chocolate is all melted, then pour in pan. Let stand a few hours before cutting.
Remember it is better the second day. Store in tin box.

 Now, I already said I have trouble with this recipe and things boiled over and all kinds of stuff, so it wasn't pretty and I have no photos from that phase of cooking.

Starting after you've let the sugar, butter, and evaporated milk boil for 6 minutes pour it into a bowl.

Add chocolate chips

 

Stir

 Add marshmallow cream.

 Stir.

 Line your dish with plastic wrap or wax paper so it will be easy to lift the fudge out after it sets up.

 We had a little....well, my daughter raked her fingers across the top of the fudge, which we were baking for her teachers, thinking I wouldn't notice it, so I don't have photos of the pretty finished product. Grrr. Instead here is a shot showing the poinsetta's on my vintage table cloth.  I can't remember if this is the one I bought or on that the kids inherited from their Grandmother.

 And some details of the cute Christmas place-mat I found thrifting this year.

If you have never had this recipe, you must give it a try.  This fudge does not disappoint!!  Eight year old's sneaking the fudge might disappoint, but never the fudge.

Vintage Christmas Gift Tags

I had a great luck looking for vintage Christmas stuff the other week.  In the bottom of a wreath box I found these tags.  I don't know what the copyright laws are on stuff this old, so I'm not going to say you could go to my Flickr page and download these for personal use.

Instead I'll just talk about these adorable tags...

and the wonderful colors - I love how much pink use to be a part of Christmas,

and the awesome fonts,

and the way Santa never stood on two feet until at least 1980 -had you noticed? I think he wobbled from too much eggnog before the whole salmonella scare came along,


and how lovely it is to find these tiny treasures from the past.