More new kitty cat toys

 As I've been gathering the supplies for my next project I'm still working on making more cat toys for our Mauve Moose shop on Etsy.  Things have been flying out the door (which is awesome by the way) but it also means I need to make more of them!  Which also means less time for all the other things I want to do but that's ok I really do enjoy making the cat toys.  Finally got some more fabrics for Christmas toys.  Got lots of ideas but won't share them yet until I manage to actually make what's in my head.  In the meantime I'll share some of the toys I've been working on.  I must say if you see some you like, especially the strawberry toys, don't wait to get them or they'll be gone.  I only have so much of certain fabrics and with all the mask making everybody is doing these days I can't get a lot of the fabrics I've had on hand.  

Cooking up some rusty bits

I'm in need of some rusty old cans and rusty bits for a project.  But, since I moved not too long ago I got rid of a lot of rusty bits and pieces laying around in the garage.  Thought I'd never have any use for them.  Well that was wrong of me to think.  I do have a lot of patience but not so sure I have enough patience to have mother nature take care of getting me some rusty cans and other bits.  So good old friend google and pinterest to the rescue!  "How to make something rust fast!?"  I actually found a bunch of articles and DIY's on how to do it.  I did have everything I needed in the house so off I went cooking up some rusty cans and bits.

What you need:

White distilled vinegar (but I'm sure apple vinegar will work just as well if that's what you have)

Salt (I used the pink kind since I didn't have any regular white salt)

Hydrogen peroxide

Metal cans, nails, screws, wire, whatever it is you want to make rusty

Plastic tub

Spray bottle 

Thongs

How to:

I laid all my metal pieces (nails, screws, switch plate, chain, wire, etc.) and the cans in the plastic tub.

First I sprayed all the metal pieces with the plain white vinegar and sprinkled some salt on all the items.  I let it all dry laying in the tub.  I sprayed the cans a couple of times in between drying to get the vinegar on all sides of the cans.

Next I mixed 2 tablespoons of the salt with about 1/4 cup of the vinegar and 3/4 cups of the hydrogen peroxide in the spray bottle.  Give it a good shake to make sure the salt gets dissolved.

I used that mixture to spray all the items in the tub.  Kinda crazy how fast you can see the mixture getting to do it's thing on all that metal.  I went back after letting it sit for about an hour and a lot of the pieces where already completely rusted!  The cans I had to turn over a couple of times and spray them again to make sure they were getting rusty on all sides.

Here is a photo before I started and the second one after spraying the cans a couple of times.  Now I'm going to let it all sit for a couple of days before I move on to the next part of my project.  

Next I have to purchase a big pot where I can cook and steam things in!  Not telling you yet what I'm going to be doing but feel free to guess!  

Before spraying

After first spray with just the vinegar and I sprinkled some salt on all of it.

Here are my pieces getting nice and rusty!

More info to follow in a couple of days so come back and see what I'm up too next!

Butterflies love the butterfly bush

I planted a butterfly bush (also known as buddleja) just a couple days ago remembering the huge butterfly bush we had at the other house and it always attracted butterflies and hummingbirds as well.  I went outside to let the dogs do their business and there was a beautiful Monarch butterfly on the newly planted bush ... but ... I couldn't get a good picture of him since he wouldn't sit still so he flew to a nearby coneflower (echinacea) where he finally posed for me to take a picture!  And a few minutes later one of the hummers that visit my feeder constantly was feeding on the butterfly bush as well, so yeahhh I'm happy the butterfly bush is already doing it's thing.

I've always been a curious one.  Teachers used to get frustrated with my million and one questions about anything and everything.  Thank God we have Google now to answer a lot of my questions!  

So I asked myself how do I know if it's a male or female Monarch butterfly?  

Well, according to the experts males have a small black spot on the hindwing.  Which you can see in the picture below.  Females do not.  Males also have slightly narrower black wing veins.

Peregrine Falcon - I think

 So working upstairs in my loft I noticed my dog intensely watching something outside.  I figured it was either the bunnies, the chipmunk or the squirrels that come and visit us on a daily basis.  But then I noticed  my other dog, the older one who usually ignores what’s happening outside unless the younger one alerts him, joining the “watch party”.  I looked up from the cat toys I was making and saw the falcon that lives in the area.  I’ve seen it fly in the common area behind my house flying really low and every time I think, geeeeezzzz I wish I could catch that on video.  Well I was able to capture him on video and I wasn’t going to give up until he flew away.  So after 7 long minutes he finally decided to take off and I did get it on video.  Not as spectacular as I was hoping for but still pretty awesome I think.  Here is just a photo.  I need to figure out how to post the video of it but for now the photo will be it.

I think it’s a Peregrine Falcon by it’s markings.  After doing some research as to what kind of bird he/she is I found some interesting info on https://www.nps.gov/shen/learn/nature/falcon.htm page (National Park Service).  Here is part of the info but there is lots more if you go to the actual page.  

“Peregrine falcon populations in the eastern United States declined sharply between the 1940s and 1960s due primarily to the widespread use of the pesticide DDT. DDT accumulates in the peregrine falcon’s system due to eating birds that eat food contaminated with DDT. For the peregrine, DDT interrupts the ability to produce calcium. The consequence is that contaminated peregrine falcons lay thin eggs prone to breaking and hatching failure. DDT was banned in 1972 and Peregrine falcons were placed on the endangered species list in 1973. Cornell University (later the Peregrine Fund), U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), and various natural resource agencies began reintroducing peregrine falcons back into their native range. This program involved the release of captive-reared peregrines with the hope that these birds would re-colonize their historic breeding range. Between 1975 and 1993, over 1200 young falcons were released throughout the East by regional peregrine falcon recovery teams. From 1978 to 1993 approximately 250 of those falcons were released in Virginia. These birds were released into the wild using a management technique referred to as hacking. Shenandoah National Park is home to a peregrine falcon restoration program. Learn more about peregrine falcon restoration in Shenandoah.”

If you look closely at the video you will see a hummingbird visiting my feeder.  What amazed me is that the hummingbird actually flew up and around the falcon a couple of times!  I know the hummingbird has a nest in a nearby tree since I’ve watched him from my deck flying to and from the nest to my feeder plus I can hear  the tiny babies wanting to be fed.  So I did some research on hummingbirds and found out some really interesting facts as to why hawks or falcons don’t prey on hummers and also why hummers actually like having them in the neighborhood!  https://www.audubon.org/news/why-hawk-hummingbirds-best-friend

Here is a section of the article “ You know what they say about location and real estate. Hummingbird nests often appear in clusters, but for years researchers couldn’t figure out what attracted the birds to certain areas. Turned out the answer was, “good neighbors.”

Biologist Harold Greeney was doing fieldwork in Arizona in 2007 when he and his team realized that breeding hummingbirds often clustered around hawk nests. By 2009, Greeney and company were able to report that the hummers nesting close to hawks were actually more successful at raising chicks. Now, in a study published last week in Science Advances, they are unveiling research into exactly why that seems to be the case.”

Yes - I’m still making kitty cat toys!

I can’t believe we’ve been doing this since 2012.  It all started with my daughter Sofie making a couple of toys for our own cat.  I was selling my Bits Of Fiber items at a Farmers Market in The Plains at the time and told her she should take some of those toys and try to sell them.  And selling we did!  I also had her set up her own Etsy shop which we named MauveMoose.  Funny thing is that for a while she wanted to change it to MauveMice or MauveMouse but we had invested into the MauveMoose name with business cards etc so we decided to keep it as MauveMoose.  Anyways, we thought we were nuts for taking our first large wholesale order of 475 strawberry catnip toys until we ended up making 5400, yup you are reading correctly ... 5 4 0 0 cat toys we made ... by hand!! We did use the sewing machine to stitch them but the cutting, filling, stuffing and sewing them once filled was all done by hand.  We did ask a couple of friends to help us out with that order.  But that was the end of the large wholesale orders.  Me working full time, running my other Etsy shop, Bits of Fiber,  Sofie going to school etc we decided to focus on just the retail part of the business.  As time moves on, life moves on ... a lot has happened since 2012.  My dear husband passed away, I sold and purchased another house, moved to a totally different part of Virginia and I’m planning on retiring by 2021.  I’m looking forward to chapter #3 of my life that I hope will be filled with lots and lots of new projects, new people and new adventures and no need to panic ... I’ll continue making cat toys in between.  

Avocado Brownies

 I've seen recipes for brownies made with avocado which kinda made me scratch my head.  So cruising through Pinterest last night I remembered I had saved one of those recipes on my "This is making me hungry" board.  I did have enough ripe avocado's to make "avocado brownies" so I put on my apron preheated the oven and went to work.  Now being the artist I am makes it hard for me to follow a recipe which isn't always a good thing to do especially in baking.  In cooking things it's usually not that big of a deal when you change the recipe a bit but in baking it doesn't always work.  But ... since I didn't have some of the ingredients in the recipe I had saved I had to adjust it ... right!?  Well I must say they turned out awesome and since it has avocado in it I claim them "healthy".  And for those who are wondering just like I was ... can you taste the avocado? ... not at all!  Or at least not in my recipe.      

Avocado Brownies

3 eggs

3 small avocados

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla liquid

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cacao powder (sugar free)

Preheat oven to 325.

1. I sprayed a glass pan with Baker's Joy non-stick baking spray.  You can use parchment paper if you like.
2. Mix eggs with the sugar and vanilla liquid
3. I mashed the avocados with a fork until pretty smooth and then mixed it in with the eggs and sugar.
4. In a separate bowl I mixed the cacao powder, the flour, baking powder and the chocolate chips.
5. I then combined the dry ingredients with the wet ones and used a spatula to mix it all together.  Only long enough until combined.  Probably best not to over stir it.  
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and put in oven.  
7. Since I changed the ingredients from the original recipe I had no idea how long these needed to be in the oven so I checked them after 10 minutes and then every 5 minutes.  All together they were in the oven for 25 minutes.  My pan was pretty big so the batter was only about an inch thick before baking.  If you use a smaller pan then the one I used they will need to bake longer.

I put a bit of confectioner sugar on top just for the looks.  

Now I couldn't wait until they had totally cooled off to give them a try.  I read that if you eat them still warm you would be able to taste the avocado ... well I tried a slice when still warm and couldn't taste the avocado at all ... all I tasted was delicious chocolate brownie!  With the ingredients I used they turned out more cake like compared to the gooey brownies.  Maybe if you use 4 small avocados they would turn out more gooey?  I'm not a professional baker, I'm just an artist putting my own twist on baking these brownies!  

Enjoy!  and please let me know if you end up trying my recipe on how they turned out for you.  

 

 

  

Wire Fairy Timelapse

I love making sculptures.  If you look back at some of my posts from a couple of years ago I was making them with a product called Powertex.   I still have lots of my supplies which has me thinking about making sculptures again.  Especially watching this video which had me in awe!  

Toadstools or Mushrooms or Championnekes

What's a mushroom?  "They describe a variety of gilled fungi, with or without stems, therefore the term is used to describe the fleshy fruiting bodies of some Ascomycota.  These gills produce microscopic spores that help the fungus spread across the ground or its occupant surface".

Mushrooms or toadstools have always caught my interest (see needle felted toadstools earrings I used to make or the baby shoes with needle felted toadstool designs I've created in the past) but never to the point to go foraging for them.  I'm too scared to end up picking a poisonous one.  

While taking these pictures I started thinking about "Toast Champignon" my mom used to make and while I'm not crazy about eating mushrooms that did make my mouth water!  I found a recipe on a Flemish site: https://dagelijksekost.een.be/gerechten/toast-champignon.  My mom used to make it with some kind of Alfredo sauce which toned down the flavor of the mushrooms a bit.

The reason I'm talking about mushrooms is because I found these beauties in my yard a couple of days ago after storm Isaiah came by.  The ones in the backyard I had to get rid of because I have two dogs that love to nibble on grass.  I wouldn't want them accidentally eat one of these since I know some of these are poisonous!  

I think the lighter colored ones are "parasol" and the darker ones

"shaggy parasol" but I might be wrong I'm not a mushroom

expert!

I did find a page that talks about these and if that's what these are they are edible ... 

but trust me I'm not going to try to eat them, better safe then sorry.

Here is the link to the article on how to cook them if that's what they are:

https://gallowaywildfoods.com/parasol-mushroom-edibility-distribution-identification/

I think these are called "Yellow Patches" or Amanita flavoconia

Poisonous

When I went searching on the internet to find out what these were called I ran into this article "15 worlds funkiest fungi"   OMG!!  

Here is the link to it:  https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/89768/15-worlds-funkiest-fungi

Mother nature doing her thing!

So guess what I'll be making for dinner!?  Toast Champignon ... but definitely with store bought championnekes!

Always in my heart

 Since I missed a couple of years out of this blog I thought I'd share some of the things that happened in between then and now.  It might not always be in chronological order.  Things that pop into my head will be popping up as they come to me.  

Today I was thinking about the floral heart arrangement I made for my honey to put on his grave.  Looking at the pictures I want to make another one soon.  This next time I'll share how I go about making it with step by step instructions.  But for now, here are pictures of what the one I made looked like.  

They are all real flowers, greenery and moss.  The base is a grapevine heart shaped wreath that I took apart and used only a few of the grapevines which I then wrapped with chicken wire to get the elongated shape of the heart.  I used oasis inside the chicken wire.  I used rosemary from our garden since that was one of the plants we always had to have in our yard wherever we lived ... it was his favorite herb so I made sure it was part of the arrangement.    

 

Life Goes On

 I know it’s been a long time since I posted, but here I am.  So much has happened since my last post.  My dear husband ended up passing away December 31, 2017.  54 is just too young to die.  He put up a long hard fight with his kidney cancer but finally lost his battle.  I miss him dearly but I’m ready to move on and look forward to make the best of the next chapter of my life.  Kinda strange to think it will basically be my last chapter.  I don’t have any plans to leave this earth any time soon.  I’m hoping for at least another 20 years!  

I started working part time a couple of years back but I’m happy to say I’m planning on retiring come January 2021.  I must say I’m really looking forward to doing so.  Ready to work in my garden, ready to bring all those art projects to fruition, ready to keep the cat toy business going, ready to relax a bit and ready to catch your interest with the things I’ll be posting.