Home Sweet Home

Another busy weekend, but this one spent at home.


I am getting the house ready for Christmas eve, so that means cleaning. But I also built my Crested Gecko’s terrarium. I built the wall ages ago and I thought it would never stop smelling, it finally did. So today, I built in the ground; put in the plants, and the stitcks and Yoshi’s magnet hanging food dish. I found 2 great pieces of wood last night at the feed store. One is all wavy and the other is a piece of grape vine I think.

The finished tank



Yoshi in his new tank.



He is a little stressed so am I am leaving him alone right now. Letting him settle in. This is my first living tank, the plants will need care too. There are 2 vine plants, a sword plant, a bromeliad and 2 other plants I can’t identify. I have 4 other plants, 3 will go into this tank, my next project. My son’s spider will probably get the 4th plant, the 2nd pothos plant.



This one is a little bit smaller; I am thinking this one will house these guys. This is a Bumble Bee Dart Frog.



My other project today. My 10 gallon fish tank all set up. I brought my small tank home from work and have it setting on the kitchen counter for the last week. Finally got the tank all set up. My son picked the parts to go in this tank. I think he made some pretty good choices here. I didn’t get to use everything, the yellow flower ball didn’t fit, about 6 of the plants didn’t fit, Buddha had to stay out and the little Zen garden bridge was left out. I will add some fish next week, right now the occupants of this tank are Pip and Pop my African Dwarf frogs, and 2 little ghost shrimp, they are exploring their new space and décor.


Tomorrow I get to do my holiday baking. Sugar cookies and rum balls.

Santa Claws and Howard

This is my really large albino pacman frog. I named him Howard Hughes.








I was sad when my son was no longer little enough to still believe in Santa. His loss, I still believe in Santa, don’t you?



So am thrilled that I now have a 4 legged child I can take to go and see Santa Claws. (Yes I know I spelled it claws, not Claus). This morning I bathed Neo in the kitchen, (I use to do that with the boy when he was little) and gave him a good brushing and took him to go see Santa. He was a really good boy; he didn’t pee on Santa or bite him.






I got new stash in the mail today.

9 Mill Hill Bead kits
a 6 pattern Owl Christmas Ornament kit
a set of double eyed needles
a twist light
a thread organizer and
a cord making tool

Selena and Pacman

I gave in and my son got his Tarantula. She is a Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula, Gramastola rosea. He got a female rose hair. He named her Selena. For Selena Gomez. He first thought of calling her Hannah, but thought that people would think he was naming her Hannah Montana. I like either name they are pretty. So we have Selena the spider now living in our home.




I am not crazy about spiders at all, and this one is going to take some getting use to on my end. She is a large spider. She was a little cranky when I let her out of her little deli cup. I also found out she is able to climb glass. Yikes. I did some research on tarantulas to see what would be the best species for the boy to get. It came down to 2 species, the Chilean Rose Hair and the Pink Toe. Selena is in a real simple set up right now, i am going to build her a living vivarium with live pants. Semi moist ground cover and a cork round hide and a water dish.

I finally received my albino Pacman, after a year of searching, I got one. I was thrilled. Exactly what I wanted. An Albino Pacman frog. Mine is a Ceratophrys cranwelli (Cranwell's horned frog). Of coarse in this picture mine is really dirty, and frightened. I have him in a little quarantine tank away from my other frogs. I don’t want to take the chance with them. They are just fire bellies but they are my fire bellies and I like them.. I just need to figure out a name for him now. Sometimes I name them right away sometimes it is easy and other times I debate on a name for a few days before I figure what I think is the perfect name. I will let you know when I finally name him.

Mesa Reptile Expo

Yesterday was the Mesa Reptile Expo. I have been looking forward to it for weeks. I had set out looking for a Pacman frog. I wanted an Albino one. This is an Albino Pacman.




All anyone had was strawberry Pacman frogs. While a strawberry is very pretty, I didn’t want to pay $60 for a frog. I will wait and get the albino later.



This show was mostly snakes. Of course there was the usual fare of torts where there. I did see a lot of red foots and Sulcatas, there was an incredible amount of Aldabra, Herman’s and Greek torts too. Even a few Indian Star Torts. Which are really beautiful but very pricy. I think somehow they are worth it though, considering you are getting a pet that will outlive you.

The hot snakes it seems is once again the Ball Python, there was more Ball pythons than any other animal I saw. There were some beautiful colored BPS. A couple of my favorite the piebald. There were bubblebees, butter ghosts, pine stripes, jungles, lemon blast spider, lots of normals, cinnamon, carmel, Ivory, snow, even a few albinos.

The red tails where also a very common snake at the show. I saw an albino and one that looked like a candy candy, it was all red and white. It lacked the black and brown pigments. It was very pretty.

I was also amused to see a brown and white Rosy Boa, and a normal rosy boa, the only rosy boas I saw at the show. There were also a few Kenyan Sand Boas in a couple of morphs. And I saw my very first up close rough scaled sand boa.

One table was dedicated to nothing but Carpet Pythons. They are a neat looking snake. They are not smooth scaled like most pythons and boas are, they are rougher snaked more like a rattlesnake.

The boy held 2 snakes while there. He wanted to touch everything, but I told him from the beginning not to touch anything. I was serious about him not spreading something from one snake or lizard table display to another. Or worst yet bringing it home to my critters.

Reptiles can harbor diseases that may not affect the colony or species they are living in, but when you introduce them to a new colony, species or just bring it home to your collection it could make them very sick or even kill them. So I told the boy he was not allowed to touch anything and when he did, he had to use the hand sanitizer first. I do that when I take the animals to my son’s school too. So the kids don’t give my reptiles some weird disease.

So the boy and I wandered the whole show before decided what to buy.

We say 3 Gila Monsters



Mexican Beaded Lizard



The boy holding a Gopher snake



And a timber rattlesnake



Like I said I had set out for an albino Pacman frog. That is not what I came home with.

My fall back was going to be a tomato frog or a crested gecko. But it had to be a harlequin, or so I thought. The color I liked was the creamsicle fire. They had lots of beautiful harlequins. There where tigers, and high yellows, and Dalmatians too. All kinds of adorable little babies all the size of tootsie rolls candies.

I couldn’t find a tomato frog anywhere. I did see one pixie, which like the Pacman is a large species of frog. Lots of little dart frogs, and some really small but very cute red eye tree frogs and green tree frogs, all the size of Tootsie Roll candies too.

I left the reptile show with a grumpy, crested gecko that stole my heart when he went from him first owner’s hand to mine and then straight up my arm to my shoulder.

This is Yoshi a red tiger male. He isn’t a baby, he is full grown. I think he is a lovely creature. His skin feels like suede, and he is a nice orange color. He can soften his color a little and he looks beige when he does.

Fabulous Weekend

At midnight on Friday/Saturday we went over to Wal-Mart. Now the middle of the night is the only time I will go to Wal-Mart willingly. Shhh…. Don’t tell anybody, I still hate the store. I got my carpet shampooer there. The boy pushed it around the store to the cashier stands. I also let him pick out a new Skylander figure. There are about 100 Skylander figures, we combined have about 24 of them.

First things first of course. We had to do all of our chores. We had help though. I hired a cleaning service to tackle the stuff I couldn’t tackle due to my allergy to just about everything (that my skin comes in contact with that is). Two ladies cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen. I knew it would take a while to do that. One spent about an 2 hours I the bathroom and half an hour in the living room and the other spent 2 and a half in the kitchen. But the kitchen and bathroom are clean again and that is all that matters. The boy and I did other things around the house, dusting, putting things away, vacuuming etc… we even got the back yard racked up and everything thrown away. The tree has been dropping leaves, we bagged up about 10 kitchen bags of leaves from the yard, plus branches and such that we tossed into totter directly so it wouldn’t tear up the bags. The house looks really good now. Oh and we got the carpet cleaned too. Love my new carpet shampooer. Works great.

The ladies left about 11:30 and I dragged the boy out of the house about noon. Made him go with me to a doll show at the church nearby. I was actually disappointed. I did a search for miniature show, and got the doll show. I did find a tiny little decoration to sit on the mantel of the fireplace I have for a room box I am building. The boy came away with a Christmas present for his Grandfather, and I added a dumb little McDonald’s Darth Vader to my Darth Vader Collection.

Then as promised I took the boy to Arizona Mills. I took him to the aquarium, Sealife at Arizona Mills. It is was nice little visit. There was the cutest little sea turtle and I got to see my all time favorite fish a Lion Fish. Beautiful creatures. Someday I would love to set up a huge tank, 180-200 gallons for 1 or a pair of lionfish. We both got a bag of gummies in the gift shop, mine was filled with gummy frogs and turtles and the boys with a little of everything.





We both got a bag of gummies in the gift shop, mine was filled with gummy frogs and turtles and the boys with a little of everything.

We took a stroll through Arizona Mills, and I let the boy go into Toys R Us and ride some weird space ship ride in the mall. I sat on the bench and watch him. It was a fun walk.

We took our 3DS systems with us. We each got 3 new tags from people in the mall. I told him we will have to go more often and walk the mall without 3DS systems.

For dinner a little early we went over to Joe’s Crab Shack. The boy had the KJ Steam pot and I had the Joe’s Classic Steam pot spiced up to the Sunset Grill. I let him talk me into dessert, we each had the crabby apply crumble. It was ok but not great. I am not a fan of apples. Especially the green ones. I also had a Poppin’ Rockin. It was fun, you add Pop Rocks to the drink, they shoot off in all different directions all at once. Makes a noise and a mess. But it really cool.

After that we went over and watch Wreck It Ralph, that movie was just too cute. I can’t wait for it to come out on DVD so I can watch it all the time. It highly recommend you go and see it.


Sunday we took Neo to the Groomers and did the grocery shopping and got the supplies for the reptiles to winterize them. Heating pads and such.

After Neo was done at the Groomers we headed over to another mall. Took the boy to what use to be Christown Mall, but is now Spectrum. The boy desperately needed some new shoes. His had a hole in the soul of it. He got a nice new pair that should last him a little while.

We saw another movie afterwards. Hotel Transylvania. Those of you that know me, know I am anti-Halloween. This was not a Halloween movie. Ok yes it was Dracula and monsters and stuff. But it wasn’t Halloween. I don’t think it was even October in the movie. I adored this movie.



It did not take me long to realize that Dracula was voiced by Adam Sandler. But he is my favorite actor so I knew his voice when I heard it, even with a Dracula accent. It took me a little longer to recognize Kevin James’ voice, by the way he played Frankenstein. David Spade is also a voice and so if Fran Dresher. I knew Fran from the Nanny, she sounds exactly the same and I still can’t tell you which one was David Spade. Oh and my son was delighted that Selena Gomez leant her voice to the character of Dracula’s daughter Mavis.

There is a ton of cool movies coming out that I would like to see.

The Great Big Hole in the Earth….

AKA the Grand Canyon

** Picture Heavy **



I had a great weekend. Went to the Grand Canyon on Saturday October 13th. My son had been wanting to go and had been talking about it. So I decided we would go in the fall when the weather is cooler. It was truly beautiful in at the Grand Canyon. For a big hole in the earth that looks the same no matter which lookout point you are at it is a stunningly beautiful site. Pictures really do not do it justice.



I subscribe that God made the Canyon, carved it out beautifully and to his master plan, and I figure it was probably during the great flood, and not the Colorado over millions or thousands or however many years they say it took the Colorado to carve it out. Either way you beliver it still is a beautiful work of art.



I once again took my little dog with me to go and visit up north. Leaving Neo behind is just not an option. He just doesn’t mind well when left behind. He escaped last year on my vacation to Utah and I almost lost a dog. I now plan to take him with me, or board him if taking him with me is not an option. You’ll see him in a picture later. He did make visiting everything out of the question. He wasn’t allowed in buildings.

Me standing on the edge… Yeah it was scary but it was so cool too



Doesn’t he just look thrilled



This is known as Figure 7



El Tovar – the oldest hotel at and on the south rim.



On our way to the Grand Canyon we stopped in Bedrock City. It is a little Flintstone tourist trap between Williams and The Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, I found it to be a little sad. It seems old and a little uncared for. There is vandalism on much of it. Some things have been broken. I am sure things have been replaced or repaired over the years and new paint added. You just wander through the Flintstone village, there is a Gas and Auto repair shop. Although I am not sure why they need gas, they drove with their feet. Oh well. There was a medical center, and Fred and Wilma’s house, The Rubble House, and the police offer’s house. There was a jail and a huge phone booth and a post off that maybe doubled as a town hall. There was also a big brontosaurs slide and a snake tunnel. We posed with a few of the characters that seemed to be in better condition but where made of plastic instead of the foam most of the other things where made from. Maybe they where newer.



As seen from the Highway



Fred Flintstone



Barney Rubble



I get friendly with the original purple dinosaur, I LOVE DINO!!



We had a late lunch at this cute little Mexican restaurant in Tusayan Arizona. Sophia’s Mexican Kitchen. The chips where fresh the salsa too. You could taste the spices and the tomatoes and onions separately.

Afterwards lunch we went across to the IMAX and watch the Hidden Grand Canyon movie. It was about 30 or so minutes long. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Some of the shots made you feel like you where truly flying above the canyon in the helicopter. The white river rapids scenes where thrilling you could almost imagine you where in the little wooden boat with the explorers.

At the IMAX theater while walking Neo to let him stretch his legs again before heading back to Williams, we encountered a Red-bodied Tarantula (Aphonopelma theraphosidae) I had a blast catching him on film. After 5 minutes of the paparazzi style photo shoot, basically me moving all around him trying to get the best shot he wander off and find a place to hide or continue seeking dinner some where. He would have made an interesting pet and easy to care for it seems.



I barely made it to 10 o’clock Saturday night. I was exhausted, but it was a good exhausted the day was a lot of fun.

Sunday morning we had an excellent breakfast of French toast, bacon, made limp just the way I like it. Apple juice and scrambled eggs with green chilies and cheese.

We set off for Camp Verde about 10:30 maybe a little later, I am thinking maybe it was later. My Dad filled my gas tank for the ride back down the hill, and then treated us to Ice Cream at the Baskin Robins in Flagstaff. The seasonal ice creams are out right now so I had a little Salted Carmel Ice and Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream. I gave Neo a couple of licks of my bowl when I was done with my ice cream. His face is a little sticky. I need to give him a bath even more now than before.

Camp Verde lies roughly half way between Flagstaff and Phoenix. It isn’t a long jog down the hill, gravity pulls you down pretty fast if you let it. The afternoon was a lot of fun spent with Family. My cousin and her two children live there with my Aunt. My Grandfather too, on the backside of the property. I have always been real fond of my aunt she just has one of those personalities you can’t help but love. South Hospitality and Country Friendly and Tough as Nails all in one. My Aunt and I are alike in we both very much like animals. As long as I can remember there have always been a lot of animals at my Aunt’s house. I don’t expect that to change any time in the near future.

My Uncle (My Dad’s brother) and his wife where coming up to say good-bye to family. They are leaving for Australia next weekend for 2 to 4 years. I think that is so exciting. Wish I could do that. My Dad bought his brother’s truck. My Dad was coveting his truck said it was his dream truck and he was finally getting one of his own. It is a big truck, a Chevy. 3500. Diesel engine. That doesn’t mean much to me, but my Dad was happy. There were 3 missing from this visit, my little brother and 2 cousins. It is so hard to get all of together anymore in one place. We all are going in different directions now. So I treasures the times we do get together now.

The Girls



Just the Boys



The Gangs all here….. most of us



While trying to secure my little dog behind a fence, he has proven he is a Houdini; My Aunt uncovered a Common Desert Centipede (Scolopendra polymorpha). I gave him his paparazzi moment as well. It was so cool watching him move. All of his legs were moving at once. How he keeps it straight is beyond me. I have a hard time coordinating 2 sometimes, he did it with 40. I also wanted to make him a pet, I bet something could have been dug up to transport him if I had asked. Oh well, maybe on another visit.

The Cubes

These are some San Man charts I had of snowmen. Please tell me their names if you know them I don’t have the charts in front of me as I am writing this. I will update my blog with their titles later.

This is Candy Cane snowman



Candy Cane Seed Snowman



I found the cutest candy cane seed fabric at 35th Ave Sew and Vac.

Even more finished cross stitch stuff.

** Picture Heavy**


Told you I have been busy stitching, I am even stitching at work right now

I even got some finished pieces filled. I finally found some 12x12 pillow forms. I went with my Mom to SAS a second hand fabric store, it has left over fabrics, items that were bought in bulk, slightly imperfect pieces ect…

My friend Sue made the pillow cases for me. I stitched the rabbits ages ago. I have them on my bed now. Sue did a fantastic job on them.

Rosie



Lop Eared Rabbits



These two are little acorns that I thought were just too cute to not stitch up.

Hoooo-corn



Warty corn



I just loved working this little black work owl. He stitched up so fast, and was so easy to do. Now to figure out what to do with him.





This is Letters from Nora by Nora Colbert the letter S. Samantha is the name of the fairy but since my name also starts with an S. I stitched her up for me. The fabric is a Raspberry 28 ct fabric that is so silky soft. I got in Utah last October when I was visiting my friend. She took me to her LNS and I picked it out. We went to Sheppard’s Bush in Ogden Utah.





My Friend gave me this little kit, she had two of them. This little dog sort of looks like my peaches.



Easter Kitty. I have had some of these pieces store for so long that I forgot the information about them. If you know tell me and I will update my post with the details.



I stitched and posted this a while back but I finally made it into an ornament. This is

Ball Python from Omniboook of Exotic pets I titled it Dratini which is name of my normal phase 6 year old ball python.



Without fear that my son might see this before Christmas I can post this.


This is a combination of a couple patterns, a Mortal Combat like dragon and the numbers from Catittude clock pattern.



This is Desert Santa. There are 3. I have already done Canyon Santa, they only one left is Mesa Santa. These are Mill Hill bead kits.



This is another piece of silky soft fabric I got while in Utah. The chart too. I picked them up at Sheppard’s Bush. The threads are a modge podge of hand died. I didn’t have the exact colors so I used what I thought was close. I only know I used sweet potato for the pumpkin.

Wee Ones Blessings