Hazel

Rachel has five cats, none of which are allowed in our work room.  This is because they are not... trusted to govern themselves with restraint.  We go in, we shut the door behind us.  It's the only room in the house they are not invited in, and this restriction, plus the fact that they are probably getting tantalizing whiffs of strange smells that need to be investigated, seems to be nigh on agonizing for the three youngest cats.  But particularly for Hazel, who we frequently find curled up in the room right outside our work space, staring up at us and looking a little indignant that she's still not allowed to hang with us in there.

Today though, Hazel got what she wanted when some curiosities were left on the piano after a photoshoot:

If loving you is wrong, then... well, she'll just sleep it off either way.

Apparently the excitement wore her out.  Fortunately, that vintage book was there for a pillow.

August sale!

Hey there gentlefolk!  We've got a couple of curiosity collections -- Clarissa and Talia -- that have been sitting in the shop for longer than most, so we decided to put them on sale at 25% off through August.  If by September they are still hanging around, we'll use their contents to re-imagine new collections.  So, if you're interested in these two, get 'em while they're hot!

What I've been up to while Vanessa is in class. {photo heavy post!}

Well since the last blog update, Vanessa went ahead and totally ditched me for a stupid summer class. (just kidding... sort of) She's been super busy. I have been busy too, but not with school.  The above images are of a spectacular new vial set we have up in the shop.
On to my personal adventures... I went here-

and yeah I "kayaked" in that water. It was about 2 feet deep and I spent a lot of time carrying the kayak. I slept here, in this cabin:

My bed was up there in a little loft. I got to feel like the 'kid' in the group (my sisters in law are all at least 12 years older than I am) since none of them were willing to climb that ladder and sleep on an institutional vinyl mattress. Ahhh... family mini breaks.

   I spent some time finding poisonous plants to harvest:

  
Taping some of said plants to my wall...

Waiting for dead birds to finish decomposing...

Taking my son to the nature center nearby and wondering how I could smuggle this out without being arrested :

Going to the petting farm where one of these pigs had a blue eye and a brown eye :

And driving to Omaha to meet my friend halfway (she lives in Colorado). She picked up my three daughters to take them back with her. The trip there was fine, the overnight stay was fine, but I drove back at such slow speeds I actually aged visibly by the time I arrived back home. No not really, but here:

Yeah I seriously went about 20 for 3 or so hours. I was travelling slow enough to get a decent photo of a turkey vulture perched on a post:

After finally arriving home, I went to the river to look for awesome curiosities and mostly found these:

 It was approximately 98 degrees outside so it smelled terrific! (I mean, um, gross)
I left a little stack of rocks by the stinking dead fish:

AND in case any of you wondered, this is what half of my face looks like:

 There. That's a recap of some stuff I did while completely abandoned by my partner in crime.
I apologize for the photo quality, most of these were taken with my phone. (I'm ashamed)
Until next time...