New Beginnings

I've got quite a bit of catching up to do here, so here's my second post in 2 days. This is a piece I have started for my mom, it's called Oriole and Chickadee. It's by Barbara Sestok and appeared in the August 2001 issue of The Cross Stitcher. I'm stitching it on 20 count pewter Lugana; there will be a companion piece to go with this one called Warbler and Bunting (same designer and issue) that I will stitch on the same count fabric but a different color. My mom loves to watch the birds on her farm, and she loves realistic looking pieces. Since the count on this fabric is so large, I'm stitching over one. This has given the added benefit of looking more like needlepoint than cross stitch; needlepoint being one of my mom's hobbies before her health turned bad. Anyway, I hope she likes it.
Tuxedo Cat (Tuxie) came home with me last night. He strolled out the carrier just like he owned the place and has had no complications at all fitting right in. He loves his feathered and belled teaser toy, and plays contentedly for extremely long periods of time, so far we tire long before he does. He's had previous experience with dogs, and our dog has had previous experience with cats, so they are not having any issues. Unless, of course, you count watching a 75 pound Doberman try to figure out how to play with a 4 month old kitten without 1) breaking it, or 2) getting accidentally clawed. They've given us many giggles in just the 48 hours that Tuxie has been with us!