Author: karrencase

Critter Kids: The Pets We Love #2

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I never had a rabbit when I was growing up. That delight didn’t happen until I was an adult and my daughter, who was around ten at the time, informed me one day that she needed a rabbit.

Being a life long “critter kid” myself, I said okay. It wasn’t long before Thumper (a black and white dwarf) joined our family and would be the first of three rabbits, progressively larger in size… and ears, that were part of our motley crew of much loved cats and dogs over the next eight or so years.

There are a lot of stories that I could tell about those rabbits, but I’m not here to write a novella.

So… meet Annabelle (the girl, not the rabbit). Annabelle is Oliver’s older sister. Unlike Oliver (see #1 in the series), she does not like to spend most of her day outside. However, like Oliver, she decided that she needed her own special pet and the household cats were not special enough.

Fortunately for Annabelle, a traveling show came through town one day with some “exotic” animals. (Hey, it’s the 1800s… play along.) Upon seeing her first lop-eared bunny, Annabelle was hooked; especially after someone told her the bunny looked just like the her. Fortunately for Annabelle, this rabbit “just happened to be for sale” and father is a push-over. So, Ginger the bunny went home with the family, and for the next four years, Annabelle refused to wear her hair in any style that didn’t slightly resemble long, floppy, bunny ears. 


			

	


			
				


	

							
Critter Kids: The Pets We Love
						

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I’ve been a critter kid all my life.  I just love animals.  My mom used to say I’d bring home anything I could get my hands on.  Since she was a country gal and grew up on a farm, she rarely freaked out at what I would show up with. For a long time as I was growing up, it was pretty much the popular belief that I would wind up a veterinarian.  It didn’t happen.  However, I do like to paint critters or add them to some of my paintings.  Which is one of the reasons I have this series I call Critter Kids. 





I started this watercolor series many moons ago in a galaxy far, far away. No I didn’t. It was right here in my art room in my home in North Texas. At the time, I had discovered a wonderful artist by the name of Kate Thompson and her fabulous, hauntingly beautiful, Children of the Wild which is a series of children with an animal in their natural environment depicted on their heads. Now by no means are my Critter Kids hauntingly beautiful. They are ok and more on the sweet side. At least I think so.












So… let’s start with the first one.  I think he’s probably around three or four years old.  Let’s call him Oliver.  His family lives right on the edge of town and his father owns the local mercantile business.  They aren’t wealthy, but they certainly are doing well.  Oliver loves being outside, and when he can sneak away from the ever watching eyes of his mother (or the housekeeper), he spends time with his best friend, a pet racoon that he calls Bandit. It freaks his mother out, but his father indulges him. HIs father also likes the fact that whenever Oliver and Bandit are playing outside the store, it brings in more business.  So hush, mother… father approves.  It’s all in the marketing plan.   






			

	


			
				


	

							
Coffee Girls: Confession #12
						

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My grandmother passed away a few days ago. She was 82. Such a sweet, mellow, dear old lady.  She didn’t live close by, but family would go visit every few months. When she allowed it.  We always had to give her advance notice… boy did she insist on having advance notice. Even though she sometimes seemed a little off, she was always interested in everything we did.





What I remember most about her is how much she loved pizza. And dancing. And scented candles.  She would have scented candles all over the house.  And large fans in the windows.  I never could understand why she had such an affinity for window fans… until she passed. She was using them to clear the air. Seems sweet Nana was growing marijuana in the vegetable garden. Growing, harvesting and smoking it.  I guess, that explains a lot of things.  Way to go Nana!  I’m both shocked and kind of proud.  

			

	


			
				


	

							
Coffee Girls: Confession #11
						

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Of course I like coffee!  Just not the way YOU probably do. I often brew several types, one right after the other and then set them aside to cool down for an hour or two.  Dark roasts, medium roasts, instant, not instant.  I don’t care where they come from or what brand they are, I just care about the color they make.  No, I’m not a weirdo. (My fourteen year old might think I am, but I’m not asking for her opinion, especially not at this time of the month… if you get what I mean. Or it might be a moon phase thing. Teenage girls, who really knows.)  





Anyway, I’m a painter. I paint with coffee! No, I didn’t make it up, coffee (and tea) painting has been around for centuries. You use it like watercolor… only no pigments, just lovely shades of brown. Think of tonalism with a twist (and a smell). There’s a learning curve for sure. How much water, how much coffee, things like that. Also, if you let it sit too long, it molds. I once let one sit, covered, for about four weeks thinking it would age, you, know, like a fine wine. Sweet baby Jesus! The smell ’bout knocked me out. It also looked like something from a sci-fi movie crawling around in there. Wasn’t sure if I needed to call ghostbusters or an exorcist. Also, the dark roasts really stain, so be careful with them. I now have a “coffee painted” shirt, pants, and right shoe.

			

	


			
				


	

							
Coffee Girls: Confession #10
						

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I made a mistake.  A big one.  I know better.  I really do.  It never should have happened.  I don’t blame anyone but me.  I’m the one who caused it. I recently had a birthday and prior to it, my husband asked me what I wanted and I said two words that never should have been uttered aloud.  “Surprise me!”












What was I thinking?!!  I love my husband, but with him… direction is always the best course of action.  I guess in a moment of weakness I figured he knew me well enough that he would get me a day at my favorite spa, or a couple of two-hour massages at Elements, or gift cards to my favorite stores.  Nope… he didn’t.  





I now have a year long subscription to Doctor Mushrooms Exotic Magical Mystery Coffees… sent monthly.  What the F*@k?  Oh well. Happy Birthday to me and lesson learned.   






			

	


			
				


	

							
Coffee Girls: Confession #9
						

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I like crossword puzzles. I just love challenging myself to filling in those little white squares. And, yes, I often have a cup of coffee while doing one. 





 I was introduced to these brain challenges at an early age by my father.  He was a crossword junkie. If there was a puzzle within a paper, he’d be on it like gravy on mom’s mashed potatoes.  It was how he started his day pretty much every weekend and on weekdays once he retired. I can still see him in my mind at the table with his morning cup of coffee and the newspaper opened to the crossword puzzle. (I can also still see him with paper and pen in hand on his way to the “throne room”.)  





Unlike me, the more difficult the puzzle, the happier he’d be.  As a kid, the easy clues would be thrown my way and later, the harder ones.  It was a game I loved to play. When I didn’t know the word, mom would find an excuse to leave the vicinity so he wouldn’t throw them her way. She didn’t play this game.  Anyway, my dad started me on this path and after all these years, I’m still on it.  

			

	


			
				


	

							
Coffee Girls: Confession #8
						

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I think coffee is so cool.  I drink it hot, but I think it’s cool.  You know what I mean? I didn’t like it at all the first time I tried it.  I was like, this is terrible!  I think I was twelve.  However, I’m fourteen now and my taste buds are more mature. Most of my friends drink their coffee cold, you know, “iced”.  That’s ’cause they like to carry it around and be seen with it.  At least that’s what I think.  I don’t drink it every day.  My mom won’t let me. She goes on and on about too much caffeine in my body.  Like I’m gonna pee too much or something. I don’t know. Sometimes she’s so weird. I tell her it helps me concentrate on my homework.  Actually, it helps me concentrate on my favorite YouTube channels.   






			

	


			
				


	

							
Coffee Girls: Confession #7
						

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If I tell a bestie that “I really need a cup of coffee”, that’s my code for I’m having a pity party and I need some sympathy. Sometimes this party happens at my place, sometimes at theirs. Depends on how big the meltdown is. These never happen at a public place, like a coffee shop. Goodness no. I don’t have my pity parties in public. That would be embarrassing with the mascara running, and the sniffling, and the squeaky voice… you know what I mean. Why coffee and not something stronger? Well, for me, coffee is so much more sympathetic. The cup is warm and feels like a hug in my hands. It’s also like a little blanket of warmth as it goes down… unless I let it sit too long while I’m telling my sob story. Mostly though, it’s because it’s cheaper than booze.






			

	


			
				


	

							
The Coffee Girls: Confession #6
						

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There’s a coffee shop that I go to a lot that I haven’t told my best friends about. It’s not an upscale place. Nothing trendy or anything like that. I’m not sure my friends would even go there if I casually brought it up. Most likely they would roll their eyes and at laugh at my choice. It’s kind of an old hole in the wall place. Trust me, you’d never see it on a list of popular places to meet up. It’s dark, quaint, off the beaten path. However, they don’t know what I discovered there.





The coffee isn’t the real reason I stop in.  Coffee is pretty much the same in all the local coffee bars in my area.  So it’s not the coffee, though it’s good there.  No complaints about the coffee.  What keeps me coming back is that I discovered this grande, steamy hot South American blend that makes my mouth water the minute I walk in the door.  Antonio.  His name is Antonio.  He could be selling Folger’s in a dixie cup for eight dollars a pour and I’d keep coming back.  Don’t ask me where this place is.  I’m not telling.











			

	


			
				


	

							
The Coffee Girls: Confession #5
						

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I LOVE coffee with creamer. I mean, I really LOVE it that way. Especially if it’s french vanilla… in liquid form. Chocolate mocha is a close second. I just can’t fathom coffee without any kind of creamer. I’ve tried. I really have. I tried three days in a row once. Thought I was gonna die. Maybe I need to try more exotic coffee blends, but I cannot handle my java straight up black. For me, it’s a form of taste bud torture. How others do it is beyond me. 





Truthfully, just the thought of a hot cup of coffee in the morning with a heavy splash of french vanilla gets me out of bed with a smile on my face. Have you ever seen a sign that says “I thought I liked coffee. Turns out I like creamer“… well that’s me, I guess. Coffee connoisseurs might shake their heads at me, but I don’t really care. At least I use liquid creamers and not the powdered stuff. Unless it’s the only choice I have. Ok, if it’s the only choice I have, just skip the coffee and give me some tea. Or water.