Taxidermy (and the connections that led us here...)

When Patches dies, I want to tan her hide --no, silly, not in that authoritarian "woodshed" sense-- just like people do to dead bears, tigers, and other safari animals they've never met nor loved. She's so dang pretty, I'd love to wake up looking at her on my wall (no, not mounted like a statue, that's just toooooo creepy, even for me!). People freak out when I tell them this... I don't quite get it :)
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The other day, I was talking to George about my love of furs, especially mink, especially in the form of stoles and muffs. I was recalling a particular stole that David owns, the dead animal has a clip under it's mouth so it can "bite" itself on the tail and remain positioned.
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Yesterday, George found such a stole! It was in his storage, it must have been his mother's. It was made from four full minks, claws and teeth intact. It even had the mouth clippy thingie! There was also a beautiful white mink coat in the trunk, which is now *mine!* I walked around for hours just touching it and appreciating it! :::momentary break, gotta touch the coat, aahh, much better::: He also found a fox fur, just the fur, nothing done to it since tanning. I showed it to the kids as an example of what I want to do with Patches; they were grossed out! I tried the "but no one loved this fox as much as we love Patches and yet someone thought it important to keep it's fur" to no avail.
The conversation grew from there... I asked Hannah to carry the mink coat downstairs for me, but she refused to touch it. She doesn't like the idea of someone using animal fur. I talked about how the animal didn't need the fur any more, as it was dead, and isn't it wonderful to continue to be purposeful even dead? She didn't buy it! She did concede that it *might* be okay to use animal skins if indeed you ate the animal, but to kill an animal just for it's fur was sick and wrong.
We're laying in bed, me, Hannah & Patches and Hannah brings up the topic again. She really wants Patches' ashes to keep with Daddy's, maybe spread some out in California where Patches was born. I came up with a great design for a muff of Patches, a wrap-around so her head would be laying over the top, as I slid my hands inside. "Oh MOM, why don't you just string her up and put one hand in her mouth and the other up her butt!" "Great idea!" I reply. "How about making slippers, like Daddy wanted to do?" she asked. "Sure! Her head on one and her butt on the other!" Nope, she didn't like that one either...
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I dunno, maybe I'll just have her cremated and we'll just learn to live with the memory of her softness. I'll be sad, but mostly because my kitty is gone, not that I didn't get to keep her fur.

Patches D. Cat

That kitty cat there, she's Patches. Her mama, Boo-boo, was pregnant when I moved in with Dave & Dana. They said they were keeping one kitten and I was allowed one, too. When I saw Patches, September 4, 1991, just moments after her birth, I knew she was *mine.* There was Sybil, too, colored just like Patch but long haired, with perfect 1/2 orange 1/2 black face, and Cheeba, long haired *other kind* of calico. Finally, they decided to keep Cheeba, I got my Patches and Sybil went to live with some punks who renamed her Thrasher.
Cheeba moved to SD with us, too, as Mitch had somehow adopted her when he moved into my life. She was quickly and easily *his* kitty. When he got sick, she ran away.
Patches stayed, but that's because she's *my* kitty.

Diana and Patches 

Post Turkey Day

Hannah & Elizabeth on Karoke, Hayden & Alex watching Spongebob, I've got The God File to read... life IS good!

Our Family Pictures

David came over the other day to take our pictures for a Holiday Card... It's officially a business relationship, the pictures cost me $40 and a slice of cherry pie
It was very fun to have him over, he is always fun to be around. I'm glad the kids have gotten past being angry about his departure from our lives, I just hope they've not run out of faith in the men in my life!
Practice, practice, practice, that's what I'm modeling for them -- gotta try on a whole lotta relationships before I happen upon the right one (or at least the one worth working on!).

So here are the fruits of my labor, captured by the fruit of David's ;) Enjoy!

Crazy Faces 

Mommy & the Girl  

Leaf Storm 

Mommy sammich 

The leaf goddesses!  

Eeeewww mommy's stinky feet!  

or maybe this one...  

oooooooh it's an Xmas card! 

Mommy & Boy 

Patches has had enough!