ihcpl Crafts & hobbies: #64:zines

I believe I would like to make a zine on cats(one of my favorite subjects). I would start with some pictures of different breeds of cats, then I would discuss the characteristics of the different breeds. I would like to use colored paper and a special spiral-binding machine, needle, and thread to put my zine together. I would just start with maybe four pages, then work up to more pages in my next zine. Searching for information on cats for the zine would be interesting and informative. I could learn some new things to help my out of control cats. I believe that zines would be appropriate inside the library, but they would need to be put in a special section in my opinion. They could encourage the would-be-writer who likes to write for fun. This, I believe, fits well in today's blog world because it could get inspiring writers together to share ideas. It might also be the discovery tool for an up and coming future novelist.

ihcpl Crafts & hobbies: #62:decpouge

I have not yet done a decoupage, but it seems like a lot fun, and the research I did on it leads me to believe that if I ever get time, I would like to decoupage something. I was very surprised that there were so many things that you could decoupage. First of all, I know the materials that you need: white glue(mod podge), object you want to decoupage, wrapping paper, magazines, wallpaper, origami paper, scissors, x-acto or utility knife, paint brush, popsicle stick, and polyurethane sealer. These seem like simple enough items to purchase. I went on "Flickr" to view the decoupages that were done. Four of my favorites on that site were "beautiful blue cups with ladybugs on them; an angel (cinjinho para decoupage that was a beautiful red and gold color; target Tuesday decoupage buttons, and decoupage servithentochnik Marina 6899. These were several Christmas items(beaufiful bottles, a Church, an Angel). They were beautiful colors. The "etsy" site had four items I really liked: a LaBelle necklace, Hoops earings, a bluebird turquoise patina, and e for eggs plates. The colors of these were beautiful. The last site I visited was google. There were some unique poster chairs on this site which looked fascinating. I never dreamed that you could use decoupage on so many things! I am sure that I would enjoy decoupaging as a hobby from viewing these sites.

#65:Crafts & hobbies: Coin collecting

I really enjoyed the coin collecting ihcpl. I found several dealers of coins in our area by going to "google maps: coin dealers." I found several in Humble, which is really close to my home. I found "Regal gold buyers" which deals only in coins; "Houston Precious metals" in Houston, which deals in other things as well as coins; "Gold exchange" in Humble(coin dealers); "The coin shop" in Spring, Texas, which handles coins, supplies & etc., and "Eagle numismatics" coin dealers specifically. I also took out 2 pennies, 1 nickel, and 1 dime from my drawer, and searched them on "historical image library." I found that the pennies were just normal pennies with Abraham Lincoln on them. These were from 1989 to 2009. The nickel was a 2008 nickel with Thomas Jefferson on it. It was dated 2006, and he was 57 years old and vice-president when he appeared on the coin. The dime was a 2002 dime. It first appeared in 1946, and had Franklin Delano Roosevelt on it. This was a very interesting experience. I also found some coin dealers in the state of Texas on google maps. Most of them were in Dallas, one was in Beaumont, and one in Houston. So there are many dealers if you want to search them. Overall, this was a very interesting experience.

ihcpl #66:hobbies: knitting and crocheting

I would like to make all three items: a prayer shawl, a chemo hat, and a lap blanket. I don't knit or crochet, but it sounds very relaxing, and the reason that I would like to make all three of these things, is that it would be a very different and valuable experience for each one. Also, it would help a soldier, a chemotherapy patient, and it would really be rewarding to think that you were helping someone with something that you had hand made. We do not have a knitting or crocheting group at Kingwood. There is a private one that meets, but it is not among the employees. I guess that I would start with spreading the word around about the class, pick a good time for everyone, email everyone, and get ideas from other employees as to what they would want the group to consist of. If we ever have time, I think that it would be a very good thing to do.

Pets: #71: finding a pet

I took the PetPicker Quiz quiz twice. The first time, it told me my ideal pet was a bird. The second time, it told me that my ideal pet was a dog. I have three cats, so I think something went wrong. But it was fun. I then went into Petfinder. There were two animals on it looking for a home. They were part of the "Happy tails" section of the site. Olive was looking for a home in Reno, Nevada. She was a medium adult female cat. She was darling. I hope she found a home. The other pet was a dog, Grover. His rescuers and new owners changed his name to Denali. They were from North Richland Hills in Dallas. That was a happy story. The other site, Pet Harbor was a wonderful site that could help you find a lost pet. Jeff was looking for his cat, Robin. I hope he found her. This site sends postcards to the area where the pet has been lost. They track them by zipcode. They also benefit animals to be adopted, they help the public to adopt the pets, and they help the animal shelters to get them together. This is a wonderful site also. These were very interesting to visit.

#72:pet health online:fitness and exercise

I went to PetFit.com and they had an exercise where you tie an elastic band around a toy. Put this onto your dumbells and watch the cat go craz;y as they to catch the toy. This looks a good exercise for cats. The other exercise is to shine a light onto the wall and watch your cat jump at the light and chase it. We already do this, and it gives Fred a lot of exercise. We also play with his toys with him. This gives him good exercise. He gets enough exercise. The other two cats, Midnight and Ellie, are older cats and don't exercise at all. I guess they are past that part of their lives.

#72: Pet health online

I went to the CatAge website and figured out my cat Fred's age. According to them, his cat age is 23.6. That's 7.7 years younger than the average CatAge for Fred's breed. CatAge is the biological age of you cat, measured in people years. They also said that our cat is lucky to have a such a good caretaker. They said Fred is an ideal weight for an optimal CatAge, and that we are taking good care of him with regular veterinary checkups. We are also taking the right measures to keep your cat's daily food quantity in control. We also keep Fred indoors, and this is much safer for him. All in all, I hope we are doing the right for Fred and our other two kitties. We surely do love them, and they give back to us everyday!