The Christmas Spirit

This year the AOW household has received numerous Christmas blessings from Decorate A Vet, an organization that thanks veterans for their military service by putting skilled artisans and volunteers' hands to work. 

 Jeff Jones, the founder and vice president of Decorate A Vet says when we thank him, "Gotta love the Christmas spirit!"  And the expression on his face when he makes this statement is one of joy.

As you'll see in the some of the photos below, the blessings we received from Decorate A Vet go far beyond decorating veterans' homes for Christmas. Permanent home improvements are made!

More Christmas 2013

The first photo was taken on December 9, 2013 after an ice storm, and the second photo on December 10, 2013, after a snowfall:

Decorate A Vet is responsible for decking out our house and front yard in style.

Christmas 2013

Before Decorate A Vet decked out this old house:

Now, for Christmas 2013:

We have outside lights, too.

Jen's Nightstand Project

Jen Nifer proposed this little project.

Here is my narrow little nightstand, an antique made of black walnut, and it allows for no clutter:

Mr. AOW's nightstand is a lot more interesting than mine:

Christmas 2012

(With thanks to Stogie, who created the above graphic)

Top Cat

This portrait of Cameo was taken on September 16, 2012. Click directly on the image to enlarge it:

Cameo was the youngest cat in the household until Amber arrived on September 13, 2012. Nonetheless, Cameo, true to her Siamese heritage, has been our alpha cat since her arrival in 2001!

Halloween Greetings From AOW's Cat Family

(With much gratitude to Stogie of Saberpoint for the graphic below)

Back row, from left to right: Cameo, alpha cat of the household and surrogate mother to the new arrival in the basket; and Mysti, still pouting a bit about the new arrival.

In the front: Amber, the sweetest of all torties, born on March 13, 2012, and still in her kittenhood.  She  tears around the house night and day as if possessed.

Best Friends

(Click directly on the photos to enlarge them)

Cameo, true to her Siamese heritage, is certainly the alpha cat in this household. Nevertheless, after several days of hissing and establishing the pecking order, Cameo has fully accepted Amber.


Cameo and Amber first began to bond by playing with the new toy. They stayed on opposite sides of the Turbo Scratcher:

A few days later, the two bonded.  I managed to take a few photos of the two best friends sleeping on the cushion behind the recliner before Cameo got sick on September 30:

Mysti, also a tortie, is very jealous of Amber. I doubt that the two of them will ever bond. In the photo below, Mysti is furious that an interloper lives here now:

Fortunately, there is not an ounce of aggression in Mysti's body!


Amber is very contented here in the AOW household and disregards Mysti's jealousy:

Amber Joins The Family

(I took the photos in this post from September 14-September 22)

Obviously, Amber is happy here:

Amber, showing off her spay scar the day after surgery:

What is Cameo thinking about?

Without any hissing or growling, Amber and Cameo interact with the latest toy, the Turbo Scratcher:

New Addition To The Family

Amber!
The pictures below were taken at Amber's foster home, where she was living in a luxury van in the cool shade of the mountains of West Virginia.