Yes, still here!

I apologize for my long blog absence.
Life isn't easy to manage, and the blog falls to the bottom of the pile when things are like that.
But we are all still here, the animolecules and I. 

I also am still having technical computer difficulties in that I can't currently access my old photos (art photos, e.g.) from my newer computer blah blah blah...

I apologize to those of you who have left comments and didn't get an answer from me... I have read and appreciated every word.

In the meantime, please enjoy a visit to my new (opened at the end of October this year) Etsy shop, where I am selling handmade (by me) miniatures. No, not fine art nor paintings, but rather dollhouse-scale crafted objects made of natural materials. I always loved miniatures as a child, and recently my interest in making them rekindled:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MiniaturesNaturally?ref=ss_profile

The photos below are a couple of examples (yes, these are teeny-tiny):

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Fennie hasn't changed a bit...

Fennie tummy!

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More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Still here

A rare snuggle between Gadjo and Fennec.

Not to worry, we're all still alive.  Just having never-ending technological problems here, involving transferring things to a different computer, and also to a new external hard drive, and some things (like most of my photos) won't transfer at all and I don't know why, and the fact that I can no longer use my photo editing software on the new computer... still haven't figured out a work-around yet for several issues.

In the meantime, the software used to build my website was discontinued, and it took forever to figure out what was going on. It would've been nice to have been informed that my website was going to die, and why. I've done a basic website rebuild with a different free program. I don't like it aesthetically or functionally as much as the last one, but at least I have a website again.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 305

Untitled 305.  Pastel.  Approx. 9" x 12".   

Purchase information: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com]

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Gadjo has wonderful fanglets.

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This spring and early summer, we had record amounts of rain. One of the few pluses from that was seeing happy irises with their beautiful colors.

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(FYI: Still working on the rebirth of my website.)
More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 304

Untitled 304.  Pastel.  Approx. 9" x 12".   

Purchase information: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com]

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Ballet Leg or Turkey Leg? reprise!

I don't know...it doesn't look comfortable to me, but this is Rumi's preferred position when in his cat bed. He looks like a piranha.

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My photo + waterlogue app.

FYI: my website will be back up soon.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 303

Untitled 303.  Pastel.  Approx. 9" x 12".   

Purchase information: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com]

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Can hardly walk by the grocery store flower area without taking pictures...

FYI: My website will be coming back to life soon.
More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 302

Untitled 302.  Pastel.  Approx. 9" x 12".   

Purchase information: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com]

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It's a rough life, Fennec...

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My iphone decided to make up a new word recently.  I really don't understand technology...

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FYI:  Thanks to the hard work of my brother, it looks like my website will be back from the dead soon.


More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 301

Untitled 301.  Pastel.  Approx. 9" x 12".   

Purchase information: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com]

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Please forgive the blog neglect lately.  My sleep disorder always gets worse in the early spring; instead of just being my normal extreme night owl self, it gets even worse and I'm almost exactly opposite of what my schedule should be in terms of day vs. night awakeness. It's been hard, and is truly interfering in my life.

And I had a very big scare with Rumi and his chronic malabsorption issue. In spite of the steroids, he suddenly lost more weight (he's been underweight for quite a while, a few years or so). He seemed weak, tired, didn't want to eat, didn't want to drink much, just wanted to sleep. His eyes seemed to be so far away. His happy, vibrant, social, loud, confident personality was gone. He didn't make a single sound for 2 days, which for noisy little Rumi, was a giant shock to me. Suddenly, the apartment was unbearably silent.

I knew we were probably dealing with the same chronic mystery condition as always, but it had suddenly taken a severe nose-dive. The vet advised me to quadruple his steroid dosage. He was at his lowest adult weight ever. 

He kept losing weight in spite of the steroids. The vet taught me how to give him B12 injections.

Anyway, during the two awful days when he wouldn't eat or move around much and his eyes were so distant, I was pretty sure I was going to have to put him down the next day. I of course don't want him, or any animal, to suffer, and Rumi's prognosis has never been optimistic. My goal with him is to help him any way I can for as long as he is happy and doesn't seem to be suffering. 

I had a talk with him between my tears those days and told him it was all about him: if his body wasn't working right and wasn't able to let him be happy or feel good anymore, then the vet and I would help him be free of it.  If he rallied, then the vet and I would support his body for as long as he was still happy and had his normal exuberant personality.

Well, through some kind of miraculous juju or who knows what, Rumi woke up the next day with his normal personality intact, eyes here in the present world again, eating, drinking, and doing his famous talking.

I'm grateful to still have him.  His weight over the last week or so (since he rallied) is mostly stable. It's just a day-at-a-time thing, and I'm so glad he's able to stay in this world with me, happily, for a while longer.

I've been typing all this (slowly) because he's tucked under my chin right now and I'm typing around him and can't fully see my laptop screen, but oh well. He's here and that is making me smile.

Gadjo is having a bout of his chronic health issue too. His FHS suddenly got really bad, and doubling his steroid dosage has helped some, but not enough. So now he is supposed to be trying a med, but I'm unable to pill him, so gonna have to try the med in different forms until I can figure out how to get it into him. He is also now officially underweight, I think because he has to burn so many calories because he can't rest well or sleep as much as he should because the FHS keeps him awake and running around while he's having his twitch attacks.

Presumably because Rumi and Gadjo both have not been feeling well, they have suddenly stopped sleeping and cuddling together. This is unprecedented, and makes me sad.  I've had to order another heated cat bed for Gadjo, since Rumi seems to have claimed the one that they were always curled up together in.  I know they're both stressed from not feeling well, but I'm sure that not being cuddled up together all the time must be adding even more stress, because this non-togetherness has never happened before with these two best buddies. 

Mojito has been having arthritis issues lately too. He's been to a lot of (expensive) physical therapy and is on some meds that he'll likely stay on for the rest of his life. It's so hard for me to believe it, but he's a senior dog now. If I calculated right, he has just turned 9 years old! Apparently, that earns him the right to use Rumi as a pillow...

So Mojito's arthritis issues have been causing him to constantly lick one front wrist and one back foot, because they're achy. This always leaves a wet saliva spot on the couch when he gets up. The other day he left the sweetest spot! I kid you not. I couldn't believe my eyes:

And now, for our grand finale, a very impressive feat: Gadjo and Rumi's sweetness has made them internet-famous! They hit the big time when the mega site Cute Overload featured them during their Feb.14 edition this year.

http://cuteoverload.com/2015/02/14/24-hours-of-cute-happy-valentines-day-410am-pt/

(Unfortunately, they got the link to my blog wrong--it just got fixed today), so I'm pretty sure I missed out on a couple of million new fans for all my animolecules! Oh well. At least Rumi + Gadjo made it to internet stardom! They deserve their fame.)
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FYI: My website jalapfaff.com is still defunct.  It's a long, boring saga you don't want to hear. But there is hope that eventually, with enough time, work, bewilderment, frustration, and cursing, it shall rise again like a phoenix.

Untitled 300

Untitled 300.  Pastel.  Approx. 9" x 12".   

Purchase information: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com]

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Moji eyelashes!

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I was curious what would happen if I took a random iPhone pic into the dark during a snowstorm...kinda cool.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 298

Untitled 298.  Pastel.  Approx. 5" x 7".   

Purchase information: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com]

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Fennec loves his big brother Moji soooo much.

And they're on V.'s lap every time she's here.

[FYI: My website is currently down.]

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com