Calico's 4-H Year

Calico started the 4-H days by delving into one of her favorite projects: CATS. In this photo she sews a cat toy from an old sock.

You ask, do cats truly enjoy toys made from old socks?

Yes, they do. Gingham's kitten often struts around the house with a sock doll drooping from her jaws, stopping from time to time to attack and maul the bedraggled thing. If you happen to visit and notice a long scruffy sweat sock, a few strings of black yarn dangling from its toe and a bewildered grin inked on its foot, laying before the sofa or under the dining table, you'll know the mighty hunter has been on the prowl again.

Calico combined card crafts skills and gardening in order to decorate a tree using paper ornaments. She won first prize in the tree decorating contest.

Rocks and Minerals project:

Epsom salt + hot water + pipe cleaner = one crystal star

Pipe cleaners also make excellent cat toys.



In gardening class, Calico made a seed tape from toilet paper. This was a clever and easy project, one I wish I'd remembered before I gave Calico three packets of flower seeds for our new garden, which she promptly planted in one four-foot row. There's gonna be a lotta thinnin' goin' on.

An observation: Toilet paper seed tape makes an excellent cat toy.




Here is Calico proudly displaying the cat tote bag she worked on for most of the 4-H year. It provides a handy storage place for cat scrapbooks, cat folders, cat drawings, cat puzzles, and, most necessarily,


cat toys.