I Know Just How You Feel Kitty...

Well I'm here but for how long is another story. This past week has been a busy one and when not busy, I was laid out by the heat like my little friend above.

It's hard to know what to say when all I know is what is about me, either out the front window or the back sliding patio doors. Two completely different views on my menu and I think I've run through all the critters and birds. Since I don't have a social life I'm really a boring old lady.

Speaking of critters, something got my kitty, Alie Sunday, and my son came into the house with her and her blood was dripping on the floor. I was in panic mode and tried to check her for injuries. My first thought was to run to the vet with her but it was Sunday. So I just held her in my lap and washed her off as gently as I could. Two bites on her leg kept bleeding and she kept licking so I was afraid to bandage it. Thank God she has had her rabies shots and everything else necessary. Whatever it was got her in the backside too.

The first thing that went through my mind was some old male cat got her. She's been spayed so I didn't think anything like that could happen. She's also declawed on the front paws, not a great idea out here in the woods. She's also been an inside cat for the past 7 years so she was never around other cats. And I'm dumb where the sex life of cats is concerned. I mean once they are spayed do they still have that allure that drives male cats crazy? Well, if so, she fought hard for her virginity!

When she got down from my lap she was limping and crawled up under the table to lie on one of the pillowed chairs. We just left her to be quiet and to calm down. I kept looking under the table cloth to make sure she was okay and I think all she wanted was to be left alone. She's been shaking so hard and I think she was just so scared over the whole thing. Jon said he was up back and heard all the noise and then she came running past him like a shot. She loves Jon so when he called to her she went to him and he picked her up and carried her home. I think her days of being curious of what is beyond her realm on the back patio and little bit of yard will be enough for her now. No more curious cat I hope.

She is walking fine now and comes out and gets in our laps so I guess she will be fine. I still try to check but she wants none of it. So far she sits on lies on her seat in front of the window and spreads out like a harlot to sun herself. That kitty has no dignity at all.

That was enough commotion for that day and we were all upset and needed calming down. The men decided they could take my list and do my shopping for me because I was teary and worried. I hate to say this but it was a repeat performance. 6 bags followed by a large watermelon. I need a new fridge in order to store all that food and none of us need it believe me! Only 4 ice cream this time and all kinds that they like Snuck in on the shelf was coffee ice cream, you know that's my favorite.

They were nice and put most of the groceries away while I sat in the chair trying to cool off from this darn heat. I swear my meds are giving me hot flashes. It just drips down my hair and onto my neck. Then the cold air from the fans makes me shiver and the next thing you know I have a blanket over me. I can't win.

Sunday morning when it was nice and hot, and before the commotion with Alie, hubby decided to cut my forsythia bushes back. OMG, they are the sorriest things you ever laid eyes on. He used a power saw and just whopped off the tops and sides. I have ugly bare branches sticking out everywhere. Then Mike got out to help and give his dad a break only he cut them from the very bottom. He took out so many and now there are stumps. Now if you know forsythia, they are only going to grow back but won't have the symmetrical beauty that I love in the early spring. Heaven only knows what they will look like. I do know I am going out with the heavy duty cutters and lop off all those bare brown branches sticking out. What an eyesore. "Well," they said, "At least now we can mow the lawn without getting tore up from those damn branches." No sense of beauty with those two. Of course you know that once I get out there, one of them will take the job away from me because when I lean forward I usually just keep going. I end up in some of the most interesting places. And things look so different when looking from the ground up.

Well, I watered my flowers early this morning and put fresh hummingbird nectar for my little friends. Miss Kitty is lying among the potted plants so I think I will go out and join her before it gets too hot.

Have a great day everybody.

I Can Dream Can't I?

Today it is a glorious sunny day, not a rain cloud in sight. A day that I will choose to stay in the house. Yesterday I went outside to do a few chores with the flowers and could barely breathe in that smothering heat. I've learned although the day may look beautiful, with asthma it can be a day to stay indoors and not venture out.

Yesterday was a repeat performance of hubby's shopping skills. He needed to go to Home Depot again so I gave him a list of 7 things to pick up for me. When he came home he had the usual 6 bags. I don't know what it is about the number 6, but he seems to be quite content with it. Ha, more likely with what the 6 bags contained.

For starters there were 6 1.5 quarts of ice cream, $5.79 each. They used to be half gallons but somewhere along the way we were fooled into thinking the packaging was neater and easier to fit in the fridge. Not that we were getting less for our money. That said, I go back to the price... I always buy ice cream when it is on sale for 2/$6 or 2/$7. No way on earth would I pay $5.79 when I know it will be on sale next week. He also bought two large bags of cherries at $3.99/lb. Now he knows that those bags contain much more than 1 pound. 2 boxes of mini apple strudels, 1 half watermelon at $5.47 (we could have bought a whole one for less), and 2 beautiful tomatoes $3.17. 2 onions at $3.23, and on an on. The bill came to $99.77 cents. That's within 3 days of the last shopping trip.

Well, after putting the groceries away we sat down with the bill, and we went over each item with price. All I heard was, "What?!?!, are they made out of gold? Next year we'll put in our own garden." Hubby has agreed to go by the list from now on, it's safer and will keep us within our budget. Hopefully I will not have to be afraid of what he brings back when he needs to make another run to Home Depot. Oh, by the way, he did come home with 2 large boxes of shell macaroni and 2 elbow macaroni. Also 2 large cans of solid white tuna. I know what he wants me to make as soon as it's cool enough to cook on top of the stove.

He did good this time but I told him to hold it on the ice cream run. Me, of little will power, am putting on the weight. Probably because it soothes me after fighting inside myself to keep from scolding him. He does try, he just doesn't know how to shop and says he can't see the prices. Cataracts most likely...

May all your troubles be small ones and your blessings great.

Hugs

Keepers of the Night

Overhead on any night when the moon is nearly full, you may wake from a dream and look at the sky to see cottony cumulus clouds drifting across the face of cool light beaming down. Over the millennia Native peoples of North America have been moved by this vision framed by a sky spangled with stars and planets. There is something about the night sky that touches a place deep inside, connecting us to all who have stood in the darkness and gazed at the sky dome. Perhaps it is a feeling of awe - one that humbles and puts us in our place - that brings us closer to those who have been similarly touched by a reverence for nature’s vastness. Here is a reminder of our place on the Circle of Life, or our roots in the cosmos, of being a part of something far beyond understanding. The Great Mystery.

Loon on the Cedar River Flow

On a night when the sky
Is one cloud
And the moon’s light silvers
From horizon to horizon
Look out across the water
Where the mountain and line of trees
At its base reflect
In the mirror
Of the Cedar River Flow
The wings of bats
Small fans
Snap open and shut
Embracing wind
And the lives it carries
Silence enough
To hear the glove
Of the firefly
Bouncing off the water
Time enough
To read the shape
Made by its slow circle
Of quiet fire
As the loon
Calls from the south
Where flow narrows
Into mist between islands

-Joseph Bruchac

This is a very favorite of mine and I wanted to share it with all who feel deeply at one with nature.

Hugs

I Really Have to Stop Picking on Hubby

After all my griping about his shopping spree last night, I opened the fridge this morning to find a huge bag of big black bing cherries. Any guy who would spend $3.99 a pound for 7 pounds of cherries for his wife is a sweetheart in my book. Other nutritious food was an 8 pound block of sliced cheese and in the freezer there were 4 turkey and chicken pot pies for days when I don't feel up to cooking or it's just too darn hot. Also raisin cinnamon bagels. Yum! Such a thoughtful guy.

This morning it was 63 degrees when I woke up at 4:20, and breezy. It was actually cold in the house and I am now wearing my terry cloth bathrobe. Give it an hour and it will be 76 degrees. Can't win!

I took out the food for the feral cats and couldn't get over all the leaves already covering my yard. We haven't even had a real summer and it's fall already. What is going on with our weather? First we miss a true Spring and rush into summer only to zoom into an early fall. That's what the leaves are telling me. I hope fall lasts a long time. I'm in no hurry for winter to arrive. It seems it was winter weather right into May because it was too cold to plant flowers. My Mandeville Pinks aren't even getting the chance to bloom, the buds are falling on the ground from our cold nights.

Today we will go shopping and get some things we really need and return the lint rollers for the ones for picking up cat hair. Also hummingbird nectar because I'm tired of making up the sugar water only to spill half of it before I get out the door. No matter how much I wipe it up, we still walk around sticking to the floor. It drives hubby nuts!

I image today will be spent in the garage with oldest son working on his truck or our car. The garage is his place and I don't bother him out there nor worry about him. He has his chair, TV, microwave and stereo. I think he only comes in to check on me to make sure I'm still breathing. While he is doing that, I'm going to run to a thrift/consignment shop I noticed the last time we went running. I can take my time and just browse. Something he absolutely hates to do. He stays in the car and sleeps. LOL.

The sun is shining and I'm getting antsy to get outside and go. The house will wait until I get home.

Have a good day today and enjoy the sunshine.

Hugs

It's Me Again and on the Same Day!

Picture of 'Flower' taken last week. She is a regular pin up girl lately.

I'm writing again today because I'm home alone, hubby and son Jon went to the stock car races and won't be home until late. This is a weekly event only in different locations. I was invited but I like my ME time with no noise or loud TV's playing. Just the whirring of the fan and a nice cool breeze on the back of my neck suits me fine.

When I wrote this morning it was before hubby left for the doctor and I asked him to pick up an item from the grocery store on his way home. Little did I know what that would entail. I opted to stay home because I was just too achey, most likely from the drastic change in temperature from yesterday's heat and this morning's cold. It did warm up during the day but it hasn't been unbearable and it's nice to have fresh air coming in all the windows and doors.

To get back to my hubby's number one errand, to buy two boxes of shell macaroni for a cold tuna dish I planned to make for supper. He was gone for quite a long time and when he got home, he came through the door with both hands full of several sacks each. I winced knowing what sending him to the grocery store would become.

Going through 6 bags of groceries I counted six (6) boxes of cook and serve chocolate fudge pudding and also butterscotch, his favorite. Three half gallons of ice cream, for me he claims but I know better. Two kinds of topping, hot fudge and butterscotch for MY ice cream. You don't really believe that bit about my ice cream do you? He bought his favorites, not mine. He did buy me a quart of Edy's coffee ice cream, my favorite flavor yet I can't stand to drink coffee. Figure that one out.

Also there was a bag of marshmallows (he said he's been craving them) so I don't know what that's all about do you? And I can't forget the Oreo Double Stuffers that he bought especially for me. I did say the other day that I had a yen for them, but then didn't buy them because they are really too sweet, even for my sweet tooth. Let's see, I know there were more sweets there than just the Oreos. Oh, 4 packages of frosted oatmeal cookies, I hate them but guess who loves them. Go ahead, just one guess.

To get to the good things or should I say nourishing food, a package of 6 deli rolls. That's it! The other items included a 5 pound bag of sugar, a box of sandwich size Zip Lock Bags (I have 3 downstairs on the shelf), and 4 Lint Rollers. I said I needed the cat hair rollers so need to make a trip to take these back. They are useless and we only wear tee shirts and denim so certainly don't need that many lint brushes. I'm just shaking my head here and I haven't gotten to the best part yet.

I finally got my butt up from the chair to get something accomplished while I was in the mood to cook and searched high and low for the shells. I couldn't find them anywhere. I went outside to the garage and asked him where he hid them and his reply. "Oh damn, I forgot them. There were women gossiping in the aisle and they were blocking me so I went and picked up something else and when I went back, they were still there!!" That is his number one pet peeve and I hate to go shopping with him because he talks loud, but not to the idiots blocking the aisles. By now he was miffed so finished his shopping in a huff I bet. Then he left the store and came home. Without the shells...

I was nuts to let him loose with the debit card because he does this a lot lately and we are supposed to be on a budget. Oh, he did buy toilet paper, lots and lots of toilet paper. I don't think we will run out anytime soon. As for our budget, I'm afraid that we'll have to start over next month. With a list and a leash!

Okay, I'm over my rant. Now I'll sit down and watch my show on TV. My tape of Les Miserables.

Have an enjoyable evening and in case I don't feel up to writing in the morning, have a great day also.

Hugs

I've Been A Slug

The past few days have been hot and muggy. Yesterday I went outside and it was hard to breathe so I came back in after watering what was left of my flowers and just sat and watched television and dozed.

It was wonderful to see the plane arrive with the two journalists who were hostages in N. Korea. It took forever for them to finally walk down those steps and more moving than I can say. To say their families were happy is an understatement. I just hope they are left alone to calm down and realize they are home and to get back to the everyday living in a free country. How scared they must have been never knowing what would happen to them next. Congrats to all those who had a hand in their rescue.

I've been fighting spiders everyday and it's getting to me. The Wolf Spider pictured above is huge but they curl up so you don't realize it until they jump at you. They gather right around the water spigot so when I go to turn it on and off, I have to be very careful. I've met many new ones also and it is egg bearing time. I have a book of spiders so I can identify them in case I get bit. The Brown Recluse has claimed my hubby and one son and both ended up in the ER. Hubby was on IV's for 10 days and he refused to go in the hospital so a gal from the hospital came to the house and trained me how to keep the stent clean, injecting Heparin to keep the blood from clotting and plugging the works up. I had to change the IV bag every 4 hours so I was sleeping in between times and trying not to act like a zombie. I have a healthy respect for spiders now and always have that event in the back of my mind when I have to fight the spiders in order to water my planters. Ugh to all the spider webs in the planters themselves.

So far this week we have had the deer, skunks, raccoons and an opossum in our yard. All came on the patio looking for food except for the deer. He was munching on all the new growth of the little trees coming up and my rose bushes. How do they avoid the thorns? They do it so swiftly and nothing is left but a long stem sticking up.

We now have three feral cats and I feed them during the day but at night the food comes in so my Alie and the skunk don't come anywhere near one another. When they come up to the screen door, that's too close for comfort. And Alie hasn't learned her lesson yet and attacks.

I haven't been out of the house in days but have an appointment this morning. I just don't feel like getting dressed and going out in that humid heat. With the allergies acting up I seem to fall asleep in the chair too often. Yesterday I was getting ready to give hubby a hair cut and sat down to watch the news. Within minutes hubby said I was fast asleep in his recliner. I slept for an hour and when I woke up, he was asleep. It was just that kind of day I guess. Oh to have air conditioning throughout the house. As I get older the heat bothers me more and more.

I'm so behind in my e-mails, it's a losing battle at this point. Oh wow!! I just got up to put the bowl of cat food outside for the feline visitors and it's 65 degrees out. I couldn't get my windows open fast enough. Now this kind of weather I can put up with gladly and function to boot! Bring it on... and to think I was complaining about it being so cold back in May and June. I told you I would complain once the high temps finally hit.

Last night I watched TV with hubby, and for the umpteenth time it was The Dirty Dozen. I got halfway though it and then hit the sack. I've only seen it at least 12 or 13 times. Togetherness, how romantic, with the guns going off and the explosions and bodies flying through the air. My ears just couldn't take any more of the noise. Hubby has it loud because he is hard of hearing. I hear everything, even things I shouldn't so I watch those movies with my ear plugs and can still hear every word.

Well, while it's cool out I guess I can go and pull all the slugs out of the planters. Such slimy things they are. And they leave a slime trail so you can see it or if not, feel it. It is like glue and soap and water doesn't work unless you really scrub twice. It just gives me shivers.

Hope everyone is having a great day. Heck, most of you are still in bed and here I sit, wide awake with too much to do but have no energy. I guess it's all the ups and downs during the night. I don't get much sleep so that is probably why I conk out in the recliner. Makes sense.