Livin' the Life.....

Found some place I can't remember - so I hope whoever took the photo doesn't care that I've borrowed it. I think I might be able to do this all day long. How about you?

Out My Kitchen Window

A mama cardinal flew up to my bone-dry birdbath this morning and made me feel guilty for not having filled it yet. It's been so hot that the water evaporates almost immediately anyway. So I took out a pitcher of water and some birdseed.  I'm sure she will appreciate it - if she can convince herself to return. Somehow the birds haven't noticed (or don't trust) that I no longer have cats. I don't usually feed birds in the summer, but with the excessive heat, I'm sure they have a harder time finding something to eat. *** About 30 minutes after I posted this, I saw the mama cardinal merrily taking a bath!

 I've been nursing along a pot of weeds just to see what kind of plant they grow into, but even they are drying up and turning yellow, in spite of my efforts. I miss seeing color in the back yard, but nothing would grow this year without extreme watering and care - so I'm not really sorry that I didn't put forth any effort, or buy lots of potted plants. I had to make do with the forsythia in the spring and the recently dried-on-the-bush gardenias. They were both pretty for a day or two and then dessication set in. The temperature reached 103* here yesterday and it will be at least 99* today. Thank Heaven for the pool; just looking at it makes me cooler. I hope to get in it today, though.

The deer have all but abandoned me. All last year I saw herds of 6-9 nearly every day in the woods around my home, but this summer, I only see 1-2 at a time and not every day. My son speculated that they have left to be near a water source (in short supply around here now) and will return when temps moderate and foliage returns. I hope so, as I love seeing them around. 

How are you, your plants and animals weathering this extreme heat?

My Pantry

The pantry gets cleaned out at least twice a year - or so I would tell you and believe it to be true - but what I found today makes that appear to be a lie. There were four (count 'em - four) containers of hot chocolate mix and although only one of them had an expiration date, that was April 1996. Since I don't think ANY hot chocolate has been mixed in this house since before 2000, I tossed them all out. There was a package (half-used) of lasagna noodles, which seemed to be petrified, so out they went. 

A plastic container of dry cat food was there, as well as six cat bowls. Since my kitties have recently gone on to their great reward in the sky, I put those away in a storage closet for safe-keeping, should I ever again decide I want to clean litter pans daily and spend small fortunes at the veterinary office.The cat food will be donated.

The medicine chest also got checked; and it had cough medicine that had expired, and calamine lotion. It may be that stuff was still good, but why take a chance?  I found enough band aids to last two lifetimes, especially since no children reside here any more, and the grand kids are beyond the point of needing them, at least not every time they visit. 

My plastic storage containers have been multiplying (as I'm sure yours do). I'm referring to the smaller ones. The bigger ones seem to go missing every time we have company (and give them something to take home) and I seldom get them back. So I mated all of them to their better-halves and while they do take up a lot of space, at least I won't have to search for the tops - this week. The next time the dish-washer gets cleaned out by that man who lives here with me, they will all be heaved into the bin willy-nilly.

Who knows what I will find tomorrow, when I complete the project. Have you tackled your pantry/cabinets recently? What oddments did you find?

Odds & Ends

Stolen from a friend.

The bat I took out of the pool skimmer last week. Mr. kenju wanted to know what happened to his radar?  lol

Snakes Ahead (Fair Warning!!)

I have no idea what kind of snake this is. I have never seen a black one with these greyish-white markings. Since his head is triangular, I assume he is poisonous. He was very aggressive, and slithered toward my van with no apprehension at all. I zoomed the last shot and then cropped it some (so you could see the detail) but he was only 3 feet from my car door when I snapped this - and moving rapidly. As soon as I took the second shot, I raised my window as fast as I could. It will be fine if I never see him or his ilk again!!

On the way to work Friday morning, I saw  something in the road that I thought was a brown snake. As I got closer, I could see that it was a small tree branch. I drove on another block and saw something else on the road in the distance; thinking it must be a branch too. But as I got closer to it, it began to move in a sinuous manner.......a long black snake with white markings and a triangular-shaped head (which usually signifies a poison snake). 

I stopped the car and grabbed my camera, and the snake obligingly stopped and posed for me, but as I snapped that photo, he began to move again, getting very close to my car. I pondered closing the window - thinking he might be able to spring up toward me, but since he wasn't coiled, I chanced another shot - after zooming the lens as much as I could. He's an ugly sight - trust me. I'd show you, but I left my camera at work (I hope that's where it is). Photos to come over the weekend. Have a good one.

R.I.P.  Born 1997, Died 6-17-11 

Her ear infection spread, and it was too enmeshed in her body to be cured. The poor baby lost 2-3 pounds in about 3 weeks and began to stagger and wobble, due to the middle ear infection.  I am so sad to have lost her, especially so soon after her sister died from a kidney problem.

 

 

 

Recent Weddings

While all the arranging was going on, I was making 44 boutonnieres, 23 corsages (20 of them wristlets), 1 halo (head piece) and 1 kissing ball!  Three weddings are a lot of work.

I made the pew markers and bows.

Chester was caught drinking out of the pitcher, and from the position of his ears I can see that he was not happy about being interrupted. He's saying  "Yep, I drank out of it - what of it?"

Beauty and the Bad

This one is supposed to be turned to the right, but I can't get it to do that now.

It's looking better, but it's still bad! I took two frogs out of the pool this morning and the hawk was very interested! I saw him fly off the deck and the pump house into the trees twice, as I went out onto the deck. One of the frogs is still sitting there and the other is gone. Either the hawk got him or he jumped back in the pool. 

*****

You know the building in New York where the IMF guy is now staying?   The one at 71 Broadway?  That's where my daughter lived for 18 months. It's 2 blocks from the World Trade Center location. Although it is a very nice building, with nice apartments, it must be quite a comedown for a man who is used to $3000 per night hotel suites!  lol

A Message from Beyond

A friend lost his 18 year old cat recently; just 3 weeks after I lost one of mine. I can truly say "I know just how you feel" , since my loss is still so fresh in my mind. 

He told me an interesting story:  He buried his cat in his yard, outside his dining room. That night, he went to look at her grave through the dining room window. As he stood there, a beautiful red, male cardinal lit on the grave, looked up at him and then flew to the window sill and looked at him again.

He said, "I got a message, but I don't know what it is." I told him I thought she was letting him know all was okay. We both got teary-eyed, but I see this as a comforting message, don't you?

Tuesday at the Flower Shuttle + Canada Geese

Peonies, roses and solidago

Iris, roses, bachelor buttons and solidago

Tulips, roses, hydrangea, wax flower and purple statice

There was a story in our newspaper recently about two Canada geese who have chosen an odd spot in which to roost. It is between a mall parking deck and the post office, across a busy street with lots of traffic. There is no lake or water nearby, which seems odd for them. I went to the PO after the Flower Shuttle today and parked right beside their spot. He is on the left, and she is on her nest near the rear wheel of the car.

When I first got there, he seemed calm, but as traffic increased, so did his angst - and he waddled to the edge of the plot to stand guard. It is amazing how alert he is; turning his head from left to right, surveying the possible dangers. I asked the clerk in the PO how they were doing. She said that sometimes he stands in the middle of the street and won't let cars pass at all. I was lucky he was not in that mood today! I told her that I appreciated the way Canada geese males take care of their mates, and she said "Wouldn't it be wonderful if all males were like that!" 

This creepy possum was drinking water from the top of  my pool cover yesterday, but he moved away and went off the deck as soon as he heard me coming. It's no wonder that our pool covers only seem to last one year; considering all the animal claws they host. He was big - as large as my cat who weighs 10-12 pounds. I really don't want him around, so I hope the fox comes back and gets him.

The Weekend in Photos...

On a clear day, you can see [almost] forever......

One of our Saturday weddings.....the guest book table

One of the centerpieces...

Luscious parrot tulips look good enough to eat!

PINK!

Chester...our shop mascot and chief overseer. Twenty pounds of sweetness.  I had another photo, but it disappeared. I'll try it tomorrow.

Odds and Ends

The weather forecast predicted tornadoes for our area again today (Thursday), and the skies looked as though it might come true, but despite wind and torrential rains, the violent storms veered to our right and went easterly. Thank Heaven for that (with apologies to those in the path of today's storms.) When I went to work this morning, I drove through one of the areas hardest hit on April 16th. It still looks like a war zone, although progress has been made. I cannot imagine what it looks like in Tuscaloosa right now, since I know that seeing it on television bears little resemblance to the devastation seen in real life. My prayers go out for them. 

The Earth is angry. Whatever it is that we are doing to upset her should be stopped, and quickly. Gaia is rebelling at our misdeeds and bad thoughts. As the old advertisement goes....."It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."

*******

Are you watching American Idol?  Who is your favorite?  They are all good this season, so it is hard for me to pick one winner. I got excited tonight when I saw (on Facebook) that the tour dates for the summer had been set - and discovered they are coming to Raleigh!! Now I just have to find out the cost of the tickets.....lol.  I guess Scotty fans will fill the arena, and I am one of them. He's not extremely well-rounded as a singer; it seems everything he sings takes on a country flair, but he's so good and so cute it doesn't matter. Country is my least favorite music, but I'll make an exception for Scotty and for Carrie Underwood.

***

 I worked for a new (to me) flower shop last week. I was there when I found out my cat had to be put down. Imagine getting that phone call in the midst of people you only met the day before; crying as if your heart would break, and trying to make decisions about burial/cremation/ashes saved or not. It was horrendous - although none of them could have been any nicer to me. I opted for letting the vet take care of the cremation and dispose of the ashes; our land is composed of clay and rock, and I can't even dig in it for flowers, let alone a grave. I didn't ask the vet what all of that would cost, but I should have.

when I went in on Monday to pay the bill, I got a big surprise. It was much higher than I thought it would be. So, on top of being so sad about losing my cat, I had to pay through the nose for the privilege. I will know what to do the next time an animal of mine gets ill. I'll do the burial myself, somehow. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel as though I've been taken advantage of - and I don't like it. Have you had bad experiences along these lines? What did you do?

I've Been in Denial....

Storm has been ill for a while, which is obvious to me now, but it took a long time for it to sink in. She used to weigh 14.5 pounds and Saturday morning at the vet's office, she weighed only 8.5. I knew she was losing weight, but I laid it onto the fact that she seemed not to like any of the food I had been feeding her and her sister, Eclipse. The weight loss became evident about six months ago, but since no other symptoms were apparent, I didn't take her to the vet. While I was away for the funeral of my friend last week, mr. kenju reported in phone calls that she was lethargic and "not her old self", which I blamed on my being away. She was my shadow; I couldn't walk from one room to another without being followed by Storm, and when I was out of town or when I worked a lot of days in succession, she let me know how displeased she was. 

Friday evening, she insisted on going into the garage - where she usually didn't like to stay for long unless it was very hot - and then she loved it. There was a big box out there, from the deck chairs I bought recently. She got into that box and refused to move. I put a blanket in there for her and placed a bowl of water and some food nearby. She refused broiled chicken (her favorite food) and I knew that something must really be wrong.  This morning on my way to work, I took her to the vets office, where I learned that she probably had end-stage renal disease, from which there is no recovering. Blood work confirmed that, so I had no alternative other than to authorize them to put her down. This is the third time I have had to do that; one other cat and our dog had to be euthanized. It is one of the hardest things I'll ever have to do. Since the alternative was an animal who would be, at worst, in pain and at best, uncomfortable, there was no choice.

My younger daughter said, "Mom, you've had too much death lately" and I sure have to agree with her. My dearest old human friend and my dearest old animal friend all in the same ten day period. I don't think I could take much more, so I'm praying I won't have to.

Happy Easter to you and yours.

R.I.P.

Odds and Ends

What a mess!! I'm glad this will be gone in about two months, but I don't want to be the one who has to scoop the leaves out. It is back-breaking work.

This well-gnawed bone appeared on my deck this morning. I surely would like to know what animal left it there. Maybe my foxes are back...or a raccoon. It is about 4 inches long and a little over an inch in diameter.

It has to be a portion of an animal's femur, don't you think?

The trees are beginning to bud, and I cannot wait to see the light green that comes with the first tiny leaves. It is my favorite color! As you can see from this last photo, the skies here were a gorgeous Carolina blue today. And North Carolina Blue reigns - at least so far - in the ACC Tournament being played in Greensboro this weekend. They defeated Clemson in a game they probably should not have won, but we're glad they did.  They will play the winner of the Duke-Virginia Tech game this afternoon.

Through the Years

My sweet "sonny boy" turns 45 tomorrow morning at 4:50. Here he is at 7 months (my favorite photo of his babyhood. It was his "What are you going to do next?" look.

Here he is at 7 or 8, in Virginia Beach, showing off his muscles. He is still built like that, by the way. He plays basketball several times a week and outruns the younger guys.

With his beloved Cayce, who grew to be 95 pounds and had the worst breath of any animal I've ever known. She was a sweetie, though, and his children could climb all over her and she never complained.

With his wife and girls, who are now approaching 13 and 16, so this was taken a while back. Isn't he handsome? He is almost the spitting image of my birth father.  Happy Birthday, Son, we love you!

What Are You Waiting For?

A slice of life unfolded before my eyes today (one I'd rather not be privy to) as I was driving to and from my errands. On the way down, I saw a dead deer lying in the grass beside the road, and about ten feet away was a turkey buzzard or some sort of vulture. I wondered what he was waiting for, since the buffet was served and the food was getting cold.

On the way home, the deer was still there and five more buzzards had gathered; all of them standing at least six feet away from the deer.  The first one must have sounded a clarion call to his buddies. I decided that the birds were intimidated by the passing traffic, which was too close and too quick for them to feel safe. When will the banquet begin?

(I hope that the carcass will be gone by the next time I have to travel that route.)

Odds and Ends

More Halloween decor...










I made this pumpkin out of poster board back in the late 70's, and we have been using it ever since. It hangs beside my front door.






Next, a photo of Canada geese in S*m's Club parking lot. This was just a small part of the gathering. There were at least 60 of them that day.

My food  Friday night at Cafe Capistrano.....yum!

Have you ever slept the whole day away? I did that on Saturday. I got up at 7am, got on the computer until about 8:30, ate breakfast and settled in to read  the 2nd book in the Swedish crime series  (The Girl Who Played With Fire.) Fell asleep for two hours, got up and ate lunch, read some more - fell back to sleep about 1:15 and slept until 4:30!  I'm not sick, so I can't understand why I slept so much, unless I am making up for lost sleep last week. 

I redeemed myself by making a pot of chicken and rice soup for dinner. It turned out well and I know it will be even better tomorrow! 

P.S.  I slept another 3 hours in my chair Saturday night . I wonder how long it will take me to get sleepy again?