I was shopping at Big Lots, my favorite store in the world, when I spied this cool cat condo and thought that the new kitty, Sophie, might enjoy it (I was sure that 6 year old Winkie wouldn't really care for it). Well, both cats use it for their fun and entertainment. I can sit for hours just watching them play in and around it. I think that it is helping them bond as I have noticed they play together in a more civil manner since getting it. I know the video is a bit long but it was fun catching them on film (though no film was involved!). So, if you enjoy this video...come back again and I will have more of my latest fancy - the cats at play.
The rain is pouring down outside and everyone is napping inside between bouts of play and work. The thunder is rolling and rain on the metal deck roof sounds lulling, so sleep is inevitable!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
In My Opinion
In my opinion we have become a society of ill-mannered people. We talk on the cell phone constantly, even when face to face with others, we are talking on our 'earpiece' or have that phone glued to our ear - how rude!!! I am a bank teller, and I can't even count the number of customers that I wait on while they are carrying on a conversation with someone on their cell phone - I need to ask them questions, I need their attention while counting their money, or when asking for ID, or when needing their account number, or countless other things they are not prepared with while handing me a piece of paper and expecting me to 'know' what they want without them having to say a thing to me!!! (that was a run-one sentence, wasn't it - sorry) I also find it rude when employees are talking on their cell phone when they should be working or helping customers. My family knows to call me only in case of emergency or extreme urgency. So when I do get a personal call, my phone will vibrate...when I get a chance to check it at a moment that I am not actually engaged with a customer, I excuse myself and listen to the message in a private area. If the message does not call for immediate action (life or death) I will return the call on my break or lunchtime. See, I was taught that personal 'stuff' was done on personal time. So I find it ill-mannered to spend my time as a paid employee to tend to personal things.
While I am on my soapbox, I also want to rant about traffic. Every day I cross a bridge which is having construction done. There are signs...flashing signs, stating the speed of 35 MPH through this construction area. So, I slow down to 35 - and cars whip around me going 45-60 MPH as though they were illiterate or did not learn their numbers! People, people, people - there are workers who depend on our obeying that speed limit. They work out in the heat every day, day after day, trying to finish that job and they have to cross over those lanes of traffic at times. The least we could do would be to obey that 35 MPH speed for several hundred feet of road - then resume your crazy speed when out of the construction zone. I'm just saying...
Also, in my opinion we are getting off track terribly when it comes to politics, religion and race. I really don't care what persuasion to which you subscribe/were born. Can we not live together on this ever changing planet with respect and consideration for our differences (which will always exist)? I respect the differences as they make this world a wonderful and ever challenging place to live. I love knowing that your heritage may include things that mine doesn't and am interested in learning about yours. Our difference doesn't make one better than the other - just different. Can we not celebrate that difference? Can we not learn from that difference? Can we not respect that difference? I will, however, have to make a stand on one hard line - language. If you came to the United States of America to become a citizen (or are here illegally) and are working earning American dollars, or attending American schools - then learn English. If I were to decide to move to Mexico, or France, or Japan I would definitely learn the language well enough to live there and be understood - before I moved there! I would also study the culture and customs so as to be respectful to the natives of that country.
OK, I will sign off now that I have gotten a few things off my mind. Don't take offence - this is just My Humble Opinion of things on my mind~~~a middle aged woman!
While I am on my soapbox, I also want to rant about traffic. Every day I cross a bridge which is having construction done. There are signs...flashing signs, stating the speed of 35 MPH through this construction area. So, I slow down to 35 - and cars whip around me going 45-60 MPH as though they were illiterate or did not learn their numbers! People, people, people - there are workers who depend on our obeying that speed limit. They work out in the heat every day, day after day, trying to finish that job and they have to cross over those lanes of traffic at times. The least we could do would be to obey that 35 MPH speed for several hundred feet of road - then resume your crazy speed when out of the construction zone. I'm just saying...
Also, in my opinion we are getting off track terribly when it comes to politics, religion and race. I really don't care what persuasion to which you subscribe/were born. Can we not live together on this ever changing planet with respect and consideration for our differences (which will always exist)? I respect the differences as they make this world a wonderful and ever challenging place to live. I love knowing that your heritage may include things that mine doesn't and am interested in learning about yours. Our difference doesn't make one better than the other - just different. Can we not celebrate that difference? Can we not learn from that difference? Can we not respect that difference? I will, however, have to make a stand on one hard line - language. If you came to the United States of America to become a citizen (or are here illegally) and are working earning American dollars, or attending American schools - then learn English. If I were to decide to move to Mexico, or France, or Japan I would definitely learn the language well enough to live there and be understood - before I moved there! I would also study the culture and customs so as to be respectful to the natives of that country.
OK, I will sign off now that I have gotten a few things off my mind. Don't take offence - this is just My Humble Opinion of things on my mind~~~a middle aged woman!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Getting Old Sucks
Well, my sweet husband of 40 years was just here at our house visiting. You see, right now he is staying with his dad who is 87 years old and on Sunday morning fell and broke his left shoulder. The surgeon does not want to do surgery due to his age and health. Prognosis: keep arm as immobile as possible for the next 4-6 weeks and hopefully the shoulder will heal. This is a difficult task for anyone who is in great health and of good physical condition...now being 87, walking w/a cane, and needing all one's strength to get up and down - what chance does he have??? So, my wonderful husband, the awesome first-born son (and only relative living in this city) is staying with his dad during this healing time. I miss my sweet man! But, I would rather he be taking care of the man who taught him respect for his elders, good manners, how to be a good husband, and how to take care of one's car, than staying here with me and hiring a stranger to stay with his dad. The most cool thing about the timing of this unfortunate accident is that my sweet husband just retired on May 2 - so he does not have to answer to HR in order to stay at his dad's house!!!
I pray for my sweet husband to have stamina and strength to help his dad. And I hope that he comes home now and then so he doesn't forget what a beautiful wife he has!!!
I pray for my sweet husband to have stamina and strength to help his dad. And I hope that he comes home now and then so he doesn't forget what a beautiful wife he has!!!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
My 'Garden'
I am not an outdoor kind of person, I don't tolerate the heat very well. But this year I have been overcome with the need to grow things. I have some herbs...several types of basil, some rosemary, parsley, chives, oregano, thyme, cilantro, and lavendar. I have enjoyed cooking with the herbs already. I have to tell you Deck Gardening is for me~~~you can plow the field and plants seeds. I do also have several planters which I have planted different plants, just because they looked pretty together, as well as some flowers for the benefit of the humming birds, bees, and butterflies.
It is a pleasure to sit on the deck and take in the aromas of the herbs and the sight of all the beautiful floral colors and the plants.
On the front porch are two large beautiful hanging fern - they have really grown thick. The planters in front of the porch have petunias planted around the perimeter of the mums which returned from last years planting. Stuff is growing everywhere. It is so exciting. And this week Mother Nature has helped with the watering! Enjoy the photos.
New kitty/Old kitty
We have had our beautiful grey cat, Winkie, for about six years. She was a rescue - I literally grabbed her out of the middle of the bushes on a cold December evening and took her into the house. About four weeks prior to that evening she was born in our garage - her mother was a stray, feral cat looking for a warm place to birth and our garage doors had been slightly open to channel away the rain pouring down. So she found a warm, dry place to give birth.
At that time my husband was on vacation the second week in December through the end of the year. He noticed the mother cat around the garage doors and heard the kittens inside. So, he put out bait of pieces of left overs just outside the doors, leaving the doors slightly raised. He sat in his truck with the garage door opener in hand waiting for the little critters to exit...but every time he closed the door it scared them back into the garage. Finally after a day or so they were all exited and he watched as the mother moved them from one place to another in our bushes until she had carried all away but one. After a few days she did not return and the weather was turning colder.
I could not stand the thought of that little thing dying in the cold in my front yard! So, I climbed under the bush and extracted the little skinny thing. She was not at all enthused to be extracted and was shaking severely. We warmed some canned milk and fed her. Then I did the craziest thing and took her inside, upon threat of my life.
She had this one eye that she kept closing as if to wink - thus being named Winkie. She was skittish and not that loving, but after all she was a feral cat and I figured that would change as she grew. Not much! Though she did win our hearts in her own way and six years later she is our mistress. She will sleep in the crook of my legs and she will sit at the top of the stairs waiting for me to come up from the basement garage when she hears my car pull in. She loves us in her own way.
Then, the Friday evening of Memorial Day weekend this year she took a leap off the back deck and disappeared. Now, she had ventured out with me many many times onto the deck with no interest whatsoever in leaving - she is so skittish about anything new that after a few minutes out there she always wanted back inside. But this particular night she leaped and was gone. We searched for her until 11 p.m. and I even got up at 3:30 a.m. and searched some more. Our plans were to leave for Knoxville to visit our daughter late Saturday afternoon, and we did.
Several days before Winkie took the leap, I noted a facebook post by my daughter's boy friend of a picture of kittens - adorable and inviting, but I did nothing. Until the thought of having a house without a cat, so I inquired. I made arrangements to get one of them - a little grey and white one - for me. I did mourn the loss of Winkie - it was however, her choice to leave, but I also love cats and needed to have another one.
Well, wouldn't you know it - Winkie did not like where ever she had gone when she disappeared, so she was on the back deck when we got home on Memorial Day! What to do, what to do. I had arrangements for a new kitten to come into my home and I still had a cat in residence who would definitely not like the intrusion into her world!!!
On Wednesday night (before Bonnaroo) my daughter's boyfriend brought the new bundle...and the old bundle was not happy. So, after depositing our newest family member, the boyfriend and the daughter left for Bonnaroo. That night the little one found the safety from the big one under the sofa and spent the entire night there. When she saw my feet go by the next morning she came out from under...thus receiving the name Sophie!
It has been a week now since Sophie came to stay and I have to report that Winkie is warming up to her some (she wants to play so badly, but doesn't know how). I truly feel that one day they will be the best of friends and will lay in the sun licking one another the way cat friends do. Sophie and Winkie BFCF!!!
At that time my husband was on vacation the second week in December through the end of the year. He noticed the mother cat around the garage doors and heard the kittens inside. So, he put out bait of pieces of left overs just outside the doors, leaving the doors slightly raised. He sat in his truck with the garage door opener in hand waiting for the little critters to exit...but every time he closed the door it scared them back into the garage. Finally after a day or so they were all exited and he watched as the mother moved them from one place to another in our bushes until she had carried all away but one. After a few days she did not return and the weather was turning colder.
I could not stand the thought of that little thing dying in the cold in my front yard! So, I climbed under the bush and extracted the little skinny thing. She was not at all enthused to be extracted and was shaking severely. We warmed some canned milk and fed her. Then I did the craziest thing and took her inside, upon threat of my life.
She had this one eye that she kept closing as if to wink - thus being named Winkie. She was skittish and not that loving, but after all she was a feral cat and I figured that would change as she grew. Not much! Though she did win our hearts in her own way and six years later she is our mistress. She will sleep in the crook of my legs and she will sit at the top of the stairs waiting for me to come up from the basement garage when she hears my car pull in. She loves us in her own way.
Then, the Friday evening of Memorial Day weekend this year she took a leap off the back deck and disappeared. Now, she had ventured out with me many many times onto the deck with no interest whatsoever in leaving - she is so skittish about anything new that after a few minutes out there she always wanted back inside. But this particular night she leaped and was gone. We searched for her until 11 p.m. and I even got up at 3:30 a.m. and searched some more. Our plans were to leave for Knoxville to visit our daughter late Saturday afternoon, and we did.
Several days before Winkie took the leap, I noted a facebook post by my daughter's boy friend of a picture of kittens - adorable and inviting, but I did nothing. Until the thought of having a house without a cat, so I inquired. I made arrangements to get one of them - a little grey and white one - for me. I did mourn the loss of Winkie - it was however, her choice to leave, but I also love cats and needed to have another one.
Well, wouldn't you know it - Winkie did not like where ever she had gone when she disappeared, so she was on the back deck when we got home on Memorial Day! What to do, what to do. I had arrangements for a new kitten to come into my home and I still had a cat in residence who would definitely not like the intrusion into her world!!!
On Wednesday night (before Bonnaroo) my daughter's boyfriend brought the new bundle...and the old bundle was not happy. So, after depositing our newest family member, the boyfriend and the daughter left for Bonnaroo. That night the little one found the safety from the big one under the sofa and spent the entire night there. When she saw my feet go by the next morning she came out from under...thus receiving the name Sophie!
It has been a week now since Sophie came to stay and I have to report that Winkie is warming up to her some (she wants to play so badly, but doesn't know how). I truly feel that one day they will be the best of friends and will lay in the sun licking one another the way cat friends do. Sophie and Winkie BFCF!!!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Projects
On Memorial Day weekend we visited our daughter. After my husband 'slept' on the sofa in her apartment we decided that she needed a new sofa! We went shopping - she sat on 40+ sofas at 5 different furniture stores, and we returned to the first store and purchased a really nice, comfy sofa along with a really cool chair and ottoman. But before we got the sofa, we bought two lamps which were the kind that you see in magazines in really cool rooms and you say to yourself...'where does one get cool lamps like that?' So, the sofa and chair would have to do the lamps justice! And they do.
So, then we looked for end tables that would not break the bank - which after the purchase of the lamps, sofa, chair and ottoman, was sorely cracked! There were none. None that would look right, none that would fit right, none that deserved to be beside that sofa or chair. I had remembered seeing tables made from suitcases - and they already had a coffee table from an old trunk - so it seemed perfect to have suitcase end tables. And the search was on for the perfect ones!!! Well, there were no vintage suitcases to be found, so I made do with what I could find. And here is the story of the end tables in picture form...enjoy the pics.
So, then we looked for end tables that would not break the bank - which after the purchase of the lamps, sofa, chair and ottoman, was sorely cracked! There were none. None that would look right, none that would fit right, none that deserved to be beside that sofa or chair. I had remembered seeing tables made from suitcases - and they already had a coffee table from an old trunk - so it seemed perfect to have suitcase end tables. And the search was on for the perfect ones!!! Well, there were no vintage suitcases to be found, so I made do with what I could find. And here is the story of the end tables in picture form...enjoy the pics.
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