Hallalujah Chorus Flash Mob

I love these things!

Honoring the holidays

I have so much to get done, and using a precious hour to carve a pumpkin seems like an poor way to spend time, but I knew that if I went outside tomorrow and saw that uncarved pumpkin sitting there (the one that was given to me as a gift when I was snagging barn kittens) I would feel like I was letting every tiny bit of fun slip away. So after running into town for an order of wings and watching all the kids in their costumes on the street in Spencer, I came home and carved my pumpkin.

I take no credit for the design, as I totally stole it off a coworker's Facebook page. :)

Then I was about to toss the guts outside to go to the compost and recalled another Facebook post from another friends mentioning that she roasted the pumpkin seeds from her pumpkin yesterday. Mom used to roast the seeds for us when we were kids. So I went online for instructions, and now I'm drinking tea and munching away on seeds as I answer some work mail...and blog.

I'm quite content. Happy Halloween!

Communing with the homestead.

Today began here with Gillian's passing.

I hope people realize when I write about my angst here, it is no more than the usual human struggle for existence. I realize there are days when we are all miserable, so please suffer me to whine, without worrying.

I find it hard, sometimes, to think back to what the house was like when two of us lived here. It seems like I've done a lot of work on the inside of the house, and yet still there seems to be so much to do. The upstairs has languished for so long. Then I ventured back up (after sleeping downstairs for two years) and took over the guest room. Well, that didn't work out. The guest room is as silent as a tomb and I feel remote from the rest of the house. So I finally moved back into the bedroom. The thing that made it tolerable was pushing the bed right up against the window, like I used to do as a teenager (which is hard to do as a couple, because someone ends up crawling over the other person).

At night the moonlight streams in, and now and then the cats will watch out the window with great intent, and I'll sit up and watch the skunks and deer wandering out around the front yard. No bear yet, though. :) I actually love my bedroom now, and some semblance of "bedtime" has now come back into my life.

When I start boarding cats in the two upstairs bedroom, responsible cat owners would want to see the rooms, which means they will need to tromp through my upstairs as well. This means it's time to prettify the upstairs. So the pile of summer clothes got stored; the tv/dvd was moved from the dresser to the stand behind the bedroom door. Etcetera.

I moved the daybed into the bedroom as well, and the cats now like to hang out there, instead of all sleeping on me. It's quite comfy in here now.

"Doing something" about the house kept me from dealing with the baggage about Gillian. I actually really glad that I got to know her end. It's the best I (or sadly, she) could have hoped for. Every time she has disappeared for a bit, I always wondered if I would see her again, of if that was it. Poof...gone, always to wonder. If the cats were ultimately gone from the compost facility that would end one more source of stress between me and my ex, since he has been left to feed her during the week. So of course, the loss of Gillian is also tied up in the loss of my marriage, and working on the house makes it only so obvious I'm working on it alone. And then I end up reminding myself that it all really is so much better this way.

A mental "blah, blah, blah."

The longer I live here, the more certain I become that there are things I will never ever use. So on to Craigslist they go. Yet sometimes I let the oddest things linger on. The old cat tree is still up against the window in the hallway upstairs, even though a brand new cat tree sits right next to it. I just need to pull the old one out, and bump bump bump it down the stairs. Fifteen minutes max.

Oh well.

At any rate, it was a melancholy day. It almost became a terror-stricken day when Tyler ZOOMED out the front door, straight into Molly. Molly chased him, and Tyler ZOOMED off the porch around the house into the darkness -- smack into the half finished cat enclosure, where I was able to scoop him up before he darted away into the night.

Then once Tyler was safely in--both our hearts pounding--I went out calling for Bear, and immediately heard an animal scream up on the hill. Fox? Cat? I grabbed my coat, shoes, and flashlight, but Bear immediately showed up. I locked out the night with relish, once everyone was safely in.

My phone has been ringing off the hook with political auto-dialers to the point where I want to unplug the damned thing. I thought I was on the do-not-call list, but perhaps I need to do that again. It feels like there is some monster in my kitchen, ringing and ringing and ringing.

The only blessing has been this wonderful weather. I need to force myself to step outside during the day when I am working, or darkness and chill will creep in by 6:00 pm when I'm done, and I'll feel like the last of the warmth of the year has been stolen from me.

Welcome to the garden of mediocre carpentry

Sometimes, especially when I've had sort of a lousy week, I get kind of numb, take a good hard look around myself and think "Whoa...how did I let that happen?" I'm more likely to kick out a lot of work when I'm sort of down and out. I'm not quite sure why. Probably because my mind is numb too, and the body just says "pick this up; paint that; fix this"...sort of on autopilot.

I have people coming over to see kittens, and I've been cleaning out the upstairs of the house as well, so the porch has become a catch-all. I was walking up my path on Friday and suddenly saw it all with a critical eye. My ex and I had set up our garbage cans in a wooden crate by the door. Who wants their garbage right next to the door? Especially that nasty orange recycling bin. Little bits of this and that were stuffed down inside the slats of the crate.

When my ex moved the front steps to the side of the porch, we never got around to building a rail. He tied the old one onto the side of the steps so our parents would have something to hold onto. And there it stayed. He put artificial turf on the new steps so Sadie, our lame senior dog, wouldn't slip. The carpet looked quite nice at the time. However, Sadie has long since passed on, and the carpet has grown threadbare and holds pine needles, mulch, etc. Molly is quite nimble even on bare steps.

I stopped and stared at this old mess and said to myself "My God, does this not just SCREAM 'cat lady'?" Single old woman in a run-down house. Today I went after all the outside projects I've been putting off. The shutter on the front of the house is too stiff to knock back together, but at least I pulled off the slats that were sagging until I can bring it down and put it all back together again. I got rid of the garbage cans and the old crate, bought four bags of mulch, ripped off the old railing (what were we thinking when we did that?) and put up just a simple rail out of two by fours. I pulled the carpet off, swept the dirt off the boards, and stained the whole thing.

Then of course the heavens opened up and now I need to stain it all again. But at least it doesn't look like hell.

Then I tackled the cat enclosure that has been lying half finished in the grass.

I've been putting it off because I discovered I needed to build a base to make it high enough to clear the window I want it to butt up against. I'm not much of a carpenter, and having to measure and use the circular saw just doesn't thrill me. In my numb mood, the base became "no big deal." I ran out of daylight however, and the screwgun ran out of juice, so I'll have to finish it later. All it needs is some well placed screws, a roof, and shelves, and my indoor kitties can enjoy the sun...er...snow.

I'll post photos of it once I have some daylight.

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Moving indoors with the Sunday paper

It is officially too cold to sit on the porch in the morning with my Sunday paper. A heavy blanket of frost lies over everything. It is supposed to warm up to 70 today, and I'll open up the windows to the cat facility so the felines can enjoy fresh air for these last warm days of the year. Then it's back to winter, electric heat, and dust. Yick.

But yesterday it was beautiful. I have discovered soybeans in the pod. One of the girls ordered them at an Asian restaurant when we were out. I stopped at a tiny farm stand last weekend and there was a quart of soybeans for two bucks. So I took them home and have enjoyed them all week. Basically you just scrub them with salt, throw them in boiling water for 4 minutes, rinse them quickly with cool water (not long, because they are best warm) and then sprinkle the pods with salt. Sit, open them up, and enjoy the beans inside, and the salt on your fingers. For those on a no-salt diet, go on ahead without the salt. Actually, I was eating them in the car after I bought them, raw. But the pods are a bit hard to open without the quick boil.

The first round of kittens who have not been adopted yet are growing rapidly. I got an inquiry on Allie, and it was hard to get her to sit still for a good shot.

I have finally had to admit that my current income will not support the farm and cats. Gretchen is coming over today to help me rip out the carpet in one of (or maybe both? we'll see how it goes) the small bedrooms in my house. These rooms are never used. Until this spring, I never even used them for cats. I'm going to put down vinyl, finish painting the walls, paper the ceilings, and board pet cats. The rooms are entirely separated from my living space (and my cats) by a hallways, and they are nice sunny rooms. Each is 12x14. I'll need to put up ledges on the windows and make them otherwise cat-friendly. Each cat would get an entire room so she would not need to be cages while boarded.

This also means joining a pet boarding association, getting insurance, etc. etc. etc. The nice thing about pet sitting is that--unlike wildlife control--there are affordable software programs to manage them. As long as you input everything, the bookwork takes care of itself.

Each room also has a closet, so I can keep different kinds of cat litter, towels, etc. all close at hand. Funds raised from the cat boarding would go to the cat rescue.

I hope to get just a few regulars--people like myself who travel. Booking would be somewhat limited by the fact that I won't be able to board cats while I'm traveling myself.

So that is today's plan of action. I did manage to get the lawn mowed yesterday, hopefully for the last time. The frost destroyed all the flowers in the flower pots, so I may as well rip those out and put the pots in the barn. And maybe Gretchen and I can stop by Iron Kettle Farm today and I can pick up corn stalks for my window boxes on the cat facility.

If you are thinking "Maybe you wouldn't be so broke if you didn't buy roses for your porch," we'll, you'd be right. But the roses were on sale in Owego for three bucks and I couldn't resist.

Back from Rhode Island

Fall travel begins. I have a relatively light schedule compared to previous years, because most of my destinations are within driving distance, with the exception of a trip to Texas.

This week I was off to Rhode Island -- a state I must sadly admit I had not visited until now. I think I'll make it a vacation destination someday, since it was easy to get to and the people were so nice. I was spitting distance from the ocean but needed to get home, so alas, I did not put my toes in water.

I did have a great time both at the Adoption Options held at The Potter League for Animals, and out on the town Thursday and Friday nights with our speakers.

One thing I try to do each time I travel with great people, is to buy one affordable but remarkable item that I can fit into my everyday life, to bring me a smile. Smiles are very important to people who live alone. Well, I suppose they are important to all people, but when you live alone, you rely pretty heavily on memories. So in my house I have a prayer flags I got in Virginia, a tiny bowl that holds my coffee spoon each morning, from a local artists' store in Augusta GA , toe-rings from Key West, shell wind-chimes from Jekyll Island--things that tend to cost around $20.

After dinner on Friday we were wandering around the shopping district in Newport, and stumbled into this little boot store. Pia loves her boots, so in we went. There was one affordable pair I would have been happy to wear to Texas, but unfortunately my toes objected. Paul and I wandered over by the door to wait for the others. Some rain boots in abstract colors adorned a rack. Paul is pretty tall and pulled down a short western plastic boot from the topmost shelf. He said, "What about this?"

OK, these were definitely boots that would make me smile, especially since Paul picked them out. Pia walked over. Luckily she has a smaller foot size than I do, because she fell in love as well.

We both walked out laughing with loud, artsy, fun, vinyl, western rain boots (soft and comfortable as can be) and gave all the credit to Paul.

When people's eyes fall to my feet in Ithaca (or in the airport when I travel), I will smile and smile and smile. Maybe I'll even wear them for the next AO.

Thank you Karen, Paul, Steve, and Pia for a wonderful workshop and a great time with friends.

Discovered a new place in Owego

The rooftop "beergarden" at Tioga Trails in Owego (photo from their web site)

A little brain-dead from two days of adoptions, I wandered down to Owego to meet Gretchen, but our usual watering hole was closed. The Parkview was also closed and dark, so Gretchen suggested Tioga Trails. When we got there, the proprietor started to seat us but then asked if we wanted to "visit the roof now or after" and since I'll take any opportunity to visit any roof at any time, I said "now."

We entered a street-side door that we had previously passed, and climbed up four stories of brand-new steel stairs to a new wooden fenced deck with a covered bar overlooking Owego. The woman behind the bar told us it had only been open two weeks.

It was a beautiful place to spend a September evening, sipping Mojitos ($4, or $2 for a half-sized drink--cute!). Dinner could be ordered from the restaurant below via cellphone (Order "to go" and they'll bring it up. Although you'll ended up eating out of stryofoam, at least your wonderful leftovers were already boxed. The food was excellent - $11.95 for the pasta dishes we had).

Then the crowning touch arrived -- "Ted" the dog, who played dead when you pointed your finger at him, would "shake," and also gave double-pawed "high-fives." Ted scored lots of sweet potato fries off me (I broke them into small pieces as treats) and I got my big-dog fix for the week.

So, all of my local readers, before the cold weather rolls in, I suggest you watch the sun set from the roof of Tioga Trails this month. They are open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Maybe you'll get to see Ted.

"Ted" at the Tioga Trails rooftop garden (Photo by Gretchen)

New home for the wedding bench

The summer before Mark left he brought the bench down from the top of the hill so that it could be sanded and repainted. He used the tractor, and I no longer have one, so taking it back up again isn't really an option. I already replaced the bench with two chairs, so I can still watch the horizon with a friend.

But what to do with the bench? It was a wedding gift from our good friends Mike and Teresa. Mike officiated at the wedding. Having it perched on the hill was a perfect place for a Mike and Teresa gift. Just having it sit around the yard like an ornament didn't seem right.



So I sanded and stained it, hauled it into the back of my truck, and drove it down to the road to a little place by the creek where there used to be a log bench that has rotted away. Now our many walkers can sit and enjoy the quiet stream, and I can too.



This seems like a Mike-and-Teresa type place, too.

How to beat the "I-want-to-eat-fresh-vegatables-but-I-always-let-them-rot" blues

At the store, buy carrots, celery, broccoli, a few onions, a small bag of potatoes, a small package of sausage (Italian or sweet, your preference) and a cake of bird suet (because you ought to, but seldom do). Total, $12 at the Big M in Spencer.

When you get home, throw a load of laundry in the washer. This only takes a sec.

As you unpack your groceries, get out a pot, knife, and a cutting board.

Fill the pot with 3-5 cups of water and put it on "high" on the stovetop.

Peel three of the carrots. Cut them lengthwise, and then chop them into small pieces. Throw them in the pot. Put the rest of the carrots away in the fridge. If there are old carrots in the fridge, pull them out, cut them into a few big pieces, and throw them in a plastic grocery bag or a bowl for compost.

Wash the broccoli. Cut off the tough end of the stems and toss them in the compost bag. Slice off the rest of the stems up the the floral part of the broccoli. Throw the good stems in the pot of water. Break apart the broccoli florets and put them in a ziplock bag so they are ready to munch on them when you are hungry. Put this in the fridge. Look for more old veggies in the fridge to pull out and throw in the compost bag/bowl. Old bread, etc. are also fair game. Don't ask "Is it expired?" Ask "Will I really eat it?" If the answer is "no" throw it out now.

Cut off the entire top of the celery bunch. Throw the top in the compost bag. Wash the whole remaining bunch. Chop off about a cup in small pieces. Throw these in the soup pot. Wrap the celery in foil and put it in the fridge. Pull out the old grody celery you'll find in the vegetable drawer.

Pull out a few of your new potatoes. Hopefully you got some in good enough shape that you don't need to peel them. Wash and cut three potatoes into bite sized pieces. Put the rest of the potatoes away in the cupboard. Look for old potatoes to toss. Throw these in the compost bag. You may need to cut the old potatoes in half so they will rot faster.

Peel and chop up an onion. Throw in the pot. Put the rest of the onions away. (ditto discard old onions you may find...)

Rinse off the cutting board. Take the sausage and cut into 4-5" long pieces. Slit the skin on one piece and put in a small frying pan. Wrap the remaining pieces individually and put in the fridge for future cooking options. Fry up the sausage, breaking it into little pieces.

Put half of the sausage in the soup pot and keep the rest in the pan. By now the soup should be boiling. Turn it down on "low." Don't let it boil over or it will just piss you off, ruining the whole exercise.

Immediately wash up everything you used, wipe down the counters, throw away anything that needs to be thrown away, and put away remaining groceries.

Take the old vegetables and trimmings out to your compost tumbler, compost pile, etc. Bring your suet with you. If you don't have a composter, take the scraps as far from your house as you can and throw them out for the critters. Scatter them, don't dump them in a pile.

Don't do this if you have bears. :)

If you don't have compost or a country back yard, I guess you have to throw the trimmings out. What a pity.

Put the suet in your suet feeder. Fill your bird feeders if they need filling.

Wash your bowl/throw out the plastic bag.

When the soup has been boiling about 45 minutes and the veggies are soft, take it off the heat. Take a smoothie wand and put it in the soup and turn it on for about 10 seconds. This will puree about half the soup, making it thicker. Throw the rest of the sausage in. Turn the soup off if dinner is an hour or less away, then warm up right before dinner. Don't overcook. Freeze the leftovers in dinner-sized portions or save some for lunch the next day.


How will this keep you from wasting your fresh vegetables?

It won't, but when you discover they have rotted in your fridge or cupboard in a few weeks, you can console yourself that at least you got one batch of soup out of them, did your laundry, fed the birds, cleaned your fridge and your pantry (so you won't encounter future nastiness), ate at least part of the broccoli if you remembered it was in the little ziplock bag, picked up your kitchen, and had sausage to use for spaghetti or breakfast.

Your house will also smell good for a day. You will have gotten a nice feeling of accomplishment once everything is done.

Then the future-forgotten veggies won't seem like such a waste.

And it only took a half an hour.

Unless you blogged about it. Then it added another 20 minutes.

How to be alone

Couch finds second life at Grassroots Festival

Anyone recognize this?



I'll try and find a photo of it when it was at my place.

Grassroots volunteers were looking for furniture to give a new life to old furniture in a cool way for their musician's lounge. They came and rescued the poor orange couch from my barn. I don't know how much furniture they ended up with, and what the whole lounge looked like, but the couch sure came out great.

I hope it goes home with someone or they use it again next year.

They are looking for similar (ornate wood frame) furniture that needs a second life. If you have any in the Finger Lakes region, let me know and I'll send Stephanie's email address.

Thanks for sending the photo, Stephanie. And I hope everyone who went had a great time at Grassroots.

Blueberries

I'm not a big fan of blueberries from the store--even so-called 'fresh' ones. It seems like they are always bruised and warm, not to mention expensive. Today I was coming back from Ithaca with a load of cat litter. It has been raining all weekend and I've gotten very little done in the line of house projects. At the "BLUEBERRIES" sign I paused and turned right. I'd been meaning to check this place out for years and today seemed like a good day.

I drove up the hill. And up. And UP. AND UP! I finally found the place, and I was the only one there. The owners came out on their deck and when they heard I only wanted a pint, waved me toward the bushes. "Just go anywhere." I guess if I'd been after gallons they would have sent me to where the most berries were ripe.

Oh, it was beautiful. Rows and rows of blueberries about 1/4 ripe. It was raining just a little bit, the paths were all mowed, and the blueberries just rolled off into my hands. I only had five bucks on me and didn't know how much they were, so I only got about a pint and a half. I came back out to my car, tapped my horn, and the owner came out to weigh my berries. He was only charging $1.85 a pound, and I had less than a pound. I gave him two bucks and told him to keep the change.

If anyone wants lots of blueberries, I'll be happy to help you pick on some cool and cloudy day. I forgot to put a hat on (yes, there were a few deerflies) but picking would go fast.

When I left, I discovered that if I continued to follow the road, it dropped me right at the end of my own road, and it was only three miles home.

I'll be going back.

Dog days of summer

Literally. Summer and Jack have come to stay for the weekend. They are easy-care dogs (Jack slurps up his four pills along with his dry food). I can't walk three dogs at one time, and Molly has been surprisingly patient about being left clipped on the porch. No barking, no whining.



It's a lousy weekend to have dogs. Hot, humid, rainy. Luckily there have been enough pauses between the showers to walk them, although we had to wait quite awhile yesterday evening. They are good dogs, and it's almost no bother at all to have them here.

Bear doesn't think too much of my impromptu porch gate, made out of a screen door laid on its side. Molly did a classic header right into the screen (bonk!) when I let her run around in the side lawn unclipped and then called her back over. Even though she'd been on the other side of it all day, I guess it didn't occur to her that it was also there when she came back up the steps at full tilt.

That's gotta hurt. But it's hard not to laugh. Don't worry Molly, even humans do it.



Speaking of Bear, he went in for his post-fight-with-Skinny Bear FeLV/FIV test, and (happy days!) was negative. So he got his first FELV vaccination and I'll take him back each month for a retest. I'm sure my vet thinks it's overkill, but I can't imagine what it would be like to wait six months, discover he's positive then, and wonder at what point he started shedding the virus in my house among my other cats. Nope--I'd rather pay $40 a month now with one cat, then drag five of them in later on.

I'm not going to even try to plan what I would do if he tested positive down the line. I guess he'd live in the Great Room or the downstairs of the barn. But at this point it's just not worth wasting brain cells on a future that may not happen.



I watched The Bucket List last night. I should watch more movies. They jerk my brain out of my day-to-day rut. Fiction quite often has good messages. I tend to get down on "media" because TV is so incredibly bad, in general. I don't mind fiction when it is clearly fiction. I do mind contrived "reality" that encourages people to compromise reality in search of a "better story." So when I pop in a movie and get to watch something like The Bucket List that is entirely contrived (you aren't being asked to believe it happened) but has good messages (friendship, discovering yourself and the world, having to go away to learn your greatest gifts are often home), it's sort of a relief. A little mini vacation right in the living room.

I have books to read (thank you Kathy, if you ever do get a chance to read this) but I haven't cracked the open yet. I really should.

On that note, it's Sunday morning and I have lots to do. The birds are impatient for their feeders, and Owlie is yowling his head off in the barn (so glad I have no neighbors!) asking to be released from his quite-spacious run into the nonetheless-much-larger cage room.

He'll have to wait until the kittens romp, first, and I go to Ithaca for cat litter. Oh, poor Owlie!

Reunions, friends, fires

I am totally tuckered out after a trip back to Norwich for my 30th high school reunion. Sometimes I wonder how the majority of kids survive high school. Now, with most of us safely on the far side of 45 and closing in on 50, so much of the high school angst is gone. Facebook had brought many of us up to date, so it wasn't like walking into a room full of strangers. And then I had a slumber-party-catch-up with Lisa and Sandie, wine glasses in our hands, until 2:00 am. It wasn't nearly long enough, but I do get through DC at least once a year and must make an effort to stop in and see them.

Before the dinner I stopped in for a short visit with Mom, and this morning before I left I picked up my sister Kathy and we had breakfast. I made it to Ithaca around 3:00, fed the Fast Food and South Hill ferals, and then came home and jumped on the lawn tractor. Then it was up to the cat facility to clean and play, and then off to the kennel to get Molly. The house is a wreck and it's been "clean as you go" tonight, grabbing the vacuum cleaner and scooping up loose items to stuff them back where they belong. I rely on my weekends to get things in order for the upcoming week, and that didn't happen!

We have rain coming in again, just as the wood had finally dried out in my firepit, so I treated myself to a fire, bear or no bear. I don't want winter to roll around and feel regretful that I never enjoyed the summer. I started blogging out there, but Molly kept making me nervous by going on the alert, so I finally blew out the torches and left the fire to burn out (yes, dear family, I am keeping an eye on it and will water it out before bedtime)





I think I really need to revisit high school, and my high school friendships. Dig through the yearbook. I was out of touch with everyone in the 90s, and while they were hashing out our high school years, I put them entirely on "hold"---basically I just stuck them in a memory box where I expected them to stay. Therefore I learned far less from high school and those friends than I might have. I guess it's never too late to catch up.

Holiday are good for...things you should have done months ago

I have today (the Monday following the 4th of July) off. There are of course the tasks that can't be put off - taking care of the cats, mowing the lawn, doing some laundry.

Then there are the tasks I've been putting off for months. July 4 is the Summer Wake-Up Call date. It's all downhill to winter from here. Finishing the paint on the house, doing remedial work on the roof and my unused chimney are summer "to-do-list" items that had better be attended to now, or they won't be attended to at all.

Worse yet are the tasks you actually spent money on months ago because you perceived them as urgent, and then never completed.

On this list I can include the auto-powered air compressor (to fill my truck tires, bike tires, wheelbarrow tire, and two-wheeled cart tires). I purchased this many moons ago because it was VITAL that I have these things to complete my summer tasks.

I never even took it out of the box.

Today I wanted to wheel some wood in my wheelbarrow but the tire was too soft. I wanted to move some pallets out from the barn to the house to start work on the cat enclosure, but the two-wheel cart tires were soft. And I caught sight of my somewhat-squishy silhouette in the mirror today and resolved to get on my bike but...you guessed it.

I dug the brand-new compressor out of my blue truck today, all set to finally fire things up.

Of course, the battery needed to be charged first. 16 hours.

Sigh. The new battery charger is now plugged into the great room outlet, charging, and all my tasks requiring the wheelbarrow, cart, and bike will remain undone another day.

My second purchase was a pair of jackposts for the house and barn, since both are sagging. Bear has pushed the still-boxed post--intended for the house--off the porch rail at least three times. I fish it out of the grass and hoist it back up on the porch rail...but don't install it. The spidery basement may be the cause of my avoidance.

I've tripped over the post in the barn countless times. My excuse there is that I don't want to scare the barn swallow babies out of their nest too soon.

They left their nest today, so that excuse is gone.

Fall is coming, people! What's on your list that you've been putting off?

The rebirth of a happy cat

As I've mentioned before, since Norma, Nellie's buddy, passed on, Nellie has been including herself in the household instead of remaining upstairs glued to Norma's side. She made Norma's lonely scared-kitty life much better, but it's quite nice to see Nellie get to live a normal pet-kitty life now.

She's a tubby cat (as she wanders over right now with her tail in the air). While she does wrestle with her brother, with everyone else she is affectionate and remains a great hot-water bottle for any cat who wants someone to cuddle up to. Every encounter with another cat usually begins with her walking over and planting a good solid lick on their forehead. In the rare situation where this results in a swat, she just gives them an offended look and stumps off to find someone who will appreciate her ministrations.

She also wants to squeeze into bed with me at night, but she manages to do this while I'm asleep and don't notice, and at least it doesn't result in kitty tiffs, as it did between Ivan and Ditzy.

It's good to see her comfortable.

Visiting an old friend....

...my dentist.

When a chunk fell out of one of my teeth that had previously had a root canal, I finally sucked it up and called the dentist. I had not been to one in 8 years.

As I he peered at my xrays, I wondered if I might get a small miracle, but it was not to be.

"I expect you know you won't like what I have to say," he mused.

"It's a lost cause, right?" and he said yes, the tooth had to go. I said "Well, it's my own fault."

So I had my first tooth pulled.

Let's just say it's a lot faster than a root canal, and a hell of a lot cheaper, too.

Let's also just say it's good none of you are here, because I am quite tired and grumpy. Excedrin migraine formula works quite well, by the way, but the ups and down as it kicks in and then wears off every six hours is a real bummer.

I can't whine much though, because Sara's husband had three teeth pulled at the end of last week, and I had dinner with a friend who has had three pulled in the past.

However, I will whine a little, 'k?

"The Checklist" revisited

Some of you may recall that awhile ago I set up a checklist to maintain a sort of minimal functioning sanity. It worked fairly well for awhile, but like all rigid things, fell by the wayside. Fortunately it did pass on a certain rhythm to my days, which was the whole point.

I have since acquired a desire to finish (REALLY finish) my job by 6:00 pm each day (Apologies to colleagues who have now alarmed their mates and pets by guffawing loudly over their morning coffee). I don't mind starting two hours early, but I don't want to continue two hours past quitting time. So the list is coming out again for a major overhaul.

There is a notable difference between the last list and this list. The last list placed "things to do" one at a time. This list recognizes that "one-at-a-time" isn't going to cut it. So it starts out with "Make coffee/wash dishes/pick-up," moves onto "laundry/bathroom," progresses to "birdfeeders/fetch paper" and ends up at "Break on porch/check work messages."

Alas, I'm at "break on porch" and as I try to check my messages, the voice mail system thwarts my good intentions by ringing busy. I now waste five vital minutes calling my work phone from my home phone (and vice versa) to make sure the issue is indeed the voice mail system and not my phones (it is indeed the voice mail).

Curses!! So I shall blog instead, since that also needs to be included on the checklist somewhere.



Post Note: Gremlins at large. The laundry didn't spin out! Oh well. Moving onto "save faxes/take a shower."