Car Mad House

What an almost-wasted weekend!

The good part was traveling up the road yesterday afternoon and seeing friends I haven't spent time with in many years. They've been in their "new" place for 9 years and this was the first time I've seen it. Let's forget how sad that is and concentrate on the fact that I actually got up there (it's a whole 30 minutes up the road) and that it was fun.

And it was sooooo nice being out of this cat mental hospital for a while. Velcro has totally lost her mind, the cats are in chaos. The old cat has always been most gracious and well-mannered. Now she is a snarling bitch. (No, that's a female dog, what's a nasty female cat called?) She holes up in one of the bedrooms and won't come out. Now, she can live for a long time without food because she's pretty chubby, and she must be getting water somewhere because she's peeing on everything. That's what cats do when they're pissed off.

So I spent the rest of the weekend doing laundry. It's a losing battle. You just get a load dried and folded, and here comes a cat to sleep on the clean pile.


I caught Velcro this a.m. and put her in the soft carrier, then put that on the walker and pushed her to the back porch where there is food, water, and the cat box. When I let her out, Charley and George wouldn't leave her alone so she smooshed herself behind the dryer. I had 8 loads of drying to do today, so that wouldn't work.

When Bob got home for lunch, we teamed up and dragged her out of there. I put her back in the carrier and put it right in the middle of the floor where she just had to deal with life. Charley immediately jumped on the carrier and sat on it for a while, then got off and stared through the netting, anything to be annoying. George watched.


I've totally had it with cats this week.

Do they make drugs for cats? Valium or something? Is there a Dr. Phil for cats?

Bob says bring in the big dog carrier and put all 4 of them in it for a week.

Dusty Works

This is K’s neighbor, riding Dusty so K can see what he’s doing. Dusty does a little of every gait imaginable. It’s not easy to sort them out. This is everyone’s favorite - a smooth little canter. A Tennessee waltz.

It’s hard to explain to a hunt seat rider and a western rider how to get the right gait from a gaited horse. The language I learned 40 years ago doesn’t translate well. For example, “bust him loose,” and “he’s too square.” And I usually heard those phrases with a few cuss words on either side of them. Horse training is so much more civilized these days.

These pictures were taken by K on my new camera.

Gourd Art

Here is the gourd I did in class. Well, I started it in class. It took a good bit longer than that to finish it.

Without the leaves, it looks like a bomb from one of those old cartoons.

Not Enough Weekend

I got a lot done, but ran out of time. This a.m. I went through 3 big boxes of books. These had already made the rounds through my book-trading buddies, so it was my turn to find a home for them. Two friends at work had already rifled through and snatched 2 bags. I pulled out a couple of bags for the kids at SCOE’s court school, then took the rest to the SPCA for their book sale. I also left a little cash there. I’m hoping next time someone will take their unwanted cat to SPCA instead of dumping it on my doorstep.

Green Acres, the flower nursery, is on the way home from SPCA. I HAD to stop there and look at the winter bedding plants and bulbs. Of course I had to bring a few home. I also brought a bag of ladybugs. I know, it’s not the right time for ladybugs, but I felt so sorry for the bugs in the bag. They were begging for their freedom, I could hear them.

Blue Top had a little work this weekend too. He gave pony rides. Brianna and her mom Stacy brought a group of 4 little kids over and BT patiently plodded around for them.


Brianna and Stacy hide behind BT so a mom can take a picture of her young lady “riding.”

I have a picture of Bob at this age on Neva’s horse. He’d been on trail rides before he was a year old. Those were the days between our “old" lives as interesting people and our new lives as “parents.”

I stayed outside until dark and got a few things planted, then I came in and started my new project - decorating a gourd. This is the before picture.

It may be a long time before you see the finished product. I’ll take my camera to work tomorrow, though, and take a picture of the gourd I finished in gourd class. Why did I take it to work? No one to show it to here at home. The kitties and Bob are only interested in things that are edible.

Not Enough Daylight

I have figured out the camera and am eager to send you some wonderful pix. However, when I get home at night it’s actually almost night. Maybe today I can get outside while the sun's shining and convince something out there to move around quickly so I can take an action shot. One of the main reasons I bought a Canon S515 is that I really admire the photos a fellow blogger has taken of her horses and Boxer dogs playing in the field.

I’m beginning to realize there isn’t much action around this place, though. A 20-something horse, a 10 year old goat, sedentary cats and son. Even on my cane, I’m about the most active thing around here. The morning glories grow faster than I move, and the lizards dart around, but they don’t go very far.

So please forgive me for more cat pictures. It’s all I’ve had to practice on. I did take a picture of a bare-chested Bob sitting with his box of Legos, but found it depressing.

Here is Charley, ever vigilant and looking for a good time.


He hasn’t found many of them this week. Velcro is still hissing and spitting at him from the corner of Bob’s bed, where she’s been ever since she returned from the vet. She seems to be suffering from a personality disorder, I hope it’s not permanent.

Here is George, trying to find a place that doesn’t belong to someone else.


He’s had a rough time in some cases - like learning to stay off the counter when people are eating. But mostly he just tries to ignore the hostile glares of the other 3 kitties. Oh, and even though he’s proving to be a superb lap kitty, he hasn’t been welcome on our laps. He’s been very gassy. Gag. Don’t squeeze the orange kitty. I think that’s what Saddam used on the Kurds.

Learning to use the camera stuff set me back a bit. I’ve been pushing this week to make up time and get some stuff done before our big job at work hits next week. But overall I’m coping well. Bob took this picture.


You all know I don’t smoke anything. Weed smells like burning catshit to me, and I need all the wits I have left just for simple everyday functions. This t-shirt is from the little town near Mt. Shasta. It’s so soft and comfortable, I wear it a lot.

Really, the smile and dopey look are genuine.

Age Is No Asset

Every year I become less capable of dealing with life’s little details.

Yesterday my car was due for its 35,000-mile servicing, so I took it to the dealer. They have a nice waiting room with a huge TV. I don’t watch TV, I haven’t had one for 12 years. Yes, I rub this in a lot, and though I long denied it, I AM self-righteous about it, but don’t let that bother you.

Well I thought, since this was in the afternoon, maybe I’d get to see an episode of General Hospital or something. I haven’t seen GH for 20 years. Is Jessie still there? Is that actress even still alive? How about Monica and Alan?

But no, GH was not on the TV. It was Divorce Court. My God. The stuff they show on TV these days. I was embarassed to be in the same room with other people who were watching it. Low life, extremely stupid people on the show, with incredibly dumb problems. Negative, nasty stuff. Even the commercials. I’m not equipped to deal with this stuff.

I picked up my keys at the cashier's desk. She said the car was on the right. I had to squeeze past 2 cars parked in front of the door to get to the parking area, across some nasty tile flooring that was a problem with my cane. Then I looked and looked and couldn't find my car. Had to go back to the cashier. She said she'd have someone bring the car around. So I went to stand at the door, and there was my car already! It had been one of the cars I’d had to walk around to get to the parking area. Some days I’m not even equipped to deal with the obvious.

When I got home, there was a package waiting on the porch. My new digital camera! I spent all evening reading the owners’ manual. By the end of the evening, I’d figured out how to install the shoulder strap. Sigh.

Planning for Disaster

Reading about all the current disasters in the world makes me think about my own life and what I need to do to keep it going – does it have that effect on you?

I’m especially sensitive to other people having to deal with floods. Living here between a river and a creek is like being a spider sitting in a sink. Sooner or later someone is going to turn on the water, and down the drain you’ll go.

This time of year I tend to start thinking about evacuation plans. Mostly that consists of making sure there aren’t too many animals to evacuate, and planning where to take them. The animals go out first. Family pix are in old marked suitcases that can be grabbed quickly. And, of course, you have to just be willing to kiss some of your possessions goodbye. Thankfully, we haven’t had to evacuate very often and the house has never suffered damage. I’d like to wish that luck on everyone.

When I see stories, though, where people who are still in their homes are quoted saying things like “we’re running out of food,” it makes me wonder. I’m sure there’s enough food in my house for at least a week, maybe 2 if you’re not too picky. As long as there’s a manual can opener, life is good. We can handle tuna straight from the can and unheated green beans. Bob eats cold soup and stuff all the time. I don’t stockpile food, mostly it’s from buying food at Costco, you get 6 cans of soup whether you want them or not, and half are stored in the basement.

And how could you run out of water in a record rainstorm? A couple of plastic tubs set outside should do it, shouldn’t it? My favorite quote, though, was “we don’t have any cold water to drink, what are we supposed to do, drink hot water?” Well, gee, if you leave a cup of hot water sitting out it gets at least lukewarm pretty fast. Personally I’d throw a tea bag in it and enjoy a cup of Earl Grey.

There are probably a lot of folks who are coping just fine, but we don’t hear about them. It’s just the whiners who make it on the news – in my case internet news reports. It’s probably worse on TV.

I do believe I’ll get an extra 12-pack of tuna next time I’m at Costco. For when the electricity goes out, as it always does in rural areas. Tuna and Triscuits, yum.