Never Lacking Excitement!

After I finished running my errands today and had a late lunch, A came down to the house so that I could show her where to find Woody K.'s food and the plants that need to be watered and what to do with the mail. She brought a friend with her, well two friends actually. A and her friend C had a little cat with them that looked something like Woody. He was of similar coloring only this cat was a much softer orange where Woody's color is brighter. He looked to be about six months old or so. Just a neighborhood cat that follows them around.

When we were finished discussing business and how much she thought the job was worth (I think I surprised her on a higher note than she was thinking), the girls left via the front door but were back before I could get it shut behind them. It seems that Woody had chased the cat that they brought with them and he ran up a big 'ol pine tree next to my house. Unfortunately, the lowest limb on the tree is much higher than my ladder.

For the next half hour or so, one of my neighbors, the two girls and two little boys who just wanted to join in on the fun, tried our best to get the cat down. I got out my ladder and we tried to coax the cat to the lower end of the branch which in part hangs over the roof of my garage. My neighbor insisted on climbing the ladder but she never went up high enough so the cat could trust that he could get to her by coming a little farther. We finally gave up, as none of the other neighbors were home or they didn't have a ladder any larger than mine. She went home, the girls went home and I went inside. The young boys decided to stand watch.

About 5 minutes later, they were ringing my front door bell (actually, they must have been pressing it continuously as it never quit dinging), hollering excitedly that the cat was going to fall and die. I went back out and he had gotten way down low on a very small limb and looked near enough that I thought I might be able to coax him on over to the garage roof.

I opened the garage door again and pulled out the ladder and climbed as high as this scared of heights 60ish lady could go (one rung down from the very top actually) and grabbed hold of the branches and started trying to get him to come towards me and on to the roof. Nearly five minutes of this and I was ready to give up again and started down the ladder. Just as I was folding it back up, the boys hollered and when I looked up the cat was hanging by a thread as close to where I might be able to reach him as he had been throughout the ordeal.

So I put the ladder back up, climbed up one more time and started shaking the branch. The poor cat was scared to death and focused on me completely. I felt so sorry for him but still couldn't quite nab him. I inched out a little further than my comfort zone, while on a ladder with two small boys running around underneath, and pulled with all I had in me and the cat finally made the leap onto the roof. I had my reading glasses perched on the top of my head as usual and they were falling onto my face so off they came while I tried to grab the cat and bring him down. It took several tries and I think he left a couple of his claws on the edge of the roof as he really, really didn't want to let go. I finally wrangled both hands around him and yanked him off of the roof and down the ladder. The boys were ecstatic and I noticed that there was now three of them as the younger brother of one of them had joined the crowd.

We spent a couple of moments loving and hugging on the sweet little guy before I put everything away and came back into the house where I promptly sat down at the computer to blog about this event.

That's when I realized my reading glasses were still on the roof!

From The Library

These are the books I'm taking with me to Indiana when I go to visit mom. I'm not sure if I'll have time to read or not but I'm planning on it. 'scuse mefor a secnd!!!!!

*%@#$*%@#$*%@#$*%@#$*%@#$

Please disrgard that blue streak folk... my key board is acting upnd haf of what I'm typing eiher doen't show up orit is wrog. Batterymybe? I'll be righ right bac.

Okay, I'm back and it seems to be working better now so I guess it was the batteries. I'm not sure I've ever changed them in this keyboard... the mouse, many times but the keyboard? hmmmm What's funny is that when I turned my keyboard over, it automatically posted my incomplete entry. lol oh well, back to our regularly scheduled blog post.

The first book is The Shack by William P. Young. It came highly recommended to me by a friend. The book deals with faith but is a mainstream bestseller, having been on the New York Times bestseller list for ages.

The second should be somewhat familiar to me although I've never read this one. It is Fates Worse Than Death by Kurt Vonnegut.
It's been ages since I've read anything by him, so long I can't remember how long ago! I just keep running into quotes by KV or about KV and decided it was time to reacquaint myself with his wit. This one is autobiographical and I'm looking forward to the read.

I have the animal situation under control, or as well as it is going to be controlled. Ginger is going with me and Woody K. will be staying here under the care and loving guidance of the daughter of a friend. I think Miss A. will do a fantastic job. She's coming to the house tomorrow so I can show her where she can find everything for his majesty. I will also warn her about the fun little presents he will be likely to have waiting at the door when she gets here to feed him. She may not be too happy about seeing dead birds, mice, frogs and whatever else he comes up with. But it's all in the name of the hunt and he's so proud of himself. A. will also be watering my little boxes of herbs and the late tomato plants that just might actually produce.

Busy day coming up tomorrow. Church is out as there is too much to do. Guess I'll get off of here and do a few things tonight and save some time tomorrow.

Good night all!

Happy Birthday!

To my mother, who is 85 years young today and to my granddaughter, Sarah Grace who turns 12 today, I wish you both the most wonderful day.

I had hoped to find a photo of the two of them together on Sarah's first birthday that I dearly love somewhere in my collection of photographs, whether a print copy or a digital copy but alas, it has proven to be illusive.

I know I have it somewhere but it wasn't with the other photos from their joint birthday celebration here at my house from 11 years ago. I'm sure I did something with it or intended to do something with it and it's in the nether world of all those things in this house that I have had great plans for. :::sigh:::

I'm hoping to leave for mom's on Sunday and I know she has a copy there that I can scan. I will have to wait until I can get that done to post the picture.

I love you both and wish only the best for you today and always!

Happy Birthday mom and Sarah!

Wordless Wednesday - August 20, 2008

Before and After




My daughter Dee took this photo on her first trip to Scotland three years ago (at least I think it was three years ago). The copies I have of those pictures are compressed but are good enough for display on the web. I play with them in PSP to this day. On this edit, I cloned out the power line and the time stamp before brightening and pulling out the contrast in the photo. The process removed the color cast, which I think lent a sort of old world tone to the building but I was pleased enough with the results to save this one as is. At least for the time being!

Visit Wordless Wednesday to find out what it's all about and to see a listing of all of today's participants.

Rain's A Comin'

Poor Ginger is headed towards panic mode, trying to hide under the computer desk or get to my lap, whichever she makes it to first. She is like many dogs, afraid of the noise of thunder, which means that today will be an unpleasant one for her.

Dark skies and ominous lightening with big claps of thunder are here along with much cooler temperatures. For this area, we have been in the midst of a cool down, with temps hovering around the mid 80s the past few days. Trust me, in late August, in the delta area of Louisiana and Mississippi, those temps are like a cold snap. This comes just a week or two after record setting temps and heat indexes of around 120°. We've had a few days with enough rainfall and cloud cover to resurrect the lawns in the area. Many of us, me included, were out mowing last night before the anticipated storms come upon us over the next few days. It was the first time I had mowed in about three weeks.

It seems we will be in for a possible deluge of rain from the same storms which have hit the Oklahoma City area and caused flooding there. Even though we were experiencing very dry conditions, this area has had plenty of rainfall the past couple of years so we really don't need a lot of rain to fall, just enough to keep us comfortable and to lower the *@#&$@*# electric bill that's running so high from trying to cool off our homes.

Me and Ginger, signing off, hoping to stay dry and keep power and cable on.

Southern Culture

Aaron Wilburn manages to nail southern culture from Krispy Kreme to Wal Mart to the differences between men and women... oh, and he's completely G rated so it's all good, clean humor.

Monkey Business

This little guy is having a blast with two tiger cubs! I'm betting that in just a few months he will keep his distance.

Simon's Cat

This cartoon cat is true to life! Don't dare want to do something other than what a cat wants you to do!

Wordless Wednesday - August 13, 2008

The Neighbors Swing




This swing looks peaceful and inviting and I sometimes long to go over and sit in it, particularly later in the day... when the weather is cooler... and when the mosquitoes aren't biting. If it belonged to the neighbors on the other side of me, I would feel free to do that. The couple who have the swing are not really all that friendly and I wouldn't be comfortable even asking. They are pleasant enough but have remained distant so I tend to be hesitant in pursuing a neighborly relationship with them. They do have a sweet little boy that I enjoy talking to and I love to watch him and his friends at play. I wish I had half of his energy!

Visit Wordless Wednesday to find out what it's all about and to see a listing of all of today's participants.

Blogs I Read

Below is a group of links that you will find on the sidebar of my blog. Most of them have been there from very early days. They are all current and I visit most of them nearly every day that I am online.

I thought it might make a good post to explain why these blogs continue to be my usual reads. If you come here often and do not see your blog listed it doesn't mean that I don't visit your site on a regular basis. I just made a determination some time ago to limit the number of links I displayed as I know my reaction to seeing a list of links a mile long.

There may come a day when I replace one or more of these links but I tend to be a pretty loyal reader. If you will note, there are other links on my sidebar but these are the personal blogs I return to time and again. The others pertain to interests or hobbies but these are the ones that touch me personally for one reason or another.

Not Quite What I Had Planned

-- this is Kristie's blog. I've followed Kristie since the old Caringbridge days when I followed several young children with cancer on a regular basis. Her daughter, Kendrie, had cancer and is now, thankfully, in remission. Her husband Blaine, who is in the military and sounds like a candidate for husband of the year to me, has also stared down cancer and is still undergoing reconstructive surgery to repair damage caused by the treatment. Besides cancer, their lives have been filled with infertility issues, adoption, natural parenthood, surrogacy, and multiple moves that go along with being an Air Force family. Kristie is hilarious, straight forward and just downright lovable.

Don't Get Me Started

-- this is Linda Sharp's blog. My daughter Dee turned me onto this site. Linda is down to earth, plain speaking and you will never leave her blog without knowing exactly where she stands. She rales against injustice, particularly on behalf of children and her blog is filled with satire, politics, social commentary and just plain fun. Linda and her husband seem devoted to one another, which is good as they struggle with a marriage that requires them to live in separate locations. There is no doubt as to Linda's devotion to her own three girls. I don't always agree with her but I daggone love to read her blog, which she often updates several times a day.

Confessions of a Pioneer Woman

-- ohmigosh, who doesn't know Ree? I see links to her blog everywhere I go. I love this read. Daily life on a cattle ranch, homeschooling, a full blown section for cooking and recipes, another section for photography and photoshop and continuing sagas about her romance with her husband, Marlboro Man. Think calf nuts and go enjoy this one. Besides, she has great giveaways with fantastic prizes just out of the blue. You won't be sorry! Humor abounds on Ree's site and as she says, she likes to keep things real.

Miz Booshay

-- Donna Boucher's blog. I'm not sure exactly where, when or how I first came across Miz Booshay's blog. I was reading her long before she started doing tutorials in the photography section of the Pioneer Woman's blog and boy is she ever talented. She is another deeply family oriented blogger. Y'all seeing a theme here so far?

Pensieve

-- Robin is the Pensieve one. Her blog led me into a brief spell of poetry writing and such and I would like to get back into that. Robin has a large readership, as do each of the blogs I've previously listed. Robin is another blogger with a great sense of humor and never hesitates to let you know that her family comes first.

Life Is Like A Lunchbox

-- Nan is one of my younger reads. I found her probably though Friday's Feast or something like that. She is a preacher's wife and together they are raising their four small sons. Nan is into photography and photoshop too.

2nd Cup Of Coffee

--this is 'Lidna' (actually Linda but she has a post about being Lidna). I found Linda through Friday's Feast and realized that she was born and raised and still lives in my hometown of Muncie, Indiana. She writes an inspirational column for the local paper there and is involved in with the youth group at her church. Linda is another blogger who writes with wit and humor and yes, you guessed it, her family is her number one priority.

Faith In Community

-- this is Diane. She is a Lutheran minister somewhere around the twin city area in Minnesota. We connected when we discovered that we both collected bookmarks. Diane is very intelligent and is devoted to her church, her husband and step-sons and her dog, Scout. She often posts copies of her sermons online and is an avid reader. Like many ministers, she is a fantastic communicator. What I like most about Diane is that she is able to keep God out of the box and looks at life and speaks of life with the understanding and intelligence that God gave her. She has a lot of great reading suggestions!

Faithful Froggers

-- this is Heather's site. Heather's family is another hold over from Caringbridge. She and Donny lost their son Jacob, who was one of a set of triplets, a little over two years ago. They have since adopted a beautiful little girl from South America who has the most beautiful smile ever. Along with their older son, the two remaining triplets, this family is just a real blessing to read about. She seldom updates on a daily basis, as you can imagine, but what a powerful message she leaves you with. Family important here? Oh yeah!

Gill's Jottings

-- I really enjoy Gill's site. Gill is from South Africa and was my first international read. I'm sure we met through Friday's Feast as well and something about her connected. I'm pretty sure that it has to do with her strong sense of family. Am I boring or what?

Linda at This and That

-- another Linda here. This Linda is in West Virginia and I felt a connection to her because I know we are both divorced. She has remarried but I know we've experienced similar situations and that even in the midst of family problems, we both care deeply about our families.

Mercedes' World

-- Mercedes is another younger read for me. She intrigued me with a comment she left on a post and we connected through a request she made about my doing some tags for Memes she hosts in Paint Shop Pro. I had never done that and was pleased that I was able to make a few that she uses for her Memes. It didn't hurt that she is a dog lover, and even though she hasn't started a family yet, you can tell from the love she had for her beloved Patches, (who passed away a few months ago) that she has the caring and devoted nature of a family oriented person. She also moved up this year from teaching kindergarten to fifth grade so 'teach' got a promotion.

So these are my normal daily reads, even if I don't always comment when I stop by. This was a good exercise for me as truthfully, I wasn't sure what it is about all of them that drew me in and now I know. They are all intelligent, funny, talented and most are as family oriented as I am.

I happened to realize while doing this that the majority of them are around my daughter's ages, late 30s - early 40s. I'm not surprised by that. I guess I can relate to what they are saying as I hear so much of the same things from my own girls and of course, I've been where these gals are at. A couple of them are much younger than I am and two or three are around my age. I am surprised to realize that I have no male bloggers listed here as I generally enjoy men's point of view.

Thank you ladies, one and all for entertaining me each and every day!

Oh, I'm wondering if you know what drew you to the blogs you read each day and what keeps you going back. Have you thought about it or do you just read?

As Miz Booshay would say -- 'Encourage one another'! (my favorite thing about her blog... that and her photography)

Baggage

I love Nicole Johnson's vignettes. I've been a fan of her dramas since the first time I saw her at a Women of Faith tour years ago. This one is about a young girl struggling to carry all of her 'bags'.

Nicole Johnson wrote, directed and cast this original sketch for the Revolve Tour. Shared with permission by Nicole Johnson and Fresh Brewed Life, Inc.

Wordless Wednesday - August 6, 2008

Cats and Dogs
(what it's like dealing with Ginger and Woody K. on a daily basis)


Really? Does he have to put his butt in my face?

So maybe he isn't quite as bad from this point of view!

Just don't tell anybody, okay?

Visit Wordless Wednesday to find out what it's all about and to see a listing of all of today's participants.

Sunday Morning Storm

Early Sunday morning, John and I were still up (after he came in from Missouri late Saturday night) playing games when we heard a rumble of thunder in the distance along with a rushing sound, which sounded like wind. John, being the astute young man that he is, asked, "Is that wind?"

I opened the French doors to the back porch and sure enough, the wind was blowing something fierce. I tried to get the weather channel on tv or a local station to see if we had warnings that were non-existent, other than the damn heat advisory we seem to be constantly living with now, just an hour earlier but about that time the lights began to flicker, dimming every couple of seconds and the tv /cable going on and off before sure enough, we were in the throws of a full fledged power outage which lasted close to 4 hours.

There was little to do after we lit candles and tried to finish the game we had been playing other than to setup a movie on his laptop, to which we both immediately fell asleep (insert family joke here, particularly about me being unable to stay awake during movies). I did wake up when the power came back on and set a couple of the clocks, but have to admit the ones in the back of the house are still flashing yet today! It didn't take long to fall back asleep and finally when I woke permanently and went outside I found a lawn full of debris, including leaves, sticks, twigs, pine straw and fairly good sized tree limbs that were downed in the straight line wind that came through here. There wasn't enough rain to have left any real evidence or to cool things down as the heat advisory was never lifted throughout the storm. I don't think there were any injuries and while our immediate area was hit fairly hard the worst of it was southwest of here, which was expected to be without power most of Sunday.

John was kind enough to help me clear up the biggest part of the mess, the larger pieces of debris and I raked up a fair bit from the front yard which was the hardest hit. The rest of the debris that's left can easily be mulched up the next time I mow.

Here's a couple of photos of what we cleared away from a very brief windstorm, that probably only lasted 15 to 20 minutes but carried quite a punch.


(yard debris raked up from the front lawn)


(pile of tree limbs, sticks and twigs that fell during the storm)
It will be at least October before I can burn again with the heat and drought here but that's what I'll do to the limbs on the old garden site. The debris will be bagged and if my trash service won't haul it away for me then I'll have to load it all up and take it to our landfill. Ginger would like that as she goes with me anytime I go there.

You can see pictures of further damage from the storm and clean up efforts in this area here.

Oh, the heat advisory is still on with temps expected to be well over 100° with heat index of 115° or higher a good part of this week!

I think I see a visit to my mom in Indiana in the near future!

August

"August rushes by like desert rainfall,
A flood of frenzied upheaval,
Expected,
But still catching me unprepared.
Like a matchflame
Bursting on the scene,
Heat and haze of crimson sunsets.
Like a dream
Of moon and dark barely recalled,
A moment,
Shadows caught in a blink.
Like a quick kiss;
One wishes for more
But it suddenly turns to leave,
Dragging summer away."
- Elizabeth Maua Taylor

"Let me enjoy
this late-summer day of my heart
while the leaves are still green
and I won't look so close
as to see that first tint
of pale yellow slowly creep in.
I will cease endless running
and then look to the sky
ask the sun to embrace me
and then hope she won't tell
of tomorrows less long than today.
Let me spend just this time
in the slow-cooling glow
of warm afternoon light
and I'd think
I will still have the strength
for just one more
last fling of my heart."
- John Bohrn, Late August

August is a special month to me. My mother was born in August. The year she turned 73, that would be 1996, my fourth granddaughter was born on the very same date. When August 22nd comes in just a few short weeks, mom will be 85 and Sarah Grace, twelve. I have the most marvelous picture of the two of them together from Sarah's first birthday party here at my house. I love that photo. A copy of it sits in a frame at mom's house and has for all these years.

I'll see if I still have a copy on my old computer... why haven't I ever got all those pictures transferred like I planned on when I got the new one years ago ... or if I have a printed copy stored with the other photos in one of the spare bedrooms. I will for sure find a copy in time to put it up for their shared day of celebration.