Let's start out this week on a great note. It's time for another Photo Safari Report and this time I'm just going to jump to the biggest and best surprise of the entire hike, this sweet little raccoon. Look at that cutie face!! As he (or she) was definitely my favourite part of the hike, I will call this the Cutie Face Hike! Joy was the first one to spot this adorable critter crossing the tail in front of us. I was off to one side looking at something different and nearly missed it entirely. Joy softly said, "raccoon" behind me so I turned and saw something rush across the trail and into the brush. I had to peer behind and beneath other foliage but managed to get this photo which, while not perfect, definitely explains the sensible caution of the raccoon but I think also projects how non-threatening we try very hard to be. He (or she) felt safe enough to pause and look at us with curiosity from the safety of the overgrowth and that makes me very happy. Our goals, always, while hiking with our cameras are first to spend time together, then to get some exercise in the great outdoors, and lastly to get some decent photos while NOT terrorizing the wildlife. Now I'll back up to the beginning. When we first set out upon this explore, we saw, well, not much. The preserve itself was of course, stunning, so I had kind of accepted that this was going to be mostly a botanical hike. Ain't nothin' wrong with that. Here's some of the best of those sorts of photos: Oddly, just as I was going to give up, replace the lens cap on the camera and sling the strap over my shoulder to just enjoy the hike with no more photos, we began to slowly see birds. Including one I had never seen before, (Joy had but I had not so it counts as new to me!) Speaking of new and unexpected things that we saw, there was this giant round metal thing, looked like a short silo(?) out rusting to death in the forest beginning to be covered with leaves and vines, a turtle surfing on a large stick and several squirrels, one on the beach. Oh, and a few butterflies: The young raccoon was absolutely the best part of the hike for me but it was all simply grand! I guess that kind of wraps up the CutieFace Hike. Hope you enjoyed it!
Wish you all a Wonderful Week!
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Thank you all for your lovely well wishes. As you can see from this morning's photo of Brysco, he did very well through his surgery and is recovering remarkably quickly. He is slowly returning back to his old self being sweet and silly and up to his old shenanigans. You see him here at the window spying on the neighbors, one of his favourite hobbies. He also wrestles with his brother, greets us at the door when we've been out of the house for any amount of time, inspects all packages that come into the house, races in and out of the various kitty tunnels and cubes chasing things that are invisible to us, gently wakes me each morning by tapping me with his paw and lately, has decided that the garbage can in Tim's office is the perfect place to nap. Cats are so weird. It is such a relief to see him happy, healthy and not in pain anymore. The lack of teeth don't seem to be hampering him much. It took him a few days to figure out how to eat efficiently but he seems to have it down now and is making up for lost time with an appetite far larger than his size. The doctor explained that the way Feline Stomatitis works is it tricks the body into believing that teeth are the enemy, a foreign object in the body and the body, naturally, does everything in its power to get rid of that foreign object. Once the "foreign object" is gone, the problem is gone. Luckily, his canines (the fangs) and his front teeth were unaffected so he got to keep those. When I first brought him home after surgery, he was of course still heavily medicated and staggering around like an adorable, furry drunk. The instant he was let out of the carrier, he made a wobbly bee-line for the litter box (such a good boy) then he stumbled his way to his food mat and sat, swaying a little, waiting to be fed. Because we thought ahead, we had some babyfood on hand and put down a dish of that. He plunged into it straight away, nearly face planting and gobbled up as much as possible with his numb mouth, which is to say that he made one heck of a mess. No worries, easily cleaned up. He ate until he could hold no more and then, finally, greeted us each in turn. First his brother who was sitting there patiently waiting. Then he went to Tim and purred on his ankles and happily received pets. Finally he made his weaving way to me where he looked at me with those dinner plate sized medicated eyes and pointedly turned his back. oh ho! Message received. I was the one who took him to and from the vet so he made sure I knew he was angry with me. By the next day, most of the medication had worn off, including the gentler pain medication so he laid low most of the time, napping, eating and healing, but he made it a point to come to me sweetly requesting a pets. I have been forgiven. Nice to know he doesn't hold a grudge. At least not for long. And now, he is, as I said, back to his old self: goofy, loving, funny, curious and endlessly entertaining. His brother Wyatt is delighted to have his playmate back and we are overjoyed that he is healthy and happy once again. Tim's office will need a new garbage can however, because Brysco as claimed the old one. I wish you all a wonderful weekend! I know that some parts of the country are getting terrible cold, ice, freezing rain and snow! Yucky! Please stay warm and stay safe! I'll be back next week with a Photo Safari Report. Joy and I went for a terrific hike yesterday and I cannot wait to tell you all about it! Hugs all 'round So this is our sweet baby Brysco. One of the Kittyboy gang. He is silly and sweet and funny and we do love him. (and his brother Wyatt to of course, but this is about Brysco specifically)
You may, or may not, recall that about 4 months ago we found out that Brysco had an inherited dental disease called Stomatitis. People can have stomatitis too, things like canker sores are one of the indications. And while it's painful and annoying in people it's far, far worse when it's the feline version. He had been doing so well once he recovered from his first surgery last October and we were encouraged and relieved. He was back to his high energy, total gooberish old self for a long time. He put on a little weight, his fur was shiny and soft and he and Wyatt romped and played with abandon. It was a joy to see. And then, very recently, we noticed that he wasn't playing so much. We could tell that, even though he was still eating, he was beginning to lose weight, his fur wasn't quite as lustrous, and his energy level was decreasing just a bit. Even though I hated to admit it, every mom-instinct in me was screaming "something is wrong". So last Thursday back he went to the vet to see if my gut was correct. Sadly, it was. Poor baby Brysco will be having another surgery tomorrow morning. I'm sure all will go well and he will be fine. In the best case scenario, this will be the LAST surgery he will need. As a parent, and let's face it, our cats are like furry children to us, we feel terrible when they feel bad. If they are sick, we fret and dote on them; if they are sad, we are heartbroken for them and give them extra pets and hugs; if they are in a mood, we try to jolly them out of it; and when they need surgery, we worry! As I say, I'm sure all will be well but it never hurts to have a little extra positive energy, or should I say, Pawsitive energy heh, coming his way. So if you have a moment and care to, please wish Brysco the very best outcome and a quick recovery. He is a very good kitty who has been dealt a bad hand. He deserves the best we can give him. Will keep you posted tomorrow after surgery. Thanks! I'm Sammie come lately with the blogpost this week guy, Sorry. I kind of over-committed myself and honestly just didn't have time to post. Oh I suppose I could have slap-dashed something together quick and sloppy, but I prefer to put some actual thought and effort into this project. And maybe it's good that I had to wait because, oh me oh my, have I got a Photo Safari Report for you today! After multiple weeks of unusually cold, wet, grey weather, we finally seem to have broken through to the kind of Florida Winter Days that we are known for. That is today, gorgeous! Not too hot, not too cold, sunny and beautiful! Joy and I were so happy to be out tramping in the forest yesterday for the first time in a few weeks. We weren't sure where we would end up but happened to drive by Sleeping Turtle Preserve, a place we haven't been in nearly a year do to various weather related issues that closed the place. But we were delighted and surprised to see that it was open for business once again! Woohoo! In honour of the preserve itself I will call this one the Sleeping Turtle Re-Opened Hike! The first thing we noticed right away was the beautiful early morning light. What a stunner. It gave us scenery like this: Wildlife abounded! There were times when we just stood in one spot, admiring, pointing things out to each other and snapsnapsnapping for the longest time. It was wonderful! The trails go through the forest and along the river so the subject matter was apt to change but all of it was wonderful. I guess I'll begin with birds. So Many Birds! And a wonderful variety of them as well. Including our first Robin this year. I guess Spring is right around the corner: Whew! That was a lot of birds! Next up we have the critters that are not birds. In the non-bird file we have a new entry, a River Otter! I'm no certain who was more surprised, the otter or me when he came around a curve in the trail, fish in mouth but we both froze and starred at each other for a moment before he dove into a nearby bush to hide. I didn't mean to frighten him but I guess I did. I took the photo anyway even though you have to look really hard to see him. If it helps, he didn't fully fit behind the shrub so part of him is sticking out, he face it looking right at me though, through the leaves. Let's see if you can find him: Perhaps you would enjoy a couple of random mostly botanicals: So there you have it, the best parts of the Sleeping Turtle Preserve Re-Opened Hike. Hope you enjoyed it because next week Joy and I are heading there again, to hike the other side of it! With any luck our photos will be even better next time! Hope you enjoyed coming along! You know this story, right, the Tortoise and the Hare, where in the end the message is that slow and steady wins the race? And then the question arises, are you the tortoise or the hare? Well I am both. Or at least in my life I have been both.
Most of my life I was the hare. I flew through my days, zip, zam, zowie and swoosh! Always zooming, always racing, always flying trying to fit 48 hours worth of gotta-do's into a 24 hour period of time. That expectation requires not just multi-tasking but a lot of fast moving. There was a time when I worked in the Oncology department of a hospital. Even though I had an official desk, I never sat at it. I was on my feet and moving all day long. One of the doctors once teased me about my "speed walking". It's unsafe to run through a hospital corridor (though I've done it) so I found myself walking as fast as possible which ultimately is just shy of running. As a mom with three kids I was, as all moms are, on the go at all times, trying to be all things to all people. As an employee I was the one who always came in early, stayed late and worked through lunch attempting to do 3 people's work. As a wife, daughter, sister, friends, I attempted to show up for people, to be there for them, all of them, all of the time, even when it was simply impossible. I suspect that we all feel the same way. Every day was a blur. Is it any wonder that the first 70 years of my life feel as if they have flown by? That time is moving way too fast? In years past, I never felt as if I had the time to really slow down and enjoy each moment. It was always something I was going to get to ........ someday. Zooooom and it's gone, never to return. It's not like there are any do-overs. There is just this one life. As far as I know, that's all we get. Well that was my hare phase. It served me well. But now I have entered my tortoise era. I don't move as fast. I don't' try to crowd as much into every day. I generally try to do only one thing at a time instead of 12. And I must say that while I am enjoying it, it doesn't seem like the world around me appreciates me enjoying it very much. Frankly, it's taken me quite some time to adapt to it too, so I guess I understand. I hear little comments tho, not very nice ones. Not just to me, understand, but to other people like me who aren't moving so fast these days. "Get out of the way, Granny", "If you aren't going to move it, park it and put a fence around it" "God, you are so slow, it's driving me crazy." "This is taking forever, I don't have time for this!" and the worst one I heard was, "I wish I hadn't brought you along, you are so worthless" Wow, that was really mean! Sometimes it's not the words, it's the huff and the facial expression. The roll of the eyes as someone has to walk around me; the big sigh as they have to wait an extra 5 seconds for me in a line; the impatient foot tap (hands on hip or arms crossed) as I make my way out of their way are just as clear a message as the mean words. So here I am today, as a Public Service, to explain why us tortoises are as slow as we are. On reason, is because we no longer have to rush. I'm retired! I do not have to complete 16 hours of work in 8 hours any more. I can take my time. I can relax. I can take breaks during any task whenever I please, as long as I please. I can give more thought to each decision. I can and therefore I do. It's absolutely lovely to have that freedom. I try to be courteous to those around me. I have my thoughts collected and I am concise and clear about my questions or needs when I approach a desk, be it doctor office, DMV or check out line. I already have my debit card in one hand and whatever else is required in the other. I'm not rooting through my purse zero hour and wondering if I have my wallet with me. But I'm also not racing through the transaction. I take the time to smile and be pleasant as I go. Some people in the line behind me have no time for me being pleasant! Be pleasant on your own time, they seem to say, I have things to do! sigh. Another reason is because we making it a point, at long last in our lives, to smell the roses as they say, to live in the moment, to notice the world around us. And those sorts of things absolutely force you to slow down. But if I'm having and nice leisurely walk and living in the moment and smelling roses along the way, the person behind me is often so irritated they cannot help but remark on how very slow I am. " I apologize, I am so very sorry", I say as I move over the half inch left on the sidewalk and they give me a dirty look as they plow right down the center of the pavement, huffing all the while. sigh. I think I personally move a little slow because I just do not have the energy level that I used to. I will get wherever I need to be, just I need to conserve the energy I do have. I find that if I pick a pace that is comfortable for me and stick to it, I can walk for hours. But if I try to walk too fast or trot a bit, I wear out far more quickly. I don't know if it's an age thing or a Sam thing, but it's a true thing. And that slower pace has some people literally shoving past me, muttering under their breathe about how useless old people are. I may not be as tiny as I once was, but I'm also not the size of a mac truck. There is room to go around me without snarky remarks. Just go around. I find this happening most often on the bike/hike trails and mostly by bicyclers. This is not an accusation, it's just a statement of fact. sigh. The last reason I can think of that I move slower than I used to is fear of falling. I break now. I don't bounce like I used to. I want to be certain that I'm not going to slip, trip or stumble. I find that I tend to look down more, on the lookout for large sidewalk cracks, errant tree roots or other obstacles such as children and dog leashes. Not joking about the leashes. Those retractable leashes can be a menace. How often have I seen someone walking their dog on the sidewalk, the owner of the dog on one side of the sidewalk and the dog sniffing shrubbery on the other side with the oh so very trippable leash line between them. Not good. sigh. Yeah, I know there are folks my age and older that are still running marathons or corporations but most of us older people are not. Most of us have finally (it took me almost 9 years!) embraced a slightly slower pace of life and are enjoying it. And to those of you who sneer and roll your eyes and huff and puff at us, the ones who say mean and unnecessary things, I have a few thought for you. One day, this too will be you. Keep that in mind. If you are lucky enough and healthy enough to reach your august years, you too will, most likely, also slow down a bit. And also, yes we do walk a little more slowly and carefully but it's not because we want to annoy you. Usually it's because we are aware that we are a bit more fragile than we used to be. And that doesn't mean we have no value any longer and should be discarded like an archaic piece of technology or electronics that is more costly to repair than to replace. Instead it means that we are more valuable than ever. Think Fabergé Egg rather than boiled egg, fine crystal instead of a plastic tumbler. As the last generation to be able to read and write cursive, which at this point has become a dead language, the final group to be able do math in our heads and read analog clocks, body language and facial expressions, I can only say, we should be declared a protected species and appreciated as opposed to deprecated. Just my thoughts. This is the current view out our front door. It's a chilly, grey, windy, rainy day here in Venice today. Not what a person normally thinks of when they think of Florida. At times it's just more drizzle than anything else and then it'll kick into high gear and absolutely pour down rain for a bit, then back off again. Not a typical beach day for sure. Usually, even in the winter, or perhaps especially in the dreary winter, Florida is the sunshiney respite from despicable winter days elsewhere.
Not today. But I really should not complain. At least here it's merely rain. There are parts of Florida that, today and tomorrow are getting the real deal winter weather. I am absolutely serious. The current weather forecast is for some parts of Florida to have snow, sleet and ice! Oh My Stars and Garters as my Nana would have said. That is not just crazy, it's insane! Florida doesn't have snow removal equipment. We have plenty of sand, come to think of it, but I'm not certain they have a way to spread it on the icey roads. Or drivers that know how to navigate safely on said icey roads. However bad it actually is, it won't last long. But that will be cold comfort, literally, for those folks who live in homes with insulation not intended for true winter weather. Did you know that some of the older homes in Florida do not have central heat? They didn't think they would ever need it I suppose. I mean if you were here in August, you would never imagine ever needing to put on a sweater let alone turn on the heat in your home. I get it. I saw on the news this morning, that some adorable little town in Louisiana, somewhere west of New Orleans, had snowthis morning. Real snow. Accumulating snow! I'm sure it's very exciting! But equally sure that most of those Louisiana residents have doubts about their ability to drive on snow covered roads. Historically, (I checked of course) the coldest weather EVER in recorded history in the entire state of Florida was minus 2 degrees! That was in Tallahassee in 1899. wow! Back in 1954, Milton Florida experienced it's biggest snowfall of 4 entire inches! I know that in snowy places, 4 inches is the same as no inches at all. But down here in the sunshine state, we believe that would be as strange as the state of Maine suddenly having thriving palm trees where all of their pine trees used to stand. And we will categorize that under "Highly Unlikely" I'm all wrapped up in a big oversized sweatshirt that was previously Tim's but has since mysteriously moved over to my side of the closet, with long pants, socks and closed toed shoes while I consume copious amount of hot water to stay warm. Tim has split the difference. He is wearing shorts but with a long-sleeved shirt, and is barefoot, crazy man that he is. The kittyboys are split. Wyatt loves the cooler air. I think he was a Norwegian Forest Cat in a previous life. He will stare at me and tap at windows until I give in and open one for a short time. He then hops up and sits in the open window with rain pelting him and the wind ruffling his fur with his head up, his eyes closed and his nose twitching, smelling all those good outside smells. Brysco on the other hand, moves from cozy warm nest to cozy warm nest through the day. We make sure that there are enough places for him with soft blankets that he can burrow into and we drop by occasionally to give a pet or two as he closes his eyes in toasty warm bliss. Obviously, we won't be doing the noonwalk today. I have no problem taking off my hearing aids and having a nice stroll through a gentle warm spring rain, but this rain is neither warm nor gentle. So I have to fill my day with inside things like the ironing - the pile is currently on the kitchen table where I cannot ignore it. I suppose I could just curl up and read all day. Or alternately read and nap, that's a winner idea! Or maybe bake something first so I can read, munch AND nap. That sounds like the best idea so far. I made oatmeal for Tim's breakfast today. A nice healthy hearty hot breakfast, was my thought. It was the slow cooking, constantly stirring on the stove top type of oatmeal that takes about a half hour. Despite the fact that I stirred until I thought my arm was going to fall off, the milk still scorched a bit and afterwards I had to look up how to get milk scorch off a pan. (it worked by the way). All of which took longer than I anticipated. I should have finished this post a few hours ago and be half way through the ironing by now! At first I was kind of annoyed by being "behind" and then I remembered that I'm retired! I don't have deadlines anymore!! teehee Anyway, whatever the weather is where you are, hope you are safe, hope you are happy, hope you are healthy I'm going to decide what sort of cookie to bake, just in case the spirit moves me in that direction. Then I'll roast a chicken. Somewhere in between the two, maybe my nap :) I believe in making the best use of a situation. I think I've got this rainy day thing down. That's me, geared up and ready to hike yesterday. Please note the layers and the sweat jacket. it's chilly here right now. Nothing compared to other parts of the country, I understand that for sure. But cooler than normal for us. So I decided that layers would be the best way to go. I thought I was so smart. Hah! I was right about layers but wrong about the number of them. Joy was dressed similarly, clearly having the same general idea. We were still cold. It wasn't just the temperature, it was about the cold damp wind blowing across the water and straight through our bones. It was a struggle sometimes to get a good photo because the wind was pushing me around and sometimes because my hands were shivering too much to hold the camera steady. Still we persevered, took multiple shots of the same thing with the desperate hope that at least one would come out good and ultimately, it was a pretty awesome hike in spite of it all. Resulting, I hope, in a decent Photo Safari Report which I'm going to call the Shivery Fingers Hike because they were a tremblin' with cold! The first category of pictures will be of wild creatures eating because I've never before gotten this many of that sort of thing. Now remember, nature does what nature does and sometimes nature isn't pretty. That whole "circle of life" thing sometimes is kind of sad from the prey's perspective. You can skip this section if you are too tender hearted. I completely understand. How about some wildlife that isn't dining? Or maybe you would prefer some scenery and botanicals? I have a few: It was very grey and gloomy, cold and shivery, damp and dark but a great return to our weekly hikes after about a month off. Our cheeks were pink, our noses runny and our fingers achy with the cold, but we would do it again in a heartbeat. In fact, we will most likely be back at it again next week though the weather report is not much different. We will make an effort to dress warmer tho.
Hope you enjoyed the Shivery Fingers Hike. We are glad to be back at it and hope to have some even better photos for you next time! Have a terrific weekend! This is what we are left with out of a dish set that was either six or eight place settings. It was purchased so long ago, I honestly do not remember. I do know that it was very inexpensive. At the end of my first marriage, when I started over with nothing except me and the kids, I was always looking for a really good deal to set up our new home. This set of dishes, which I found at a store called Caldor (similar to a Walmart) certainly qualified. I do not remember what the price tag was, but I know it was cheap. I found them on an endcap. I believe it was the last box, they were on sale and while they are probably the most boring dishes every created on the planet, I did not care. They could have been pink with orange dots and I still would have bought them.
But that was thirty something years ago (please don't make me do the math - I think it was 35) so I suppose it's not surprising that there are a few chips, some discoloration here and there and a few less dishes than we started out with. All right, to be fair, it's more than a few less dishes. We are down to 2 bowls, 4 small plates and 5 large ones. And I am the one responsible. I don't mean "I" as in I declare myself responsible in a kindly intended way of accepting responsibility for what my children may have done. Mostly because they absolutely did not do it. I mean "I" because literally I am the one who broke every dang dish that is no longer in this set. And recently in less than 24 hours, I broke two more. Dang it all. One broke very cleanly in two separate pieces as if it were two perfect puzzle pieces that were supposed to do that. It was a bowl. And all I did was take it out of the cupboard and put it on the counter. Seriously, that's all I did. I didn't slam it on the counter, I didn't throw it on the counter, I didn't even set it heavily on the counter with force. I merely, opened the door, removed the bowl and gently set it on the counter whereupon I watched as it broke into two even pieces. One side fell to the left, one side fell to the right as I watched. What the actual hell was that about? And now we are down to two bowls. The other dish I broke in far more spectacular fashion. I was putting dishes away rather than taking them out to begin with. I had two small plates, one in each hand, I put the dish in my left hand on top of the stack first, then went to put the dish in my right hand on the stack and, and, well I don't actually know what happened. First it was in my hand and then it wasn't. I suppose I dropped it, but I don't remember dropping it. Just in my hand and then not in my hand. The plate, again a very small plate only 7 inches across, hit the tile and exploded with a sound that, in a cowboy movie would have caused at least half the town residents to have expired violently. Tim immediately called out from the other room, "Are you ok?" 'Yes" I answered with a bit of a snarl, "I'm fine". And then I muttered under my breath, "the dish, not so much". I was just so annoyed with myself. But I had to set that aside because the kitties were showing great interest and that isn't a good combo. I'm not sure what it is about crockery or glass, but when it breaks usually, there were bits and pieces far beyond where logic dictates. I begin to understand why aliens build their space craft in the shape of saucers. Apparently, it is the most aerodynamic shape possible. I found bits of that dish not just in the immediate area, but in places that make no sense whatsoever. There were so very many pieces and in so many different shapes and sizes that it began to seem as though, if I were to painstakingly reconstruct that dish from those bits, the dish would end up much larger than it originally was. Which is, of course, impossible. I started, as one does, with the biggest pieces, then the smaller ones that were in my immediate vicinity. One disposed of, I got a broom and began sweeping the area. Over and over I swept the exact same area and with each go ' round, picked up more teensy shards. Then I got a spray bottle of cleaner and some paper towels to be certain I got every little bitty crumb. Eventually it seemed as if I had gotten it all. HAH! As soon as I put away the spray cleaner and broom, I saw more small pieces under the kitchen table. Sigh. I got everything back out and cleaned some more. Then I spied a few tiny bits near the kittyboys food and water dishes. Ratz. Fearing that eensy microbits of ceramics may have jumped into their dishes, I dumped them, washed, dried and refilled them. And while I was at it, completely swept and washed that general area. I did not want them to accidentally ingest any of it. That would be very bad. But finally, I thought, finally it's done. I put away the broom and the cleaning stuff. Surely, this time, I was truly done. Silly me. As I walked away, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a doggone piece of broken dish in the front hall. How? How? I hauled all of the cleaning paraphernalia back out and cleaned more. I swept, I sprayed, I washed, I wiped. Once finished, I stood, hands on hips and surveyed the area. First by the sink where I initially bobbled the dish, then the area around the table, next the kitty food area, and lastly the front hall. At last, "Finished". I said to myself out loud, feeling quite accomplished. Hilarious. I put everything away once more and then walked to the bathroom where I found yet more pieces! ARGH! Is there a wormhole in my kitchen somewhere that scoots things into other places in the house? How does a dish dropped in the kitchen by the sink end up with pieces around corners? It's a small house but it's not THAT small. The bathroom and the entry are in two completely different hallways! Well of course I cleaned it up. But this time before I put things away, I prowled through the entire house starring at the floor looking for evidence of yet more breakage. It took two rounds of peering intensely at the floor as I slowly walked through before I was satisfied that I had, most likely, gotten all of it. And even so warned Tim went he walked in barefoot as always, to be careful. And as far as the rapidly diminishing number of bowls and plates in the house, right now, we'll just keep living with it. As long as there are dishes enough for us, we are good. And when there aren't enough? Well I suppose at that point we will have to actually do something about it. and I promise you, that when the day finally does come that the dishes are replaced, I will be looking for something less breakable. Perhaps something made of steel? Concrete? Plastic? Paper? I understand that diamonds are very sturdy..... It's very likely that you already saw this photo of me that was taken at Joy and Bob's wedding last month. It is a rare thing: a photo of me that I actually like. I admit that it is exceptionally flattering. I don't know if the photographer did some clever editing or if it was just exceptional lighting or a particularly good angle or some combination of all of those elements but it's a decent picture. The thing you really do not see in this picture tho is how dang grey/silver/white my hair is finally getting! It's been quite some time since I did a hair update so perhaps today shall be the day! I'd say that the best description of the current colour of most of my hair would be brown, specifically mouse brown. Very ordinary, very boring. Not a pretty colour really but my hair is healthy so I suppose that's something. For now it's enough. Especially since, as every day passes, I see more and more, of the pretty grey/silver/white all the time. Well grey isn't pretty. It really isn't. It's a flat, dull cold colour. Bah. The silver and white, however is gorgeous, shiny, bright and light reflecting! I love it and am eager for it to completely take over. Seriously, I am so excited thinking ahead to the day when I am sporting a full head of silvery white disco ball hair! My hair however, seems to have other plans. Here, you can see what I mean: (these photos were taken yesterday) There is most definitely some salt and pepper going on at the top but mostly it's just boring rodent brown, ho hum. It 's not all that much different than the last time I posted a hair update. Or at least that's what it seems at first glance. But if you look underneath my hair, if I part it differently, an entirely different story emerges . Especially on the right half of my scalp. Check this out: Isn't that gorgeous? Shiny, silky sparkly silver and white!!! It's looks like Christmas Decorations! Tinsel Hair! I honestly love it! I try now and again, to specifically part my hair so that this is what shows, but my hair resists. My head insists upon a center part and gives me tremendous pushback when I try to do anything else. The left side of my head, underneath, is not as pretty. And isn't that strange that the right side and the left side would be different? Gosh I'm strange! Here is the underneath part of the left side by comparison: The sparklies are in there, you can see them quite clearly, but it's not nearly as densely populated as the right side. Bizarre. Is that normal? Is that how it works for everybody? I don't know much about hair.
I do know that as my hair becomes more grey/silver/white, some colours no longer suit me. There was a time, specifically when I was very blonde, that very dark colours such a black, burgandy, grey and navy blue were dynamite on me. A huge portion of my wardrobe were these sort of wintry dark colours, particularly navy and black. Of course I really struggle to see the difference between the two colours anyway so to me, it's pretty much the same thing. Black absolutely washes me out, makes me look grey. Grey makes me look nearly invisible. Which on occasion suits me, to be fair. All of this leaves me starting over at my advanced age, trying to find out what colours do look good on me now. It's certainly not the old jewel toned colour palate. Yikes! This is gonna take some time and some trial and error. I will refer to it as research and I think I am going to have to do a great deal of it to figure it all out. I suppose we are never too old to learn new things, try new things, change things up! Still, for me anyway, there is a certain lack of confidence while clothes shopping now. Before, for a zillion or so years, I could practically sleepwalk through a shopping trip. I knew the shape, the general size (women's clothes are woefully inconsistent size-wise) and absofreakinlutely knew the colours to grab. Nowadays, nope. The colour thing has me stymied. I know that lighter and brighter serves me better now but it's the specific shade of lighter and brighter. For example, I was never really a "pink" girlie but now I find that certain shades of pink do seem to flatter me. But not every shade of pink. And unfortunately the one that is most common out there, the Barbie sort of pink, is not a good one. But I'll keep looking and trying and learning and hopefully, by the time my hair is completely silver/white I will have figured it out. In the meantime, of course I am still wearing the clothes I already have. I'm far too practical to get rid of perfectly good clothes that fit just because the colour is no longer flattering on me. Hopefully by the time the hair is completely turned, I will have worn those old clothes out entirely and I can start fresh. Something else to look forward to. It's good to have a goal. In the meantime, have a great weekend everybody! I don't know where every single one of you lives but it seems as if most of the country right now is dealing with some serious wintery weather! Snow! Ice! Plunging temperatures! All of that super fun winter weather stuff. It's even happening here in Florida. And yes I am well aware that other states are really being whammed and having lived in very snowy/wintery places before, I sympathize sincerely. We are lucky that, by comparison, our measly temperature drop is nothing at all.
Still, it's not our norm. People travel here, intentionally, this time of year to get away from the cold. To warm up, lay on the beach in the sun, put on sunscreen, wear shorts and sandals without turning blue with cold in January, is a dream. But that dream isn't quite as dreamy as our visitors hoped just now. When Tim and I did our noonwalk yesterday, we couldn't help but notice that there was almost nobody on the beach and the few who braved the chilly wind were hunkered down and wrapped in sweatshirts. I could almost hear their teeth chattering. I feel badly for them, our guests, the people that signed on for a nice hot sunny Florida vacation and were kind of duped by Mother Nature. but weather is like that. Anyone who vacations anywhere, anytime ever, has to be able to roll with the punches. Life is like that and vacations even more so. The locals are not big fans of the chill either, just so you know. And because those of us who live Florida life 24/365 are more accustomed to hothothot, any significant drop in temperature will create those funny (but very real) memes of people on beaches in puffy coats, hats and mittens. It's a real thing. I've been hearing a lot of weather related complaints. As if I were in charge. LOL . That's hilarious. If I were in charge there would never ever be another hurricane anywhere. Clearly I have no power. But unlike so many of my other fellow Florida Residents, I kind of like this little season of Brisk weather. It's a very nice change of pace. I am enjoying having the opportunity to remember how to dress in lightweight layers for maximum toastiness. I delighted in hauling out long pants and sweaters - it's a whole other and rarely worn wardrobe! Wearing Socks is like wearing warm hugs! I had forgotten that. When Tim and I returned from our chilly walk yesterday, I had rosy cheeks! Weather created rosy cheeks I should say and quite honestly, it looked good on me. We will not, however, discuss my windswept hair. Yikes! That took awhile to comb out. I find that I sleep a little better on a night when the air around me is cold but I'm snug and warm in my little blanket nest. The kittyboys snuggle with us in the evening on the sofa instead of romping through the house like lunatics. I cook differently too. I made a batch of chili on Monday and look forward to having yet another bowl of it for dinner tonight. It's hearty and hot and fills every crevice - especially when served with corn bread. Yumm. I never make chili in summer. it would be too hot, too heavy, too wintery. Stews, Roasts, casseroles and maybe one day soon some home made bread. Lots of baking happens in colder weather too. Everybody around here is a fan of that! I even like being on the beach when it's inclement and everyone else is steering clear. For one thing, I'm usually there alone or nearly so, and that is always a treat. But the beach is different, the water is different, even the air is different when it's cold too. Cold weather photos almost always come out crystal clear. As it so happens, right this moment it's 66 degrees inside with no windows open and it's 47 degrees outside and a tiny bit breezy. The breeze is filled with cold damp ocean air which makes it feel even cooler and today's high is predicted to be 57. I know that's very comfortable compared to the places that are battling single digit temps and even negative numbers, but for us, that's not chilly, that's flat out cold. And even if you were a visitor to Florida from a more wintery place, you probably only brought summer clothes which are just not sufficient at the moment. So what you gonna do? I'll tell you what most people do, they either make an emergency trip to Walmart for cheapo throw-away-able clothes or they visit the shops on the Avenue for better quality, more expensive, more weather appropriate clothes that they can take back home and continue to wear. Only a very few, super hearty and stubborn souls, wear their summery vacation clothes anyway and walk around all goose bumpy with their hands in their pockets, half folded into themselves and shivering but denying that they are doing so all the while. Visitors and locals alike are doing their best to stay inside where it's hopefully warmer. I, on the other hand, am not avoiding being outside. I bundle up, wear my layers, and walk around in the windy chill, nose running a little bit, cheeks pinkening, eyes watering, trying to absorb every nuance, every element, every miniscule detail so that I can replay it in August when I am so hot that I fear that I will spontaneously burst into flames. In fact, the only thing I do not especially enjoy about our unusual and colder days lately is stepping out of a nice hot shower or a cozy warm bed barefoot onto a freezing cold tile floor. Few things are colder than a Florida tile floor on a cold day. But other than that, I'm good to go. According to the ten-day forecast, I guess it's going to be cooler than normal around here for awhile longer. Excellent, I say as I sit here drinking endless cups of hot water to warm me up from the outside in. I relish the uniqueness and look forward to Joy's and my planned photo safari hike tomorrow which will be teeth chatteringly, shiveringly, cold but fun. Here's to the unexpected! It's good to shake things up a bit once in awhile. Thanks Mother Nature for a few weeks of cold to remind us how lucky we are to usually have warm. Howdy do and welcome to 2025. How's it working out for you so far? That's Tim and I in the photo by the way I've packed away 2024 along with the Christmas tree and all of the decorations already. well, almost all the decorations. The lights are still up outside because I need help taking them down and since most of those are either not working at all anymore or flickering in an ominous sort of fashion, once down they will go directly into the trash. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. Which is a shame because they are expensive to replace and two hundred bucks would be kind of nice right about now. Hoping to find a good after Christmas sale to replace them for next year. My original plan was to de-Christmasify the house on New Year's Day but I rethought that plan since Tim had the day off and I absolutely didn't want to waste it with chores! It was an absolutely gorgeously perfect Florida January Day. Warm, sunny and not humid. Perfection! Definitely needed to spend the day outside! But where? After tossing a few ideas around we decided to find somewhere photo-worthy but not local. I'm at those all the time anyway. So we headed to Sarasota. The first stop was BayFront Park which is, as the name suggests, right on Sarasota Bay. There is still some hurricane season damage that they need to deal with such as the adorable little Tiki Restaurant that is current closed due to storm damage, part of which includes a large sailboat in isn't where it's supposed to be: A shame :( But you know what? The birds aren't bothered a bit by human problems. There were plenty of birdies to be seen: This particular park is nestled right alongside a marina and one of my favourite things to do there is to walk around reading the names of boats. Not sure why but I find it tremendously amusing. Some boat owners are very clever with their name choices. I say "boats' generically. There are sea going vessels of all shapes and sizes in this marina, including some yachts that are so big they look like floating villages. The photo at the top of the page, by the way, was of our reflection in the window of one of the gigantic yachts that we saw there!!! I took a few boats pictures that were rather hohum ultimately but my favourite shots by far was of some boat dogs! Their owner was hosing off the salt water off them and they were digging it!! Their absolute unfettered joy was so contagious that Tim and I were both laughing out loud watching! It would be impossible to have a bad time with those guys! This first stop gave us the idea to check out some other Sarasota Parks. We tried to find one that was unfamiliar to us just for the fun of discovery. Ultimately ended up at one we had never even heard of before called, Payne Park. Turns out it is 60 acres of skate parks, disc golf, a giant circus themed children's playscape area, ponds, green area and beautiful tree lined paths nestled into the city tucked in beside a church whose bells began to ring as soon as we arrived. Talk about a welcoming! We spent some time watching the kiddos with their skate boards, bikes and scooters at the skate park area, and then were content to just wander through the rest of the park walking along those lovely paths. One of my favourite moments there was watching a little girl on her scooter (not in the skate park but on the sidewalks) wearing a full length, super sparkly blue dress with sneakers and a ball cap. Over and over she would walk her scooter to the top of a hill and the hitch up her long dress to step onto the scooter and push off before 'flying' down the hill. She was pretty awesome. Some random photos from the park: We had a lovely time visiting these parks, both the old and the new and now have a plan to discover more parks that are new to us, not just in Sarasota but everywhere else we go! Why haven't we done this before? It was a great way to spend New Year's Day and a great start to the new year!
Hope yours was absolutely wonderful too! Have a terrific weekend! Well this is it, my friends. The very last day of 2024. As is every year, it was a journey and what a long, strange trip it's been as the Grateful Dead observed.
Like lot of folks, I kind of take stock as a year winds to a close. I make it a point to step back a bit and do an overview of the past 365 days. What were the wins? The losses? The highs and lows? What did I accomplish? What changes do I need to make? What could I have done or said that I didn't? What did I do or say that I wish I hadn't? Like everyone else, I have remarkably little control as I navigate my way through it all. Life just happens. It's how we deal with what happens that defines who we are. So those are the things I try to focus on. Was I the best version of myself in that moment? I guess I see it as an opportunity to take an honest evaluation of myself and give myself a bit of a fine tuning, an attitude adjustment here and there. How can I improve? Not as a resolution. I don't do that. That's just setting myself up to fail and frankly, I don't need that. But more as setting small goals for myself, ways to be a better version of myself. And a brand spankin' new year, fresh out of the box, is a terrific time to make yet another, new start. You don't see the difference between a resolution and a more of a fine tuning? Well the way I see it, most resolutions are declarations. I like the positive attitude, I do. It's strong and it's intentional and bold! "I will lose 10 lbs", "I will go to the gym every morning", "I will give up sugar", "I will read a book a week". Well that last one I can probably do with no problem, but I know me. And I know that however well intended, I know the rest aren't going to happen. Or at least they aren't going to happen for very long. and then I will have failed and failed publicly which is somehow worse. It's not bad enough that I know I failed, but now everybody knows. Dang. I suppose the folks who do that, make such fearless statements are hoping that their conviction is enough and perhaps the public nature of such declarations will help their surrounding community keep them on course. Good luck to them. I am impressed by their audaciousness, truly. But facts are facts and the fact is that studies indicate that only 9% of people who make New Years Resolutions actually keep them. Big Yay to that paltry 9% (assuming they didn't lie of course) but it's about what I expected. My little tiny goals are gentler, more forgiving and easier to keep. Things like, I will try to eat better, I will make a sincere attempt to exercise more, I will truly make the effort to listen more and talk less. Things of that nature. And it seems to work for me. It's like a little Jiminy Cricket on my shoulder reminding me when I reach for that cookie, "Seriously, Sam, a 3rd cookie?" And I at least consider not eating it. Sometimes I go ahead and eat it anyway, other times I don't. But it's the fact that now and again I actually don't. that encourages me. I can sit back and smugly tell myself, "Look at you, resisting a cookie...awesome job!" And I feel pretty good about myself in that moment. The truth is that the next time I might continue to resist successfully and I might not but in that one moment, I succeeded and that in itself is a win. A small one, granted, but a win nonetheless. and couldn't we all use more of those! Or, far more importantly, if I have a moment where I am very strong in the face of adversity, which is not my nature at all, I am so proud of myself. When I have the courage of my convictions, when I politely and quietly stand strong regardless of who is telling me that I am wrong, I feel so good about myself. No screaming confrontation necessary, thank you. Just a quiet conviction. For me it's not so much the big stuff in my life but the small moments, like, for example, if I manage to shut the heck up and let someone else talk while I actively listen, I am so pleased. Pleased that I was able to provide my friend that space to vent safely, pleased that my friend felt better afterwards, and pleased that I succeeded in doing what I hoped I would do. Yay me! There very likely will be other situations where I could have done a better job of it and didn't and shame on me for that. I know I need to do better, try harder. 2024 was a crazy year. There were some wonderful moments of great joy and terribly tragic moments of unbelievable sadness. There were times of great ordinariness and scary battles with Mother Nature showing us her worst. Yet here we are, still standing. I hope I was my best self through all of them, but I know that I can always do better. And that's my plan for 2025. Same as every year. That I keep trying to be a better version of myself. Let's all hope that no matter what 2025 has in store for us all, we come through it stronger, smarter and kinder. Let's vow to not let the bad times change us into people that we don't want to be and the good times keep making us better than we are. Happy New Year Wishes to you all! Hugs all 'round December 18th, historically, was a busy day, an important day! I suppose that at least one noteworthy things happens on every day of every year, but today we are specifically discussing outstanding events on one particular day. Here are just a few of the most significant things that happened on various December 18ths . For example: In 1620 the Mayflower docked in Plymouth Harbour for the first time 1777 saw the first National Thanksgiving 1799 was the date that our first president, George Washing died at Mt Vernon In 1966 we saw the first successful deployment of the rover Sojourner on planet Mars! And of course in 1994, Tim and Sam got married And then, in 2024, this year, Joy and Bob got married too Wait, What? Joy and Bob got married?? SURPRISE! How cool is that?? After 30 odd years of adventures together, they decided to have yet another adventure and tied the knot, officially. It was an absolutely lovely wedding too. They married at the charming St Francis Inn in historic St Augustine on a perfectly gorgeous day in front of the Christmas Tree in the parlour. Mary, a wonderful woman who works at the St Francis, was the officiant and the witnesses were Tim and I and Joy's younger daughter, Stacy and her hubby, Shane. (and Joy's eldest daughter, Carrie, via FaceTime). The girls all sparkled and the gentlemen looked snazzy. Spirits were high, the decor very seasonal. The vows were both simple and sincere. Afterwards we took some photos and were offered cake and champagne to celebrate! The cake by the way was excellent, days later, I was still raving about the frosting. It was perfection. I'll share a few photos from the Happy Day! A little side story, I asked Joy what she would like us to wear to her wedding and she said, "well be comfortable but dress up a bit and try to be christmassy". So I wandered through my closet and was dismayed to learn that I own nothing 'christmassy' and actually very little dressyuppy anymore as there are just not a lot of dressy uppy occasions in my life these days. I had half decided to wear a pair of black slacks that I often wear to the museum and a nice blouse. Afterall, a wedding day is about the bride and groom, not the guests so it really didn't matter so much what I chose to wear. But when Joy asked what I had decided to wear, I, jokingly, told her that the most Christmassy thing I owned was a pair of Christmas PJ's. She laughed and said she was fine with us wearing those. LOLOL Ultimately, she loaned me one of her own dresses, which was red and sparkly and looked a wee bit like a Christmas tree. It was super comfortable (which came in especially handy for the long drive to St Augustine) and that was exactly what I wore. December 18th must be a magical date upon which to wed. It wasn't December but April when our parents married but it was the 18th and they were together for more than 50 years. Tim and I, who did get hitched in December on the 18th, have been happily joined for 31 years now! Clearly it's a perfect day to marry. St Francis Inn was a beautiful choice for a wedding, it is historic and charming and all decked out for Christmas. St Augustine itself, I recommend for any day to visit because it is so delightful. It is seacoast town which in itself makes it wonderful, but it also has the significance of being the oldest continually populated city in the entire USA. St Augustine relishes it's history and has so very much to offer any visitor. Having a wedding there is just the icing on the cake. And speaking of cake, amongst this batch of photos is one of the wedding cake. Cheers to the Happy Couple! Please join us in wishing them only the very best of everything as they officially spend the rest of their lives together! 'Tis four days before Christmas and I've just realized The Christmas chores are done I can't believe my eyes! No more shopping or writing or wrapping to be done No more crowds, no more worries it's time now for fun I'm not sure how it happened at all, I confess Perhaps Christmas Magic at work as a guess So now is the part where we get to sit back relax and enjoy knowing the fact that the rushing is over the lists and the chores that precedes each Christmas as it shall evermore I love every moment of Christmas to be fair That fact that it gets frantic is neither here nor there We are now at the point of this Christmas time and in fact the reason for this silly rhyme To quote the best as is good and is right "Merry Christmas to all And to all A Good Night" PS Get ready for a really exciting and fun post Next Week before Christmas!! Oh My Goodness! Just two weeks from today is Christmas Day! That's only 13 tiny little days to get done, everything that needs to be done before Santa Arrives. Wow! I don't know about you, but I confess to being a little panicked! Will everything be ready in time? It'll be a nail biter for sure and come down to the last seconds most likely.
I'm not sure why either. Yes yes, there was one less week this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas and that's probably part of it, but only a small part. I know people who are so organized and on top of things that they have their shopping DONE by end of summer. Holy Cats! I'm not that person. Which is odd I suppose, because, for the most part, I am a very organized person and I do love a good plan. But with Christmas, I cannot even begin thinking getting ready for Christmas until the holiday spirit and mood are upon me. And sometimes - like maybe this year - the spirit is somewhere else. I'm not sure where it landed but I hope whoever that person is, they are enjoying it coz I'm just not feeling it. I'm trying, though, I swear, I'm trying. I've been ho ho ho-ing and singing Christmas carols. The tree is up and other decorations are sprinkled here and there. I faithfully open my Advent Calendars one door a day and the shopping is in process. Just a few little odds and ends and it will be finished. And that will be a relief. One big to-do scratched off the list! Shopping was rough this year. First of all everything cost so much! Even tiny little silly things had prices jacked to high heaven. We have a Christmas Budget. I suppose everyone does. And it's even a Per Person budget. We stick to our budget because that's just the sort of people we are. 2024 was an unexpectedly expensive year so the budget was tighter and even more important than usual. At the same time, nobody wants to be known as the Christmas Pooper. That one person who gave the crappiest gifts. Nobody wants that award. I know we don't. And that was the second thing. Most of the time I start out shopping with ideas for everybody on my list. Even if it isn't a specific item, it's a general idea that is a great place to start. This year I had no ideas. None. Not one single thought. The brainbasket was empty. Highly unusual. So I had to wander. I walked through an endless string of stores and then online, with each people in mind, and hoped like crazy that something - anything - would strike my fancy. And then, worse, I boobytrap myself with doubt. Is it the right choice? Should I get this? Will they like it? I second guess and third guess and wander around the store with things in my hand and then put them back and then pick them up again. Oh dear, Oh dear. Nothing seems right and nothing is ever good enough to express how much I adore these people. It can be agony to shop with me. And very stressful for everyone; me, the poor long suffering person shopping with me, the people who work in the store and I'm sure anyone in ear shot of me talking about why an idea is/is not the right one. But soon that part will be done. And once the gifts are purchased and wrapped and given, then I don't have to stress about buying gifts anymore. No. After that I will torture myself with my prediction of their reaction to the gift. I am merciless when it comes to me. Then will come the cards, (not done yet, but it's on the list!) and eventually a little baking. Very little this year, but still, there will be something baked. AND if it comes out good, I will share it. If it comes out bad you will never know because I'll throw it out and try again. Gotta have something to share with the neighbors. It's tradition. And that's stupid too because I'm sure they would understand that my hand isn't fully recovered from the injuries incurred from the tumble I took in t he forest and right now, baking is tricky for me. But I will make myself at least try try try. So you see, I do it to myself. Nobody says, "here is the list of things you MUST do". I "should" on myself all day, every day, especially during the holidays and I know it is ridiculous. I'm probably not alone. I cannot possibly be the only person on the planet who does this sort of thing. There are probably legions of us! All so emotionally exhausted by the seasons end that we want to hibernate like bears for awhile while we heal. It's kind of crazy really. So my wish to you is, wherever you are in the holiday preparation process, be kind to yourself. Try to remember to relax and enjoy the holiday. The most important things, somehow, magically, will get done. Anything that didn't get done, probably wasn't all that important. So if you are bombarding yourself with Shoulds during these last two weeks before Christmas Remember, Step One, Breathe, Step Ttwo, Breathe again. And try to enjoy your holiday. PS Note to self, breathe!! I was raised to believe in the importance of giving back. Donating money, absolutely. Donating food, clothes, books, for sure! But donating time too. And that's the element that is most lacking. Everybody is so very busy, genuinely busy, in their lives that it's hard to carve out time to help out especially on a regular basis. It's a real thing and I'm not faulting anyone for their lack of time. Or choosing to do things other than volunteering in what little free time you have available. I truly do understand and support that. But for those of us with the time and desire to do so, volunteering is a big part of our lives. And the organizations where we volunteer our time, energy, talent and abilities are eternally grateful for us. Many of these organizations simply would not exist without their volunteers. And that would be a terrible shame. I suppose it's worth nothing that as much good as volunteers do in their community, it makes us feel just as good to help out. To make a difference in other people's lives gives such a sense of purpose! I'm doing good just by volunteer my time. Helping you is, essentially, also helping me! I've been doing volunteer work of one sort of another for a very long time. At one time I created an English as a Second Language program for an elementary school, as a volunteer. I've taught beginner piano, just for the pleasure of introducing children to learning music. I've tutored, edited and encouraged all levels of all sorts of writers for a very long time now. At one time I was a literacy volunteer at the local library. I worked at a food bank & assistance program and I've worked as a docent at two different museums. I've loved each of these volunteer positions and, luckily, they loved what I did for them as well. But now I'm going to complain a little bit. I would apologize in advance but I am not sorry about what I am going to say. In the paragraph above I wrote that I worked at these positions and I'm finding that I get blowback from a lot of different sources over my use of that word. Worked. I've heard, 'you cannot work as a volunteer' , 'it's not work if you aren't getting paid', 'you cannot call it work if it's not a real job" and many other things like that. Apparently the issue is the use of the word work relative to a non-paid position. Just so you know, I did look up the definition of the word "work" and here it is: "activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result" It says nothing about payment or contracts. It does not differentiate between a "real job" and a "volunteer job". So. Volunteer positions are work. It's valid. And I assure you that while I am busy with my volunteering, whatever it may be, I am indeed working. I take it seriously. I am giving my all, I am doing my best. Sometimes I am hauling, lifting and climbing. Sometimes I am doing research or answering questions or educating. Volunteers are absolutely involved in mental and or physical effort to achieve a purpose or results. You betcha! That's what we do. In various volunteer positions, I was crunching numbers, keeping the books straight, attending meetings, representing my organization out in the community and even appearing in TV ads. I've spent hours on the phone, doing meet and greets, attended conferences, and created Policies and Procedures. I've helped to secure countless grants to keep organizations afloat, sat at the bedside of dying people and conducted endless tours. All as a volunteer. When I am volunteering, I am working. Please understand that it is a labour of love but it is still work. The only difference between your work and mine is that I don't get paid for mine and I am not contractually obligated to anything. That's it. It's honestly the only difference. I'm done being denigrated for calling what I do work. It is work. Please do not look down on those of us whose work is volunteerism. We are hard at our work, just like you. And our work is important. Just like yours. end of rant, thank you ;) As you can see the Christmas Tree is up and decorated. Before Thanksgiving? Yes. We took a look at the calendar and were shocked at the realization of how little time there is until Christmas. So much to do and so little time in which to get it all done! Today, November 26th is less than a month until Christmas Day! Yikes! We are only 2 days away from Thanksgiving and right now just 4 days outside of December. Holy Cats! Then, just to make things more interesting, somehow, nearly every weekend day between now and Christmas is already spoken for. What the what? Not quite sure how that happened, but there it is. Things seem ot have gotten away from us so in a desperate attempt to get control back, we put the tree up over the weekend. There was a little trepidation with regard to the kittyboys. As you may, or may not, recall, last year they were so excited about the tree that they literally broke it. They loved the tree to death. We were smart enough to only put unbreakable ornaments on it (thank goodness) because every night they undecorated the tree. Every morning I redecorated it. We had to pluck errant kitties out of the tree repeatedly and despite our explanation of how they are not fruit and therefore do not belong in trees, they persisted. After Christmas once the decorations were safely repacked away, we threw out the broken tree. To be fair it was a super cheapo tree. We bought it on sale at Big Lots and I believe that it was the cheapest tree of it's size anywhere and it's longevity actually surpassed our expectations even without cats as part of the equation. We bought it our first year here and as we were fully invested in the myriad renovation projects that our (at the time) new to us home required, we spared very VERY little for a tree. The old tree was never intended for the weight of, even at that time, 6 month old kitties frolicking amoungst its branches. So this year, buying a new tree, had us debating. what if the boys haven't grown out of the Christmas Tree destructo phase? We didn't want to invest a great deal of money in a tree that may or may not survive the season. On the other hand, what if they behaved like perfect little kitty gentlemen and leave the tree alone? We didn't want to be stuck Once Again with a crapppola tree for years to come. Decisions decisions decisions. So we checked out all of the local places that might possibly have fakeyfake Christmas trees at a variety of sizes, shapes, colours and price tags. We saw many!!! And one of the first things we learned was that, much like everything else, the cost of Christmas trees -even artificial ones - has skyrocketed. Dang. Well it is what it is so we ended up with one that wasn't the cheapest one available but also not the most expensive. We came home and set it up and left it undecorated just to see what those little fellers were going to do. Turns out that after sniffing it thoroughly, they have mostly left it alone. Well Wyatt did have to be reminded a time or two that Christmas tree lights are not edible. Brysco mostly just likes to lay underneath it. And they both love to just gaze at it at night when the lights are on. Great! So next up was decorating. All those enticing little bits and bobs just dangling, practically begging a kitty to play with it. To be on the safe side, once again, we put Only Unbreakable ornaments on the tree and no garland. More kitty sniffing followed shortly thereafter. To our great surprise, they have mostly left it alone. We have seen a few paws tentatively touching, but very gently. I have picked up exactly 4 ornaments now and replaced them which, compared to last year, is nothin'. We did have to to get after Wyatt a few times when he insisted that the tree lights were edible and we insist even more firmly that they are not. Once we saw a few branches bobbing rapidly but never saw which kitty was the culprit. Still, especially compared to last year, we are impressed with their maturity and restraint. Things went so well with the tree that I went ahead and very bravely put up a few other house decorations and those have been completely ignored. I mean not even kitty sniffs! Maybe they haven't noticed them yet? Not sure what it's all about but it seems as if the decorations are safe. At least so far. It's quite the departure from last year's and I'm not sure I fully trust it yet. But, what's life without risk eh? The tree is up and decorated, the house is as decorated as it's going to get and we are ready for the next thing on the gotta-do list! In case you are interested, here are some of the other decorations: oh and one more photo, this is Brysco absolutely mesmerized by the lights on the tree. Totally get that one. I feel the exact same way. Anyway, Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day on Thursday and we'll catch up next week! Hope your Turkey Day is fun and delicious! I have no idea what Joy and I were looking at in this photo but we seem to be deeply interested in whatever it was. hah! This will be a short post, just FYI. Last week, we bundled up a bit and headed out hoping for a few good photos! Sooo yup, another Photo Safari Report. I will call this one the No Botannicals hike because truly there were not, which is unusual. Actually as it was very breezy and chilly, we really didn't see much by way of birds either. There was one very brave (or stupid) butterfly that was so buffeted by the wind that he couldn't get a grip on anything and was just tumbling through the air. Poor thing. But it was still a good time, as always. We headed to Lemon Bay Preserve once again, hoping that we would finally see the eagles that we kept hearing about. The trail near the nest is of course closed so they aren't unduly disturbed but it's such a wet mucky trail anyway, that I cannot imagine too many people even trying. I'll share what I got though it wasn't really impressive. To our surprise, from a distance we did finally see one of the eagles who was perched near the new nest. He or she was just barely peeking over a pine branch heavy will sprills. They are unmistakeable! One of my favourites was a family (or perhaps families?) of Ibis in the water of a creek. Saw a giant woodstork in a tree glaring at us. How dare we?? (not sure exactly what it is that we did but we did promise to never do it again!) I did capture a small variety of other birds as well. Honestly not too many. Some still at Lemon Bay and a few others at the Rookery which we stopped by on the way back. As this is Thanksgiving week and therefore kind of a strange and busy week, we will not be hiking so there will be no Photo Safari Report for a little bit. But I will be writing about other things for sure!
Hope you enjoyed the No Botanicals Hike and please stay tuned. Who knows what I may write about tomorrow?? Want to talk cars for a minute or two? I only have enough knowledge about cars really to carry a conversation about them about that long, heh.
The above car is my ride. Originally it was some unknown person's car, then it was Tim's and now it's mine. Most of the time it gets me where I need to go and that's all I need in a vehicle. We all know that I don't enjoy driving and therefore do it as little as possible. Usually once a week to the grocery store, occasionally to the museum, the vet or the library. Once a year to my Primary Doctor's office for my annual appointment. That office is actually off island (gasp!) and it is the One and ONLY time every 365 days that I drive over the bridge, white knuckling it the entire time. The rest of the time, I walk. I like to walk and since we are lucky enough to live in a place where so any things are walking distance, I take good advantage of it. The car is about 18 years old, bless it's little combustion engine, but obviously this Ford has a lot of heart because it's still doing it's job which, again, is all that I require. But given it's age, there is some maintenance that has to happen now and again, and that happened just a couple of weeks ago. I was sitting at a red light and while waiting for the green, happened to notice the sticker in the upper left hand corner of the windshield that had the date of my cars last oil change. I won't tell you how long ago it was. Suffice it to say, that it was embarrassing. Though honestly, as little as I drive, I'm not sure how often an oil change really needs to happen. How can I explain how little I drive? Hmm. Let's see. Well the gas tank gets filled about once every three months ish. Sooooo not often. Anyway, so I made an appointment very locally (on island) for the oil change, prepared myself to hear the speech about doing it more often, and duly delivered the auto in question on said day at said time. They promised to change the oil, filters if needed, check tires and whatever else happens at normal intervals. Tra lalala I went about my day expecting to get a call at some point that the car was ready to roll. Oh a call came all right, but it was not good news. Not only did the car need new brakes desperately but also new tires. They weren't just bad, they were devastatingly bad. So that was a very expensive oil change. Yikes! Obviously I am not a good car owner. I am very bad at car maintenance. Which is odd because in general I am a good care giver. I took excellent care of my children and I continue to take good care of Tim. And with the Kittyboys, they get their exams, nail trims and vaccines as needed. If medication is necessary it is duly delivered. I dole out healthy food and instigate exercise, playtime and cuddles in equal amounts. I take good care of our house and my potted plants and lovingly nuture relationships that matter to me. The car, on the other hand, is just not something I ever think about unless I need to drive somewhere. I guess I put it in the category of this silly thing that I bought about 7 years ago for Joy's birthday. It's a little Happy Birthday dodad that lights up! Joy and I have been passing it back and forth for years now on each other's birthday and even though I've never changed the battery and at this moment couldn't even tell you exactly where it is (so obviously I'm not coddling it) every time we hit that "on" button, it lights up and blinks and flashes in a generally obnoxious happy birthday sort of way. I suppose how I treat cars too. Shame on me. I don't' even wash my car. It's lives outside and it rains often enough that it gets a good rinse on a regular basis. I am not inside of it long enough or often enough to junk up the inside either so the interior is practically pristine. I know people who faithfully, loving detail their vehicles weekly. I admire them, but I am not them. This bad car attitude, auto negligence perhaps, is not new to me. I have been this way with every car I've ever owned. From the first car I ever bought - which was a very bottom of the line Fiat I purchased in college that didn't even have a radio in it - to my favourite big blue Jeep which I actually choose myself - to the car I currently drive (whenever I have no other choice) I am very lassez-faire. I would say shame on me again, except that in this case I actually feel no guilt at all. Which is very odd because in general I feel guilty about everything all of the time. But only from July 9th 1953 forward. Anything before that date (my literal birthday) is on somebody else. Cars to me are a means to an end. When I am feeling kindly disposed toward them, I at least appreciate them as a mode of transportation. When I am not being as kind, I refer to them a necessary evil. They are expensive to purchase, to maintain, to fuel and to insure. I am very uncomfortable behind the wheel and honestly do not wish to put in the energy required to wash and wax and whatever else a car might need to look sharp. I honestly just don't care about them. I am a terrible person. In general I think most cars these days look pretty much the same. I have to find the little emblem to know who the manufacturer is. There is no pizazz like cars of the past. No flair, no fun, no snazz. I still wouldn't enjoy driving it, but at least an older car, like an old Chevy Bel Aire for example, had some style so it had visual interest. Nowadays they are fuel efficient and very very safe, which are both very good things I know, but dang it has made for some boring cars. I'm sure, if you are a car person, you will tell me that cars look nothing alike now and to your educated and interested eye, it is absolute truth. But to my jaded and ignorant eye I see only a few types of cars now. Sedans, convertibles and SUV's. And to me, everything in each of the categories looks remarkably similar. And I know it's very superficial of me to make how cars look to be a big deal. I would apologize but as I said earlier, I don't care enough to bother. How I wish I could say that I learned my lesson and that from this point forward I will pay far more attention to my vehicle and not let it fall as far behind in it's care as I obviously did this time ' round. But that would be a lie and I don't like to lie. And that's kind of the end of car talk from me Yahoo, I'm back online! For those of you who didn't happen to see the post of explanation, I was having some terrible computer issues for about two weeks. It was a constant struggle to get online and then stay online. Initially I attributed it to post hurricane gnarliness (which was I'm sure at least a part of the issue) but as time went by and it not only didn't get better but started to get worse, I had to call in the big guns. That is, Tim. at that point my computer had literally locked me out. I kept getting a message saying that my password was incorrect. It was not incorrect. But ok, I'll play your little game and change the password, no big deal. And then it decided that my email was incorrect. It is not incorrect. Annoying and baffling, both! The few times I was able to actually get into my computer, within a very few minutes it was default to first a pink screen, then a green screen and eventually, the white screen of death. Oh dear. Tim did his due diligence and the diagnosis was - terminal. Oh dear, so sad. And worse, so expensive. Dang. But here I am now, back with a new computer and all is, once again, well with my world. I had a number of ideas for blogposts while I was on a forced blog vacation but I thought for my first one after a bit, I ought to do the Photo Safari Post because it was almost two weeks ago now and I'm beginning to forget! Soo very quickly, while I still have two active braincells, here we go with the Gloomy Day Hike. It was indeed a very gloomy day, so grey and dank in fact, that a few times we got sprinkled but not full on rain so we kept going. We are intrepid like that. I had to add light to nearly every photo so just fyi, every single picture I'll post here has been edited but mostly just to lighten them a bit. As is not unusual on such a weather weird day, mostly what we saw was birds. Birds don't much care about the weather. They live outside so I guess for them it's just another day. Thank goodness for us or we'd have no photos whatsoever! I'll do a few smallish groups so you aren't overwhelmed by long slideshows. Here is the first group. The most unusual is the large group of vultures which by the way, is called a Committee. I can see why! Second group. Those roseate spoonbills are just the bees knees, especially on a grey day: Last batch of birds: Ready for a change of pace? How about a few botannicals? And then perhaps a few random things that don't really fit into any other category: And then my favourite shot of the entire day, mostly because it's unique, something I've never captured before.................The County Sheriff's airboat in action! I guess that about does it. It's possible that I forgot something but, oh well. Meanwhile, I hope, for the first time in two weeks, you enjoyed the Gloomy Day Hike Photo Safari Report!
I promise, the next post will NOT be of a hike (though there will be more of those to come - I promise that too) Hope everyone is doing great! hugs all 'round from Joy and I (Joy on the left, my hand on the right ) Happy November 1st! It's a whole new month! And as we edge toward what little is left of 2024, how about another Photo Safari Report? Still working with limited options of where to hike post hurricane, Joy and I drove to Lemon Bay Preserve. We were correct in assuming that there would be wet spots that would curtail our endeavors boooo! It prevented us from finding the eagles which had once again been reported in the area. This super mucky and wet trail heads toward that section. Dang. We saw no eagles. But Luckily there were enough other dry, or at least dry enough, trails to keep us happy and occupied Not positive what the reason was, but mostly what we saw is birds. Birds birds and more birds! Wow! Obviously, therefor this will be the Lotsa Birds Hike. If you are not a fan of birds, this would be the part where you exit and do something else for a few minutes because most of today's photos will involve birds. Not all, but mostly. It wasn't just the sheer quantity of birds that we marveled at, and we did! It was also the wide variety of types of birds. Awesome. There were times when we could just stand in one spot cameras up, shooting, and every shot was of a different kind of bird. It was weirdly wonderful. Here's some of the birds we saw: And then of course there were also these guys : Hard to believe but there were even more birds than this, I either just didn't manage to get a decent shot or I was too busy admiring and forgot to snap. It happens. Saw the cutest bunny while we were out though: Unusual for me, I didn't take a lot of botanical shots. I guess I was so mesmerized by the birds that I forgot to keep an eye out for them. Between looking up to find birds and looking down to make sure I don't trip over anything, my time is fairly divided as it is, y'see. Heh. But here are the few I actually did capture along with a butterfly and a squirrel coz I had no other category to put the squirrel in. oh and one butterfly (or moth?) wing. Just the one. So sad but so beautiful That about does it for this Photo Safari Report. Hope you enjoyed the Lotsa Birds Hike because we surely did! Hope to have some new and different photos for you soon :)
Meanwhile, have a Great weekend! Do something fun! Boo! heh
I find it so hard to believe that some people are afraid of black cats. Perhaps it's the association with Halloween? I have heard grown adults tell me that black cats are demons, and they were absolutely serious when they said it. I wonder where they get that idea? It's kind of silly because the whole black cat as a representation of a holiday was specifically created, though not the holiday you think. What we call Halloween was originally Samhain, a Celtic Harvest Festival a Very, Very long time ago. Samhain was celebrated from sunset October 31st to sunset November 1st. According to ancient Celtic legend, a Black Cat called Sith - a large black cat with a white spot on his chest, blessed households that left him a saucer of milk. (the treats we give out today I would imagine). Those who did not participate were offered dire curses instead of blessings (which would be the trick). Then in the 9th century, the Western Christian Church merged their All-Saints Day with Samhain resulting in something a little closer to the Halloween that we know today. But the black cat as a witch's familiar? Where the black cats get their bad reputation? Well in the 13th century, Pope Gregory the IX issued "Vox in Rama" that forever glued together the concept of Black Cats and superstition. Vox in Rama was a papal edict condeming devil worship. All fine and good except in one particular Luciferian cult lore, one of his demons was able to appear as a black cat. And thus, it began. Those dang devil worshippers ruin everything. For some reason of all of the nonsense this cult spouted, this one thing, the image of a black cat was the one thing that stuck in people's mind and suddenly any black cat was instantly dubbed as evil. Eventually it spread to include any cat, but especially black ones. This imagery hung on through the witch trials in Salem, a particularly unfortunate chapter in our history but eventually, by the 1800's people began to shake off this notion and the ignorance surrounding it although sadly, it persisted for, literally, Centuries. Geez People. Even now in 2024, the sad truth is that black cats are usually the last to be adopted from shelters. And I absolutely do not understand. Brysco and Wyatt, black cats both, are the sweetest, dearest, goofiest cats we've ever had. I promise you that the scariest thing about either of them, is how much we love them. This is Brysco by the way in the photo walking behind the Halloween card that my Colorado friend, Jan, sent to me. I happened to have my camera in my hand and snap! There you go! And I promise you there is nothing frightening about Brysco. As Halloween cats go, he's actually more scaredy cat than scary cat, so you have nothing to fear from this guy. But we both wish you a Happy Halloween! Be safe and have fun! Did you ever see signs like this as you drive through a neighborhood that is at least a little unfamiliar to you. And then maybe did you then wonder about the view and think about how nice it would be to have a really spectacular view out your own window? Yeah. I think a lot of us do that. And it doesn't even matter if it's a pond, a lake, a river or the ocean. Water is water. Unless I suppose the water in questions is a water treatment plant. Nobody wants to see that. anyway, those houses, the ones with the terrific water views always come at a bigger price tag too. Sometimes LOTS bigger. I get it. Most of us have views of our own backyards or the back of the neighbor's house. I have lived in places where the views were of a parking lot and an alleyway, so I kind of understand the higher cost associated with a better view. But sometimes that "water view" is rather broadly interpreted. You already know that Tim and I enjoy going to model homes and open houses and around here anyway, lots of times the water view is of a "fake lake" in a development which is fine. Even a manmade lake is pretty and attracts wildlife. Usually, they have pretty plantings around it and that's lovely. My objection is that in order to view that pretty lake, you sacrifice some privacy. I see, not only the lake, but also the backyards of the neighbors on either side AND everyone across the lake. They aren't that big generally so it isn't all that far. I suppose after awhile, you get used to being on display all the time? Other times the "water view" is a real natural body of water but it can only be viewed off the left side of the balcony if you peek between two other houses. Still counts as a water view and they can and do hike the price because of it. I get it. It's wonderful peaceful beautiful thing to be able to see a body of water right from your own home. It is listed with the home as an asset right up there with newly renovated kitchen and bathrooms and 3 car garage. Even though this house that we live in right now wasn't listed as having a water view when we bought it, we actually do have one. Technically, I suppose, we have two. Tim claims that if you climb up to the roof (which I am absolutely NOT going to do) there is a great view. Not of the gulf but of the bay which is behind us. Since I have never (and will never) be on the roof to check it out I can only take Tim's word for it. He has never lied to me so I absolutely believe him just have never seen it myself. However! There is one vantage point in our house where I can see the bay. If I stand in the shower of our bathroom and look out the window (yes there is a window in our shower) at first I see our backyard: and of course, part of the family room and the back door (and the sandbags that we aren't quite ready to get rid of yet, just in case) But more importantly, if I look over the back fence, I can see through the car port of the house behind us and there it is, a little snippet of Roberts Bay. The dead vines on the fence by the way were honeysuckle that were beaten unto death by the storm. It will heal and return eventually. But we are talking about water views and that is absolutely water and a few boats and a little bit of a waterfront condo but the water part is the important part or so I'm told. A wee bit closer? Sure! Technically, we have a waterview. From the shower in our bathroom. Oddly, probably due to my lack of height, I cannot see the water if I'm just say, standing in front of the bathroom sink. Nope I can only see it from the shower. I suppose that normally heighted people can see it from anywhere in the bathroom.
The family room, which as you can clearly see, juts farther into the yard, and does NOT share this view. It must be a line of sight thing. Because since it's closer to the fence, it seems as if you should have a better view of the water. But nope. If we took down the fence (or if it fell down or a storm removed it), I can only image that we would have a bigger water view? Maybe? Or perhaps it would still just be the little peekaview through the carport just without the fence. I wonder, should the day ever come that we want to move, could we list the house as having a water view? Not the roof one, that's a given. The bathroom window one. I mean, does that count? On the other hand, I'm not positive that right now with the hurricane season being so recent that mentioning water at all is a good idea. Yeah, I think for now, we'll just keep this bathroom window peekie to ourselves. What with hurricanes, sick cats and all the other stuff going on it's been 3 long weeks since I've done a proper Photo Safari Report! Oh My Gracious! I wonder if I remember how to do this! Joy and I were determined to find a place to hike yesterday. All of the local preserves were closed but Oscar Scherer, which is a state Park was opened with limited trail access. Limited access is better than no access so that was our destination. We headed out knowing that the odds were very good that we wouldn't get far. Surprisingly, even thought we did at least a half dozen U-Turns due to water in places it usually isn't, we still managed to hike more than 3 miles and quite a few hours. Awesome! This is, therefore the U-Turn Hike. Makes perfect sense. The part of the trail that was clear was great! And so there we would be walking and talking and shooting whatever appeals to us, as we do, and then we would come around a curve or over a rise and find this before us: Oh well, Nothing to be done for it but to turn around and try another offshoot of the trail. And most of those led to other, better, surprises. It was a surprisingly good birdie day so get ready for bird photos. One of these Joy took, (I will identify it) the rest are mine though : Some botannicals, a few a little different than my usual which is always nice for me at least: One and only one dragonfly, (no butterflies ) And then there is the bicycle series. There was a long section of trail that goes along a fence and on the other side of that fence is a bike trail. At one point, the lighting was just perfect shining through spanish moss and vines hanging from a tree and as the bicycle flashed by I realized what a perfect shot it would have been. So I became determined to capture it. Joy showed such amazing patience. It's about timing. There is a split second pause between when I depress the shutter and when it actually takes the shot. It's such a short amount of time, a nano second, that normally it doens't make a bit of different. But when I'm trying to hit a moving target so to speak, it matters. It was missed shot after missed shot after missed shot. Dang! Finally I gave up and said, let's move on. So we did until the nest great tree and foliage/light/bicycle opportunity and then I, once again, snapsnapsnapped and missedmissedmissed. ARGH! Eventually it occurred to me t o change my setting to "sport" which, when you depress the shutter, takes 5 rapid fire photos. Surely then I would almost by accident, get my photo. Well you would think so wouldn't you. You would be so very wrong. But I became ever more determined to get this mythic shot that I had envisioned in my stupid head. It was a goal. The Grail! My mission. Operating on the, eventually if you put enough monkeys in front of enough typewriters you will get the work of shakspeare theory, I continued trying. When I looked at the results, well let me just say that I have never in my life deleted so many photos from one session EVER! Hilarious! I am so ridiculous! But here are a few of the shots I did NOT delete. And not one of them is the photos that was in my mind and imagination. So sad. At any rate, that's it for the U-Turn Hike. Thanks for joining Joy and I on our recent Photo Safari! One day, maybe you'll come and hike it with us. Cameras optional.
I suppose this is an update on both of the Kittyboys. They were very patient and mostly tolerant of all the activity involved in prepping for a hurricane such as: being shoved into carriers (against their will), long (for them) car rides to strange places and then getting accustomed to a strange place only to be wrestled back into carriers (once again very much against their will), long (same length) car rides back home and then getting used to being home again but with no AC and a fur coat they cannot remove. Oh dear, poor babies. But they seem to have muddled through, as you can see. As the boys have gotten to their full growth (18 months old now) we see that while we used to struggle to tell them apart, it's much easier now. And it's not just their very different personalities. Wyatt is much bigger than Brysco. He is taller, longer, broader across the shoulders, heavier and just feels like a more solid presence. Brysco on the other hand, is shorter, much lighter, smaller boned and just feels more fragile in general. Don't let that fool you though, he can be a menace if he chooses too :) Poor little baby Brysco had to have dental surgery recently. Awwwww :( We noticed about 3 weeks ago that he didn't have his usual appetite. He became, what we interpreted as, very fussy about his food. Persnickety, picky, Diva-ish, particular, whatever you would like to call it. And since cats are reknowned for such behaviour, we didn't think much of it until we realized that he was losing weight. That's a concern. Most cats, while they certainly can and do snub meals now and again, will not willingly starve themselves. So we made it a mission to seek out and find food that he would eat. We tried so many flavours, brands and textures with varying degrees of success. And then his behaviour began to change. He slept more, which frankly is hard to measure since cats sleep a lot anyway, but he stopped engaging in play. Uhoh. He was always an absolute fool for a butterfly on a string but now suddenly, if presented with said butterfly, he would walk away. Hmmmmm. I think I would have been more worried, earlier, but he would have several off days and then one day when he was more like his old silly self. He would eat and play and wrestle with his brother and we'd think, well, whatever it was, he is over it now. Good. And move on. But you know how mom's are, we listen to our instincts and my instincts said that something was wrong. So I made the vet appointment and took him (over his very vocal objections) in. The vet determined very quickly that he had dental issues which is odd for such a young cat, especially since his brother does not have these problems. Hmmmm. So the doctor gave us a dental rinse to give him once a day. He showed us how it was done. Brysco was not well pleased. Not with the vet or the tech or, considering that I just stood there and observed it happening, not with me either. But with all good intentions, we went back home, medication in hand and the very first application went extremely poorly. The second one fared no better. By the third one, he had taken to hiding under the bed all day and not coming out for anything or anyone. I explained what was going on to him, I begged, I demanded, I cajoled, I pleaded and eventually I cried. He needed this medication and what the heck was wrong with me that I couldn't get him to take it. Every time I dragged him out from under the bed to give him his medicine, he fought me, I tried to manhandle him (he is an absolute Houdini by the way when it comes to getting out of towels and blankets as purritos) We were both absolutely traumatized. Eventually I called the vet, told them what was going on and explained that no matter how we tried, he wasn't getting the medicine he needed and asked, did they have any other suggestions. The doctor said stop. it's not doing either of you any good. Leave him alone. Completely alone. Eventually he will come out from under the bed. This kind of stress is not good for him. Give it a few days and we will see how it goes. The vet tech called a few days later to check in. I reported that he was eating even less but at least he came out from under the bed and stopped running away whenever I came into the room. I suppose that's progress of a sort. We decided that I should bring him in once again. This time the doctor took some blood to test and he talked about what a mess Brysco's mouth was in general. No wonder he isn't eating. He has some really bad teeth, bad gums, mouth ulcers everywhere. The poor baby was an absolute mess, dentally. The doctor said, it may come to doing surgery. Awwwww :( When the test results came back we learned that he had something called, Feline Stomatitis. Basically it means he has terrible teeth and wrose, he has an allergy or hyper sensitivity to the bacteria that results from such bad teeth. Everything in his mouth was inflammed, sore, painful, ulcerated (and if untreated, would get even worse). Sometimes it's related to other cat diseases such as feline leukemia but he tested negative (twice) for all of those. Other times this disease is particular to certain breeds such as Himalyans, Burmese and Abyssinians. Well Brysco was a feral kitty. Nobody knows his parents or grandparents, but it seems that there were some fancy arsed ancestors in his past. And this is the legacy they left behind. He was kind of born with terrible teeth. The only thing to be done for it was to remove the bad teeth and do a super good gingivitis cleaning with injections for any infections. It's scary to consider but absolutely necessary. I felt terrible for him but we knew it was the right thing to do. The appointment for his surgery was made for, what ultimately turned out to be, the day before Hurricane Milton came to call. Dang. The vet changed to appointment to one week out. Doesn't sound like much but when a kitty is a fragile as Brysco was becoming you begin to worry, Is he going to survive another week? By the way throughout all of this, other than the hiding under the bed phased, he never once growled, hissed, scratched or bit us. Even though he was in terrible pain, his nature was just a sweet and loving as ever. What a little kitty rockstar! We bought pate and babyfood and those squeezey cat treats that we in this house refer to as LickySticks. The food I would have to literally hand feed to him. I would put a little on my finger, offer it to him and he would sometimes lick it off. And on good days, he would eat all or most of the serving. It was a slow process but encouraging when he ate well. On bad days he might give it one test lick and then close his eyes and go back to sleep. It broke my heart. The LickySticks he would almost always eat and while they are intended as a treat not a meal, apparently if you eat enough of them in one sitting, it can serve as a make shift sort of a meal because he survived and made it through to his surgery day. He sailed through surgery like a champ, came home a little loopy but every since surgery he has been eating like Joey Chestnut. It's as if he cannot get enough food. It's not unusual for him to have 3 servings of breakfast. And I'm happy to give it to him. He has a way to go to fill up and out. He is participating more in normal kitty shenanigans now though not as much as before and I have to remind myself that his surgery was just one week ago and it's going to take a bit for him to have his old energy. But it's wonderful to see him jumping up, wrestling with his brother, checking birds out the window and asking for endless pets. He is back to waking me up in the morning to remind me to feed the cats, snuggling with us in the night sometimes when he's a little chilly and playing, just a little bit, like he used to. His brother by the way, has been so sweet with him. A little more gentle than normal, very attentive, giving up his own food for Brysco to eat and checking on him all the time. Wyatt is an awesome brother. That's the good news. The bad news is that usually, eventually all but his canine teeth will have to be pulled so we need to be on the lookout for his old, "dental related" behaviours and get him back to the vet ASAP if they return. The vet said, he has never seen a cat NOT need to have all the teeth removed. However, he's also never seen a cat as young as Brysco with this issue so perhaps we can beat this. That's the plan anyway. So here is sweet baby Brysco starting to feel a bit like his old self. If you think of it and you have a minute, please send positive thoughts that from here forward, he just gets better and better :) We both thank you! |
AuthorYup, this is me. Some people said, "Sam, you should write a Blog". "Well, there's a thought", I thought to myself. And so here it is. Archives
February 2025
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