A Mother’s Day Hodgepodge…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ed and I are in the process of getting ready to go on a quick trip to Florida, but I hated not to participate in the Hodgepodge, today, so here I am!  I figure if Joyce can host it, with her house filled with company, I can answer five questions!

As always, thanks to our gracious hostess, Joyce.  I really appreciate everything you do, Joyce.  And to all of the mothers out there, Happy Mother’s Day!

1. What are your ingredients for a perfect Saturday?

Now that Ed and I are retired, Saturday is the same as any other day. Therefore, as long as Ed is beside me,  any Saturday is pretty much perfect.

2. What skill do you wish more people took the time to learn?

I wish [some] people would take the time to learn how to be courteous and respectful.  There are also a few folks on the road who could use a little more driver’s education, if you know what I mean.

3. What’s something you ate as a child you can’t stand now as an adult?

Fried fish with the bones still in it.

4. Something parenting has taught you? If you’re not a parent tell us one important lesson you learned from your own parents.

Parenting taught me lots of things–like patience, perseverance, and to expect the unexpected!

5. Share a favorite quote or saying about mothers or motherhood.

 Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.

Unknown

Random:

“Trouble” the cat (from my “Man With the Can” stories) is missing!  She disappeared eight days ago, when our son had someone to pressure wash his house.  Apparently, “Trouble” became frightened, and left home.  Ed has searched for her, but had no luck finding her.  “Trouble’s” never stayed gone this long before, so we’re thinking ‘the worst’ may have happened to her.

A Non-Adventurous Hodgepodge…

 

Folks, can you believe it’s Wednesday, again?  Me either!  I’m struggling to get these questions answered, while watching for the stray salamander who’s playing peek-a-boo from under my couch!  I really hate those things, and have no idea how he got into the house.  If Ed doesn’t catch him, soon, I may hurt myself!  In the meantime, on with the Hodgepodge… and thanks to Joyce for hosting!

1. What pets did you have while growing up? Tell us a little something about them.

We had three dogs and a cat, that I can remember.  I’m partial to cats over dogs, so of course, I was most attached to the cat.  She was a crazy Siamese, that my older brother jokingly dubbed as “Cleopatra Fontane”, but we just called her “Cleo”.  We never knew where “Cleo” came from.  She just showed up one day, and never left.

2. What is one thing you absolutely must accomplish today?

I absolutely must get my hair trimmed, this morning, then I must cook supper for our Wednesday night Bible Study group, this afternoon, or we’ll all be hungry!  Chili and hot dogs are on tonight’s menu–and I’m looking forward to that haircut, by the way!

3. Where were you ten years ago? What were you doing there?

Ten years ago, we were still living in our former house, next door, while trying to finish building the house we currently live in, now.  We were about a month away from being able to move in, so I was probably taking stuff to the consignment shop, on a regular basis.  It’s hard to believe we’ve been living in this new home almost ten years.

4. September 26th is National Dumpling Day. Did you celebrate?  No, I didn’t celebrate.

Apple dumpling, xiao long bao (steamed Chinese dumpling), chicken and dumplings, pirogi, matzoh balls, or gnocchi…which dumpling on this list would be your dumpling of choice?  I’m going to go with chicken and dumplings because I’ve never tried any of the others.

Have you ever made homemade dumplings of any kind?  No, it’s too easy to use the pre-made, frozen brands, which actually taste pretty good, too!

5. ‘There are two kinds of adventurers: those who go truly hoping to find an adventure and those who go secretly hoping they don’t.’ William Trogdon

So which kind are you?  I’d be one of those who go secretly hoping I didn’t find an adventure.  I’m not an adventurous person!

Random:

Oh, so many random thoughts, so little time… 

For some strange reason, the Hodgepodge ‘linky’ suddenly disappears from my computer, sometime after lunch.  This makes it hard to visit because I can’t see who’s linked up anymore.  I hope this glitch clears up, soon.

Three doctor visits and two bottles of eye drops, and I’m still dealing with the chalazion on my eyelid.  It has gotten smaller, so the doctor says give it three more weeks to see if it will completely go away (it’s already been 8 weeks).  I’m growing a bit weary of hot compresses, eye drops, and $100 doctor visits.

My toe is still sore from last week’s incident when I stubbed it and fell onto the bed.  I even had to wear flip-flops to church, on Sunday.  I’m hoping to be able to wear actual shoes, this Sunday.

“Trouble”, the cat, is hanging in there.  Ed lets her outside, all day, but puts her back in the freezer room at night.  She’s eating and getting around okay, but seems to have lost bladder control.  At night she wets her blanket.  Hopefully, this issue will clear up.

As I prepare to end this post, we’re still playing hide-and-seek with that darn salamander!  He’s a sly one, and has now moved all around the living room without being captured. Life is never dull in our neck of the woods 🙂

Catching Up On Monday…

Lately, this blog seems like a long, lost friend that I need to visit more often.  More and more, I’m finding it more difficult to make my way over here to blog. Sometimes, I’m just not feeling it, and then when I am, I have other things to do.  Such as the following…

The past week went by in a whirl of activity.  There’s something about the arrival of warm, sunny days that makes me want to clean and spruce up the place!  Therefore, the beginning of last week found me stripping old wax off the kitchen floor, and applying new wax.  I know, waxing floors is a dying activity, but my floors aren’t the no wax kind–yet!  It took both Ed and myself to get the task done, but we made it!  We were so inspired by having a clean, shiny kitchen floor, the following day we began shampooing carpets, and spent the next two days doing that!  Unfortunately, I think I hurt my back, in the process, so it’s been aching for several days. Live and learn.

In addition to cleaning floors, all week, I was trying to get ready for a yard sale, on Saturday.  I’d spend a couple of hours, here and there, working on that.  Meanwhile, Ed finally got started building a small shelter to store his lawnmower under. I worry a bit about him, it’s his first real project since his heart attack, in October.

Ed and I had our yard sale, on Saturday, along with our daughter and her husband.  We held the sale at Ed’s parents’ house, and could not have asked for a prettier day!  The weather was cool and foggy, at first, but that soon gave way to glorious blue, sunny skies.  We didn’t make a lot of money  because we had our stuff priced cheap, but we got rid of a lot of stuff!  At one point, we gave a chair away, and when the chair wouldn’t fit into the lady’s car, our son put the chair in my van and delivered it to her house!

Prior to the yard sale, I worried about “Trouble”, the cat who lives alone at Ed’s parents’ house, because  I was afraid she might get hit by a car, with all of the traffic coming to the sale. However, I think all of the yard sale activity was more than “Trouble” could stand, so she quickly disappeared until the end of the day. “Trouble” did have a close call earlier in the week, though,  when she ran onto the highway to greet Ed as he was coming to feed her.  My blood runs cold just thinking about it!

Speaking of “Trouble”, she was in “hog heaven”, on Friday night, when Ed and I took a break from pricing stuff, and shared a pizza at his parents’ house.  We let her in the house with us, and she sat at the table and begged for scraps from our pizza, which we gladly shared.  Then she wandered all around the house, looking at the boxes sitting all around.  The whole situation makes me sad. Four years is a long time to live alone, at an empty house, but, at least, she has the visit from “the man with the can” to look forward to each day.

In other news, Ed and I were tickled pink when we discovered that our garden peas have sprouted!  There’s a beautiful row of little green plants now decorating the row!  We’re hoping they will soon be  joined by some potato sprouts.  Our seedlings, growing in cups, are doing quite well, in spite of the fact that I dropped one of the trays, last week.  What a mess that made, but the plants all seemed to have survived, believe it or not.

We managed to have some great time, with family, on Saturday, when all the rest of our gang met up following the yard sale.  The weather was so nice, the adults sat outside and watched the grandchildren all playing together.  Actually, our oldest son, and perhaps the biggest kid of all, was pretending to be the wrestling announcer (complete with a karaoke machine), while each child took a turn strutting up the steps and getting onto the trampoline they were using as a wrestling ring!  If I hadn’t been so tired, I surely would have taken some video of “the show”.

As suppertime neared, our youngest son volunteered to go to town and pick up some food for supper.  Praise the Lord for him, because this woman sure didn’t feel like cooking!  I think everyone enjoyed the food and the fellowship, I know I did, even if I had to enjoy much of it from my spot on the couch!

The rest of the weekend passed, and all too soon, it was time to change our clocks–all twelve of them!  Yes, Ed and I actually have twelve clocks!  Oh, how I dislike this time of the year, when the time changes!  In addition to adjusting all of those clocks, I’ll spend the next month trying to get my body clock readjusted.  On that note, I’ll just say “Have a happy Monday” and get ready for my appointment at the dermatologist’s office.  Fun times–not!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Edition Of “The Man With The Can”…

When I first posted “The Man With The Can” I had no idea my story would continue for so long, or take the twists and turns it has taken.  It just goes to show, you never know.  Here’s some brief background.

Fifteen years or sixteen years ago, I adopted a gray kitten from Ed’s parents’.  I thought the kitten was a male, but it turned out to be a female.  I named her “Trouble”, and she’s lived up to her name.   Flash forward a few years…”Trouble” is a ‘loner’, couldn’t stand the other[shelter] cats I adopted, and eventually left home, ending up back at Ed’s parents’ house. By then, our youngest son, Brad, was living with Ed’s elderly, widowed, mom, so he took care of “Trouble”.  Flash forward a few more years…Ed’s mom entered an assisted living facility, subsequently passed away, Brad got married and moved away.  “Trouble” stayed behind, living at Ed’s parents’ house, where she’s been living alone (or should I say without humans?) for the past three years or so.  My husband, Ed, goes to the house and feeds her every afternoon.  He’s “the man with the can.”

Now, even though “Trouble” is a ‘loner’, somehow, stray cats manage to keep making themselves at home around her–at least for a little while.  The latest newcomer is a large, young black male cat.  He showed up, starving, so, of course, Ed fed him.  He’s been hanging around for the past 3 or 4 months, even though our oldest son has tried to entice him to stay at his house.

About a month ago, Ed and I saw a black carcass on the side of the busy highway that runs in front of Ed’s parents’ house.  Our hearts sank, since we both just knew the black cat was dead.  Later, that day, Ed took a shovel, intending to remove the cat’s carcass off the highway and bury it.  Imagine his surprise when he discovered the carcass belonged to a skunk! Now here’s where this story takes an interesting turn.

A few days ago, Ed ran into his brother, who’s also our neighbor, and they began talking about this and that.  In the course of the conversation, the subject of the black cat came up.  It turned out that “Black Kitty” belongs to Ed’s brother and his wife!

You see, a couple of years ago, there were five kittens, belonging to a feral cat who’d been living at Ed’s parents’ house, along with “Trouble”.  The feral cat left, and gave birth to her kittens underneath our son’s house, which is located near by.  After about 3 weeks, something happened to the mama cat, leaving behind five very tiny kittens, not quite old enough to fend for themselves.  Ed was doing the best he could, feeding them softened canned cat food, when, one day, an old red tom cat showed up and literally carried all five kittens into a thicket that grows in the middle of the family farm.  We later found one of the kittens at Ed’s parents’ house, and were able to rescue and adopt it.  I named her “Baby”.

It turned out that three of the four other kittens found their way to Ed’s brother’s house (I suspect with the help of that red tom cat), and were adopted by Ed’s brother and his wife.  All three kittens turned out to be males, and, eventually, the strongest and meanest of the three ran the others off, which explains why “Black Kitty” is hanging out at Ed’s parents’ house!

In thinking back, when “Baby” was still a kitten, a black kitten showed up at our house, one weekend.  The kitten and “Baby” spent all weekend playing together, outside, then I saw the strangest thing happen.  I saw that same red tom cat [who’d stolen the kittens before] sneak into our yard, pick the black kitten up, and drag him off, toward my BIL’s house!  I’ll bet that little black kitten was “Black Kitty”, and, apparently, the red tom cat wanted him to go “home”.

Epilogue: It’s been a long, long time since we’ve seen the red tom cat.  He used to come and join “Trouble” for supper, occasionally, but now he doesn’t.  I’ve often wondered where he is, and thought about how he “mothered” all those little abandoned kittens, for a time.  I believe there are angels among us, in all forms.  How about you?

Ten Things On Tuesday…

(1) No, I haven’t died or dropped off the face of the earth.  I’ve just been trying to get through the days, one at a time.  Some days are better than others, but there haven’t been any good days [with my back] for about a week.  I’m assuming it’s because the Prednisone has completely worn off. Bummer.

(2) After going for weeks without any rain, we’ve been experiencing afternoon thunder showers every day–including on the Fourth of July.  Fortunately, I’d planned to have our family ‘picnic’ indoors.  Eventually, before the end of the day, the kids managed to steal a few minutes to play in the rain, and in the swimming pool, but Ed got sprinkled on while doing the grilling.

(3) Some folks in our area got a lot more than a thunder shower on July 4th.  They lost their electricity, for part of the day, and some of the streets, in nearby Savannah, were flooded.  Facebook’s feed was filled with photos of folks floating down the flooded streets on tubes!  I guess that could be classified as “making the best of a bad situation.”

(4) Ed discovered that our one-and-only convenience store was closed on July 4th, when we needed to buy a bag of ice.  So much for convenience…  He had to drive another six miles  just to buy some ice.  You’d think all convenience stores would be open on July 4th, wouldn’t you?

(5) Our youngest son was baptized on the Friday morning before the Fourth of July.  He didn’t let anybody know he was going to do this, other than his wife, and the pastor, of course.  He chose to be baptized the old-fashioned way, in the river. This mother was a little bit disappointed that she missed this special moment in her youngest son’s life, but is happy for him, none-the-less.

(6) Speaking of special moments in one’s life–that same youngest son will turn “30” on this coming Saturday.  Where has the time gone?  It seems like only yesterday he wasn’t much bigger than his son, Evan, who will soon turn two!

Last year’s birthday celebration

A lot of things have changed since last year’s birthday celebration.  In addition to everyone being another year older, Ed’s retired, both Brad and Jennifer have new jobs, and Brad and Jennifer have moved out of their home in the city and back to our hometown.  None of these changes were expected, last year, with the exception of everyone growing older.

(7) Speaking of special moments and milestones, today is my daughter and her husband’s wedding anniversary!  They were married on a very hot July evening, fourteen years ago.  All anniversaries are special, but, I think, this one just might have a little more meaning to them than some in the past. I wish the two of them many more happy years ahead!

July 7, 2001

(8) I received my packet of ‘new patient forms’ [for my neurologist appointment, in two weeks], yesterday.  They’re a bit overwhelming, and it may take me the next two weeks just to get them filled out.  I’ve never had to ‘bubble in’ ovals (with a #2 pencil, no less) on patient information forms before!  I’m both looking forward to and dreading this appointment, all at the same time.

(9) Lately, we’ve been letting our newer flock of hens out to ‘free range’ late in the afternoons.  We give them about an hour, at the end of  each day, to roam out of their pen.  They seem to enjoy this time, and look forward to it very  much.  The two older red hens [who free range all the time] tried to act like bullies, at first, but things seem to be getting better now that it’s been a few days.

(10) It’s been three days since Ed’s seen “Trouble” the cat.  For three days in a row,  she’s been a ‘no show’ at feeding time.  We were sure something had happened to her because, normally, she’s always at the house, waiting to be fed.  Yesterday, we found out that she’s been visiting with our oldest son and his family, again!  He said that his little boys have been feeding her and trying to get her to stay. I hope she does, but I won’t hold my breath!  “Trouble” has a mind of her own.

‘The Man With The Can’ Continues…

If you are a regular reader here, you are probably familiar with our continuing saga of the cats at Ed’s late parents’ house.  I’ve posted about  ‘The Man With the Can’ HERE and HERE if you would like to catch up on the story.  Today’s story picks up where the last story left off.

 Trouble

Let me begin by saying that ‘Trouble’ is still alive and doing well for a cat of her age.  Ed began giving her 1/2 can of cat food, along with her dry food, after her last health issue.  Trouble absolutely loves canned cat food!  Every afternoon you will find Trouble sitting under the carport waiting for her evening meal.  Recently, she’s picked up the bad habit of coming to meet Ed’s car, which worries us somewhat.  Trouble knows our vehicles, and, sometimes, will start to head toward Ed’s car, while he’s waiting to turn in off of the busy highway.  It would be easy for an accident to happen now that she’s started doing this.  Sigh.

Jo Jo

‘Jo Jo’, the gray kitten who found his way to our house, about a year ago, is alive and doing well.  He’s become a full-fledged tom cat, these days. He picked a fight with every cat on the place, once his testosterone kicked in!  I’d love to have him neutered, but he’s become a bit skittish since his hormones kicked in.  He’s not gentle and loving like he used to be.  Besides, I once had a bad experience while having a ‘skittish’ cat ‘fixed’, and I’m in no mood to go through that experience again!  (My cat attacked the vet tech, and it cost me a lot of money (and heartache) when they kept my cat under quarantine for 10 extra days!)  The bottom line is, ‘Jo Jo’ will not be getting neutered.

the new kitty (at its worst)

Which brings me to the cream-colored kitten we adopted back at the beginning of the summer.  As far as I know, this kitten is the only survivor out of the litter of ‘Rainbow Kittens’.  If the circumstances had been different, and we hadn’t been able to bring it home, I’m quite sure this kitty wouldn’t be alive today.  It had a respiratory virus, a ton of fleas, and was nothing but skin and bones, covered with fluff when we brought it home.

kitty growing and getting healthier

The kitty turned out to be a ‘she’, and after giving much thought about what to name her, I decided on the name of ‘Baby’.  It fit her perfectly, since she’s “the baby” at our house–and she knows it, too!  After a lot of time and TLC, ‘Baby’ has finally grown into a healthy, beautiful cat.

Baby (a couple of months ago)

Now, Baby is technically Jo Jo’s niece, since his sister gave birth to the litter of ‘Rainbow Kittens’. They’ve actually got a family connection.  From the day we first brought Baby home, Jo Jo took a real liking to Baby!  Unfortunately, Jo Jo’s testosterone was kicking in about then, and he kept trying to do ‘nasty things’ to our little baby!  It was pathetic.  Poor Baby just thought Jo Jo wanted to play with her!  After much scolding, on our part, and some thinking on his part, Jo Jo finally figured out Baby wasn’t old enough for sex.  Since then, he’s become her best friend and protector, while biding his time for her to mature!  The two eat together, daily, and can be seen playing together each morning and afternoon.

Baby and Jo Jo

Speaking of a ‘family connection’, Baby has a family connection with another cat at our house, too!  She comes from the same descendants as our cat, ‘Charlie’, whom we got from Ed’s parents, quite a few years ago. Baby and Charlie’s family connection is quite evident through their appearance!  The two, also, share the honors of being the youngest and oldest members of our feline family.

 Charlie and Baby

The months have passed quickly, and, now, the time has come for Baby to go to the vet to be spayed. There’s no way I’d not have this done, especially with Jo Jo lurking around waiting! I’ve taken dozens of cats to have this procedure done, but it never gets easier.  I do not like caging my babies, then leaving them in a strange place!

Please keep ‘Baby’ in your thoughts and prayers (and me, too) as we begin our ‘spaying adventure,’ early tomorrow morning.  I’ll be glad when it’s over, and Baby is safely home again!  Actually, the real adventure will begin tonight, when I have to keep Baby in the house, but separated from the baby chicks!  Wish me luck 🙂

The Continuing Saga Of The Man With The Can…

My story begins eighteen months ago, when our youngest son and his wife moved out of Ed’s mom’s house, and left two cats behind.  For a brief moment, they considered taking the old cat named Trouble with them, but decided Trouble was too old and set in her ways to successfully relocate.  The second cat, aptly named ‘Feral Kitty’, was simply too wild to catch.  Ed and I promised to feed the cats each day, for as long as they lived at the empty house.  Ed’s not only kept that promise, he’s done more.

Trouble continues to live at Ed’s mom’s empty house, but Feral Kitty disappeared about four or five months ago.  A few months before she disappeared, Feral Kitty gave birth to three gray kittens, who were even wilder than she was–and that’s saying a lot!

For a while, Ed was feeding five cats instead of two, then one of the kittens disappeared.  Ed had been working on taming the kittens, by trying to rub them while they ate.  He had only been successful with one kitten, which, unfortunately, disappeared when it was just a few weeks old.  The mama cat eventually took the two remaining kittens to our oldest son’s house, where Ed continued feeding them.

Eventually, one of the two remaining kittens actually found its way from our son’s house to our house!  I joked and said he followed ‘the man with the can’ home.  I was able to tame this kitten, who turned out to be a male.  I  named him ‘Jo Jo’, and he still lives with us today.  The other kitten remained at our son’s house, where Ed continued feeding her on a daily basis, in addition to the scraps she got from our son and his family.  Ed was never able to tame this cat, but our grandson named it ‘Stranger Cat’.  This cat turned out to be a female.

Shortly after the first of this year, strange tom cats began turning up at our son’s house–first a black one, then a red one! Before long, it became obvious that ‘Stranger Cat’ was going to have kittens.  Ed continued feeding her, and was actually able to pet the cat a few times, while she was pregnant.  Stranger Cat gave birth to six kittens around the end of March, then promptly disappeared about four weeks later.  (We assume something killed her.)

The kittens were very small when their mom disappeared, but, somehow, they were able to eat well enough to survive.  Unfortunately, they were as wild as their mother had been!  Ed fed them daily, and tried to pet them while they ate–unsuccessfully–except for one…

I’d usually be cooking supper when Ed would go feed the cats, but he’d give me a cat report each day.  The kittens were several weeks old before I ever saw them, but Ed kept referring to this one cute “gray colored” kitten he’d been able to pet.  He spoke of this kitten fondly.

When I finally saw the kittens, I dubbed them the “Rainbow Kittens” because they were so many different colors.  There were black ones, a tabby one, and one cream-colored kitten–but here wasn’t a gray kitten in the bunch!  The “gray colored” kitten  Ed kept referring to was actually a cream-colored kitten–with dark brown markings, and beautiful blue eyes!  The kitten looked exactly like our old cat, Charlie–who came from Ed’s parents’ house, many years ago!

One day last week, I rode with Ed to feed the kittens.  When we drove up, there wasn’t a kitten in sight.  Ed beat on the bowl with a spoon and, soon, cats began jumping out of the over-growth in the field between us and our son’s house!  We, also, noticed a large red tom cat was with them, watching us from a distance.

A couple of days later, no kittens showed up for supper.  Ed wondered if the red tom cat had something to do with their disappearance.  Later that afternoon, Ed spotted three of the kittens near his brother’s house, which is also located on the family farm.  Those little kittens had made their way to the opposite end of the grown-up field (about 1/4 mile away)! The following day, Thursday, our aunt called to ask if we were missing any kittens.  Two of the kittens had shown up at her house, located on the far side of the grown up field!  Wild kittens were showing up everywhere.

On Friday afternoon, Ed stopped by his mom’s house.  Trouble was there, as usual, along with Ed’s friend, the cream-colored kitten! It was simply amazing that kittens so little, were making their way around a 30 acre farm–and surviving!  That little kitten followed Ed’s every step on Friday afternoon!  It was obvious that he recognized ‘the man with the can’, and he was hungry!

It wasn’t long before we heard a cat meowing from the edge of the field, so we turned to see who it was.  It was the same red tom cat we’d seen in the edge of the field, a few days before.  He was apparently calling the little cream-colored kitten!  It was then we figured out that the red tom cat had taken all of the kittens into the over-grown field with him!  Was he trying to find homes for them, or was he trying to get them lost?  Perhaps he was just trying to teach them how to hunt.  We’ll never know.

Long story made a little shorter, Ed and I ended up bringing the cream-colored kitten home with us that day.  The kitten was so little, and so pitiful, I couldn’t leave it behind, at the mercy of that red tom cat!  The kitten wasn’t much more than a little fur ball of skin and bones.  The kitten’s fur was filled with trash from being in the under-brush of the field, and its  little eyes and nose were runny because it had a cold.

Lucky kitty

I have no idea whether this kitten is a he or a she, because it’s still too small for me to be able to tell.  It’s been with us for four days, and has made itself at home on our front porch!  I’ve been feeding it three times a day, and it’s beginning to put on a little weight.  It still has a bit of a cold, but I’m hoping time will take care of that.

I can’t help but wonder if those other kittens are surviving, and, if so, where they are.  I don’t know what the future holds for our newest family member, but I know it has a home here, for as long as it wants one.  I haven’t chosen a name for kitty, but perhaps I should call it “Lucky”, because it’s just that!

***I have to add a footnote here.

Trouble, the cat, became very sick a few weeks ago, and we thought her end was near.  (After all, she’s very old.)  Trouble wasn’t able to eat much food, she lost weight, and even had labored breathing for several days.  We basically said our goodbyes to her, during that time.  Then, out of the blue, she began to eat and act normal again!

We’ve decided that Trouble must have gotten something hung in her throat, which prevented her from eating, and made it difficult to breathe.  Whatever it was, must have finally dislodged.  Of course, we’ll never know, for sure, but that’s Ed’s speculation.

Trouble continues to greet ‘the man with the can’ each and every day!  Ed feeds her, and leaves a little extra–in case a hungry kitten wanders by…  The saga of ‘Trouble and the man with the can continues’…

 

 

Friday Fragments…

It’s been a fast-paced, crazy week at our house, and I can’t believe it’s already Friday!  I must admit, sometimes I get a bit over-whelmed by how quickly time is passing.  Every time I turn around, it’s time to refill my weekly medication dispenser!  I sometimes feel like time is running out, and I wonder if anyone else my age feels the same way.  All of this being said, since it’s Friday again, I’m posting a few fragments.

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Yesterday was my brother’s birthday.  He’s nine years my senior, and to see us together, you’d think it was the other way around!  I always tell him that he got all of the good genes in the family 🙂  I wish I could have spent the day with him, eating a piece of German Chocolate Cake, which happens to be his favorite, but we live nearly 200 miles apart.  These days, our visits are fewer, but always special.  Sure hope he had a great birthday, and that we’ll get together again soon.

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Every day, without fail, my husband, Ed, goes to his mom’s house to feed ‘Trouble’, the cat. (His mom’s deceased, but the cat still chooses to live at the house.)  Ed’s been doing this for over a year, because ‘Trouble’ is too old and ornery to relocate anywhere else. Anyway,  I hadn’t seen ‘Trouble’ in a while, so I decided to ride with him, yesterday, to feed her.  It’s a good thing I did!

Last summer, I ran out of freezer space while canning vegetables from our garden.  I decided to put the remainder of my vegetables in the side-by-side refrigerator, at Ed’s mom’s house.  (His mom was  living in an assisted living home, back then.)  While I was visiting ‘Trouble’, I decided to check on the refrigerators. (Ed’s mom had two of them, because her house has two kitchens.)  Lo and behold, the refrigerator with all of the vegetables in its freezer had stopped working!  The freezer had thawed in the top, but, thank goodness,  the bottom area was still frozen.  I lost all of our corn-on-the-cob, but managed to save everything else.  Praise the Lord!  If I had to give up something, I’m grateful it was only corn-on-the cob, which I don’t cook a lot of.  One more day, and I would’ve lost everything!

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Speaking of Ed’s mother, it’s only taken the Veteran’s Administration four months to figure out the lady is deceased!  Ed filed the necessary paperwork, two weeks after she passed away, but for four long months, the VA has continued to direct deposit checks into her bank account anyway!  Finally, after numerous phone calls from Ed, and four months worth of checks, they realized their error, and contacted us to return the money.  That’s our government at work!  Better late than never, I suppose.

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On Wednesday, I’d asked for prayers concerning our son-in-law, who has been out of work since just before Christmas.  Several of you told me you were praying.  God is listening, and possibly answering.  We’ll know more in a few days, but something could possibly be ‘in the works’.  I sure hope so!  Please continue to pray.  These are tough economic times we’re living in, and jobs (of any kind) are scarce.

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Thursday morning, I had the opportunity to spend some one-on-one  time with our next-to-the-youngest grandson, Chase.  It was just the two of us, all morning, and this doesn’t happen often.  He just turned two, and is quite a character, guaranteed to make you laugh if you spend much time around him.

See that green ‘lovey’ in the picture?  It’s a frog blanket, and I’m always aggravating Chase about wanting to keep it for myself, because I like frogs.  On Thursday, Chase hid his ‘lovey’ from me, and had me searching everywhere for it before he finally showed me where he hid it!  Chase does things like that, and just smiles about it.  I believe we might have a ‘practical joker’ in the making!

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Is anyone else watching this season of Downton Abbey?  This year, there seems to be a lot more drama in the servant’s quarters than in the main house–or should I say the castle?  Who would’ve thought it?  If you haven’t watched this show, yet, you’re missing out.  The plot is filled with more twists, turns, ups and downs than a roller coaster!

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I got a new Kindle for my birthday, back in August.  I haven’t done much with it, because, honestly, it has been a bit overwhelming to me.  Why, oh why don’t Kindles (and computers) come with instruction manuels???  I’ve had a hard time trying to figure things out on my own!  Yesterday, I finally got brave enough to download my first e-book on it.  It’s a strange experience, reading without having to turn pages or hold a book open, but I think I’m going to like it!  The book I’m reading?  Lone Survivor, the book from which the current popular movie, by the same name,  was made.  Can anyone say, intense reading material???

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That’s it for my edition of Friday Fragments, which I will be linking over at halfpastkissintime.  Have a great weekend, y’all!

How About A Little Hodgepodge?

It’s Wednesday again, and, today, that means two things.  Number one, it means I finally have an appointment to have my mammogram done.  Number two, it means it’s time to join in with The Hodgepodge.  I like number two the best, so let’s hop right to it, shall we?  As always, thanks to our gracious hostess, Joyce, for hosting.  You can join in The Hodgepodge by clicking Joyce’s button at the top of this post.  Here are this week’s questions:

1. What lesson has failure taught you?

Failure has taught me that I am not, nor will I ever be, perfect.  It also taught me that my plans are not always God’s plans! Last, but not least, that if given the chance, I shouldn’t be afraid to “dust off my pants” and try again whenever I fail.

2. What decision are you glad you made?

I’m glad I made the decision to become engaged and married to Ed!  I spent my last two years of high school, engaged and sitting home alone, while Ed served his tour of duty overseas.  Many well-meaning people tried to tell me I was “wasting the best years of my life” by being engaged so young.  They were wrong!  The best years of my life were yet to come, and I wouldn’t change a single thing!

3. I’ve been a little bit surprised to see fully lit and decorated Christmas trees popping up for the past several weeks in friend’s Instagram feeds. So tell the truth-is your tree up and decorated, and if so when did that happen? If not, when will you be decking the halls?

No, I do not have any of my Christmas tree(s) up yet, but I do have my year ’round tree decorated for Thanksgiving!  It’s covered in pilgrims, turkeys, and pumpkins of all kinds.  I do not believe in decorating for Christmas until after Thanksgiving, so I’ll begin decorating for Christmas the weekend following Thanksgiving.  First things first!

4. Solitaire-Poker-Rummy-Hearts-Go Fish-Old Maid…which game of cards would you most like to join?

I still enjoy playing ‘Go Fish’ with my granddaughter, occasionally, and I’m also still a fan of ‘Old Maid’!

5. This question comes to you courtesy of a Facebook friend, who once upon a time had a blog…When you’re feeling stressed do you snack a lot or are you more the ‘can’t eat’ type?

I can’t eat when I’m feeling stressed.  My stomach feels queasy and my throat seems to close up.

6. Have you ever reviewed a product or service on line? Was your review favorable or less than favorable?

Yes, I’ve frequently been asked to leave reviews for various products, that I’ve purchased on line.  I’m always honest, and fortunately, most of my reviews have been favorable.  I would like to do a review of my new washing machine, but the jury’s still out on that one, so I’ll wait a bit longer!

7. What was the best conversation you had yesterday?

As usual, it was a conversation with my daughter.  She and I can talk about anything and everything–and we usually do!

Random: Update to ‘Trouble and the Man With the Can”

It’s been a year since anyone has lived at my mother-in-law’s house.  The saga of the cats living at the empty residence continues..

The feral mother cat disappeared, never to be seen again, as well as one of her kittens.  The other two kittens are alive and doing well.  Then, of course, there’s ‘Trouble’, who continues to live up to her name…  Ed, the man with the can, continues to feed these misplaced cats daily.  Here’s the latest news:

After staying at our son’s house for well over a week, ‘Trouble’, the cat, has, once again, moved back to Ed’s mom’s house!  I don’t know what that cat is thinking!  Currently, one gray kitten, who’s still pretty wild, is at our son’s house, the other gray kitten, ‘Jo Jo’, is at our house, and ‘Trouble’ is back living alone at my in-law’s empty house.  This breaks my heart.  It’s like she’s waiting for someone to come back home…

On a happier note, ‘Jo Jo’, the former feral kitten, is doing great!  Somehow, ‘Jo Jo’ found his way to our house one day, and has made it his permanent home!  It took me about two months to tame him.  ‘Jo Jo’ follows me everywhere, and not only will he now let me pick him up–he demands it!  That cat just can’t get enough attention!  He loves to be rubbed and talked to, and, just like his cousin, ‘Trouble’, ‘Jo Jo’ drools on me when I rub him and talk to him!   ‘Jo Jo’ often sits outside the kitchen window and meows for my attention.

Ed sold his little silver Neon to our daughter, a while back, and that move thoroughly confused these cats!  For a while, the cats continued to greet the little silver car, thinking Ed was bringing food for them.  They’ve since learned that food now comes in my little black PT Cruiser or in grandpa’s old truck, which now belongs to Ed.

Ed continues to take food the ‘misplaced’ cats food daily…

A Star Spangled Hodgepodge…

I’m rolling into the second half of 2013 by joining The Hodgepodge, as usual.  Joyce has prepared another great set of questions, this week, some with a patriotic flair.  As always, you can join in, or simply read and compare answers by clicking the button at the top of my post.  By the way, I hope you have a safe and happy Fourth of July tomorrow!

1. What’s one simple small pleasure on your summer ‘to-do’ list?

Spending lots of quality time sittin’ under the oak trees, at St. Simon’s Island–with Ed, of course.  We’re up to 3 times, so far.

2. Do you have strong feelings or opinions regarding the immigration debate in your home country? Feel free to share your thoughts, but please play nice.

Yes, I have strong feelings and opinions regarding the immigration debate, but most are negative so I’ll spare y’all.  I will say that I don’t agree with doing the things that are being proposed!

3. What’s something in your home or wardrobe that could be described as ‘star spangled’?

My ‘year round’ tree.

4. Is your house set up for a party?

Probably not, but we’ve been known to host a few family parties.  The main rooms in our home are larger than most average homes, so we adequate space for our growing family. We also have a nice, shady yard, and we’re not above bringing out the folding tables and lawn chairs!  See what I mean?

Memorial Day cookout 

5. What one never-before-visited city in America, would you most like to see?

I don’t care a thing about gambling, but I’ve always thought it would be neat to see all the lights of Las Vegas.

6. Your favorite red food? White food? Blue food?

Red-strawberries, white-cake frosting, blue-blueberries–and I’d love to have one of these cakes, right about now!!!

7. What freedom do you value the most, and why?

I know some will say ‘freedom of speech’, (which I think we’ve partially lost already), while others will say ‘freedom of worship’, but I most value the right to keep and bear arms, because history tells me, if we ever lose this right, we’ve all had a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!”

Random:  An Update on “Trouble and the Man With the Can:

Back Story: My husband, Ed, has been feeding his mom’s abandoned cats for the past seven months, because his mom currently resides in an assisted living facility, and our son & his wife, who previously lived in her house & fed the cats, have since moved away.

When I last wrote about my husband, Ed’s, feeding adventures with his mom’s abandoned cats, “Trouble”, a very old cat, had left my MIL’s house, and moved in with our oldest son and his family(again).  The mama cat and her three kittens remained at MIL’s house. For the past three weeks, Ed’s been feeding cats at two different houses!

Normally, “Trouble” is usually waiting for Ed, on the porch steps of our son’s house, each day.  She comes out to greet him whenever he stops.  For several days, “Trouble” disappeared, and we feared the worst.  Then one day, she was back, like nothing had ever happened!

Recently, the mama cat relocated her three kittens to our son’s house, too, however she went back to my MIL’s house–presumably to hang out with a large orange tomcat!  ( Uh oh! ) The kittens quickly made themselves at home, at our son’s house, but one of the three has since disappeared.

Last week, “Trouble” decided to move back to my MIL’s house--presumably to get away from those pesky kittens (again)! “Trouble” doesn’t like other cats, and doesn’t seem to mind relocating, in an effort to avoid them.  This makes  her fifth relocation!

Yesterday, Ed came home reporting that the two remaining kittens are back at his mom’s house, too, along with their mama, that orange tomcat, and “Trouble”!  We can’t help but wonder what”Trouble” will do next.  To be continued…