Party like it's 1999?

We are having a small New Years Eve gathering tomorrow night.  The cats won't be thrilled, but oh well.  No hats, horns or confetti but some sparkling fruit juice to toast with.  Aren't we the party animals?  I'm having seven layer dip, onion dip, summer sausage, boursin herb and garlic spread, Sharp cheddar cheese ball, Lil smokies in BBQ sauce, assorted chips,crackers and cream puffs.  Everyone is bringing there own drinks and we are playing Yahtzee.

The fur kids will be trying to steal the meat and cheese from the kitchen counter so I'll be ready with the sprayer at my side.  Luckily the table we are playing at is super close to the kitchen counter and my aim is fairly good too.  Lots of wet cats and a good time will be had by all.  There aren't to many places you can go for a party and get target practice too. *snicker*

Here comes 2011!  Best wishes for a super year.

Excellent Christmas!

Christmas is over and we made it through it.  When I filled the stockings for the cats and dog before I went to bed last night, Homer wanted every mouse and ball I stuffed into a sock.  I cleared the mantle of all the decorations thinking that he might jump up there for a better swing at the contents of the socks. When I got up this morning everything was still hanging where I left it....good kitty!

My husband got me a super gift.  I have a Nook e-Reader from Barnes and Noble.  I just love it.  He also got me a roll up pad to do puzzles on.  I haven't been able to do a puzzle for years because the cats take away pieces or push them off on the floor and the dog eats them.  I now can do fun puzzles.  My son Jeff, gave me a gift card to Michael's......that's going to keep my knitting needles clicking for most of the year. What a super Christmas!

For dinner we had prime rib, parsnips, petite peas, mashed potatoes, gravy, Watergate salad, corn pudding and steamed carrot pudding for dessert. Amazingly it all turned out pretty well.  The meat was a perfect medium rare.

Now we prepare for a New Year's eve party.  Nothing fancy....just a few people, snacks and Yahtzee.

Tonight... (on a sad note) two houses down the street a neighbor was taken away by the medical examiner.  He passed away two days ago in his recliner.  His girlfriend had not heard from him so she called the police and they did a welfare check and found him.  How sad he didn't make it through Christmas.  He was a diabetic, and a heavy drinker, which I didn't know until tonight.  God rest his soul.

Success!

The tree is up, lights and ornaments on.  Homer has not tried to climb the tree once.  I have found a few of the bottom ornaments suspiciously laying on the floor in the morning though.  As long as he only bats them off and doesn't spirit them away...it's fine with me.  I'm getting excited about Christmas now.  I'm not getting anything for Christmas but it's the lights, cold weather, family coming and Christmas dinner that warms my heart.
I think this year I'm going to make my carrot pudding.  It's a steamed pudding made from carrots and potatoes (Free recipe to follow).  It takes longer to cook than to put together.  It's so rich and yummy.

                           Carrot Pudding

1 Cup Carrots (finely grated)       1 Cup Potatoes (finely grated)
1 Cup Flour                               1 Cup Sugar
1Cup Raisins                             1/2 Cup melted shortening
1 tsp Baking Soda                      1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg                         Pinch Salt

Steam 3 Hours or until done ( becomes almost cake like)
I have a steamer but you may use a pan over another pan of boiling water.
I serve this with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Kitchen stadium will be busy all day on Christmas eve!

I need your vote

I entered a photo contest using Cherrier's (Cherry's) picture.  Please take the time to vote for her.

http://gapc-vote.com/?c=multi&p=275830

What Money?

This time of year just makes me feel so overwhelmed.  We don't have enough money to do Christmas as it should be done.  Both our sons are coming for dinner and gifts on Christmas eve plus my grandson will be here too. I guess we're  going to use our card and hope for the best. 

At some point next year I'm going to start and Internet business.  If it works I'll share my experience with you.  The economy is so still bad.... especially here in Oregon.  So many people are unemployed because of lay-offs and are loosing their homes.  It's frightening!  I don't want to go down the drain too.  My biggest fear is that in my senior years I will become a bag lady. 

I was raised in a home that was fairly well off.  We had an in-ground pool and the best of most everything else. I don't care to have that much again, but to be comfortable would be so wonderful.  Just knowing that I could take the cats to the vet and it wouldn't put us in debt.  This week Victor has to go back to the vet.  His mouth must be hurting him since he isn't eating again.  We have to do something soon!  These are the types of things that scare me so much.  I know he's going to have to have his mouth operated on again.  That's going to be another three hundred dollars or more.  We just don't have it.  This is what's driving me to find some way to make enough money to stay afloat.  This stress has to end.

The next problem is our doctor visits.  If we go to the doctor our deductible is $1500. per person.  We don't have that either.  It just never ends.

Bad Kitty!

Moosey takes an immune system boost pill (half in the morning and half at night).  This morning he shifted or I shifted and he got my finger in four places.  I'm truly hoping I don't have to go to urgent care for an infection.  I got bitten last February and had to get antibiotics before the infections got too bad.  He is usually so good about being pilled.  Maybe it was me.  Since so many of the cats are older I give quit a bit of meds each day.

Tomorrow we get our Christmas tree.  I usually put up a fake one but I'm just too tired to stick all the limbs in and then spread them out artfully.  Besides that, I need to see if Homer is going to try to climb it before I put on my good ornaments.  Last year was so much fun.  I never did put on the ornaments.  He kept climbing into it and falling asleep up high in the branches.  I had a lovely tree with beautiful lights and that was it.  I'm hoping he has outgrown his adventurous side?

Wish me luck everyone!

My Dirty Little Secrets

I'm re-organizing our storage room.  I started in the closet (no, I'm not gay).  That took all yesterday evening.
I'm tossing out a whole bunch of things and repacking boxes that have one or two items in them.  It's hard to believe that my containers in this room end up with a single item in them, but you see......I might need one or two things and so I take those out and use them.  That leaves the single item in there and then when I put them away again they go into a new box.  I  (just in the closet) gained 10 empty containers.

 Unfortunately because of my Fibromyalgia, today I can hardly move without pain.  I hate having this chronic pain!  You work hard for a few hours and the you're down for a day or two.  How am I suppose to get anything done?

Anyway.....Now we have to make a trip to Goodwill to donate some items and our garbage cans are getting full of useless stuff.  That's another puzzler....why would I keep plastic greenery and half used candles?  Dull and scratched  (old) Christmas ornaments?  Beyond me, but I did.

At one point during my closet cleaning I could hardly get out of the room there was so much junk in the middle of the floor.  I tried to make piles for Goodwill, throw away, and re-pack.  This sort of blew up in my face when it all shifted into one giant pile as it got too high.  Now I have to keep going on the back wall of the room where most of the boxes are filled with Holiday decorations.  I would wait until Christmas was over except I've used that excuse almost every year for the past 10 years.  It's time to get it done!  I start feeling guilty for not doing the work I should around the house. I, of course, clean the house, do the laundry, cook and take care of the cat's and dog.  But many other things (like the storage room) seem to spiral out of control as I plod along doing my daily routine.

 For just a little bit you will have to put up with me ripping into the dirty corners of my home.

You Light Up My Life

Christmas lights that is.  Last night my husband (Ed) and I did nothing but check our multi color icicle lights to see if we could get them all working again.  We managed to get three strings working so he went up on our roof and put them up.  They came on  around dark and I went outside to take a good look at the pretty lights.  Oh My!  Two light strings were  the same and one had longer icicles.  The way it worked out...one side of the front had short icicles and the other was longer (noticeably). UUUUUGLY!  So now he has to go back up and put different icicle lights up.  This also means that I have to get three more strings in working order.

I'm trying so hard to have some Christmas spirit.  Money is tight thanks to our medical insurance carrier who raised our deductible to $1500. per person and raised our monthly payment to $444.  To me that's like not having insurance.  It's going to be mostly out of pocket for my yearly checkup...so why have the insurance?  I know....in case I become super sick or injured.  My husband doesn't need the insurance since his medical needs are taken care of by Veterans but he has to carry it to cover me. The reason for the hike in both the premiums and the deductible is because most of the employees at my husbands work are over 50 we were told.  That doesn't seem very fair now, does it?  That's the way these companies are allowed to treat older people.  The golden years Stink!

I wish I could be a cat  like one of ours that is pampered and loved and their medical needs are taken care of.  Lots of toys, catnip, baskets to sleep in, fresh water and treats and wet food twice a day.  What a life!

Into the Dungeon

We have a room in our home that is for nothing but storage.  I have shut off the heat to the room since we don't really live in there.  There is only one tiny window in the room also ...thus I call it the dungeon.  It's packed to the ceiling with boxes.  Many of them contain Christmas decorations.  It's time to bundle up and head into the dungeon.  I also keep the cat carriers in there for easy access.  Can you imagine how many of those we have?  Actually not as many as you would think.  We have one that's big enough for a huge Lab, one that's big enough for three cats, one that's big enough for two and then a single one.  For space I have to break them down and put them in the closet when not in use.  Another fine use for the room is hiding the Christmas presents.  There's so much stuff in there you can't focus on any one singe item, so it provides a super hiding place. We keep extra stuff in there...like dry cat food, bird seed paper towels etc.  OK....the reason I mentioned the dungeon is if I don't start putting out the Christmas decorations they won't get out.  The closer it gets to Christmas the more I seem to lose steam.

There is always a problem with the cats wanting into the room too.  You have to be aware and alert when you open that door or they will shoot into the room and you won't see them.  There are about a trillion places to hid in that room and just like the Christmas presents...you won't see them.  Next thing you know, there's a crashing sound coming from that direction..... and one very innocent ball of fluff sitting in the middle of the floor after riding several of your prized possessions to the floor from the top of a pile.  This scene is repeated several times during the unpacking of the decorations.  Maybe I should try a baby gate?  I know some of them could jump over it but the element of surprise might get me in and out of the room a couple of times before they got wise.

One of my biggest pet peeves is that everything in this house is covered because of the cats.  There's a cover on all sofas, chairs, in front of the fireplace, throw rugs in front of the doors to cover the spots they've torn up and even small rugs under some of the doors in the interior of the house because Paddy has separation anxiety and rips up the carpet under the doors if he get left alone. If I had the money..... I would get those colorful cat claw covers and glue them on each one of the cats.  They don't go outdoors anyway, so what's the harm?

 I guess you could say this house is run solely for the comfort of the animals.(not the humans)

The Police Are Here (continued)

OK, here's the deal on yesterday.  Most of my afternoon was taken up by thieves working across the street from us.  I can't believe how bold thieves have become.  Broad daylight and they are out stealing metal from an abandoned home.  I shouldn't say it was abandoned,  it's still full of the peoples possessions but they are not living there.  They're taking care of an elderly relative but still paying the bills for their home.

I was doing my housework and took something out to the recycle bin around 1:00 P.M. when a pickup pulled up in front of their home. ( this was not the first time these thieves have been there)  I turned and watched two kids in their twenties get out of the vehicle, one holding a sledge hammer and the other clapping his hands and calling an imaginary animal.  Now this was incredibly dumb since the guy clapping his hands was calling attention to the two of them.  They both disappeared around the sides of the house. I ran inside and went to where I could see them better and dialed  9-1-1.  I made my report but before I finished they were getting back into their truck and leaving without taking anything.  I told the emergency operator that I thought they were going to come back and steal something at a later time.  They dispatched a police officer to come and take my report and have a look around.  About 15 minutes later the officer was at my door and we discussed what I had witnessed.  When he finished with me he went over to the home and had a look.  He emerged from the side of the house hanging onto a sledge hammer,  He tossed it into his trunk and off he went. 
I went back to work on my chores. Half an hour to forty five minutes later here comes the pickup again.  The kids hop out and one is carrying two small shovels. Again they disappear around the house.  This time I grabbed my digital camera and went outside behind my van and started shooting pictures.  I shot a really good picture of the back of the pickup, went back inside and called 9-1-1 again.  Made another report and like before they left before I finished.  Two policemen showed up this time about five minutes after I completed the call.  It seems another neighbor had called in a report also.  After speaking to the officers, the only thing they were concerned about was the fact that the license plates were not the same on the front and the back of the vehicle.  They were both the same state but different numbers.  Can you beat that?  They didn't care about the robbery, just the plates!  I think part of that stems from the fact that the people who own the house are hoarders and the place looks like it should have been blown up or condemned long ago.
But jeez!  They love their stuff.....even if they can't find all of it.
Next time I'm getting a picture of the kids.  I know they'll be back 'cause it's easy pickins.

So that was my afternoon yesterday. 

The Police Are Here!

I had a very strange day today but I don't have the time to blog about it tonight.  Come back tomorrow  and I'll explain. I also found where Victor disappears to.  I'm happy to report that there's no portal or triangle of any kind....just a very clever cat.

Hidden In The Computer Room

Tonight I'm hidden in the computer room away from the fur kids.  I'm knitting mittens for a Christmas present.  You know cats and yarn, right?  Not one of these felines can resist the soft slowly moving trail of yarn from the ball to the needles.  The Computer room is my office/craft room.  I do knitting, crochet, cross stitch, beading, polymer clay art, watercolor and acrylic painting in this room.  There are double glass doors into the room so the kids can still see me.  On Occasion,  Paddy will stand up and scratch on the door to try and get my attention. ( I have a water bottle that does a lovely stream of spray for misbehaving kitties)

I don't have much time left for making gifts so I have to cut this short and get with it.

And The Winner is......

I was thinking about the ages of the cats today and I believe that Ming is the oldest and then Midge.  Ming was my mother's cat and she had him for about 4 or 5 years.  He was around four years old when she adopted him. Mother passed away and I've had him now for 12 years.  You do the math....he's OLD!
Ming does nothing but sleep, eat and use the box now.  He's usually the first one in the kitchen when it's feeding time though.  Sometimes he even runs to get ahead of another cat.
Here's Ming:

Ming has congestive heart and is unable to eliminate without meds.
















Next in the geriatric lineup is Midge.  I've had her for 16 to 17 years.  I have no idea how old she was when I took her in. She is now on meds for a sluggish Thyroid and has a neurological problem.  She still plays but is slightly unstable on her feet.                                     

Midgey is standing by her favorite rabbit fur mouse toy.  She loves to play with the laser light too.  She won't chase the light but if you shine it on her paws she bites at it.  My favorite way to play with all the cats is to take the laser when I'm tired of playing and run it under a door.  They stand there staring at the bottom of the door for quite a while before they give up and do something else.  That sounds sort of cruel, doesn't it?

On slow days I'll elaborate on the personalities of the fur kids.  Guess what?  It's a slow day, and here's my personality report.

Muttzncatz's Kitchen Stadium

This morning after feeding the cats I started our breakfast. Homer (Lil Chef) was perched on the kitchen cabinets that overlook the stove. I felt like I was on Food Network's Kitchen Stadium set. I don't know why he has to watch everything I cook since he doesn't eat human food. He stood there until I served the food and then he curled up and went to sleep. If you'll notice....the picture of Homer on the left of the page was also taken in the kitchen on the counter.

Take another look at the picture on the right. Notice (bottom right hand corner) that the drawer knob is rubber banded to the cabinet knob. I have all of the bottom cabinets banded together to keep the cats out of them. Mind you, I have child proof locks on every one of them too. I still get up in the morning on occasion and find a cat hidden in one. Sometimes I think it would be easier to have ten two year old kids!

I have a mystery. Victor at the evening feeding (they eat morning and night) spooks and runs under an antique chair that is next to our love seat. I chased him because when he hides I can't find him......... so I thought, Aha! Now I can see where he's hiding. I swear to you......he went under that chair and disappeared! I moved the chair, looked under the love seat, my husband tipped the loveseat almost over and there was no Victor. Three hours later he was standing in the middle of the diningroom. Do we have a timewarp that he has discovered? Maybe there's a Bermuda Triangle here in our livingroom. Victor is still very feral and doesn't even like to be touched plus totally freaks when someone new comes in the door. I have to figure this one out.

Well back to work..I have much to do before Christmas.

Turkey Hangover

Leftovers are wonderful if you're tired of cooking every night. The very best part is...... the cats sleep soundly after a few pieces of Turkey. There haven't even been any major disputes since they were served Turkey for a couple of nights. We have eight male cats (neutered) so there is usually some sort of fighting going on for the alpha position. So far the crown belongs to Paddington with Lamont challenging his credentials.

Homer is looking forward to Christmas for the Prime Rib dinner we cook. We have mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, parsnips, Watergate salad, horseradish sauce, rolls, a green veggie and dessert. We celebrate on Christmas eve every year. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas this year... think we have a chance?

I have to get back to my knitting. I have mittens and a sweater to finish before Christmas. The sweater is for Cherry. It's red, off white and black. She'll look so spiffy in it!

More pictures to come.......I'll try and get pictures of their live theater. (the birdy toes and squirrel tales)

Christmas is headed our way

It's time to drag out all the decorations for Christmas. I have a collection of Snowmen that are coming out first. The cats don't bother anything but the Christmas tree. I shouldn't say cats, it's only Homer that likes to climb the limbs and sleep in the tree. I can't understand why he likes that so much since it's an artificial tree and is super scratchy. It makes my arms break out just putting it together. So far he hasn't broken anything but I'm not holding my breath. I'm going to put it up soon and leave it untrimmed to see if he is still fascinated by it. Pray for my tree...please!

The weather here is still fairly frigid. I bought Cherry (dog) a couple of new sweaters to keep her warm. She has figured out how to squirm out of them. The first sweater I bought her was a small which is tight on her now. This time I bought her medium and she takes it off at will. Is there no happy medium here? No pun intended *snicker*

Yesterday was kind of a bust. I cooked a huge meal and nobody ate much. My son Jeff, and his son AJ came after they had gone to Jeff's dad's house for Thanksgiving. They weren't hungry. My husband Ed, had to get up early so didn't want to eat heavy. Next year there will be no Thanksgiving dinner here. I'm happy that Jeff is finally bonding with his dad so I don't want to whine and stop them from the progress they are making. On the other hand...I'm tired of cooking for three days and throwing away food. Little chef and I worked very hard on that meal.
The cats and dog certainly do enjoy all that Turkey though.

I'm not a black Friday shopper I guess. Today was the day to catch a bargin and I tried to go to Target to see if I could score some icicle lights at a good price. I wanted the kind that actually look like an icicle but have lights in them. There were no parking spaces so I went home. I like shopping online for whatever I need. I can't bear to think about driving around and around looking for a place to park. Then if you get in the store you have to deal with rude people. Thank God for the Internet!

Thanksgiving Countdown

Homer, the youngest of our ten little Indians, thinks he's an understudy for the chef position. He sits on the counter a distance away from me but takes in everything I do. I keep thinking about the Disney movie "Ratatouille". Remy the rat is a "little chef" in the movie. Homer is my little chef. I'm almost tempted to ask him what he thinks sometimes when he looks at me like," what did you do that for?"

Homer's schedule will be a busy one tomorrow since we are baking two pies (one Pumpkin one EggNog Custard) making the Corn pudding and boiling and making the deviled eggs. I'm betting he takes a nap between the pies and the corn pudding. Anyone want the corn pudding recipe? It's a war time dish (WWII). There was meat rationing and so they made dishes like this one. Now it's a darn good side dish for Holiday meals. It has corn meal, tomato sauce, egg, black olives, pimentos. butter and cream style corn.

Thanksgiving day all the cats will be on the couch with Dad who will be watching the parade. Well, at least the ones who don't believe in the sport of birdwatching. They'll be lined up in front of the sliding glass door watching birdie toes and squirrel tails flick and flit accross the decking in search of a morsel of food.....the aroma and warmth of the Turkey cooking wafting through the house making everyone a bit drowsy. That means it's time to make the Waldorf Salad, peel the potatoes, and get the veggies into their pans. No rest for the wicked!

I want to shop for collars for the cats and dog..... but I want colorful leather and crystal ones. I can't find them locally so I may have to shop online. They were, ages ago, easy to find in most any pet shop. There are hardly any pet shops around now. The big chain stores like Petco and PetSmart have taken over.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Thanksgiving week

Here it is Monday and tomorrow I start making the side-dishes and desserts for the big dinner. The animals love Turkey day....in fact.....we call it big Chicky day. Think about it...what do stray cats spend their time doing when they're in the wild? They hunt birds. This is just a big (cooked) bird. By dinner they're worked into a frenzy by the scent of a big juicy cooking bird! We settle down around the table and if you look on the floor....there, lined in a perfect circle are 8 expectant cats with their begging faces on. (The other two are in a separate room because they don't get along with the others.)

Anyway.... with the weather we're having, it really is puting me in the Holiday mood. I'm looking forward to making a big feast and having my son and grandson here to share it. Only an hour ago it looked like we were having a blizzard. Now it's stopped but it's (according to the weather man) going to snow somemore before morning. Fa La La!

Better get back to my knitting (gift for a friend)

Sundays are always a bit slower

Today is Sunday and it's a lazy day. The cats are in their napping places ( that would be their wicker baskets) The weather is chilly and the wind is blowing. Four of the cats retired after a bird and squirrel watching session. I feed the birds on the awning of our deck so the cats have an endless view of little birdie toes to watch. When the squirrels join in the cats have a heart attack.

In this house when they come in they don't get to go out again. I don't want them to be flea ridden or catch some horrid disease. There's really only one that cares to go out. Paddington makes an attempt every so often to break out. That's sort of dumb...... when he gets out he just stands there like, which way do I go?

I'm hoping we can stay away from the Vet for a week or two. We went to St Francis 24 Hour vet hospital (Vancouver, Washington) Friday. Victor's mouth was inflamed again so he had to have a anti-inflamitory shot. He's old and his immune system isn't what it should be and he's allergic to his own enamel on his teeth. We had all but four teeth removed but his body still thinks it has to attack the gums. If anyone in the area needs a vet there are some top notch vets there. Their prices are good too. We drive from Portland to Orchards just to take our pets there.

Comming Soon

I'm going to be puting up some pictures of my fur kids soon. These guys were all strays.
The list is now:

Cats
Lamont-Large blue short hair
Homer-Black long hair
Victor-Maine Coon
Tanner-Yellow Tabby
Fina-Himalayan
Midgey-pastel calico
Ming-Flame point Siamese
Lil Tabby Hunter-Maine Coon
A-Moosey-black short hair
Paddington-Yellow Tabby

And last but not least the dog...Cherry-Terrier/Chihuahua


Sometimes the words just won't come to me because I have Fibromyalgia so just hang in there and I'll straighten everything out that I mess up.

UPDATE

Since I wrote the last blog we gained a cat. I brought in a huge grey cat that is not very young. Since we have been caring for him anyway I figured why not. He does have people down the street but they don't ever let him in or take him to the vet. We have treated him for earmites and given him flea treatments all Summer. Now it's getting cold and we took him in. His name is Lamont. He's a sweet neutered boy and after all....what's one more?

Exploring money making ideas

Here's one of the interesting systems I have stumbled upon while surfing.


http://www.projectpayday.com/go/3172081

You can actually make money on this but it doesn't add up very fast because you spend some to make some.

I'm so tired tonight

Sometimes my Fibromyalgia gets in the way of life. I try sooo hard to be positive and keep going but at times it's almost impossible. After dinner is over I just sit there. I can't seem to get up and do the dishes or fold the clothes or for that matter keep my eyes open. I want so badly to be filled with energy and an exuberance for life again. I'm beginning to think that this is the way it will be the rest of my life. Maybe I need to bite the bullet and go to the doctor and get meds for this horrid disease.
I need to start beading some earrings to take to the shop that takes my stuff on consignment. I believe that the woman that owns the shop is cheating me. She was going to put my stuff on Ebay and Etsy and they have never appeared there. In November she sold some items and I didn't get paid until the following month. Therefore....if some of my items are gone she had better pay me then and there or I'm pulling whatever I still have in the shop.
It's almost time to start working in the yard. I'm not looking forward to sitting on the ground and weeding or trimming back all the shrubs and roses.
I'm making myself even more tired *yawn*

Time to de-stress

I had my first watercolor class of the semester tonight. These classes relax me, so they are worth the money. My teacher is a sort of old hippy who just seems to be into letting everyone do their own thing. She makes her living teaching classes all week long. I would get soooo tired of it if I HAD to do it. Now I need to grab my camera a take pictures of things I'd like paint. I should try to get pictures of the cats since I have so many of them. It just seems like they never do anything wonderful or cute while I'm holding a camera. We have a variety of birds where we live too. It's almost time for the Steller Jays and the red wing blackbirds to show up at our feeder.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Today was at least dry and fairly warm for the Northwest. We took advantage of the weather and dug up our pampas grass that never-ever bloomed right. We purchased pink pampas grass to replace it.
I can't believe it.......the neighbor that accused me of fraud is actually avoiding me. He always speaks when we are outside at the same time...until now. He pulled out of his driveway the other day and went the opposite direction just so he didn't have to go past me! This is beginning to piss me off. Take inventory buddy! Did anything come of the supposed fraud? Were you stupid enough to send money to the UK? Didn't I tell you to report it to the FBI? Would I have done that if I was guilty? Why are you acting like I'm typhoid Mary? Grow up!
Well here comes another week. I have a bunch to do this week. I need to go to the vet and get meds for two cats and one cat (Tanner) needs to go and be wormed and his back shaved. I have to make several calls to business offices that have told us we owe more than we do. My watercolor class starts tomorrow night at 6:30 PM. Yea! I can hardly wait. I hope enough people have signed up to take the class or it will be cancelled. I really need this class. It helps me forget about the physical pain I'm in. It also relieves so much stress for me too.

The Fuzzball gang (continued)

The fuzzball gang member in the picture is Paddington (Paddy) He always has a ring around his face from diving into cat food cans. He is a large one weighing in at 17 lbs. He looks at the kitchen sink like it's a dumpster filled with wonderful things only for him. He eats most anything that gets put in the sink. He even ate canned spinach the other night. OK...so maybe all his oars aren't in the water. He is a bottomless pit. So far he is still healthy unlike some of the other cats.

The other yellow tabby that we took in is named Tanner. He isn't a young cat. He is still so skittish that I can't get near him. This is a problem because he has worms now. I am currently working to trap him in a carrier so I can take him to the vet. He has slept in it now for two days. On Sunday night I'm trapping him and off we go on Monday. He will have to do without food and water for several hours because the vet will want to knock him out to pill him.

Victor is the most recent rescue. He is a Maine Coon. He is several bricks shy of a load too. I can pet him as long as he is sitting in a chair. If I approach him anywhere else he runs away hissing.
He is allergic to the enamel on his own teeth. We had half his teeth taken out and now he needs almost all of them out. He is over 10 years old and I can't help but think that he let me trap him. I think he was tired of struggling with the cold winters and the cat fights. Someday he will be a loving part of this family...but Tanner.....I'm not so sure!

More another time

I hate Facebook!

At dinner this evening I received a call from one of my friends from facebook. (Also a neighbor)
He was fit to be tied! He told me that I had e-mailed him and asked for money so I could get home from the UK. I deactivated my page and as I thought about it, I realized that I was angry with the friend/neighbor for accusing me of extortion. He knows I don't go anywhere so why would I be in the UK? Why would I ask HIM for money? He's not a relative or a boyfriend. Before I deleted my Facebook page I noticed he had taken me off as a friend. He didn't trust me to delete the page! I e-mailed him and told him to send the e-mail to the FBI Internet Fraud division. Then I found out he couldn't send them anything because it came through the chat feature. It had my profile on it, he said? I'm not sure I understand the whole scenario. How could my profile be on the chat feature? I guess I don't understand because I've never chatted. I do know that I expect an apology from him.
I'm still on Twitter but if this crap continues...I'm through with all sites that promote socializing.
I just joinned KelseyLive.com and I have my doubts about that one too. I was spammed with people wanting to be a friend and to join this group or that. I almost deleted my membership there too.
I think I'm in a bad mood...what do you think?

Sunday

This Sunday was a lost day. Changing the clock forward an hour totally messed up everything.
We didn't get up until 11:30 am. We had pancakes and then Linda showed up. We had to sit and listen to her dramatics. I like Linda, but everything to her is the end of the world. Her circuit breaker for the furnace blew and she tells us that she has no electricity in the whole house. Then about a half an hour later she says she is running a small heater in her living room to keep warm.
OKAYYYYY........She says the office sent her a notice that her water will be off for three days. EXCUSE ME LINDA, we got the same notice because there was a break in the water main and the water was to be off six hours tops for that evening (ending about 5:30 am the next morning)......and to boil our water for three days after. It takes a real rocket scientist to read a notice correctly I guess. Is there no end to her drama? She even made a point of looking in the paper for a new place to live. Then she says some guy is coming to fix the problem. So why did we have to go through all the drama????
Linda had been here about half an hour when Toni showed up. Now Toni is a sweet person. I enjoy talking to her. Unfortunately I had to activate Ed's new cell phone and spent about an hour in the computer room away from our guests. By the time they both left it was 4:30 and almost time to feed the animals (other wise known as slopping the hogs). I hurried in and took my bath, fed the cats and made dinner.
After dinner I gave the dog some chicken broth which she promptly vomited up. She had just had some of her dry dog food so I thought she was feeling better than she had been earlier in the day.
On top of this wonderful day I was having..... I didn't feel good. I had stomach pains and a headache. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
Sher

Saturday Night Live is too boring tonight

I'm sitting here with our new fur person, Cherrie. You see.....she's a Chihuahua/Terrier so she's a Cherrier. She's from Merced County, California...here (at the Oregon Humane Society) on a second chance program. She is settling in very well and is spoiled rotten already. This spoiling was all accomplished in two short weeks. She really knows how to train humans, huh?

I've just tried to get a partial scholarship to take a watercolor class at one of our local community centers for Spring term. I find with the chronic pain I have, it tends to relax some of the tension and I can mask some of my pain for a couple of hours each week. It's good to get out of the house once and a while. I tend to be more of a shut-in.

I'm sooo thrilled that the other animal that I fell in love with at the Humane Society was adopted today. I was so worried about her. She was only a year and a half and she had to have bladder stones removed before she went up for adoption.

I'm going to have to keep it short this time...It's almost 1:00 am!

Tuesday night in the cat house

The day is almost over and my trip to the vet with Midge went well. She had a blood test for her thyroid to see how we are doing on the medication. Victor, one of our Main coons, has to go in next week to be re-checked for his dental surgery. His gums are still bright red. I wish we could get funding for all these animals that we've rescued. I'm still paying an emergency room bill for my gall bladder. We have paid for the removal of the gall bladder but the original bill from the emergency room is only about half paid off.
So much for the depressing stuff. I understand it's going to be 60 some degrees here tomorrow. The Rhodie's are blooming as well as the Daphne bush. The air is beginning to smell sweet from the flowers. I may have to do a small amount of yard work. I'm in the middle of a flair-up so I'm not overly ambitious.
I want to get back to my painting. Getting my brushes wet is always a fun part of my life. I HAVE TO create some beaded jewelry first though. The shop where I have them for sale is almost out of my stuff. I could use the money for the credit card that we've charged the vet bills on.
It's almost time to give the final meds to the cats. Better do that and take mine too. Tomorrow I go to a dear friends condo to sit, visit and knit a bit. Sounds super relaxing.

Spring is almost here

Well it's mid February and the cats (9) are all loosing their Winter hair buildup. Boy, do I need a Dyson ! It would be super if I could use the hairballs to make something crafty.
Last year was a hard one because we lost our precious Maggie and Michael. Maggie was a Schnauzer that we rescued from a neighbor that was beating her when she was 9 months old. She lived with us for almost 11 years but the last year was a hard one. She had Diabetes and a bladder stone. We got the Diabetes under control and had the bladder stone operated on...... only to find out that she had a Cancerous growth crowding out one of her Lungs. She passed on August 16, 2009.
Michael was a rescue from my son who had his girlfriend move in with him and she wasn't fond of dogs....... So he stayed with Gramma and Grampa until he became sick with Congestive Heart Failure and had to be put down in March. He was an American Eskimo. We also lost two cats..... Snowball to Liver failure, and Wabbit to uncontrolled Diabetes.
Every time we loose one, a new one shows up at our door. I swear there is a small mark that only the animals can see that appears out in front of the house when there is a vacancy in here.
Most of the Fur people we have taken in have special health problems too. Since we are not wealthy people...this is a hardship at times.
We now have one of our older cats (Midge) who is on Thyroid medication. She became inactive for around three days and when I took her to the box (since I had not seen her move all day) Her head went down, her front feet went out from under her and she fell into the cat litter landing on her neck and face. I picked her up and put her on the floor and she did the same thing ! Apparently she has an under functioning Thyroid according to the Vet we took her to.
I'll explain more of the fuzzball gang another time.
Muttzncatz