...avoiding doggy laringitis

it's almost 10:30 PM here in Mudville...
it's much quieter outside than earlier...
although when we went outside for a last bathroom break...
there was still a bit of activity afoot on the All Hallows Eve...

much earlier... it became abundantly clear...
even to my still drug shrouded brain...
that Mollie would go absolutely batso...
with all the noise & trick or treaters out there...

so about 5:30...

I did something that resulted in this...



[you know they're really pissed when they huddle...]


I allowed THE DOG in the inner sanctum...



she came in and hopped up on my bed....
quiet as could be...
the din from the costumed looters outside...
being accompanied by the occasional menacing growl of the "P-Oed Piglet"...

after about an hour of "togetherness"...
I went to make some toast & peanut butter...
and get some more Sprite...
there was another "stop" too..use your imagination...

I also used this moment to put down more cat food...
since Miz Vacuumouth was safely sequestered...
and when I returned to the bedroom...
the first thing I saw was their cat food dish...
on the floor...empty...
[it had been on the dresser...with some food...]

Molly was still on the bed...
trying to attain plausible deniability...
as I "informed" her of her transgression...



attempting to look ashamed...
she stayed on the bed for a while longer...
but soon moved to the floor...
until I got up to take her out one last time...

upon our return...
her disappointment at not going for a walk...
quickly turned to other venues...
as she attempted a quick slurp of cat food...

after a few more admonitions from me...
and a few "subtle" reminders that she has her own food...
she scarfed it down quickly...had a drink...
and is now laying here...
keeping her eye on the cat food...

I'm going to put the cat food in the microwave...
and then go to bed...
because every part of me hurts...
& the instructions say "no aspirin" for 10 days...

they lied to me...

actually, I asked about...
no aspirin for 10 days before...
no problem... they said...
but...
they didn't tell me it was for 10 days after...
that I was going to have to go "cold turkey"...
[no Advil either...]

and, of course... I have NO Tylenol...
except with the buffered aspirin in the Excedrin...

maybe tomorrow...

unless I can't sleep tonight...

...alive ... but sleeping

still trying to wake up after my "adventure" this morning...
the doctor discovered a "peanut sized" polyp, which they removed...
he said that he thought it was benign...
but I'll know the results for sure in a week...

I think the suppository laxative was overkill...
it didn't do anything before the procedure...

but...

since I've been home...
as soon as I ate something...
it's been like yesterday...
[without all the water...]

I ate a banana & some "red box" mac 'n cheese...
which has gone right through me with little warning...

so as much as I'd like to be doing this...



all I feel like doing is...




before I drift off again...
I'd like to thank Square Peg for being my "designated Mommy"...
driving me to and fro & checking up on me, "later"...
and Miz Minka, who came to spend some quality time with Molly...
giving her the nice brisk walk & play I wasn't up to...
and staying a while to visit & pay attention to the kitties...

thanks so much... I really appreciate you both...

...boo, humcat !

question : what do 5 black cats mean to me ?

answer : MJ, Frick, Frack, Rex & Scout...
all looked alike [short black hair...]



[this is MJ (Midnight,Jr...named for his daddy...]

for days before & after Halloween...I had to keep them "in"...
just to be safe...

even Piglet, who is black & white came to me just before Halloween...
abused and near death because she was mostly black...



the evilest thing MJ would ever be guilty of...
might involve a jack o'lantern...

there are evil cats...



well...NO...not that kind of evil...
just selfish... narcissistic...vane...
in other words..."feline"...

I've always resented the way stupid people...
attribute all sorts of human foibles to felines...



I often would be a cat, if I had to wear a costume...
I have a "cat hat"...someday... you may see it...


of course... some people "project" themselves...
and their interests on their cats...



not only dressing them for the season...
but as someone they would like to be...
[Harry Pottybox ?]

I think that cats & Halloween should be taken in "moderation"...



something like this... festive...decorative...
and not likely to give some moron the notion...
that injuring a cat is a "seasonal activity"...

...ooo...look what came in the mail today !

it always amazes me what God does to provide me with "resources"...
I opened my mail today...and found this...
[I'm not at all sure who it came from either...]



like most of us...I get the "class action" information...
and then forget about it...
until a check for $.07 arrives, months later...
so opening this made the liquid laxative I just took...
easier to swallow...

that stuff tastes like stagnant seawater....
salty, nasty & vile...

I just can't wait for it to start working...

...waiting

it's very still outside today...
there is a breeze that's more of an occasional sigh...
in the breath of the air...
than a wind...

but still... the leaves move...
and are starting to fall...
some even without turning...
fluttering to earth...



we're all waiting for the rain that's been predicted...
4 days of showers...so who knows...



but at this point...
we all seem to be holding our collective breaths...



even the sun only peeks through today...
as clouds scud by...
an ever changing kaleidoscope...
of grays & light...

on my day of waiting...
I went out to mow the lawn...
had a massive sneezing attack...
and now I have a sinus headache...

the weather is probably related to the headache too...

while I was mowing the lawn...
I looked up to see someone else, waiting...
on the cat "shelf"...



I've seen her in some funny places...
and am learning that there are NO places she can't get to...
[I've been stashing uneaten cat food in the microwave...]

so once the lawn was done...

I put away the mower...
and anything else I didn't want to get wet...
also cutting up a couple of cardboard boxes for recycling...

then I went in to check the laundry...
do e-mail... and write this post...
I have some house work [dishes... floors...]
to keep me busy inside while I drink water...
[and, yes ...I now totally slosh when I walk...]
and do the rest of the prep stuff...

and then...the games began...



here we have Molly [Miz Catfood Junkie...canned, that is...]
attempting to convince me that she cares nada...
that MJ is scarfing down catfood...
right in front of her....



she even goes so far...
as to nonchalantly stroll over to the hall...
where she waits, just out of my sight[she thinks...]
for her chance to score some kittyvittles...



Thomas has taken MJ's spot, however...
so she has to bide her time...
and wait...



which brings out the "pitiful puppy" face....
and more waiting...



finally...the long, wistful glances...
become too pitiful for me to stand...



and since the "catfood café has ceased to attract customers...
back it goes ...to the microwave...
until a cat is hungry again...
so I give Molly a pig's ear...her 2nd favorite snack...

and as I go into the LR/DR to "clean & tidy up"...
I notice that all's well with the kitties...
having taken possession again of their shelf...
AND gotten to eat their own food...



Murphy, Frick & Mattie...ready to snooze away the afternoon...

so I look for Molly...and don't need to look far...



she's in her snuggy nest [I moved it...]
chomping on that pig's ear...

now all we need is the first fire of the season...
and the rain we've all been waiting for...

...to boldly go...where the sun doesn't shine

starting at 8 AM today...I'll be having a lot of these...

followed by a few of these...



I'm following the "prep" regime for the colonoscopy I'll do tomorrow...
I've already delved too deep into that subject ["Oh Goodie"post...]
so I won't reiterate that all here...

I'm on a 24 hour clear liquid "fast"[black coffee is OK...Sprite...]
and of course...H2O... in copious amounts...
I'm also working at finishing the chores...
that I've been letting slide...
'cause I know I won't be worth shooting...
for quite a while... after the anesthetic...
if my previous experience is any indication...

so I'll be swilling water...
and doing chores...
until it's time for...



the laxatives...
[oh, be still my heart...]

once that starts...along with MORE water...
I'll be spending even MORE time...
well...HERE...



which is pretty dicey since mine isn't really secured to the floor...
[that was the whole reason for the bath redo...
that hasn't happened yet...]
I just hope there are no earthquakes...
or things could get ugly... and quick !

"it will be a good feeling when this is all behind me..."
[wait...that didn't come out quite right...
hmmmmm... hold on... no...I'd never !...I mean...
what kind of person wants to be the butt...[*snort*]
uuh...I mean...the point of their own joke ?]

not me...

I would never stoop to "bathroom humor"...

just for a post...

so what I meant to say was...

"I'll be glad to put an end to all this..."
[oh crap...that's worse...]

OK...OK... I got it now...

here it is...

"I'm actually looking forward [clever, huh?]to next Tuesday...
[I KNOW it's Election Day...I don't care...
I vote by mail...& have already done my duty... *sigh*]
when I get to go to the dentist for a crown prep..."



[see how I shifted your focus, up... to my mouth...?
sometimes...I amaze even me...]

I think it involves a post implant...
[and the 6 Advil days that will follow it...]
I know I'll get a "temp"...
[that will probably fall off at some point...
causing an 8 Advil moment...]
and need to return in 10 days or so...
for my gold crown to be fitted...
[just so we can wake that nerve back up...]
that's costing me nearly $800.00...
and I'm sure there will be at least one anxiety attack...
[hmmm... maybe this is almost as bad...]

what a pain in the butt...

oh, wait... that's the other one...


"...say goodnight, Gracie"...

"goodnight, Gracie..."


postscript...

I just found out that my dentist's appointment is Monday....
NOT Tuesday... as I had thought...
11 AM to boot...

I am just SOOO frick'en thrilled...

...fence, à complete

this morning...it still looked like this...
around 8:30...I heard stirrings...
but very little noise...

however...



when I looked out around 10:30... voilà...



he had re-enforced the bottom on my side...
to prohibit doggy digging...



the pressure treated posts were evident against the redwood...



all in all ... a nice job...

...silly kitties...treat balls are for...

regular readers will remember the kitty treat ball...
which came to my "herd" by way of Miz Minka...
when Minka, who had received it from L'il Sis...
wouldn't deign to play with it...

my kitties loved it and just yesterday...
were enjoying rolling it around...
scarfing down the treats that fell out...

I suspected doggy deceitfulness this AM...
when I found the empty ball...in Molly's bed...

I re-filled the treat ball and rolled it for the kitties...
who soon had had enough...and retreated for naptime...
[an activity they pursue about 23.5 hours a day...]
but I still heard the rattle of the ball...
rolling on the wood floors...

and when I looked...
I saw this...



"silly kitties... treat balls are for dogs..."

...another busy day [for me, anyway...]

no workmen yet today...
so there it sits...2/3 done...

this morning I had a "help" email from DD...
re "music POP"[permanently out of print]...
so I went to the church to make some totally legal copies...
[when something is POP, all "bets" are off...]
and send them on their way to Warsaw...

it sidetracked me from the chores I needed to do here...
and I was glad to be sidetracked...

the chiropractor session yesterday really worked...
and as always, the day "after"...
the burning grip of that pain goes...
[especially if I've had it for days...]
I'm tired and very sleepy...

so after Molly & I went to the church...
[delighting Square Peg by meeting Molly..]
making the copies and visiting a bit...
we came home...

I left Molly to "guard & protect" the felines...
[she is SOOOOO funny about "protecting"...]
I have a cat tree by the door...
with a cat bed on the lowest shelf...
about 18" off the floor...
looking right out the French door window...

I often see Molly sitting in it
when I am unlocking the front door...
after being gone...

it's a good sized cat bed...
but still too small for her to do more than sit in...
it is, however, her catbird seat...
and it's really funny to see her hop into & out of it...
in her excitement to see my return...

so I went to mail my package for DD, mail my "ballot"...
and stop by Discount Pet on the way home...

I had bought 2 cases of canned food for Molly...
on Oct.2... that she won't eat now...
she ate the first can...
but has since made it clear...
she really doesn't like it...
[of course...cat food is SOOO much tastier...]

E let me return it, even though I didn't have a receipt...

smart man...

I left with 3 20lb bags of dry cat food...
1 40lb bag of dry dog food...
3 flats of canned cat food...in smaller cans...
[I'm smarter than I might appear...
no left-overs... less chance for Molly to scarf it...]
a large [55 lbs] plastic storage bin for dog food...
3 bags of cat treats...
[the others have disappeared, mysteriously...]
and a bag of pig's ears...

Mom used to not want to give her dogs pigs ears...
because they would immediately chew them up...
I used to say,"Mom...that's what they're for...
to chew up"...

she still didn't like it...
I think she wanted them to "save" them...
and savor them...
like she used to do with candy...
driving her brother crazy...
because he always ate his...
while she saved hers...

for all the "dog" person traits she possessed...
that... was her most feline quality...
and for some reason, as much as she liked dogs...
she never got that about them...
that most are greedy gulpers where food is involved...

anyway...

having returned home with my stash...
I unloaded the car...and brought it inside...
such fun...carrying a 40 lb bag with kitties in your way...
and a happy dog "greeting" you...

so I set up the dog food storage canister & filled it...
mixing the old with the new bag...
[same formula, smaller bits...they were out of her regular...]
and adding in the left-over puppy formula from the first night...
mixing it together & putting some in the dish...
[Molly hasn't touched it, but Thomas had some...]

then I carried in the dry cat food...
[Adult,indoor & Senior]
mixed them together, filled cat dishes...
it's taken 2 hours for Thomas to be interested...

then brought in the flats of smaller cans...
and the kitty treats...
to refill the treat ball...

which inspired this video...
[notice who crashes...]
Mattie's the "palomino"one...
Frick & MJ are doing the Halloween Black Cat thing...
they are always black...
they just get their "15 mins" now...

because they are smart enough to figure out the treat ball...
[Chinese design too much for most American cats...hee,hee]
and because it's almost All Hallows' Eve...




just returned from another "quick trip" to the church...
music for MizYBee & an excuse for her to meet Molly...

no fence activity today...

it's late...so I better get busy...
or I'll be sorry tomorrow...

or maybe I'll just take a nap..

decisions, decisions...

"en garde" [aka..."let the fencing commence..."]

a week ago...



there was this...

and then...



this...

today there is ...



this... halfway completed...

they started this morning...
next to my garage...



with the "free" fence...
[it appears to be redwood, as is the rest...]

then on down the line...



past the dogwood tree that is rapidly "turning"...

and on to the north...
passing the redwood tree...
& the baby "Silk Oak"...
towards the pomegranate tree...



and termination at the garage corner...



at the rate they were moving today...
they'll be done by noon tomorrow...

I love it when a plan is executed with precision...
especially when I don't have to pay for it...

God is good...

...a happy, "legal" dog

Molly's a pretty happy dog these days...
especially when I forget and leave canned cat food...
in a place that she can reach...
which is just about anyplace...

[hmmmmmmm... I'm going to have to work on that...]

but today she has even more to be happy about...
[besides her "unplanned" snack, that is...]

I went to Mudville Animal Control and got her licensed...



here she is sporting the 3 tags[license, chip tag & rabies...]
it took a while for me to get all 3 on the ring...
and then the collar...

she got real excited when I put it on her...
[in retrospect...she was just probably glad that I hadn't yet noticed...
the "licked clean" cat food plate on the floor...]

as depressing as the visit to MAC was...
[you DON'T want to know...]
it was really cool that the renewal of the licenses...
for Piglet & Fluff...
AND new licenses for Sneaky Pie & Molly...
cost me only $25.00 !
[anyone over 55 gets a break as do owners of neutered animals...
so it was only $6.25 each... !]

I stopped at the dry cleaners to retrieve my down comforter...
it cost $27.75...

I guess the critters "warm" a different place...
than the comforter does...

but they are both "good things"...


so today...like everyday...
Molly has thanked me profusely...
for her bed & board... kitties to herd...
cat food to sneak... toys to chew...
walks to take at all hours...
a house to guard...& a person to love...
who loves her back...
[cat food breath & all...]



and she would also like to thank...
her God Mom & Dad...
Miz Minka & Mr Greenthumb...
for keeping her from ending up in a place...
like the one I visited today...

thanks guys...
from both of us...

...the "northern lights"

it began around October 1...
slowly...just lights at first...



here captured at 0-dark:30 while walking Molly...
on October 13...yes, the lights are on 24/7...
I know this because I see them from my bedroom window...
[if you doubt this... look at the 4th picture...
see the windows on the brick house...
behind the pillar with the pumpkins ?
those are my bedroom windows...]


my new neighbors to the north are "decorators"...


by last night, around 9:30 PM...
more things have been added...



there isn't [yet] the "nuclear winter glow" in my bedroom...
that UnklePhil's Christmas lights often bring to my kitchen...
but then Halloween is a "darker" celebration...

in the light of day...
details become clearer...



the chalk body outline on the driveway...
the cemetery and skeletons on the lawn...



the real jack o'lanterns perched on a bale of straw...
[4 of them...hand carved...]
the spider webs...
and crime scene tape...
festooning the porch...
the scary mask in the window...

and then...
there are the graves...



this one has obviously been pilfered...



and this ghoul wants "out"...



maybe RIP here means, "Rest In Pieces"...
[and yes... those ARE lights... orange ones...]



I just hope that Tiger, their kitten...
doesn't get a "black cat dye-job"...


as for me this Halloween...
I will be recuperating from the "procedure"...
[see "Oh Goodie" post if you want too much information...]



so this will be "off"...


I just can't wait for Christmas season...
I'll probably not have to turn on any lights...
anywhere...anytime...
nor will I have to decorate...
[not that I've ever put up lights...]

and people "dropping by"...

will just have to "follow the glow"...

...scoreboard : catsinger 1....Blogger/Firefox 0

this...was me... the last couple of days...
as most people of my age will admit...
especially those of us who do NOT work...
with computers on a daily basis...
being able to "troubleshoot" tech problems...
involves a vocabulary & skill subset...
[as well as a certain geeky mindset...]
we just don't have at our finger or neuron tips...

the "new, improved Blogger comments format"...
would not work for me...
I couldn't leave comments on my on blog...

NOR...
would it allow me to comment on the blog of anyone else...
who was using it...

AND... to further scramble my "gray matter"...

quite suddenly...


Blogger was loading images in the reverse order...
of the way it had always been before...

I could outsmart in reverse order thing...
once I knew it was happening...

and I managed to repair my own blunder...
in re-setting my "comments" format...
to the "old school version"...
[I could probably use the new one NOW...
but I like the avatar pictures...
& they are not in the new format...]
so that comments could be left on my posts...

[I had to do it manually...thanks Blogger...]
anyway...

I, in typical catsinger/librarian fashion...
put on my "thinking cap"...
[there is a solution for every problem...
you just have to find it...]



I did enough research/trial & error [mostly error...]
to realize that my "presence" was not being recognized...
by the new comment format...

some vague memory about "cookies" floated across my consciousness...
so I went through "help" topics on comments & cookies...
finally I found a step-by-step guide in Google...
describing how to set/clear/enable cookies in browsers...

finding Firefox [Mac]...I followed the instructions...



and discovered that there was a "box unchecked"...
in the "enable cookies" preferences section...



the box was "checked"...
and I went to MM's blog...
where I hadn't been recognized...

I scrolled down to the comment box...
and there it was...

"catsinger:Google"...

recognition... at last...

in true feline fashion...
I've been gloating ever since...

which leaves me with one message for Blogger/Firefox...

from all of us "gray panthers"...




[hee...hee...hee...]

...things that go "thud-thud-thud" in the night

Molly & I went sleuthing...
looking for clues as to what city maintenance project...
was so rudely & loudly launched in my neighborhood at 1:04 AM...



and at the circle, we discovered this, newly marked...



farther around...another one...trailing water...



then one in the middle of the street...

and then... several gutters still wet...
and full of sandy mud...

I had a really good picture that got obscured...
when a purple dog leash suddenly...
got pulled in front of the lens...
so this one will have to do...



there were at least 4 or 5 gutters...
full of this sandy, muddy mess...
most much worse than this...
with mud a good 4 feet into the street...

I know I heard pneumatic sounds...
maybe they were cleaning out the storm drains...
perhaps what I heard was a compressor...
shooting water into the drains...
or the clean-out valves...

I've lived here 20 years...
and NEVER heard anything like that...
at that hour...

if they come back tonight...
I'll be ready with my camera...

BTW... Blogger is STILL uploading images in reverse order...
the "done" page shows the order you select them in...
the "preview" shows them uploaded in reverse order...

maybe the city guys could come and "ream out" Blogger...
I'd gladly pay overtime to see that...

...FFers strike again

I've mentioned before that I get together every month...
with some former colleagues for lunch...
we formed this group from a group that gathered...
to give me a retirement party ...
after my last official day of school...
in June, 2005...

the 4 regulars have met every month since...
sometimes "life" intervenes...
and it's only 2... but more often...
3 or 4...or more if Dar brings any of her kids...

and we celebrate birthdays...
so this month was mine...
last month was Deb's...
June is Dar & K's...

since the Creamery [our chosen spot...]
is now open for breakfast...
we met earlier than usual...
and had breakfast...

Dar, who now lives in Fremont...
brought her really cool daughter...
K's Mom is ill, so she had to miss this one...
but Deb managed to show up...late...
but with an acceptable excuse...

we all taught in the same department...
[except Dar, who teaches PE...]
8th grade English...
and Deb was our "dept.chair."...

we all shared a pretty snarky attitude towards the district...
[we have since been proved 100% correct...]
and it was only a matter of time...
before we refused to let administrative ineptitude...
interfere with our classroom instruction...
or our ability to "enjoy life" at the expense...
of all the fools surrounding us...

6 of the 7 of us were of the same mind...
[kids first... stupid bureaucracy, get bent...]
so we really got along well...
the 7th person was a brown-noser, extraordinaire...
we were just careful what we made fun of around her...

we call ourselves the FFers...
[I have to admit... it WAS my idea...]
for "F....... Flee-ers"...as we all left that school...
at the same time...never to return...

I retired after 20+ years...
K moved on to a high school in the district...
Dar moved to a different m.s. in the district...
and ultimately, a Bay Area m.s....
and Deb moved to a m.s. in the "sleepy village" district...
13 miles to the north of Mudville...
after 10+ years at our old school...

over 60 staff members left that school after that year...
and I was the ONLY retiree...
[lousy administrators will have that effect on a staff...]

anyway... we have a good time...
and in the 3+ years since....
are still meeting regularly...
and Dar comes in from Fremont...

so today being the celebration of my birthday...
I got "loot"...
[I have not included the cards...
or drawing Dar's daughter made for me...
to protect the identities of those concerned...]



the "librarian action figure"...
[with shusshing motion...]
is from Deb...
it was this or the "cat lady action figure"...
that comes with 8 cats...

"Froggy-girl"[she collects them...]chose well...

the Jelly Belly's & the socks are from Dar...

which was quite amusing...
given that I have been instructed to wear sox...
to the colonoscopy, on Halloween...




they are chenille...& sooo soft...

I would say that I'm all set...

now I need to run an errand...

then it's mow the lawn & plant some more stuff...

...jackhammers...?...at 1:04 AM ?

there are no pictures...

I was "dead to the world"...
I think Molly woke me with her weird...
"Mom... there's something strange outside"...
barking, yipping & yelping...
with a mutter or 2 thrown in for good measure...

I know her,"INTRUDER ALERT !!!" rampage...
reserved for mail persons, solicitors & delivery guys...
and this wasn't it...

it also wasn't the,"GET OUT OF MY YARD, YOU...."
[fill-in : "cat", "dog","pedestrian", "whatever"...]
or the,"Mom...the neighbors are..."
["moving their garbage cans", "getting in/out of their car", etc...]

all of a sudden... right outside[or so it seemed...]
JACKHAMMERS... at 1:04 AM...

short bursts... maybe 2-3 seconds...
with an equal period of silence between...

slowly moving away...until it was a distant annoyance...
instead of an "in my face" experience...

as it had moved away...
I heard a siren[police ?] about where the jackhammering was...
just a brief, get your attention burst...
then nothing...
but the sound moving farther away...

I couldn't get back to sleep until 4 AM...

so this morning...I expected some evidence...

zilch...zero...nada..bumpkus...

no torn-up street... no recent patches...

I'm waiting for the fade to grainy black & white...
with a Rod Serling voice over...

...finally...some planting gets done...

I've had the cyclamen so long...
the sunlight on the table has faded the red ones...
nothing was getting stressed...
but it was time...

I rescued the poor maranatha plant[cathedral windows]...
from being cat salad bar...
and trimmed off the munched-on leaves...
leaving this...



after re-potting it in a black pot I "unearthed"...
while cleaning up around the dogwood tree...
and adding the 4 other 4" specimens...
I had this...



I'll let it set "out" a few days...
then bring it in...
if I spray Safers Insecticidal Soap[non-toxic]
on the leaves & let them dry...
that should cat & dog proof them...



I also need to put these in a cool dark place...
until I can plant them...
15 assorted Daffodils...
most of the ones I'd planted don't come up anymore...

so you ALL remember this... right ?



the reappearing[& increasing...] "table of plants that need planting"...



well... a "dent" has been made...



the purple allyssum have joined the snapdragons...



in the planter boxes by the garage...
and the cyclamen have been put in place...



only a slight miscalculation on the size of the white ones...



where yesterday, there were tons o'mums & ferns...

today...



there are none !

most of the ferns have been rearranged on the table...
for better fern welfare...

the 3 maidenhair were planted and are on the fern table...

and where did all the mums go ?









along with the white allyssum...


BTW...

getting things done....a good feeling...

spending time in the garden w/Molly...a very good feeling...

figuring out HOW to organize...
the order of the upload of these pictures...
so that I could outsmart @#$%^Blogger...
and not have to re-arrange ALL of them...

PRICELESS....

...Blogger hurls chunks

once again... I have "issues"...

not being one to leave a functioning "thing" alone to ...
I don't know...function [?]

the folks at Blogger must be bored...
so they decided to "improve things"...

if they want to create a new comment window...
fine... test it first...
make sure it works...
then...offer it to people...
don't make it the default mode with no warning...

it wouldn't recognize my Google account...
and would NOT let me leave a comment anywhere...
not even on my own blog...

I had to go into "settings" and revert all the settings back...
to what they were before...

THEN...my account was recognized...
and I could comment on my own blog...

but not on any others who have the "new & improved" default system...

ARGH....

and at the same time...

they have "tweaked" downloading images...

NOW... they come up in reverse order...

the "done" page showed them in the correct order...
but the preview was reversed...

NOT the thing I needed after having just downloaded 17 jpgs...


I'm close to this...



STUPID BLOGGER...

...smile on, Harvest Moon

this greeted me at 0-dark:30 this AM...
as I stood, shivering in the chill...
waiting for Molly to pee...

a "smiling" quarter moon...

it reminded me of something else...



that crazy cat...



who leaves in stages...



until only his smile remains...

judging from the chill in the air...
and the damp on the lawn...

I'd say that smiling moon is the last little bit of summer...

then...


*poof*

...a busy day & backyard update...1.0

when I was in college...1,000,000 years ago...
This was the place in Mudville,
to take your folks when they came to visit...
table clothes, linen napkins...
delicious home-cooked food...
and the ambiance...




a 2 sided brick fireplace...stained glass windows...
folksy sayings painted on the beams...
red leather booths and chairs...
the "waiting area" was like Grandma's parlor...
and there were antiques everywhere...

it's location along then Highway 99...
the state's main north/south artery...
made it popular with travelers too...
it's location would become less desirable...
when the new 99 was built to the east...
and urban blight moved in...

but it survived until 2006...
when, after a couple of failed attempts to save it...
the owner cut his losses and threw in the towel...
closing it down before it fell down...
[it's the site of a KFC now.... sigh...]

and those of us who loved the "down home" breakfast...
lost their "breakfast place"...
I had become a "regular" while teaching on the "East Side"...
not a mile from "the Hoosier"...

and while I didn't "need" to eat like that...
it was a comfortable place to hang out...
a place where "everybody knew me"...
and I never felt funny about going to alone...

and while I am quite capable of making eggs over easy...
hash browns...country gravy....etc...
some times...you just want that...
"straight from the flat top" flavor...
and you want to be waited on...

the last couple of days...
it had been building...
that taste for hash browns...
with country gravy on them...

so this morning...
I let my hunger make me brave...
and headed for "Chuck's"...
on PacAve in Mudville...



a self-proclaimed,"hole in the wall"...
it's as down home inside as the Hoosier...
[although Chuck's tends towards nostalgia...
rather than antiques...



it has won SJ County's "Best" in numerous Reader's Choice polls...
and I heard about it on TV...
I was watching a "California's Gold" episode that featured Mudville...
and they had breakfast at Chuck's...

I got there around 11 AM on a Thursday [hours 6 AM-5 PM M-Sat]...
and I had to wait...
the counter and small group of tables were full...

when I got my breakfast... a plate of perfect hash browns...
2 eggs,over-easy[perfection] 4 slices of platter style bacon...
[I usually like to eat bacon crisp...
but this was thicker cut and cooked just right]
and a couple of pieces of wheat toast, lightly buttered...

that and the coffee cup [50 cents !] that was never empty long...

and it was a very satisfying breakfast... I will be back...

full... and feeling somewhat energetic...



I headed over to OSH...

I needed some potting soil...
and wanted to get "a couple of more things"...
for the back yard...

having found all I needed/wanted...and a bit more...
I headed home...
as I approached the circle...
I could see one of those city tree trimming trucks...
down the block on the other side...




"that's pretty close to MY house", I thought...

as I got close to my driveway...
I could see that the tree truck and it's chipper trailer...
were in front of UnklePhil's house...
with a huge pile o' tree trimmings...
completely blocking my driveway...



UnklePhil's daughter J, had arrived home just before me...
and having parked down the block...
was trying to find out WHAT was going on...

meanwhile... I'm stopped in the middle of the street...
unable to get into my own driveway...
because these workers have taken it over...

I finally have to honk my horn to get the guy's attention...
and when I say,"this is my driveway"...
we only have to repeat that statement back & forth...
3 times...
before he starts moving the big pile of brush...

and has to explain it all to his cohort...

who has just come from UnklePhil's backyard...
dragging another big load of brush down my driveway...
they get the pile moved before a "crowd" gathers...
[it's a narrow street & their truck is big...]

and I'm finally able to pull into my own driveway...

by the time I've unloaded my car...
and trucked it into the back yard...
the guys have "chipped" all the brush...
kindly moved my now emptied garbage cans to the rear...
and gone on their merry way...

another 15 minutes...
and I would have never seen them...

so anyway...

I decided to see just what they had been up to...



I guess this tree was hindering the wires...



[from another angle...]
they sure butchered it...
it wasn't even UnklePhil's tree...
or even in his backyard...

so now... moving on to the update...

you all remember this ?
[the sagging back fence ...
that the demo had begun on before I left...]



that was then...



THIS... is NOW...


















QUITE a DIFFERENCE...

it won't stay like this long...
but Molly has already explored it...

it's a nice, neat patio...
but I like the "jungle effect"...
my great aunt had a lush backyard with a huge koi pond...
giant trees and everything green and full...
she had a sign,"The Lemmon Jungle"...

when we visited as kids...I was always fascinated by it..

and have been in search of my own "jungle"...
or "Garden of Eden" for years...

and I'm getting closer...

and this will help...



I have ferns to put in baskets...
I had the baskets & liner material...
but no potting soil...
now...I can have a fern frenzy...



then there's these...
yes...you have seen them before...
and they STILL need planting...

the red & white cyclamen to "fill-in" my cyclamen pot...
the "Johnny Jump-Ups" for the portulaca pots...
the maranatha plants to replace the kitty salad bar...
and the FERNS....for the baskets...
[after I spray paint the old egg baskets to preserve them...]
and some snap dragons & allyssum [white & purple]

then...



I got these mums to "fill-in"...[I know...]
and, why yes, MM... those ARE new ferns on the storage bin...
how observant of you to notice...
they weren't on sale, but were languishing...
and I felt sorry for them... [I hear you ROFL...]



here we have the gardenia, destined...
to replace the dead one in the front...
in front of it, the cyclamen bowl...
and the new "Meyer" or foxtail fern...
[I know... I know...]



and finally... a new fern I haven't ever seen before...
it's called a "kangaroo's paw"[not the same as anagazanthus...]
the "foot" is very twisted and fronds grow from them...

very cool...

and, yes... that is a new wind chime...

there are several new ones...
[they were on sale...]

there are 2 bamboo ones...
[I had none...& they sound different...]
and 2 metal ones...

this brief film is for all you musicians...

enjoy...





post script... the nice fence guy just knocked on my door...
and wanted to know if I would like him to enclose the area...
behind my garage...between my yard & UnklePhil's...
where UnklePhil was planning to put a fence...

I asked,"how much ?"
he said, "oh....free"

he has the materials and wants to be nice...

how about that ?

God is good, indeed...

oh, I asked... he doesn't do bathrooms...

...doggy cuteness & duplicity

I have a couple of "silent movies"...
where the sound didn't get recorded [?]
that I may post someday...
but the barking and yipping was half the fun...



so I sat down to edit a couple of much less playful ones...
into "Doggy Cuteness"....
and I had a visitor...

I had put down some cat food after being visited...
by the "deprived cat society"...
and Creamer, who figured out the higher food station QUICKLY...
was chomping away...

and then...
I had a visit from the "I like cat food, too league"...



after I was finished shooting...
[unfortunately...this would have been "Oscar-worthy"]
Thomas decided to have some food...
so Molly busily [and noisily...]
emptied her new water dish...

then gave me the,"Mom...
I'm still SOOO thirsty" look...
[knowing I'd refill her dish...]

suddenly...my jr high teacher radar twitched...
alerting me to the high probability...
of dastardly doggie motives...

so I said, as I took her dish to the kitchen to fill...
"stay OUT of that cat food..."
she wagged her tail, with a great show of innocence...

I filled the bowl...
and turned around to see Molly...
standing up, paws on the box...

nudging away Thomas...
and slurping down a chunk of cat food...

"MOLLY"...
I said, gently...
scaring poor Thomas who "disappeared"...

she scarfed another hunk o'cat food...
then got all, "Oh Mom... you're just the best..."
trying to lick me with cat food breath...
[I'm really glad I don't feed them that "fishy smelling stuff"]

my "bad dog" comments finally sunk in...
and she looked properly ashamed of herself...
all the while licking her chops...

she's been in & out several times since...
making a point to be all "lovey" to me...
and ignoring the cat food, which is still there...

several other cats have come by for a bite...



and Thomas did come back to check things out...

now I hear the workmen demo-ing the fence...
the sound of demo is actually less annoying...
than the music they're listening to...
it's not country or Mexican...
sounds like head-banger stuff....
so it's time to close the windows...


fence update with pictures...later...

[postscript...
you know who finally got the rest of the cat food...
then wanted their dry food...
has been admonished and is looking properly contrite...
we'll see how long THAT lasts....
maybe...if I hang it from the ceiling...
the cat food...not the dog...]

...a really nice birthday

Mr Greenthumb & Miz Minka
[aka Mrs Greenthumb...]
know the way to MY heart...

pomegranates...

and they helped to make
my birthday an especially
nice one...
by bringing me a birthday
"bag o' poms"...
[one of them is HUGE...!]

I know what I'm eating this evening...

so...I've been thinking...

at the risk of sounding like...
I don't want to share my birthday...
I had really been thinking of changing Molly's birthday...
[since we had just "picked it"...]
to another upcoming day...
also very important to me...

November 25...

that was the day last year when I climbed out of "that hole"...
with quite a bit of assistance from the "GT's"...
so I'd been thinking that even as perfect
as sharing my calendar birthday with Molly would be...
sharing my "new life" birthday... is even better...

so after "running it past" Molly's Godmom...
and getting her approval...

it's now official...



Molly's birthday will now & forever be....

November 25...

I can't think of a better date...
to celebrate a wonderful gift from God !

...dual birthdays

today is "our" birthday...
[guess which one I am...]

I was actually born on this day...
60 years ago, about 7:30 PM...
I was a "c" section...and 2 weeks late...
so I guess you could say it was an interesting beginning...

Molly's age had been put by the experts...
[Miz Minka, her God-mom...& dog whisperer, extraordinaire...
and my vet...]
at "almost 2" back on Oct.1...
so MM suggested that we share my birthday...

and today... there is a lot to celebrate !



Molly is a happy dog !

no more E-collar...

and she's NOT chewing at her butt...
so the steroid shot is working...
the diarrhea meds worked too...

although, last night, when I gave her the pill...
cleverly concealed in the chicken flavored "pill wrap"...
she took it, made a few deft tongue motions...
the swallowed the wrap...and spit out the pill...

after I stopped LMBO...
I made a cat food meatball, pill inside...
which she scarfed right down...

then...

I could swear she winked at me...

so after our morning walk...
and a birthday pigs ear chew...





she had breakfast from her new elevated dish...
and entertained a breakfast guest...[Thomas]

this dog already has celebrated more today than I will...

Happy Birthday, Molly... hope there are many more...

...the last day of the E-collar

on the last day of the despised E-collar...
this how I was greeted at 8 AM...
[there had been some barking earlier...
of the "get away from my house, you cat you" variety...]



once we got on our way...
it was business as usual...




a lot of sniffing & investigating...



with a lot of "dog sledding"...
[being pulled along by the irresistible force...
"heel lessons" to commence SOON...]

so after breakfast, we went into the back yard...
and a cartoon came to life...



she stuck her nose inside the garage kitty door...
but the E-collar kept the rest of her out...
[she did this yesterday too...
today...I had the camera ready...]

then while I was gathering up brush from yesterday...
and moving some plants...
Molly found the balls from yesterday...
and started a spirited game of doggy soccer...



after wearing herself out...
we went inside....



I was writing at the computer...
when she seemed to be asking...
"WHEN...do I get this THING off ?"

remembering that the vet this morning had said...
that I could take the collar off before we came in...
but to watch her...

so....



and for the next 20 minutes, she was chewing...
NOT the sutures...but at the base of her tail...



Molly was one happy dog...
in between the bouts of chewing on her butt...



finally...it was time...

so off we went to the vets...
after taking the stitches out...
he gave her a steroid shot to sooth the itchiness...
after all... with that collar on...
she hadn't been able to wash herself for almost 3 weeks...

he expressed the glands at the base of her tail...
and cleaned the area...so that wouldn't be a problem...

he also strongly suggested a bath...
to sooth the irritated areas...
and clean the dirty ones...

so on our way home, we visited E at Discount Pet...
E is the manager and has sold me cat supplies...
and tropical fish supplies for about 15 years...
and he hadn't met Molly...

his greeting was similar to the vets...
I was looking for a training collar...
[I like the bigger link choke collars...
because they don't injure the dog...]
and as he approached, E was saying...
"I never thought I'd see YOU in the DOG section"...

we chatted about how I came to this major "lifestyle change"...
and he got acquainted with Molly who was being charming...
although I knew she just wanted to sit down...
and chew on her butt some more...

so we got a 20 inch, large link collar...
some beef-flavored pill "wrappers"...
an elevated food/water dish...
[so hers is "different" from the kitties...]
3 flats of Fancy Feast Cat Food[they were nearly out...]
and a bottle of Bio Touch Dog Shampoo...
that will NOT wash off the Advantix...
but will sooth the itchiness...

besides...

she was dirty from being on the road...
for who knows how long...
and she'd been in the dirt in the backyard...

she just felt dirty...
[and her tummy looked grimy...]

so when we got home...

I hooked-up my plant watering "hose" with the sprayer...
to the bathroom basin...adjusted the water temperature...
got Molly to hop into the bathtub...
got her wet with nice warm water...
and lathered her up...

I could tell she was enjoying it...
'cause she'd lean into whatever part of her I was washing...
she was very good & quiet...didn't even shake...
not until she was fully rinsed and got out of the tub...
then she shook herself...BIG TIME...
and I rubbed her down with a towel...

then we went for a training walk...

step 1... "sit"...
whenever you stop, they sit...
it took several commands each time but she would sit...

she also learned to "heel"...
walking on my right side...
NOT pulling... NOT in front...
NOT going from side to side...

she was doing VERY WELL...for the first lesson...
and trying to remember to "sit" whenever I stopped...
even if it was in the middle of the block...
and made NO sense to her...

I'll be repeating these lessons every time we walk...
she doesn't need to be obedience trial perfect...
but you have to be consistent...
or they are just confused...
[like dealing with kids...]

while she had that E-collar on...
I couldn't really try to train her...
that's why I got the "choke collar"...
so she would know that it was "different" now...

serious business...

but as smart as she is... it shouldn't take too long...



after her walk, she had a drink from her new dish...
then I put her purple collar back on...
I had to re-size it after taking off the E-collar...
and I took it off for her bath...

then she lay on the floor next to me...
to chew her butt...
and other places...
a bit...

I would say, "no"... and point at the E-collar...
the vet said that if she continued to chew on herself...
I had to put it back on for the night...
so she wouldn't make a sore spot...

the first several times I said "no"...
and pointed to it...
2 seconds later...she was licking...
or chewing something again...

finally...

we had a "longer" conversation...
where I repeatedly touched the E-collar...
and said "no licking or biting"...
OR... you have to wear it again...

since then...
she's just been laying quietly...
I think she's asleep...

I told you she was smart...

& now...

her fur feels soft...
& she even smells good...

...the real & true,"Brave & Clever Sneaky Pie " song

I had decided that "today was the day"...
Fluff & Piglet needed their rabies boosters...
for their city license renewal...
among other things...
[Fluff's nails...Pig's post-op check-up...]

and I would have MizPie "chipped" & vaccinated...
so that she could take the late Tippy's place as being licensed...



I was NOT looking forward to the fit...
I was SURE Sneaks would pitch...

she LOVES attention...here...on HER turf...
on HER terms...

and can be very friendly...when it suits her...

but...

she has NEVER even tolerated our perfectly wonderful vet...
or his needles, thermometers[ewww] or kindly ministrations in general...

things would be said...
[at the top of her lungs...]
blood would be shed...
[the vet's & mine...]
and punishment would be dealt out...
[to everyone within the vicinity...
and for the next several days at home...]

but it needed to be done...and soon...

so I could make ONE trip to Animal Control...
to renew 2 licenses, inform them of Tippy's demise in March...
and purchase a new license for both Molly & Sneaks...

firm in my resolve...I took Molly for a walk...
came back in and located all three cat carry boxes...

since MizPie was flitting about, I picked her up...
and deftly dropped her into the plastic cage...
that I'd prepped by standing up on it's end...
[oh, so much easier than trying to push them into a horizontal cage...]

Herself was NOT pleased...
and quickly showed me that I had chosen well...
giving her the "escape-proof" cage...
as every attempt was being made on her part...
to open the spring loaded door lock...

failing that...she called me a nasty name...
and began to plot her next move...
as I left her cage on the porch...
while I "got" the others...



taking the stronger of the cardboard boxes...
I went in the bedroom...
snatching up the Piglet as she realized too late...
that she was my target...

and once again... vile names were heaped on my head...
[if cat curses "counted"...I'd be in Purgatory forever...]

and then...



Miz Fluff... laying just like this...[gloating...]

sure that now I had Piglet...
I wouldn't want her too...

so she was NOT pleased to be "boxed"...
and taken to the car with the rest...

all the way there...[about 3 l-o-n-g miles in traffic...]
it was..." NOOOOO...I want to go home !..."
and "Why do I have to go ?"...
along with stony silence from the Piglet...

I arrived, parked, carried in Pigs & Fluff...
set down their boxes amid LOUD dog barking & yipping...
[naturally, from several little dogs...]
as I left them in their boxes while I went to get Sneaks...
I was thinking that all the dog noise was going to freak her out...

returning with an unusually quiet Sneaky...
I was surprised to find...
that all the dogs...
& their noise, were gone...

I waited a bit...
while one lady demonstrated how her dog...
a small, long-haired thing...
would return to her bag on command...
and quietly get in, sitting patiently...
I hadn't even noticed him before...very impressive...

then we went into an exam room...
and N, a tech, came in to do most of what we were there for...
Sneaky was first... I took her out of the cage...
and she snuggled bravely & quietly against my chest...
sitting up and taking it all in...

I got a good grip for the rabies shot...
not even a twitch...
then the chip...[a HUGE needle]
again, no reaction...
then the leukemia booster...[which I know stings...]
that went into the leg muscle...
just the merest of flinches...

no snapping, growling, hissing...
I wanted to say,"who are you...?
and what have you done with Sneaky Pie ?"

impressed, I put her back in her carrier...
and we continued with Fluff...
[rabies shot & nails clipped...she was NOT amused...]
and finally with the Piglet...
[rabies shot... and then waited purring...]

she stopped purring when the vet came in...
[she has a l-o-n-g memory...]
and didn't cooperate when he wanted to look in her mouth...

he finally got a look and was pleased with the healing...
she got pissed and started growling...
so I put her back into the box...
to avoid any further "ugliness" on her part...

back home again...

all the captives freed...

Sneaky to sleep off her 2 injections...
high up on the top of the cat tree...

Piglet released to her back yard...
closely followed by Fluff...
who will return to her nest in the bedroom...
as soon as she feels safe from further indignities...

dog greeted and paid attention to...
and given a "diarrhea pill" in a cat food meatball...
[joy, rapture, bliss...]

the other cats fed...

and now... it is time...
for a real & true peon of praise...
to Miz Sneaky Pie...warrior cat princess...



"Sneaky Pie Hymn"

"Oh Sneaky, brave Sneaky...
you face needles fearlessly...
conquering everything with your brave heart...

nothing can rattle you...
startle or bother you...
with all your wisdom...
and calmness of heart...

needles to left of you...
needles to the right of you...
thermometers behind you...
there's nothing YOU fear...

biting and hatefulness...
malice and pettiness...
spitefulness...
vengefulness...
just not your style...

bravery & courage...
goodness & pity...
grace under pressure...
and bountiful, she...

how can I ever...begin...
to praise her wonderousness...
I'll have to make up new words...
the old ones are not good enough...

oh Sneaky, great Sneaky...
soft gentle cat so fair...
she of silky silver hair...
shining in the sun...

oh Sneaky, wise Sneaky...
cat of the ages she...
and, oh...that she's here with me...
what ever did I do ?

to deserve this most wondrous gift...
that gives my poor life a lift...
that mends every Karma rift...
as through my many sins, I sift...

looking for that thing I did...
perhaps I did it, as a kid...
and allowed me to put in a bid...
for the happiness that I am "amid"...

to bask in catly luminescence...
that brings meaning to my essence...
the marvelous presence that acquiesces...
to deign to spend her time with me...

oh Sneaky Pie, thou cat of legend...
your name will be forever mentioned...
when tales of catly lore are shared...
and catly sainthood sung...

your name will be revered & blessed...
your deeds & wisdom ever honored...
I bless the day you came to me...
oh Sneaky, great & wonderful..."

a-men...

...just one "cat"-astrophy after another

I guess with all the attention Molly has been getting...
"they"...[the kitties...] decided to reassert themselves...

the first "incident"was revenge...pure & simple...

even after the "bribe" ["Sneaky Pie Song"] post...
which was moderately effective...
I could tell something was "up"...
[you live with cats long enough, you just know...
like teaching jr high...you can feel it coming...]


so when she caught me listening to accordiaen music...
[Celtic spelling...]
[the Minka song...] I was t-o-a-s-t...
[with anchovy spread...]

in the middle of the night I found this...



and this...



it had not only been a new roll...just put on...
but it had been ravaged earlier...
and I had laboriously re-rolled almost all of it...

so she had such fun...ravaging it AGAIN...

creating the same mess...twice...in one day..
quite an accomplishment for MizEvil...

and who did it ?
MacSneaky Pie...
the Mystery Cat...



don't let her protestations of innocence fool you...
I've actually seen her...
sitting on the seat...
gleefully "unrolling" away...

our 2nd cat-astrophy was quite a bit more serious...
but ended well...because I heard & responded quickly...



Miz Fluff somehow got tangled in the cord...
that operates the mini blinds...
[if you look, top left side...
you can see the rose colored tip of the cord...]

I was at the computer when I heard a cat crying...
it was a "help" call...
and got louder & more urgent with each cry...

I got up to investigate...
eventually tracking the sound to the bedroom door...
I opened the door...
and saw her...
hanging upside down off the dresser...

the cord was around her tummy...
& caught on her hips...
there was no way to get any leverage...
to pull herself out of it...

realizing her predicament...
I rushed to her...
lifting her as gently as possible...
unwrapping the cord...
and freeing the Fluff...

she seemed OK...I set her down on the bed...
to watch her walk...which she did OK...
while I tied up the stupid cord...
to avoid further entanglements...

she was a bit flustered...
as you might well imagine...
and went to have a drink...
& a bite... to settle her nerves...
I gave her a hug...
which she didn't appreciate...
[assuring me that she was just fine...]

so I went back to my computer...
really glad that I had been so close...

when I first moved here...
Max, who was an old boy by then...
[20 & quite frail...]
having lived with me in Chicago...
had tried to climb a fence outside...
and gotten stuck the same way...

I didn't find him until it was too late...
old kitties don't hang upside down very long...
too hard on their hearts...
so I'm SO glad I could rescue the Fluff...

it's always good when the only thing injured ...
is their dignity...

...back to the backyard : update : finding the fence...

aka Molly in Wonderland...


having successfully "evicted" both Fluff & Piglet...
[last seen scampering up the ramp into the bedroom...]
Molly surveys her "Magic Kingdom"...
and celebrated by peeing in 2 places...



first I cut back the pomegranate tree, lantana & rose bush...
as well as a massive amount of invading ivy...
it took a good 10-15 minutes of pruning to reach the fence...
and it doesn't help that the ground is very uneven...



once "in"... the pieces of old prom props I used...
to keep the fence from falling in on me can be seen...



besides the black fence, trellis & arbor parts...



there are also real grape stakes and vineyard trellis stakes...
[grew up on a grape ranch...remember ?
if it was free... it was for me...]



remember... initially... the fence was leaning IN...
and all this that seems to be pushing it over...
was holding it UP...



I discovered that the cedars I was griping about...
were actually the ONLY thing holding most of the fence up...



with a bunch of brush & ivy[that stuff is SO invasive...]
out of the way... the "lean " becomes even more obvious...



looking to the south behind my garage...
beyond the dogwood tree and assorted crap...
you can see where UnklePhil will put a small fence...



the cleared fence to the north...



and to the south, from the redwood tree...



looking north from the dogwood along the cleared fence...
the bad condition & "lean" becomes obvious...



now from the peach tree...
you can actually see the fence...
I only removed the dead quince...
a ton of grapevine branches...
some lower redwood tree branches...
and moved a few plants...



and from here, you can see the fence also...
not to mention the huge pile of debris...
I need to go out and move now...

the guy who is building the fence just stopped by...
really nice man...seems to really know what he's doing...
and has good timing... because I took him out back...
and showed him what I had done...
which seemed to be enough for him...

he said that he always uses 3 rails [this one has only 2...]
and would use 6 foot redwood [3/4 inch thick]

currently...it's 8 ft cedar or something cheap...

so this new one should last a long time...

he looked at my driveway side fence...
which is 20 years old...and redwood...
and not at all in need of replacement...
[I oiled it a couple of times early on...
and it's on cement, not dirt...]

smiled and said,"this is why I use redwood...
it lasts a long time..."

he's doing demo on Thursday...
and setting the posts in cement...
he'll give them a couple of days to cure...
then put up the fence...
& be done hopefully, the beginning of next week...

hmmm...I wonder if he does bathrooms ?

...found fun [aka Mollyball]

in finally getting close to the fence...
I found this ball...
[it had air in it...before...]
previous neighbors kids were ALWAYS "losing" them...
if I found them...I tossed them back...

this one I didn't find until now...

and "Mollyball" was born...

the way she went after it...
she's done this before...

I'm working on a massive backyard update...
this is merely "dessert first"...

I actually merged 2 films into one for this...
[anything to avoid the hauling out process...]

enjoy...


..."Mollyball"...

..."back" to the back yard

only a couple more days of this...



then...this...FREEDOM...no more E-collar....



& Molly would be able to spend more time...
in the back yard on her own...
[cutting down on those "0dark:30" excursions...
especially when it's cold & wet..."]

currently, however...
there is a "minor" flaw in my plan...



notice the opening in the back fence...
notice the "tilt" of the fence in general...
the entire "back" fence is like that...

the people who built the fence[on the cheap...]
had a sprinkler system that got it wet every day...
the posts rotted...
and it started to sag into my yard...



so I piled stuff in front of it...
to stop it's falling in...



and actually propped it up with pieces of an old arbor...
it's side trellis and some sections of picket fence...

they were props from my schools "proms"...
that's why they are painted black...
when my school stopped having "proms"...
no one wanted them...

I took them with the idea of repainting them white...
and using them in the garden...
the wood is not really viable anymore...
so I'll probably throw them away...

I've been using one side trellis for a "cat ramp" for years...

anyway...

I met my "new"[3-4 months] backyard neighbor last night...
he seems very nice...Molly liked him...
he also mentioned having seen Piglet in his yard...
which didn't bother him...

but...as new homeowners are wont to do...
he's busily "fixing" things up...
so he's having the fence rebuilt...

ON WEDNESDAY !

and doesn't expect me to pay any part of it...

the people who built the current fence were "users"...
and expected me to contribute to their fence...
[I had a dumpster...so I let them put their old fence in it...]
they also tried to infringe on my property line...
you REALLY had to watch that guy...

he had been the principal at MY school...
before I got there... and was known there ...
for being "slick"...and "underhanded"...
he didn't last long there...

one of my friends at school...
an aide who had been there when he was principal...
upon discovering WHO my backyard neighbor WAS...
refused to go into the backyard when she visited...
she thought so poorly of him...
[despised is probably not too strong a word...]
and this gal was the "salt of the earth"...
& got along with everyone...
but she could spot a phony a mile away...

however, that's ancient history...
as he's been gone several years now...

the owners in between...
did nothing in the way of upkeep...
and it was during their couple of years tenure...
that the fence really went "downhill"...

they would leave their dog outside...
it would be bored & lonely...
and cry... whine... howl...etc...
then it started on the fence...

it managed to get into my yard...
and would chase Piglet & Fluff...
eluding me until I could catch it ...
and drag it back around the block...
then they would "fix" the hole...
but obviously NOT the fence...

the new guy says that they must have cut down...
a couple of small trees in the back...
[there are stumps...]
which is why I'm missing the persimmon tree...
too bad they didn't remove the tall cypress trees...
that get in the power lines...
[I took out the ones on my side 10 years ago...]

they did remove the tree that white fly used to invade...
that hung almost completely over the fence...
into my side and the apricot tree...
causing an infestation in my yard...

at least they left the big maples...
they just trimmed them... severely...
dropping the branches into my yard...
and made no attempt to contact me or clean it up...

both of the side fences are in good shape...
[I don't let sprinklers run on them...
and we used good cedar wood...]
there is a gap...between my garage and the back fence...
that UnklePhil recently told me...
he would be fixing on his side...

so today...after I get myself going...
before the chores I put off yesterday...
[cat boxes, cleaning the 'fridge, trash,
kitchen, floors...sigh...]

it's "back" to the back yard...
to move the stuff away from the fence...
so it won't be in their way when they take it down...
later this week...

*updates as they happen...*

*pictures later*

...a quiet afternoon

I used to come home on Sunday after church...
and collapse for most of the afternoon...
now that rehearsals for Lessons & Carols are in full swing...
we practice until after 1:30 each Sunday...
and considering the energy I expend between 9 AM & 2 PM...
I should be crashing even more...

but there's a good reason why I can't just crash after church...



from the moment I put the key in the door...
it's a crescendo of whining, squealing, yipping, barking...
and dancing, jumping, licking, running in circles...
scattering felines in every direction...

sometimes, I almost can't get inside the door...
she's SO glad I'm back...

BTW... on Sunday...I'm gone 5-6 hours...
the reception is the same if I've been gone 15 minutes...

the kitties were always much more subtle...
a cool,"oh, were you gone?"
or if I missed feeding them...
"WHERE have you been ?...
Do you KNOW how long WE'VE been without food ?"

and perhaps a companionable leg rub...
a sly stretch toward the grocery bags by the door...
a long look out the door...
a meow or two...

boy... are those days gone...

although I'm sure that Molly will calm down...

sometime... when she's too old to move that fast...

but I digress...

if I don't make ALL haste to grab the poop scoop bag...
hook up her leash... and go right back out with her...
she gets louder and more desperate by the moment...
too bad for me if I need to bring in something...
change my clothes...or go to the bathroom...

so out we go... at a brisk canter...



past my neighbor...whose new kitten is watching...
down to the circle...



and through the neighborhood...
with it's changing trees...
until her "business" is completed...
other dogs warned off...
and local cats aware of her beneficent presence...

she slows down ONLY when she has found her "spots"...
often quite close to home....
but in the opposite direction...
if I go that way...
she still waits until we're almost home to "go"...

so when we finally get home...



she gets fed... just crunchies until she gets past this upset...
she also likes,"Lammy Whammys"[I don't name 'em...]
and Milkbone "marrow bones"...



but she gets really happy...



when she can crunch a pigs ear on her newly mended bed...
[thanks to Miz Minka's trusty needle & yarn...]

I wish I could have gotten video...[& audio...]
of the playing and tossing of the pigs ear...
and the rolling and "reclaiming" of the red bed...
that preceded this shot...
as well as the "canine coloratura aria"...
that accompanied it...

by the time I got the camera out...
all the "fun" sounds were over & most of the playing...
and it was serious "chewing" only...
[NOT compelling video...]

the kitties...
still enjoy their "sun" perch...
Molly can't get there...hasn't yet, anyway...
so the felines loll about anywhere "high up" with impunity...



eventually falling asleep again...
as will the dog...
leaving me to cook my green beans...
and with some chores to do...
but not much energy...

maybe I'll let them go until tomorrow...
the chores, that is...



after all...it is Sunday...

..."Dog at Play" : The Prequel

no wonder I found my niche teaching jr high...
considering the lengths I will go to...
the potential embarrassment I will court...
all for a good laugh...
[hopefully, NOT at my expense...]

which includes posting this video...
where "some unidentified person off camera"...
sounds like a complete fool...

[can't be me... I'm a "cool" cat person...]

but the dog is cute...
and...uh...

oh...just don't hurt yourself laughing too hard...
we need any number of you to be able to sing tomorrow...
[and you know who you are...]

..."Dog at Play, The Movie" [REALLY !...]

a very large "hat tip" to Miz Minka...
for patiently explaining...
over a number of e-mails... just how to do this...

clearly elucidating even the simplest "little" details...
that would be obvious to most people...
but the kind that I have occasionally been known to overlook...
[I would have NEVER gotten it without your tips...]

*sigh*

at least we can't blame this on my "Mac"...

maybe because I WAS in a hurry...
perhaps my rapidly advancing age [?]

more than likely, my rapidly diminishing brain cells...

or maybe just @#$%^& Blogger...NOT doing their "thing"...

doh !

[I hear you laughing MM...just don't hurt yourself...]

[post script... 24 hours later... VICTORY IS MINE !!!

I took the movie file and saved it to "movies"...
THEN...it would upload...
because then...it was 28 MB instead of 203.2 MBs...
I don't know how it worked...
and I don't give a......

well... you get the point...

bite me, Blogger... [hee, hee...]

...the clean plate club

FINALLY...




it worked this time...[uploading the video]
before, it has never shown upload progress numerically...
[ie (33M of 44M)...]
and I did the same things as I did the last time...
ie reading the "agreement"...
though it was in a different box this time...
[gee, thanks Blogger...
for those hours I'll never get back...]

ooo...now it's gone past "uploading" to "processing"...
[be still my heart...]

I can see now that all those "other " attempts...
at least 6 attempts...one over 2 hours...
never got to loading...
they always said, "untitled"...
and I always used a title...

oh well...c'est la vie...c'est la guerre...

I was just glad to see Molly eating...
she had even ignored the cat food...



[she is now reclining...(a nap....)
using the cat crunchie dish as a pillow...]

hmmm... maybe it was a hunger strike...
a cat would do that...but a dog ?
maybe she & Sneaky...
have become better "buds" already than I know...

say it isn't so...

...doggy conundrum

3:06 AM

her: "wake up Mom... I need to go out..."

me: "mmmmpf... go back to sleep..."

her: "NOW... I NEED to go NOW..."

me: "it's TOO early..."

her: "ooo... a cat! GET AWAY FROM OUR HOUSE !...MOM !!!"

me: "OK, OK...I'm coming..."[as I try to put leg in my sweatshirt...]

out we go... DEAD DARK... and SO still...
she's full of energy and wants to run...
we get halfway to the corner...

oops.. here comes a car...
3 AM ?...well...it is Friday night...
I am NOT comfortable being out here at this hour...
and this car is scaring me...going a bit slow...

back home we move...quickly...
I "encourage" her to "go"...

*nothing*

we go back inside...
she's quiet... I go back to bed...

her: "there's that cat again, Mom..."

me: "be still...go to sleep..."

her: "you...outside... go away..."

me: "MOLLY... GO TO SLEEP..."

her: "but MOM..."

me: "GO TO SLEEP"

her: "awwww...alright...I don't ever have any fun..."

5:00 AM...on the dot...

rumble, thud...rattle...
sounds like Gracie is jumping on the "loose" toilet again...
then it starts...

her: "HEY, YOU... YEAH,...YOU... GET OUT OF OUR YARD !"[rattle...]

me: "Molly !..."[realizing that she is in the bathroom...I get dressed...]

her: "Yeah ?...YOUR Mama ! you trespasser !"

me: "MOLLY..."[emerging half dressed from the bedroom...]

her: "OH...you're up ! well let's go out then...I GOTTA go BAD !...]

so out we go...into the still night time, but not so scary world...



down to the corner...
where she doesn't want to turn around & come back...
but since she pulled me that far...
wants the whole walk...

sorry Molly...NOT at 5 AM...

we took a "whole walk" around 8:30 PM...
she did a good sized dump then...
and she has never "dumped" 2 walks in a row...

so I practically drag her back towards home...
2nd yard...she suddenly squats..."dropping a load"...
when she's done...we go a few steps...
and she does it again...

this time...straining & grunting...
she drops some more... then acting as if she hurts...
slowly moves out of her crouch...
then squats and pees...

then she shakes herself...
her usual way of saying,"I'm done..."
and we come back in...

she's acting hungry...
so I put down crunchies...
and put a little stew on it...

what she always eats...
on her dish...
where she always eats...

then the weirdness begins...

she looks at it...
then at me ...as if waiting for a signal...
so I push it towards her & encourage her...

then, she always eats...

NOT today...

she uses her nose to push at the dish...
not only pushing it away...
but trying to dump it over...

the dish was clean & empty...
but I put the food on a new plate...

she does the same thing...

I put crunchies on top of the food...
thinking that there may be a "stew" issue...
same result...



so I put new crunchies on a clean plate...

she sniffs it...doesn't try to dump it...
but pays no attention to it...
unless a cat comes too close...
then she guards it... doesn't eat...
doesn't growl... just "hovers"...



yesterday...it was this....

today...



this...

if she hasn't eaten when I get up again...
MUCH later...
I guess I should take her to the vet...
she doesn't feel hot...
she was eating & drinking fine last night...

she was even a bit playful this AM...
I'm confused...

and people think cats are a puzzle...

...feeling MUCH better, thanks for asking...

we have all heard of "sappy cat blogging"...
I guess this is "dippy dog blogging"....



Molly is friskier every day...
I just talked to the vet's office...
and since they had to redo her stitches...
[with real external stitches, that have to be taken out...]
she'll be "sporting" her lovely E-collar...
until at least Tuesday...

on Tuesday afternoon, they'll remove the stitches...
and access the healing...

you may remember that she had irritated & opened the incision...
which became infected...so they had to put her "under"...
flush it out and re-suture...on 10/07...
and under these circumstances...they want the full 14 days...

it feels hot...but not inflamed...
it looks like it's healing to me...
and since she's got her "spring" going...
as you will soon see...
I think she IS feeling MUCH better...

[TODAY... 6:03 AM...]

her: "get up MOM... I need to go out..."
[you can see I'm learning to speak "dog"...]

me: "ok...I'm coming..."

her: " NOW... I'm crossing my legs already..."

me: "mmphf...ok, ok..."
[I start getting dressed...]

her: "GET UP...I REALLY GOTTA PEE !"

me: "OK...I'm coming..."[as I stumble from the bedroom...]

so after making my way to the door...
amid the "dog song of joy" & frenzied dancing...
around the now awake & somewhat scattered kitties...

we go out... and down to the corner...
in world record time...
[she must have been a sled dog in a former life...]

on the way back...
she does what she needed to do...
sighs a doggy sigh of relief...
and we amble back into the house...

[conundrum = if she needed to go so much...
WHY does she wait so long to DO it ?]

it's only 6:15... so I plan a return to sleep...
but she's hungry...
so I go into the office to feed her...
and find this...



it's not unusual for me to find a cat toy next their dish...
but this is the first time I've found this...
since I'm hearing "play sounds"...
I grab my camera...



and arrive in the LR in time to witness...
the ravaging of the "purple octopus" on the sofa...
she tosses & catches...
shaking her head & "rowphf-ing...
until she tosses it over the side, onto the floor..
where she can't get at it, E-collar & all...



taking pity on Herself, who is whining piteously...
I go around...reach down...
and retrieve her lost toy...



at this point I have her undivided attention...
as she is standing on the coffee table...
I give her the toy...
and she's off...dancing & tossing...



wallowing on the sofa....
mauling that octopus for all she's worth...



and emerging victorious...
well-subdued octopus in mouth...



she hops back onto the floor...
and tossing it on the floor...
demonstrates how clever she is at picking it up...
even with the E-collar...
[MM: you can see where the seam in her bed is splitting...
now that she's more active, it's getting worse...]



finally...the evil octopus sufficiently subdued...
the brave canine poses with her prostrate, vanquished prey...
as thanks to her, the house is once again, safe...
so she humbly accepts the gratitude of the yawning felines...
[who are glad THAT's over...]

and prepares to accept the hero's due...

breakfast...

...presenting, the lovely & talented, Miz Sneaky Pie

[disclaimer : all opinions expressed in this post are intended as
a mollifying instrument[OK, a BRIBE...happy now ?]
and were concocted under NO duress of any kind...
{wink, wink...}]






ah...the picture of charm. loveliness and grace...



and such a tail...
so expressive...



intelligence and goodness...
exceeded only by her modesty...



and "lofty" accomplishments...

such a feline TRULY deserves a song...
ALL ABOUT HER...[& her wonderfulness...]

so I present to you...

"One Enchanting Sneaky..."
[with massive apologies to Richard Rogers...]

"one enchanting Sneak-y....
soft and very fur-ry...
you will find her fur, so...
so ve-ry soft and smooth...

then, fall to your knees...
and make her a throne...
and worship her great-ness...
by lay-ing quite prone...

once you have found her...
worship all she is...
loveliness & grandeur...
that's just how it is...

one enchanting Sneak-y...
charms that will beguile you..
though she may ig-nore you...
across a crowd-ed room...

you may think you're smart...
but she'll steal your heart...
and maul it again...and again...and a-gain...

who can explain such great-ness in a cat...
just thank your stars that...
here... she... is...
at last..."

and of course...
she has her creative side too...
and when presented...
with the above hymn to her greatness...

the largess that is MizPie...
felt a need to "give back" to her adoring fans...
her "peeps"... her "groupies"...
and insisted I include this song...
she often sings around the house...
[I left out the REALLY bad words...]


"an Ode to Thomas"

by Miz Sneaky Pie...

Thomas, you stink...
especially your butt...
you bully & chase me...
but I'll have the last laugh...

you've bugged me for years...
and drove me to fear
for my safety & sanity...
now you'll pay dear...

on the day that you die...
my flag, I will fly...
I'll stand on your corpse...
and announce that I "rule"
and of course...
I will mention...
that you used to "drool"...

and then just to show that I am the best...
I'll go to the LR & pee in your nest...
& to rejoice that you're gone...
I'll sing my "joy" song...

"brave Sneaky, wise Sneaky...
vanquished the evil one...
he tried to get her...
but she kicked his butt...

sly Sneaky, good Sneaky...
always victorious...
no rotten Thomas...
can ever beat her...

bold Sneaky, lovely Sneaky...
best cat that ever was...
finding her equal...?
there just never was..."


[well...
I think that should keep MizEgomaniac placated...
at least for a day or two anyway...
the waning of the moon is also helping...
Lord help us all if she reads this...]

...walking in the light causes shadows on your path

tomorrow I will be singing...
at the 2nd memorial service this month...

at one point in my life...
this would have been "steady work"...
but unlike the 3 services I "did" in Feb/March...
where I didn't know the people personally...
both these ladies were people that I knew & cared about...
that I saw each week...talked with...laughed with...
they were part of my church "family"...
and I will miss seeing & talking to them both, very much...



Mom used to say, in the last few years...
that she was, "the only one left..."

she had outlived nearly all her contemporaries...
and she felt lonely...
for it's a lot easier to be the one who "leaves"...
than to be the one who's "left"...

besides that...
there's the obvious end...
in sight for you, as well...
which has to be depressing...
if you enjoy life as Mom did...



Abraham trusted God to provide the sacrifice...
right up to the last moment...
he followed the terrible instructions...
to take His son and sacrifice him...
and then... as he raised the knife...
God stayed his hand...
providing a ram, in place of his son...

it's hard for us to trust like that...
or to even have just a little of that kind of trust...
we always want to argue..or bargain with God...
or to justify our "needs" & actions...
because we, not knowing God as He is...
are afraid of what He will ask of us...

this only reveals our lack of understanding...
of just WHO, God is...
and what He wants for us...

He knows everything...
before we can even imagine it...

and He knows our hearts...
every corner...
no matter how dark & musty...
or how hard we try to hide it...

we CANNOT fool Him...
only ourselves...
and others who don't know Him...

so the old self-righteous excuse...

"I was doing the will of God..."
is NOT the same as...

"God used me to do His will"...

and fools or convinces no one...
but ourselves and other like-minded "saints"...

us...doing things "for" God...
and rarely... in His way...
is an way of doing what we think is best...

God, at work within us...
changing us into His likeness...
and working through us...
because we let Him use us to do His will...
is the way to allow us to do His will...

convicting & changing people...
is His job...
loving them & being available for His use...
and following His plan for me...
is mine...

the latter is a life-long process...

since life around us is always changing...
if we stop changing & growing...
we will certainly perish...
or at the very least...
be apart from the One who fixes hearts...
as we choose "our" way over His...

sometimes... we think that we cannot bear...
for one more thing to change or leave us...
but if at that terrible, lonely moment...
we can truly trust the Creator...
that "all things will work together for good..."
and can be truly grateful for the gifts & opportunities...
as well as the pain of growth & change...

then amazing things can come to pass...
in our lives & in the lives of those we love...
because...in that grateful trusting...
we are about to be wonderfully surprised...
by a total metamorphosis...
one we could have never pulled off on our own...

when the caterpillar had resigned itself to dying...
to its' surprise...it awoke again as a butterfly...
and flew to heights unimagined before...

people die...or move away...
we can't help that...
but they also leave in anger...
or just fade from our lives...
many times...
because of problems within ourselves...
that we may recognize...
but don't know how to fix...

however...God is good...all the time...

and when we trust Him enough...
to put aside our fears...
deciding to have faith...
& turn from the grip fear can hold on us...
to fall back into His sheltering embrace...
to let Him, fix us...from the inside out...

then...we can really begin to change...
& grow in the direction of the Light...
which may cast shadows on the path...
but we will be safe from the shadows we cast...
as long... as we walk in the Light...

there really is no better place to be...

...dog at play

I heard the commotion...
the yipping...
the scratching of dog nails on the wood floor...
and the thumping of dog butt landing on the wood floors...

I came into the DR...
and there was Molly...
playing with 2 toys at once...
growling and shaking them...
throwing them into the air and jumping at them...

[all cats were far away & high up by now...]

I ran for my camera...
and all of you who have ever tried...
to take pictures of animals doing "cute stuff"...
will feel for me when I tell you...
the battery was low...

so I ran to change it...
[to the other which was charged...]

NOT capturing the really priceless stuff...
and the poignant stuff...
like trying to pick up a toy, THROUGH the E-collar...
very frustrating...
I am, however sure...
there will be more...

enjoy...

...pretend you're 8...then it all makes sense

when I grew up in the 50's/early 60's...
[graduated 8th grade in 1962...]
that was what a birthday party was supposed to look like...
although in the reality of the times...
[black & white photography...]

they more often looked like this...




I went to a country school...
that just happened to be built next door to our ranch...
["Boomer", don't'cha know...]

and the custom was to have a monthly classroom party...
on the theme of whatever holiday was biggest that month...
and to honor the month's birthday kids...

in my class, everybody's birthday was in the summer...
or in the winter/spring semester...
so for the first several years of my school life...
I got to have my birthday celebrating Halloween...

now Halloween is very different if you live in the country...
NO trick or treating...unless you went into town...
[which ALL the cool kids, who were not my friends, did...
hence ...making them even cooler...]

so the Community Club [think PTA...]
always had a Halloween Carnival on Halloween night...
if it was on a school day, we wore our costumes to school...
working ourselves into a frenzy...
and then, went nuts at the carnival...
[the really cool kids would come before or after trick or treating...
and eat their stash in front of the rest of us...]

so they were the only ones...
who got sick from the candy...
we didn't get a lot of candy...
but could win candy apples...
or popcorn balls...or cookies...or candy...
and you didn't have to have...
a "bomb-sniffing dog" test it first...

Ah..the "good ol' days..."
it really was an innocent time...

so, anyway...back to me...
[and that's the whole point...]
I never had friends...
so I never had the big birthday bash...
that wins you elementary school popularity...
ergo, I wasn't invited to any either...
[childhood can be a vicious circle...]



so due to my lack of popularity...
and complete frenzy with which children embrace Halloween...
my "shared" birthdays with Halloween...
were completely forgettable...
from the chocolate cupcakes that ALWAYS had candy corn on them...
[I HATE it...it's too sweet...]

to the liberties they took...
with the lyrics for "Happy Birthday"...
[Happy Birthday to you...
you belong in a zoo...
you look like a monkey...
and smell like one too...
and it often was worse...]

or forgetting it was my birthday...
[yeah, my mom baked cupcakes EVERY month...]

I always felt slighted...ignored...
completely unappreciated...
add that to being unpopular anyway...
and do you wonder that I don't think much of Halloween...?

maybe that's where the "bah,humbug" attitude began...
the last birthday celebration I had...
was a surprise party on my 21st...
which was after a symphony rehearsal...
and I don't remember it...[21st... guess why...]

I've also spent a number of birthdays...
at football games, parades or band reviews...
including 2 49er halftime shows...
[mid-sixties when they were BAD...]
and a BUNCH of rehearsals...

and after this one...
I may stop counting...

trick or treat...?

Bah, Humbug !

...OH GOODIE !

only October 15th...

and I already know...
what I'm wearing...
for Halloween this year !

one of these...



at least between the hours of 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM...
& I'll wager that it won't be as concealing as this either...
[when you're my size, they never are...]

so what's up ?

a routine colonoscopy...
[I'm just thrilled...]

the good news[?]...

by doing it before November 1...
I don't have to pay a huge deductible...
[my health insurance plan changes then...]
and if it's negative...
I won't have to do it again for years...
[5-10 !]

the other good news[?]...

my current insurance & the referring medical group...
are in cahoots to save $$...
[for themselves, of course...]
by NOT authorizing a screening[routine]colonoscopy until age 65...
[at which time you go on Medicare and THEY pay for it...]

doctors start suggesting a screening at age 50...

if there is ANY family history of colon cancer...
it is started 5 years prior to the age at detection, or death...
of that family member who had it...

I had a good friend whose father died of it...
she was screened at age 45...

there is NO colon cancer in my family...
as far as I know...
[Mom had pancreatic cancer, she died at 94...
her mother had a stomach cancer that got her at 85...]

so I told this to the nurse practitioner [nice gal...]
who wrote it down...but wasn't too concerned...
due to their ages at death/diagnoses...
and, though the pancreas & stomach...
are part of the gastric system...
I have no pain, chronic discomfort...
or warning symptoms of potential problems...
[acid reflux, gastroenteritis, diarrhea, passing blood...]

so for me, this is purely a routine screening...

a few years past the recommended age...
due to my lack of family history...
and the misinformation...
that I would have to give up aspirin...
for a week, prior to the test...

with my arthritic problems...
there is NO way I could do that...
I wouldn't be able to move...

so after the consultation...
taking my family history...
discussing the procedure...
and remarking that my recent weight loss...
would make this procedure possible with the usual IV...
making things easier on me...
[patients over 300 lbs must be totally "out"...]

she also remarked that my blood pressure was good...
and all my blood work looked good...

so we were making the appointment...
when the med assist, who knows "billing"...
caught the insurance/referring group code problem...

she said,"uh-oh...
it's another one of those Megagroup/insurance...
"indicator/coding" problems..."

I would have to have "bad" family history...
or "indicating symptoms"...
in order to schedule the procedure...
or my insurance wouldn't pay...

so now...
Mom & Grandma's pancreatic & stomach cancers...
[death ages NOT mentioned...]
& the fact that I had a brief stomach ache last night...
[disappeared when I ate something...]
causing me to make a couple of trips to the bathroom...
[has also returned to normal...]

became the required "indicators"...
causing the procedure to become "indicated"...
instead of a "routine screening"...

they referred to it as a "Megagroup" coding...
apparently... they do it all the time...

so with the "drama" portion of our program now completed...
allow me to "enlighten" those of you ...
who are not yet familiar...
with this particular "rite of passage"...
[your turn will come...]

first... there's a clear liquids fast...
for 24 hours prior to the procedure...
including a proscribed fluid intake & laxative regimen...



starting at 8 AM...only clear liquids...
with my eating habits & water consumption...
this won't be too hard...

then every hour from noon to 9PM...
I MUST drink at least 8 oz of "clear liquid"...
at 4 PM... I take the Fleet Phospho-soda solution...
[FOLLOWED by the 8 oz of clear liquid...]
and at 9 PM...I take the 4 Fleet Risacodyl tablets...

in the morning, around 7AM...
there is a Fleet Bisacodyl suppository...
[that'll be fun...]

as with all "out-patient" procedures...
"a responsible adult MUST take you to and FROM the clinic..."
so I've enlisted "Square Peg" to drop me off...
and pick me up, "after"...

she's done this before...and has promised "colonoscopy jokes"...
[oh joy, rapture, bliss...]

I'm supposed to make sure I wear soxs & flat shoes[no problem...]
as well as a short sleeve top[OK...for the IV...]
and bring a sweater...[OK...]
they don't mention pants....
[I'm assuming they aren't optional...]
all things considered....
they're probably not a concern for them...
[since I won't be wearing any...
for reasons which will be very clear...
when you look at the next picture...]

so after "suiting-up"...
and getting the IV going...
the fun begins in earnest...





the "pathway"...
[that's why it's called a colon-oscopy...]



the endoscope has a long flexible tube...
containing control wires & fiber optics...
it has a mini-camera and a light on the end...
and is capable of taking a biopsy sample...
on the spot..of any "questionable tissue"..



the "camera-view" is shown on a monitor...
so the doctor can see everything...
[I will be either asleep or won't remember this part...]
all polyps and other "items" of interest...
can be seen, accessed & dealt with...





this is a diverticulum...
a small hole in the colon wall...
that allows a bulge[like on a bike tire inner tube]
that may become inflamed and painful...

almost half of all those 50 & older have them...
if they become inflamed...it's diverticulitis...
painful, but benign...



here, you see a polyp...on the top...
and a diverticulum on the bottom...
some polyps are benign, but most are removed anyway...



using a tool like this...
during the procedure... while you're still "under"...
the doctor removes the polyp...
which will be biopsied...



if it is benign... you have no problems...
if it is malignant...
more invasive surgery...
and treatments will be required...

after the procedure is completed...
you are moved to a recovery room...
once the IV is removed, you come around quickly...
and once you are "awake" enough...
you get dressed...
and wait for your "ride" home...
[I've done all this, before...]

they suggest resting for the remainder of the day...

the hardest part for me...
will be getting out to walk Molly...
as I should expect some soreness...
and Herself expects to have walks...
at noon... late afternoon...and before bed...
[she often gets a mid-morning walk...
as well as the early one...]

so she'll need one about the time I get home...

I'm sure we'll figure out something....

as for all those trick-or treaters...



I'll NOT be turning the porch light "on"...
not this year, anyway...

...early fall walk in the urban forest

I love fall...the colors...the smells...
the chill and dampness in the air...
the sounds of migrating waterfowl...
especially when it begins to "show"...

these pictures were taken anywhere in the last month...
on walks around my neighborhood...
and in my yard... enjoy...



this is going east from the circle...
"liquid ambers" starting to glow...



same trees...different angle...



looking across the street...
one of several Chinese pistachio trees...
just starting to turn...
[I LOVE the red ones...]



the sycamores don't really "turn" colors...
though the leaves will yellow to brown, before falling...



the bits of color you see here are red seed pods...
that crunch under foot...

and then....



there's the "creeper"...



"Virginia Creeper", aka "Boston Ivy"...



this has been a banner year for it...
not too much strong wind late...
to rip it down...



and a generally mild summer...
so it didn't just dry up and die...
much of it actually has turned...



an advantage of the turning...
is the stained glass-look from inside...
a perk I don't often enjoy...
but did this year...

and then...
there's the fall sky...
SO BLUE...



and with clouds...



that much bluer...



a never-ending kaleidoscope...
as the wind blows...



UnklePhil's liquid amber is just starting...
it turns yellowish-orange...
and there's a bit up towards the top...
that has started...



my backyard neighbor's Japanese maples are tinged at the top...
they had a persimmon tree that was glorious...
after all the leaves dropped...
the bright orange fruit like Christmas tree ornaments...
on the bare branches...
and the birds having a feast...



here is my lone pomegranate this year...
there is one other high up...
but it looks disfigured and is misshapen...



garden 4 inch mums generally don't last...
since forcing them doesn't develop their roots...
and they generally don't winter well here...
these did... enough water & sun...
and are blooming again this year...



and growing eagerly...
probably to bloom in December or January...
"paperwhites"...

...0-dark:59 AM

my wonderful dog allowed me to sleep until 7:15...
[this is actually NOT any kind of sarcasm...
you HAVE now officially heard everything...
those of you who know me...I HEAR you laughing...]

I fell asleep at the normal time last night...
[after 10...before midnight...]
but woke up several times to use the bathroom...

I had fallen asleep after dinner...
and woke up sweating... with mild stomach cramps & nausea...
[I don't think it was food poisoning...
I have a theory I'll expound at the end of this post...]

it persisted until around 9:30...when we went "out"...
she had done a b-i-g one earlier...
[about "New Hamp."...thanks for asking...]
so we went to the end of the block & back...
so she could pee...

I felt worse with every step...
but realized that what I was feeling was probably a reaction...
to all the work the chiropractor had done...
[it was a long session...& he said I might need another...]

I generally take a nap after having an adjustment...
especially if there is a lot of adjustments...
or if it's been a while since I was last there...
I didn't this time...& I think I was paying for it...

after our evening "stroll"[warp speed, of course...]
I ate a bunch of soda crackers...
which always settle my stomach...
took a decongestant...my head was throbbing...
and was soon asleep...

although it would be an "up & down" night...
[I remember hearing 1 AM... 2AM... 3AM... 3:45 AM...]
so sleeping soundly... until the soft whining woke me...
was a good thing...

since it was already quite light...
I got dressed, hit the bathroom one last time...
[all the while being serenaded by my gentle dog...
fortissimo, allegro con brio, non troppo...
which for those who don't speak music or Italian means...
HURRY THE @#$%^& UP !!!...I GOTTA GO NOW !!!]

I noticed that I had muscle tightness & soreness...
but not the burning nerve pain...
or joint pains I'd had for some time...
when you deal with chronic pain...
it's absence may go un-noticed...
because when it's gone...you don't try to recall it...
you're just grateful for the relief...
and I was...

we were off at warp speed...streaking down the sidewalk...
when we move this fast...
I really have to concentrate on not tripping...
we were to the corner where she left "Long Island" on another walk...
but not "the spot" this time...
she rounded it with only a cursory sniff...

on and around the next corner...
[it's the inner edge of the "circle"...so it's maybe 35 feet...]
and up the street...gaining speed as her urges increased...
suddenly... over halfway to the park edge...
she stops...and pees... I pant...
she takes 3 steps and dumps "NY state" on blue Prius' lawn...
and I realize that once again...I'm without a bag or even paper...

sure...

that we've been spotted by the "bad dog owner"police...
I console myself with the notion that at least it's organic...
[they have a Prius (nice idea... ugly car...)
they should be able to deal with a bit of dog poop...
OK... a LOT of dog poop...]

considering the amount of dog poop I see on these walks...
more owners don't "pick-up"...than do...
we round a couple more corners...
at a more leisurely pace...[sub-warp....]
I notice that the sun is all the way "up"...
and we arrive home...where it's breakfast time...



as she's eating, Lacy tries to go past...
and gets a soft growl...
I don't think this is any kind of food aggression...
since Lacy's been a butt to Molly...
[hissing, growling... calling vile names...although she has gotten better]
and minutes after Molly growled at her...
Lacy comes & sits right next to Molly's half-eaten food...
Molly is laying there, sees her... and says nothing...

besides...



most of the kitties seem to feel no fear...
and Molly has never made any threatening moves towards any of them...

after scarfing breakfast...



followed by the last cat food wrapped pill...
I notice that she's sitting next to me...
seemingly "focused" on something...
suspecting catly mischief...
I follow her gaze...



quickly realizing its' source...

we'll see how long the "nap" in the DR lasts...
[hopefully, the cat food will find it's intended audience...

I read somewhere that fat cells store toxins and even viruses...
I wonder if all the sudden vigorous exercise...
is causing long held fat cells...
to finally break down...
and thus release those same toxins back into my bloodstream...
causing me to feel "punk"...

the last time I was smaller/weighed less...
than where I've been for the last 6 months...
I was "burning the candle... at both ends & the middle..."

even though I was insanely busy and running all day...
my life-style was very sedentary...but high stress...
I was NOT happy...
actually...there was a lot of anger...
and frustration...

there was a LOT of pressure at work...
I was working a full-timePLUS job...
[multiple jr high performing music groups...5 "preps"]
I was a working musician with a job at a LARGE church...
an orchestra player, who "worked" the area...[1-2 hours daily practice...]
an orchestra contractor[hired & managed groups for other organizations...]

with no regular exercise... lousy eating habits...
[fast food...with high fat/high calorie...lots of red meat...]
got only 4-6 hours of sleep a night...
and lived on caffeine...

all this combined in a steady weight gain...
over the first 12 to 15 years I taught...
when I turned 50...
some of the stress changed direction...
and by the time I was diagnosed with the malignant melanoma...
in February 2000...I had started exercising & eating better...
and my weight/size was very close to where I am now...

so the fat I've carried from the "really bad" years...
is now starting to break down...
and if this theory is correct...
will flood my system with all the old...
but newly released poisons of my youth...

the only way I can think of to deal with this...
is to flush my system by drinking more & more water...
I really have to redo my eating habits...
the first weight loss came pretty easy...

moderate movement combined with much less food...

now I have much more exercise...
I need to add MORE water...
and regular healthy meals...

I take a calcium supplement...along with a joint supp....
flax seed oil & a multivitamin/mineral...
but I need to eat better things...not a lot...but regularly...
and that's hard for me...

I'm easily distracted...
then I forget...and the cycle limps along...

if I can tie some sort of schedule in with Molly's requirements...
that could work...

once I get in a routine...I do better...

part of the problem is that I absolutely relish...
the lack of a rigid schedule since my retirement...
however...it is now year 4...
so I guess I just need to get on with it...

because while it is true that any and all positive changes...
are beneficial to my quality of life...
I'm getting older... as are we all...
and my chances for success of the kind I'm seeking...
diminish greatly with each passing year...

so the time is now...

...uh-oh, part, le deux

it all began innocently enough...
I took out the trash...and cleaned the cat boxes...
stripped my bed... started the laundry...
then dug out my flannels...
to remake my bed for the cooler weather...



I like to use the orange flannels first...
switching to the red for December-February...
and then the yellow for the cool spring months...
I also have an orange comforter...
that's not as warm as the big white one...
which needs to be dry-cleaned before winter...



I also swapped out my warm weather crocks...
for some lined ones I just got...
[cool how the orange lining matches my bed...]
I use them as slippers...
I got some fleece-lined ones last year...
that I'll use when it gets really cold...
these are good for transitional wear...

so anyway... there I was, working away...
cat boxes...done...
trash...done...
laundry...in process...

and as I sleuth around on the Internet...
determined to find out if the Chorbajian piece we're doing...
is "POP"[permanently out of print] or if s.m.com...
doesn't have their "act together"...[which I suspect...]

I hear some strange "mumbling" noises coming from the LR...

I've heard ...what I think...
were a couple of "play charges" from Molly...
the last day or so... and then cats come flying past...

I think she must have played with a cat...[in a past life...]
and wants to play now...
but mine have NEVER had a canine to play with...
so they don't understand what she wants to do...
and get scared...

so when I heard the playful sounding muttering...
I went to investigate...
then got my camera...
because....



what I saw was Molly...crouched playfully...
talking to Sneaky Pie...who was a safe distance away...
by the time I got back...
they were feigning indifference to each other...



Molly even pretended that the object of her affection...
was the pig's ear I had given her to chew on...
[notice who's watching with rapt attention...]



pretty soon...that gets old...
and pitiful puppy posing becomes the modus operandi...
[yep... SPie is STILL hanging around...]



so after moving laundry around...
I come back to my desk to find...
that my chair has been infested...

after an inordinate amount of attention...
even for her...I think she's serious about that "song"...
[she is jealous of Minka, because there is no song titled...
"Lovely Sneaky Pie"...actually, she's pissed...big time...
her eyes are green for good reason...]



she decides to move her pity party to the floor...
and drown her fit of pique, in crunchies...

this actually allows me to get some more work done...



eventually being drawn to the mumblings again...
and what do I find ?
more pig's ear chewing...
loudly... gleefully...
all being played for an audience of one...
see her in the doorway ?

these two are going to become allies...
partners in crime...
co-conspirators...
fellow felons...
I can just feel it coming...

and when they join forces...
I WILL be toast...
as will Thomas...
and any other fool that dares to stand in the way...
of SPie's plan for world domination...[she'll accept Molly as her "minion"...]

maybe if I write a "Sneaky is Great & Beautiful" song...
I can postpone Armageddon for a few more days...
I'll have to work on that...

...0-dark:30 AM

I have NEVER been a morning person...
too many years of late night rehearsals & gigs...
too many years of "forced" arising...in the dark...
operating on auto-pilot until somewhere during the morning...

always on the verge of exhaustion...
but NOT anymore...

now I find myself taking pleasure in watching the world wake up...
I wouldn't call myself a morning person yet...
but then, I wasn't a dog person until recently either...
change is inevitable if you are still learning...
[and before some of you faint...
I will NOT be registering "Republican", anytime soon...]

Molly has been sleeping comfortably through the night...
since her last couple of days at the vet...
no pitiful, urgent, LOUD whining outside my bedroom at 2 AM...
jerking me from REM sleep...and leaving me groggy all day...

so this morning...at 6:30 AM...
when I finally dragged myself from the warmth of my bed...
to answer MY nature's call...
I just went ahead & got mostly dressed...
[Crocks, jeans & a too big sweatshirt...]

and after some bathroom moments for me...
[all the while being serenaded by you-know-who...
who was also dancing & annoying the previously sleeping cats...]
we "leashed up" and ventured forth into the rapidly fading night...



as we began our gallop...
she's always in a hurry to find "that" spot...
I was concentrating hard on the uneven sidewalk...
[think... tree roots... & earthquakes, this IS CA...]
the LAST thing I need is take a fall & break something...



the street lamps were still on...
though the sky was growing lighter by the moment...
it was so quiet...
too early for the honking of the migrating geese...
'way down the street, headlights...
most houses dark...
a cat runs across the street...
Molly wants to chase it...
when they don't run, she ignores them...

we have gone almost 3/4 of the way now...
lots of sniffing...but no peeing yet...
finally she finds a spot she likes and anoints it...

on we go...another dog walker across the street...
little yappy thing...Molly ignores it...
almost home...no dump yet...

sigh...

so around we go again...

this time, a more manageable pace...
[ie, NOT galloping...]

it is quite a bit lighter now...



before we get around the 2nd time...
dawn will be almost accomplished...

this time, there is more activity...
I see a TV blinking in a couple of houses...
a car backing out...more lights in the distance...
kids leaving the house for school...
riding bikes...
or hunched under backpacks, with hands stuffed in pockets...

cats perched under cars...
vigilant for any threatening move on our part...
more dog walkers...
who politely give us a wide berth...
the first, a shy greyhound in a coat...
who must have come too close... so Molly barks...
a smaller dog barks back...

coming up on home, the 2nd time...

and STILL no dump...

as I'm standing next to one of her dumps I "imported"...
to the parkway in front of my house...
hoping to "encourage" her to "go" closer to home...
[it will be cold & wet soon...]
she's ignoring it completely...



the street lamps "pop" off...

all that's missing is the first finger of light...
breaking through the canopy of trees...
like the building, first notes of "Also Sprach Zarathustra"...
[think "2001, A Space Odyssey" if you don't "do" classical music...]
the anticipation of the tentative, then more urgent layers of brass sound...
leading to the climactic crashing chords...
of the sunrise...



meanwhile...back in my bedroom...
more reasonable sentient beings are still lounging...



while others...
[remember Miz "Toof-less" in Mudville ?]



she has now fully recovered...
as she was chomping crunchies last night...
[and she's MUCH happier...]



but she can still go from her nest...



to "out"...
in 2 seconds flat...

so having "released the Piglet"...and fed Fluff...
I returned to feed Molly...
and give her the catfood/antibiotic meatball...



as I finish this post...most of the cats are still asleep...
my clock just chimed "9"...
prior to that, I had one of those "appointment confirmation" calls...
from the gastro-enterologist's office...
tomorrow I have a consultation re a routine colonoscopy...
[I've escaped for 10 years...
due to NO family history of colon cancer...]

I'm NOT looking forward to all the prep for that...

but for now...I have the morning office to read...

then...I have chores to do...
music to arrange...
a lawn to mow...
bedding plants to plant...

I think I'll make some coffee...
then read the office...

and before all the chores, perhaps breakfast...

this "morning stuff" can be pretty nice after all...

...with a capital "T"...& that rhymes with "P"...& that stands for...

TROUBLE...[aka Miz Sneakius Pieus]

strange how we remember where we were...
just before, or as, the world made a momentous shift...

the day JFK was killed...
the moment Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon...
the day the Berlin Wall came down...
the morning of 9/11/01...

or, of a more personal nature...

the first time we saw our soul mate...
took any major life step...
or in my case...

the day a student's distraught mother...
begged me to find a home...
for her daughter's 2 half-grown kittens...
or they would perish at the pound...
[their names are now Sneaky Pie & Gracie...
'nough said ?...]

my life up to that moment wasn't perfect...or easy...
but I had NO idea just how interesting it could get...

they both had "issues"... and took a lot of,"getting to know"...
as well as a lot of bandages, vet bills & patience...

in a previous post...I alluded to MizSPie's attempts...
to either "beguile" Molly into an unholy alliance...
or corrupt her basic canine "goodness" with catly mischief...



earlier this evening, after a brisk canter around the block...
I limped to my chair to work on an arrangement for Sunday...
and noticed this transpiring...

Molly, who had finished her dinner was just "chilling"...
and Miz-chief[SPie] was also "chilling...



and then began the dance of the "snaky tail"...
SPie's version of softening up for the kill...
she went from me to right under the dog's nose...
and back... to the cat food...a number of times...

I didn't think much of it at the time...
but I remember taking a chunk of cat food from the dish...
wrapping it around Molly's pill...
and watching her gulp it down...

since I had just watched her eat her dinner...
AND the cat food was where she couldn't effectively get at it...
not with the E-collar on...
I went to eat some dinner...

when I came back...a couple of hours later...
I found this...



that red dish behind the container HAD cat food on it...
[now it's on the floor...]
and Molly is doing her very best to look innocent...
Sneaky Pie is no where to be seen...
[she's actually skulking 'way back...
under the footstool waiting to pounce Thomas...]



so I moved it 'way "up"...
next to Creamer's new favorite nest...

a bit of time passes...



and now it's "sing-a-long" with Molly time...



she is relentless...[and LOUD...]



so after 79 choruses of "Let's Go Out, NOW !"...



and, "the look"...
I give in and get up to take her "out"...



she has developed a new "technique"...
when she wants me to move at Molly speed, outside...
she drags me at warp speed...
inside... she gets behind me and butts me with her E-collar...
I'm sure I have bruises on the backs of my thighs & calves...
from her bumping me to encourage me, to "move faster"...
anyway...I have sore spots...

as I write this...

Molly is quiet...almost too quiet...
after finagling me to take her out...
then NOT needing to go...
just wanting to run and frolic in the full moon light...

Sneaky Pie is cloaked in invisibility...
lurking under the foot stool...
Thomas...is plotting revenge, death & general mayhem...
as Sneaks was successful in scaring the stuffing out of him...

but I know...that the moment I get up to go to bed...
Molly will want to play again...outside...
and it's a bit chilly to frolic outside in the moonlight...

perhaps ...it's just the full moon...
and this level of activity will pass with the waning of the moon...
oh...I hope so...

...Lessons & Carols,1.0

in 1918, at King's College, Cambridge [England]...
a Christmas Eve service began the tradition...
that has come to be known throughout the world...
as a Service or Festival of Lessons & Carols...

there is no set format...
but this service, as we celebrate it...
has morphed over the years...
into a Procession with Carols on an Advent Sunday...

and although it's origins were Anglican...
many denominations have adapted the basic idea...
and non-Anglican services are not uncommon...

at St John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Mudville...
our current tradition was started by Dearest Dragonfly...
choir mistress, extraordinaire, several years ago...
and remains one of my favorite services of the year...

9 scripture readings take us from "the fall"...
through "the promise" of redemption announced...
and finally the "great mystery" of the incarnation...
the birth of the Christ in the form of a human...
both man & God...come to save us from our sins...

each reading is followed by choral music...
that has been selected to either illustrate the reading...
or includes part of the reading text...

this year... it was my job to seek out the selections...
for me, this was "kid in a candy store"territory...

our traditional prelude, Palistrina's "I Look From Afar"...
[from the Matin Responsory for Advent 1]
is a Medieval sounding series of solo "calls"...
followed by choral responses...
sung from the rear of the church...

the old hymn,"Creator of the Stars of Night"...
using the tune in the 1982 Hymnal, is our processional...
beginning with a "D" handbell tolling...
and the women singing verse 1 with just the bell tolling...

the men join for the 2nd verse...
still in unison with tolling bell...
verse 3 is in parts, with the bell...
adding the organ on the octave "D"'s...
before accompanying the congregation for verses 4-6...

after the first reading...
[the seed of Eve will bruise the serpent's head...]
the women of the choir will sing...
M.Larkin's ethereal "Adam Lay Ybounden"

after the 2nd reading...
[the spirit of the Lord will rest on the Holy One...]
we will sing the gorgeous Latin text, "O Magnum Mysterium"...
[O Great Mystery]set by M. Lauridsen...

after reading 3...
[the prophet proclaims good news to the people in exile...]
we will sing a magical arrangement of the old Latin hymn...
"Personet Hodie" by Vijay Singh...
very Medieval sounding... and gives me chills...
then there is a congregational hymn...
[Comfort, comfort ye my people]

following reading 4...
[God promises a child...to be known as "God with us"...]
and then we sing the contemporary sounding anthem...
"Mary, Did You Know?" by Lowery & Greene, arr. Schrader...
this is followed by another congregational hymn...
[Lo, How a Rose e'er Blooming]

reading 5...
[John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus]
is followed by John Chorbajian's contemporary anthem...
"Watchman, Tell Us of the Night"...

after reading 6...
[the angel Gabriel salutes the Blessed Virgin Mary]
comes the mystical "Ave Maria" by M. Lauridsen...
which also gives me chills...

following reading 7...
[St Matthew tells of the coming birth of a savior]
comes the lively, joyful, "Tomorrow Shall be My Dancing Day"...
by John Gardiner...so rhythmic...
you have to move when you sing it...
followed by the final congregational hymn...
[Savior of the Nations Come]

after reading 8...
[the shepherd's come to the manger...]
we sing W. Todd's tone painting,"The Christ Child"...
a musical gift left behind for us by DD...

following reading 9, the final one...
[St John unfolds the great mystery of the Incarnation]
we will sing T.Fettke's "A Silent Holy Night"...
a lovely, simple lullaby...

following a blessing...
we recess singing the traditional carol...
"Once in Royal David's City"...
with the first verse a treble solo...
adding the full choir on verse 2...
and the congregation on verses 3-5...



I have found this service to be a marvelous spiritual...
as well as musical, experience...
over the last several years...

today, we had our first rehearsal after church...
and I couldn't wait to share a couple of new pieces with the choir...
I had a CD cued-up, so they could get the full effect...
and I wasn't disappointed...

they were as blown away as I had been...
the first time I heard the new arrangements...
then we sang through the new ones...
the singer's are so good...
even the first time through...
can paste a big old grin all over my face...

even rehearsal is fun...
when the singers are this talented & sensitive...
& the arrangements are "to die for"...[not easy, but worth it...]
[kind of like aural chocolate...
for those chocoholics out there...]

so I'm looking forward to sharing this music...
as we learn & shape it...
and then share it on Dec.21...

"...how can I keep from singing...
or smiling ?"

...uh-oh

do you remember how I was just saying...
how much I thought SPie liked Molly... ?

I know all too well Miz SPie's subtle ways
[aka "living up to her name"...]
and I have seen a bit of canine duplicity/weakness...
especially where "cat food"[aka"dog candy"...]is concerned...



Molly was just eating some crunchies, like a good dog should...
when along slinks the "serpent"...
resplendent in silver-blue tabby fur & green eyes...
weaving her spell around "bonae caninus"...
and then around..."the cat food"...
[aka"the forbidden fruit"...]



"go ahead...take a bite...it's OK...I said so"...
aka..."let's see if you are gullible...
or if you just might be slick enough...
to be "useful" in my plans for world domination"...

back & forth...in & around...
all we needed was some cheesy "danger" music...
Molly pretended to ignore "the siren's song"...
but soon she was nibbling at the crunchies on the floor...
and getting ever closer to "falling from grace"...
[answer : gullible...not so much, slick...you bet'cha]

reacting to both culprits...
I said, "Molly, NO !"...just as she was about to sneak a nibble...
at which point she shook her head...
as if I must have misunderstood her intentions...
and with a deft sideways twitch...
innocently continued munching crunchies...
I added a menacing ..."Sneaky Pie...what are you up to ?"
to make sure she knew that I was on to her insidious plan...
as she beat a haughty, but none the less hasty, retreat...



at this point...she decided to observe from "afar"...
and lurked under the footstool...until Lucyfur walked by...
not paying her any mind...
so to save face, SPie jumped her...
creating a mild diversion and an exit strategy...



Molly was fine until she thought I'd stopped watching...
then temptation got the best of her...
I saw her "oozing" towards the cat food dish...
so I put the cat food "up" again...

when last I looked...
Creamer had finished the cat food...
Molly had gone to bed...
[she slept on the sofa most of the evening...]
and Sneaky Pie was back under the footstool...
waiting for her next victim...
[pouncing on unsuspecting cats...
having trumped the corruption of canines...
for this night, anyway...]

I'm almost afraid to know...
if the cat will succeed in corrupting the dog...
or if they will join forces...
either way... I may be in trouble...

I keep thinking of that "got milk?" commercial...

that...

and the commercial where the cat frames the dog...
for getting in the garbage...
and then the dog returns the favor...
and takes pictures...

both scenarios left the house in a mess...

if I don't show up for church tomorrow...
call 911...

...it's a dog's life[with a cat or 2 thrown in...]

she is wagging her tail...really...
this soulful pose is for those of you...
who, like me, can get lost in those eyes...

we just had another walk...
and met a nasty fox terrier...
whose owner said was "very dog-aggressive"...
so we gave him a very wide berth as he yapped away...

when we were past...
Molly looked over her shoulder & barked...
he must have invoked the ultimate canine "yo mama"...

arriving back home...I put down her dinner...
[1/2 can + 1/2 cup dry]
which she ate quickly...



after a good drink...she flopped down next to me...
while Lacy was "investigating" a catnip mouse...
of course... there were other probable reasons for her "nearness"...



I had moved the cat food dish, "up"...
since she was stalking it earlier...
she made NO move towards it...
I think she was letting me know, that she knew...
where it was...

or maybe I've lived with cats too long...

because I'm used to this kind of "deftness"...



here we have what looks like an innocent "gathering"...

but only if you don't know the participants...

Thomas is "pretending" to care about the catnip toy...
that he just bullied away from Lacy...
Thomas couldn't care less about the toy...
and really wasn't trying to bother Lacy...

he was after Sneaky Pie...
who has now positioned herself next to Molly...
since she has discovered that being near Molly is "golden"...
because Thomas hasn't gotten comfortable enough around the dog...
to be aggressive towards Sneaky in front of her...

and Sneaky Pie, opportunist that she is...
is playing it for all she can...
[it's like one of those survivor shows...
where players build alliances against the others...]
besides that... she likes Molly...

both she & Gracie have really warmed to her...
which makes sense as they are the youngest...
and much less set in their ways than Thomas...
and...they are pure opportunists...

though Mattie, the oldest seems to like Molly just fine...
but then, he lived with dogs as a kitten...
barely escaping being "dog chow" from the account I heard...
but then, Mattie is not a "grudge-holding" kind of cat...

the only time I've seen any felines scatter...
is when Molly starts "singing"...
some of them don't seem to mind...
others, music critics that they are, scatter...

but they seem to get along so well...
it's quite amazing...
especially since it's only been about a week & a half...
and Molly's been at the vet's for about half of that...

I can't wait to see what's next...

...she's b-a-a-a-c-k

waiting....

only 4 in this picture...but I've seen 5...
[in the snuggy nest...]
we have Thomas, Lucyfur, Charlie & Mattie...
with Mackie standing watch...

last night I looked at the thermostat...
it was 61... even with all the windows closed...
so I turned on the heat [set at 64...]
which made things comfortable...

up early this morning...
I needed to get gas[2 trips to Ahnoldtown will do that...]
but Thursday when I went by my local Shell...
it was still $3.659...
and in Ahnoldtown, I'd seen $3.599...
so I'd waited....

this morning, my patience was rewarded...$3.599...
so I filled it up...[10.5 gal/$37.25]

then I made my way to the market...
I promised to have some substantial snacks...
for the l-o-n-g-e-r rehearsal tomorrow...
and as much as the cold north wind made me want to make soup...
my plate is just too full this weekend...

so I got some finger sandwich makings...
some chips, crackers & other finger foods...
some fruit juice & chocolate milk...
paper napkins & plates...
and some storage items...

we have water...other snacks...
and there's hot beverages at the coffee hour upstairs...

supplies secured in the trunk...
I went to the vet's to get Molly...
she was SOOO excited to see me...
she was hopping around, singing her "happy song"...

she's still in the E collar for about another week...
the incision has stopped "weeping"...
and the infection is "going"...
[only 3 more days on antibiotics...]
she's feeling much better...
the confinement was the right choice...

I asked what I owed them...
[she had had the bandage replaced 3 times...
and had spent 3 days & nights, with medication...
they provided since I had left what I paid for at home...]
the tech just smiled and said,"don't worry about it..."

WOW... they could have charged me at least $30-40...
they fed & medicated her... and walked her...
so to have there be "no charge"... is a real blessing...

being pulled through the door & outside...
we went towards the car...
she couldn't wait...& sang her song...
all the way to the car...inside the car...
and on and off...all the way home...
[in between making sneak kissing attacks on my neck & ear...]



she didn't need to go...but was hungry...
so I fed her...and she gobbled it down...
including the bit of cat food left on their plate...
for dessert, of course...

then proceeded to sing her song again...
while licking her chops...



leaving the vet...
she went right to my car...
and when we got home...
she went right to the front door...
went right in and touched nose with Mattie...
[who's behind her in this picture...

I think she's really glad to be home...
and we're glad she's here...

...awaiting Molly's return

I just talked with the vet...
and I'll retrieve Molly tomorrow...

while there...she hasn't been bandaged...
and she hasn't messed with her incision at all...

on my suggestion, they've walked her for "potty breaks"...
and that's worked out very well...

I told them that I was sure that she wouldn't "go" in her cage...
and when they thought about it, realized that she hadn't...
so the walks have to have made her more comfortable...
and thus, her stay there, as she heals...

she is doing so well that when she comes home...
she'll need no bandage...

and that will be a good thing...

she'll still have to deal with THE COLLAR...
probably for another week...
but with the infection well under control...
and the healing moving forward...
she'll be much happier... and feel better too...

the "indoor record" is now 5 cats in her "snuggy bed"...
if this continues...
I may have to get them one of their own...

I'm going to the church to finish the choir music packets...
I printed 15 copies yesterday...
and will do about 15 more...
doing the printing in stages...
keeps the machine from overheating...
[there are about 90 pages...]

look for more "cute dog" pictures tomorrow...

and thanks to all of you who have expressed caring for Molly...
it's a blessing... as is she...

...following the path

sometimes it's very clear...



and sometimes...it's not...

so you proceed on faith...
doing what you know to be right...
and only that...
because this is NOT the time to become distracted...
and wander afield...

if you do...
you'll have to start the journey again...
and still have to deal with the consequences of your wanderings...

so much to learn...

I sit here...in swirling mist...

sometimes... a spot of light opens...
I walk towards it...
I step into it...
am enveloped by it...
and move forward...

then the distractions come...
all manner of bright shiny, whirling things pop up...
but always slightly off to the side...
if I look at them too long...
when I look back, my path is less clear...

and while I'm "trying to figure things out"...
the light on my path fades out...and the mists return...
the harder I try to figure out "things"...
the thicker the mists...the faster they swirl about me...
and then...I taste fear...

loosing my keys was a lesson...
I wasn't focused...
I let peripherals intrude on my task at hand...
I was "rushing" to do things...
not trusting that His timetable is not earthly...
and patience must be learned...

so he took my "time"... out of my hands...

looking back...

I see that He caused me to notice the jammed freeway...
and as I was trying to figure out HOW we could get north...
[alternative routes....]
I decided to "give it to Him"...and left it there[for a change...]
I later learned that the problem...[a fatal accident...]
was at the exit just below where we had to get on and go north...
and had I NOT noticed...and got on the freeway...
I would have been stuck...
unable to get off...
with my cell in my trunk...

as frustrating as the double trip should have been...

it wasn't...

and the only emotion I have felt since about the entire scenario...
is amazement at the way God teaches us to trust Him...

for me, the most important moment...
was when I said," Lord, if I find these keys somewhere in this car...
I'll be so glad to have found them...that I won't care that I made 2 trips"...

that's when I suddenly knew where to look...

I had looked past them, numerous times...
just missed them while feeling around...

just before I realized they were lost...
when I was heading home in Mudville...
I'd been planning on calling my chiropractor...
I'd been sore & all day...
I'd been bothered by a pain that felt like a nerve pinch...

as I survey the previous paragraph...
there are several "I"'s in a row...
maybe God saw that too...
and wanted me to know that He had things under control...

as much pain as I'd had all day...
by the time I returned home[after the 2nd trip...]
there was NO pain...
and it hasn't returned...

yesterday...I got an e-mail from a credit card company...
they had slashed my credit limit down to 1/3 the amount it's been for years...
[it was $33 K... & my "safety net...]
my record with them is excellent...
and my current balance is well below what my new limit is...

this is the result of our current economic problems...

availability of credit is drying up for everyone...
I'm sure the WAMU thing is also related...
[canceling my card, while encouraging me to use it...]
I'd had a zero balance on both of them for quite a while...

"before"...
I would have been deeply disturbed by the "loss"...
and the "safety net" it symbolized to me...
"now"...
I know that I am NOT fully trusting Him to provide for my needs...
if I am relying on such "safety nets"...

and I'm OK with that...

actually very calm...

had events transpired differently over the last year...
I would be in a blind panic...
trying everything I could to "find" another "net"...

every little step...
every grievous error on my part...
all the tears, pain & regret...
have brought me this far...

"and faith will bring me home..."

God is SO good...

...heigh-ho, heigh-ho

not exactly whistling...
[Grumpy was always my favorite...]
but it's "off to work I go"...

working at/& around the church today...
and probably tomorrow...
doing the music packets for Lessons & Carols...
[easier with keys in hand...]

I'm feeling a bit "bleeh" from getting no sleep yesterday...
but I'll be fine...
especially when I've finished this project...

and I had a good laugh at FrC's expense...
see here
ah, what a tangled web we weave...
when we involve ourselves in the wonder that is "kitten-mania"...
I wonder if someday Molly & Sneaky Pie will play like that?
[hee,hee, hee...]

...a very l-o-n-g day

I was supposed to pick-up MizYBee at 8:30 AM...
so I had set my alarm for 7AM...
[mind you, I got up at 0-dark:30 AM FOR YEARS...
but, I'm not in that "mode"...so 7 was tough...

particularly since you know...
if you read my previous post...
that Molly woke me up [out of REM sleep, no less...I was dreaming...]
at 2:08 AM, needing to go out...

since her surgery, she can't "hold it" as long...
[I'm sure she's sore, poor thing...]
and it takes her much longer to "go"...
probably for the same reason...

but after coming back in and going back to bed...
it was past 3 before I could go back to sleep...
and then suddenly... the alarm...
and I wasn't at all ready to get up...

but I did...got dressed...
& took Molly for a quick walk around the short block...
then back inside for her pill & her breakfast...
while she was eating, I wrote a quick post...
changed my clothes & got ready to go...

we scrambled out the door at 8-ish...
I let Molly into the car...
she hopped in without help...
choosing the shotgun spot...

then, I dug around in the trunk...
making sure I had all my choir music...
so I could work on it today while waiting in Ahnoldtown...
and we were off to the vet's...

I told the vet how she had removed the E collar during the night...
and after he looked at the messed-up bandage...
which I told him gets bunched just from her sitting...
he said,"why don't you just let us keep her here...
for a couple of days...
just until she can get some healing started...
and the infection under control...
then you can take her home on Friday...
and she won't need the bandage..."

I had been starting to think that direction...
so I agreed... and left to pick-up MizYBee...

it was getting close to 8:20... so I started to take the freeway...
until I noticed that it was a parking lot...NOT moving...
so I cut around back "ways"...and went parallel...
STILL not moving... then I had to head west & go under I5...
NOW...it was moving...

so I picked her up & got on I5,northbound...
she said that there were police helicopters, etc...
over the freeway, back where traffic was stopped...

just south of where we needed to get on and go north...

considering ourselves fortunate indeed...
we made good time, even with a bit of a late start...
and I left her at the entrance of the UCDMC...
while I went to park...

then I caught up with her upstairs...
in the Dr's "waiting room"...
after having the parking ticket validated...

"the board says he's "on time", she said...
rolling her eyes sarcastically...
this is part of the "ritual"... because he's ALWAYS behind...
whether it says he's on time...or not...

today, it was only about a half hour wait...
with a false alarm, when the nurse called her last name...
but said "Mr"... and a guy across from us got up...
that amused her because she'd never seen that before...
we were still chuckling when the nurse called her in...
and I went downstairs to wait...

I was really hungry [not enough sleep does that to me...]
but their cafeteria had stopped serving breakfast...
and wasn't serving lunch yet...
so I got some coffee, water & a muffin...

when the "grill" was open again...
I got a Gardenburger...
served w/cheese on a toasted whole wheat bun...
with lettuce, onion, tomato & pickle slices...

$3.50 for that is larceny...
charging $.05 EACH for a packet of ketchup, mustard & mayo...
OBSCENE...

but I was hungry...and it was healthy...
AND good...

my hunger abated...
I busied myself with working on the choir music packets...
things were going well...
I even caught a potential disaster, BEFORE it happened...
then I discovered that I was missing a page or 2 of one piece...
so I had to stop...until I get the rest of it...

since I had planned on doing work...
I hadn't brought my book...
so I played solitaire on my PDA...
after checking my e-mail & my blog...

suddenly, there she was...
MizYBee, the pirate, in all her eye-patch glory...
she'd had MORE than enough...and wanted to go home...
they'd had an emergency... so she had to cool her heels...
waiting for her treatment, which she dreads...
so now... she was out of sorts...

I don't really blame her...
I wouldn't want to sit in a chair...
w-a-i-t-i-n-g for some guy to come stick a needle in my eye...
while they did something else first...
triage or no triage...

so we went back to the garage...
and drove home...
arriving early enough...
that I began to plan my afternoon...

after dropping her at home...
I went home...
with plans to use the bathroom...
then "go from there"...

I got to the porch...
picked up the mail, reached in my pocket...

and couldn't find my keys...

I checked the other pocket...

not there either...

I went back to the car...looked in the car...
nothing...
opened the trunk...
nothing...
went back up on the porch & looked...
nothing...

walked around where I had walked with Molly...
between locking the door...
and opening the car for her to get in...

nothing...

a little voice told me that they HAD to be in the trunk...
I MUST have been distracted enough with the dog...
that I didn't put them IN my pocket like always...
and then, MUST have set them down, somewhere, in the trunk...

BUT THEY WEREN'T THERE...


I moved EVERYTHING...5 times....

I looked in my choir bag....
nothing...
I searched my purse...
nothing...
I searched my briefcase...
nothing...
I searched my church music file box...
nothing...

I used to have a spare key "hidden"...
not anymore...

if I couldn't find my keys...
I was locked-out...
and would have to call a locksmith...

and...

I haven't yet mentioned that there are 3 church keys on that key ring...

I don't lose keys...

in over 20 years of teaching...
I NEVER lost my keys...
not even once...

I called the vet...
nothing...

so I scoured the trunk again...walked around the yard...
looked under & around the front seat...
then drove to the vet's...

once there, I looked in the gutters, the street...
and asked again inside...

nothing...

I was going to have to drive back to Ahnoldtown...

so about an hour later...
I pull back into the "parking structure"...
take the ticket...
drive up to where I was before...
park... and start to retrace my steps...

after examining the area where I'd parked...
[under cars... etc...]
I went to the elevator...[s-l-o-w-e-s-t in captivity...]
and rode down...

during the drive...
I had been focusing on God's reason for all this...
and since I had no clue what that might be...
I kept telling Him that I trusted Him...
and that whatever He wanted me to learn/do was fine with me...

remaining quite unusually calm...
I retraced my steps to the restroom [finally...]
then to the Dr's office...
everyone was nice...& helpful...
& sympathetic...
but no keys had been found...

the cafeteria was closed...
but I could go through the dining room to where I had sat...

nothing...

remaining calm... expecting to find them...

I walked to the cashier at the garage exit...
she was very nice, but no keys were turned-in there...

I made one last loop through the dining room area...
then went back to the garage...
got on the elevator...
and s-l-o-w-l-y ascended to the level I parked on...

that little voice was telling me to look in the trunk...
again...

so I opened it...

looked through all the bags, purse, file box...
nothing...
moved the reusable grocery bags...
nothing...
then I looked outside & around the file box...
nothing...
under the bags, on the sides...
nothing...

I thought...
"Lord... if I find those keys in this car...
I'll be SO glad to see them...
I won't care about the extra trip..."

then...I realized that when I moved the grocery bags to look under them...
I hadn't lifted them up...
so I started lifting them up, one by one...
and when I lifted up the last bag...
the handles which had been down between the box and a box of tire chains...
came up with the missing keys tangled in them...
I just stared at them for a moment...
blinked my eyes...to make sure they were there...
and kissed them...
saying,"thank you Lord !"...

so I did find them in Ahnoldtown...
because the trunk of my car was in Ahnoldtown...

a-ma-zing...

so as I pulled up to the cashier, leaving the garage...
I said,"I found my keys !"
she was happy for me...
and when I handed her my ticket, to pay...
she said,"forget about it..."
and waved me through...

as lousy as the traffic had been "going"[the 2nd time]
it was really quite light for after 4 PM going home...

I got home...fed the kitties...
explained to them that Molly would be home in a day or 2...
noted that 3 were sleeping in the snuggy nest...
and 2 were sleeping on the other nest...
"keeping them warm"... no doubt...

I've had a busy day...
tomorrow I have a LOT to do at the church...
so I'm going to bed...
and to all, a good night...

...on "quick studys"

2:08 AM....

her : "whine... WHINE..."

me : "OK...I'm coming..."[I learn fast...]

outside/inside...only an hour to get back to sleep...

last night I learned that Molly learns fast too...
she learned that I will fumble around...
trying to give her a pill... with the E collar on...
so after she spit it out 3 times...
[OK, so I didn't learn THAT fast...]

I had a bolt of inspiration...

since I had just put out a can of cat food...
I grabbed a clump and put the now soggy amoxicillin pill inside...
she gobbled it down...

so this morning, I did the same thing...

she then realized that she was hungry...



and came in to eat her food...
she ate 1/2 can of "stew" & 1/2 C dry...
and while she thought I wasn't looking...
moved over to the cat food dish, real slick...
catching her in mid-slurp, I told her, no...

she stopped...



then lay next to me...
watching the cat food dish...
then went into her nest...

I'm getting ready to take her to the vet, AGAIN...

when I came out this morning, the collar was "off"...
and she was NOT pleased when I put it back...
but the bandage is really wrecked now...

so we're off...& then to Ahnoldtown...

...maybe a jump suit would work

it's about 9:30 PM...and we've just returned inside...
from a brief excursion "outside"...

and yes...that is a new bed...
she had been restless today...
I even found her on the sofa...

so when I was at Raleys...
and saw the nice soft big cuddly dog beds...
I was toast...

I think she likes it because she can snuggle in it...
it's more cushy than the other alternative...
and right now ...she likes snuggly & cushy...
[it also can fit several cats at one time...
of course they tried it...]

I went in to take this picture...
and she popped up to go out...
so I said,"Molly, lay down..."
and she came right back and curled up...

if you look closely at the picture you can see that the tape...
has already pulled away from the pink stuff...
and if she was standing...you could see...
that the bottom is all clumpy and the non-stick pad is hanging out...

remember...this is just from movement...
she can't get at it anymore...
just walking, laying down or sitting...
all tend to bunch up the bandage...

so tomorrow, I'll get up really early...
walk Molly, feed the kitties, shower etc...
getting ready to go to Ahnoldtown...
then take her to the vet to be re-bandaged...AGAIN...

I'll probably have to leave her there...
until I get back around 2-3 PM...
[which is probably better for her...]

make sure the bandage is good BEFORE we leave...

and then do it all again on Thursday... & Friday...etc...
for the next 2 weeks...[poor Molly...]

I have to say that her tail never stops wagging...

she's tired of all the E collar stuff...
but she's still such a blessing...
and happy to be here...
or to be at the vet's...
or where ever...
just really a happy dog at heart...

God is good...

...stuck on band-aids, not...

here's my latest "pretty dog picture"...
but if you paid attention earlier today...
you just might be thinking...
"wait...what's not quite right here...?"

[hint...bandage color...]



this was this morning...when the bandage was "aqua"...
before it got all bunched-up and started to hurt her...
I reached in to try & straighten it...
touched her incision, which was drippy again...
and she yelped in pain...

this was, of course, after returning from the store...
at 4:45 PM [the vet goes home at 5-ish,5:30 at the latest...]
so I called & told them I was coming & why...
they said, "no problem..."

I went the "back way" & made it just before 5...
the vet techs took her in the back...
then there was a series of LOUD heart-rending squeals & yelps of distress...
that MM & Mr GT may have heard in "the sleepy village" to the north...

suddenly... the shrieking stopped...
a couple of minutes later...she re-emerged...
resplendent in "pink"...wagging her tail...
[my least favorite color...
but it compliments the collar...
it's at the very least, better than the "aqua"]

I'm to bring her back Friday AM at the latest for a change...
they used a non-stick pad this time...
one of the techs told me that when Molly was carrying-on...
she said to the dog,"Molly, no..."
and she stopped...

the tech was impressed...
I wish I could take credit for her "training"...
but it's all her, smart pooch that she is...

we also discussed the fact...
that I would be leaving her alone tomorrow...
for a good part of the day...
as it's another "driving MizYBee day"...
and that her bandage may get "messed-up again...
so the tech said bring her in Thursday if you need to...

Miz YBee wants me to bring Molly with us...
dogophile that she is...
I think that it would be too much stress for the dog...
so she's staying home...

it might be different if we'd been together for a while...
& she wasn't recovering from surgery...

up to this point...I hadn't mentioned that this vet trip...
happened with my 3 bags of groceries still in the car...
nothing frozen, no meat, some veggies...
some cans...nothing perishable, fortunately...

so we got home...I let Molly go over to the grass...
she sniffed around, but didn't do anything...
so I put her inside while I unloaded the car...
and filled the new water bowl I got for the outside...
[I am such a patsy for furry faces...]

inside, I put down food for both...
and quickly put away my groceries...
then called Molly & out we went...
for the walk I knew she was wanting...

it was almost a jogging pace at first...
I was fighting a cramp in my left thigh...
and when she zigged around a tree unexpectedly...
I almost ran into it...

suddenly she stopped...
squatted and peed for about a minute...
that accomplished...she didn't slow down...
but continued her quest...at warp speed...

until right at the edge of the "circle"...she found it...
that dump spot she'd obviously needed for a couple of days...
and proceeded to do her thing...again... & again...
all I could think of was...
"why didn't I remember the plastic bags?"

after leaving a pile the size of Rhode Island...
we continued on about 20 feet...
suddenly she stops, squats and drops some more...
in the middle of the sidewalk...
which I deftly kick into the gutter...

tomorrow, we'll go the same way & I'll retrieve it...

walking MUCH s-l-o-w-e-r now...
and with a great sense of release...
we complete our walk and return to the house...
after a BIG drink from the new outside water bowl...
which guarantees a late night sorteé...

I just hope that the pad part of the bandage...
that seemed to be working it's way out...
will stay put tonight...
and that the bandage won't bunch up again...
or it'll be a very early [7:30] trip tomorrow...
back to the vets for another bandage "application"...

...back home for Molly

I went to the vet to get Molly...
she was real glad to see me...
she needed some help getting into the car...
but none, getting out...

she sprinted for her favorite potty spot...
and spent a while... relieving herself... twice...

then it was inside, where she wanted a drink & some food...
then to lay on her bed....



you can see the bandage...
but the BIG difference is the bigger collar...



the diameter is bigger & she's running into everything...
it's supposed to stay on 2 weeks...



she also has antibiotics...
the pill form of the drops I give kitties...
1 pill, twice a day...



soon, she was acting like she might barf...
so out we went...
no barfing...but a lot of sniffing...
and some frustrated attempts to get at the incision...



you can really see how much larger this collar is...
it's too big for her to be able to get at the incision...
and even so big that the edge can't rub the incision...



coming back into the house...
the "hospitality committee" was there to greet us...
Lucyfur and Gracie both touched noses with Molly...
then Lucyfur went on her way...



Gracie's keen nose for any form of sustenance...
had detected a bit of gravy from Molly's lunch...
on the edge of the collar...
and was nice enough to "clean" it off...
[can't have any dog friend of Gracie's looking "sloppy...]



then they touched noses again...
as if Molly was saying,"thanks for cleaning me up"...
and Gracie answered,"don't mention it... it was my[slurp] pleasure..."



being just a bit annoyed with the bigger collar...
Molly flopped on the floor...
after trying again, unsuccessfully, to get at the incision...



but... with canines... an annoyance doesn't ever really mature...
into a full-blown sulk or tantrum...
like it might with felines...
and she was soon back on her bed...
glad to be home...

and we're so glad she's here...

...with apologies to St. Luke

...and there were kitties....
keeping watch by day & night...
waiting for the dog to return...
keeping her bed warm & full...

...Molly's back at the vet's

[this morning...2:06 AM...]

her[pitifully] : "whine, whine, whine..."

me [groggily] : "go back to sleep..."

[repeat several times until I'm actually awake...]

she hasn't done this before...
so I get up, throw on clothes...
come out of the bedroom...
where she's in the hall...
whining & crying..."I need to go out...NOW !"

so I grope for the lead & after fumbling with the door...
the dog, who's need is urgent...
the big collar that runs into everything...
finally manage to stumble out into the cold night air....

we hurry down the porch steps...
and she squats on the first available patch of grass...

that out of the way...

she'd love a walk...
but I'm NOT walking anywhere at 2 AM...
especially not in Mudville...
not without an armed escort, 3 Ninjas and a tank...

so we come back in...after she slurps a lot of water...
from the bowl I left out on the porch...
I'm thinking,"swell...I'll have to be back out here again at 5 AM..."
[it was more like 7...]

I would later bring that water bowl in...
since she drank from it every time she went out...
and once...she went out, just to get a drink...
her bowl of choice, right ?... uhhh, wrong...

the moment I set it down in the house...not interested...
and when she went outside...
she would still go to the spot & look for it...
[and I thought only cats were that goofy...
opps... "Goofy" is a dog...hummm...]

so I'd noticed that she seemed to have pain when she needed to go...
especially the last 18 hours or so...
and she was scratching at the incision with her back foot...

she was also spending a lot of time...
in contortions...trying to lick her "hinter regions"
[probably the incision...but she could only reach her butt...]
I noticed that her back foot had irritated her side...
trying to get to the incision...

but she didn't want to be "left" this morning...
so I took her with me to the church...
and she lay under the table in the choir room...
as I assembled music...

she had jumped up into the car & climbed into the back...
and hopped out...
easily climbing all the steps it takes to get "downstairs"...

as I worked... I did notice her spending a lot more time on "dog yoga"...
and she must have scraped the incision with the collar edge...
because when I was ready to leave...
I noticed that there were several irritated places...
and her tummy felt hot and looked swollen...

I looked at the clock & saw that it was "lunch time"...
so I decided to go home...
and then go back to the vet's...
when I knew the doctor would be there, in about an hour...

she climbed into the car OK...
and when we got home, got out...
took care of business...
and ate a few bites...

but when it was time to go back to the vet...
she had to be helped into the car...
and she perched in the driver's seat... not moving...
after she was encouraged...she moved to the back...
I could see that the incision site looked nasty...

so we got in at the vet before anyone else...
which was good because by now she's dripping from her incision...
the doctor said that it had become infected...
from the collar edge rubbing it...

so they will sedate her...
open it... flush it... re-suture it...
give her an antibiotic shot...
and bandage it this time...

she'll be staying overnight...
so they'll give her her first heart worm pill...
I had been waiting for her to settle down...
& start eating normally... so she wouldn't barf it up...

this way... they'll know if it stays down...

what amazes me is how happily she goes into the vet's...
most animals HATE going there...

I think that Molly's smart enough to know who her friends are...
who's trying to help her when she needs help...
because even though she's still shy around the vet...
she seems to really like the girls who work there...
and they seem to like her...
so leaving her there isn't traumatic...
I consider that a real blessing...

she's been SO good about NOT "going" inside...
I'm hoping that the infection...
was the cause of all the complaining last night/early this AM...
it was really insistent... and LOUD !

although I have had to clean up dog barf, several times...
[it's somewhat worse than cat barf...]
and until early this morning...
she hadn't woke me up...needing to go out...

she would wait until she heard or saw me...
then walk to the door, turn and look at me...
since yesterday, she'd been more insistent...
and she became really clingy & vocal ...
I'm hoping it was also due to the pain from the incision...
and the infection which had to be bothering her by then...

but besides the infection drama...
she and several kitties have touched noses today...
I just haven't been quick enough with the camera to catch it yet...
at the rate that they're progressing in this "love fest"...
we'll have some neat sleeping together pictures soon...

Sneaky Pie has already figured out...
that when Thomas is being a butt...
[his default mode towards her...]
if she goes and "hangs" with Molly...
Thomas is thwarted...

because he hasn't found the nerve yet...
to annoy her around the dog...

Gracie saw the "writing on the wall"...
and is making friends too...
as have Mattie, Frick, Mack, Lucyfur and Cagney...

Creamer has taken advantage of Molly's presence...
to have a freer rein than she might have had...
since Gracie is a bit preoccupied these days...

especially when it gets colder...
more of the little heat seeking opportunists will discover her...
and there will be "mounds o'fur" in front of the fire...
I guess she's seeing them as her "pack"...

just too funny...

she should come home tomorrow AM...
with antibiotics...

it will seem so strange to walk without her this evening...
I'm almost over being sore...

I'm just glad I caught this before it got really bad...
or the vet was closed...
[the emergency vet costs 4xs as much...]

so for you "friends of Molly" out there...
[especially the "God-parents"...]
don't worry...she's in "Good Hands"[as you know...]
and the vet's good too...

..."Be with those who help your being"

"Just because someone has a lot to teach us...
doesn't mean we like him or her..."



"People who have the most to teach us...
are often the ones who reflect back to us...
the limits to our own capacity to love..."



those who consciously... or unconsciously...
challenge our fearful positions...
they show us our walls..."

[Marianne Williamson]

thanks to Fran's Sacred Ordinary for the quote...

...getting comfortable, Molly style

I feel Molly getting more secure & comfortable each day...
but...of course there will be issues...

today... a couple of "canine" behaviors surfaced...
as is to be expected...she is, after all... a dog...

she is a singer/talker...
[think,"Scooby-Doo"...on uppers...]
especially ...when she's glad to see me...
is really excited...
or REALLY has to "go outside"...NOW ! ...

I mentioned the "rohwff-ing" earlier...
it is now merely the prelude...
high-pitched squeals...yipping...
sliding semi-yodeling/howling...
that would outshine any monologue Scooby-Doo ever uttered...
[and makes me wonder if there is some hound in her lineage...]

and it's all performed : fortissimo, crescendo et sfortzando...
[for you non-musicians, that's VERY LOUD...]

I've made sure to let my immediate neighbors know about her...
and her "singing/talking"...
so no one thinks that I'm abusing her...
[it does sound a bit like "bloody murder"...]

so... being the "Catsinger"...and innately "snarky"...

I've started to sing along with her...[I hear you RFL, MM...]
it seems to please and inspire her...
she'll start to wiggle & jump about as she continues her "aria"...
[think,"Snoopy's happy dance on acid...w/music...]

the cats head for the "high ground"...
to sit transfixed...
watching in horrified fascination...
trying to stifle a snicker behind their paws...
while shaking their heads in total feline disbelief...

the moment she's out the front door, lead attached...
the singing stops...as she searches for the perfect spot to pee...
if it's time for a "long walk"...
[around the big block or the "twice as long"block...]
she takes off f-a-s-t...

hurrying along the sidewalk...
until a place only she can recognize...
[and different each time...]
is found for the "dump"...
[this evening...it was 2 houses from home...
at the end of the walk...]

she also decided that she had to drink gutter water...
I dissuaded her by leading her to a sprinkler run-off puddle...
on the sidewalk...
[less chance of antifreeze poisoning than the gutter...]

and as a woman & her small terrier type passed us...
I assured her that Molly wasn't aggressive...
mere moments before Molly made a challenging movement...
toward the little dog...
who hadn't looked anything but scared...

THAT... was a surprise...

every time before this that I'm seen her encounter another dog...
no matter the size... she's been very submissive...
or even passive...

it was just a small movement...
but her ears were "up" and she was on "alert"...
she stopped immediately when I said "no"...
I just didn't expect that reaction from "mellow Molly"...
[maybe the little dog said, "yo' Mama" in "dog"...
and I missed it...]

she's been eating some...
but things still aren't "setting well"...
and...when "old cat food" is involved...
she barfs...

I'll just be glad when this week is up...
so we can ditch the collar...

she can eat & drink in it...
but not easily...
so when we come back from a walk...
I take it off for a bit...
so she can eat or drink more easily...

but I have to be vigilant...
as she will start licking her incision...
before I know what she's up to...
and then the collar goes back right away...

today...while she was "out of her collar"...
another lovely canine past time emerged...
"big game hunting" [aka fly catching]



this was my best "hunting" photo op...
she is intent and snapped at the fly several times...
I don't know if her hunt was fruitful...
and I don't want to...[ewww...]

she has bonded with me now...
I know she'll have trust issues down the road...
but she comes and puts her head in my hands...
leans into me... bumps me with her forehead...
and if given the chance... will kiss...

not big sloppy yucky dog drool kisses...
but sweet little sneaky licks...
with no drippy-ness or slime...
[even though visions of fly catching flit through my mind...
accompanied by a knowledge of "where that tongue has been"...
but...then...I'm also a "work in progress"...]

being a "vocalist"...
she also sighs, grunts, groans and mutters...
I suppose that it's only a matter of time...
before I'm fluent in "Molly"...

today...we had a minor cat word fight...
[aka: name calling, threat screaming & general trash talking...]
between Creamer, Gracie & Sneaky Pie...with Mack, contributing...

I only mention it because it was Molly's first "cat fight"...

she watched with much the same interested, but semi detached demeanor...
I see on all the non-involved kitties...
momentarily entertained... but not personally invested...

this worth a mention...
because most dogs would get involved...
or at least bark... at all the racket & commotion...

and she didn't...

tomorrow... I need to spend a lot of time at the church...
doing choir music for Lessons & Carols...
maybe I'll take her with me...
she wouldn't bother anyone in the under croft choir room...

we have been walking about 3 times a day...
with the other "outside" breaks starting around 5:30 AM...
and ending with a "last call" just before I go to bed...
11 PM-ish...

on the walks...we go out & around the neighborhood...
covering about 2.5 to 3 miles a day...
on the potty breaks... just out in front of the house...

right now... I'm really sore...
mostly from the no "warm-up"...
[Molly hits the ground, "running"...
and THEN... slows down...]

Wednesday will be the next big test...

MizYBee, dogophile supreme, wants her to come with us to the eye doctor...
I'm not sure that she needs a couple of long car trips...
sandwiching, being surrounded by a lot of people & activity...
so she'll just have to suck it up like the kitties...
and wait for me to get home...

she managed 5 hours today...
Wednesday will probably be a bit longer...



so...all in all...
another day of adjustments for us both...
or as someone jokingly said to me the other day...
"there may be some hope for you yet"...

at this point...
I'm very calm & peaceful in the midst of all of this...
almost like a stunned spectator in my own life... along for the ride...
surprised by grace... and the intricacies of the Master's plan...
so I know Who's behind all this change...
and it's all OK with me... God is good, indeed...

...make that 1 in 2,000,000

I thought that cats were supposed to be the ones...
that were finicky about their food...

after napping well into the afternoon...
[we did go "outside" once... between naps...]
I figured that Molly had to be hungry...

so after distracting the always opportunistic felines...
by feeding them in the office...

I opened a can of Nutro Max lamb & rice...
and put a few spoonfuls in with about a cup of dry[same formula]...
and presented it to Molly in her new bowl...

I have NEVER seen what then transpired...

I had taken the collar off so she could eat...
she sniffed the food... snorted...
and started rubbing her muzzle on her bed ...

back & forth...
almost like honing a knife on a steel...
as if she wanted to cover up the food...
just like when they bury stuff in the dirt...
except she was trying to "cover" it with her bed...

I didn't care for the smell of the canned food...
but had to physically remove Sneaky Pie from the dish...
as she kept trying to get at it...

but since Molly didn't seem to like it...
I opened a can of "lamb & rice stew"[organic and $$$]
I put a bit of that on top of the food in the dish...
I offered it to her...she literally turned up her nose...

so I set it down... replaced her collar...and stepped back...

and the next thing I know...
Mattie, feline crunchie connoisseur... and snob...
[he doesn't like "canned"anything...
unless it's "people" tuna...]
swooped in ...
and started chowing down...

right under Molly's nose...



now, mind you... Miz Minka had told me...
that Molly had no food aggression issues...
that she had eaten dry food from MM's hand...
and that Molly had a "gentle mouth"...

but even as mellow as she's been with the kitties...
I NEVER expected to see any thing like this...


shaking my head in disbelief...
I went off for a sinus headache abating nap...

when I woke up...it was after 6 and getting dark...
I got up...thinking that Molly would need to go out...

I put the remnants of the expensive...
& apparently, not fit for canine consumption dinner...
on a plastic plate...

noticing the absence of any gravy or flavorful elements...
of which there had been a bunch...
and the plethora of gray chunks and licked-clean crunchies...
as well as a total absence of felines...
a sure sign of feline depredations...



so it will sit here until I'm sure...
that the kitties have had their way with it...
then I'll throw it out...
and not for the critters...
it would encourage raccoons again...

Molly was "dancing"... and eager to go out...
so I attached the lead...
and out we went...

she practically ran down the steps...
and hurried me down the street...
finding a spot that suited her...
she was relieving herself...

when from across the street...

I heard someone say, "catch Molly...
before she goes across the street"...
and looked up to see a Chihuahua puppy...
about as big as a minute...
come barking towards us...

the "other" Molly was captured and leashed...

my Molly wasn't trembling as she had at the vet's..
when other dogs were around...
and so we went on our way...

fast...

at first I thought the encounter had unnerved her...
as she was practically sprinting down the street...
with me managing to keep up...just barely...

suddenly...she darted up onto a lawn...
and squatted... as she took care of business...
I looked around, hoping that no one was home...
and made a mental note to carry plastic bags on walks from now on...

that burden "lifted"...
we went on around the "long course"...
moving at a much less "urgent" pace now...
passing a number of cats...
that I've come to know in the area...
all out for their early evening prowls...

they always would greet me...but not tonight...
on the other hand...
Molly saw them... but didn't "alert"...
as dogs often do when "prey" is sighted...
so my "friends" sat & watched as we passed...
instead of running & hiding as they might have...
if Molly had been aggressive towards them...

other people and dogs were another matter...

she definitely noticed the other dogs...
one across the street in the park with their person...
and another beagle who with it's owner...
met us face to face near a corner...

the beagle brayed...
Molly got a little nervous...
but she calms when I tell her, "it's OK..."

so after assuring the other dog walker...
that Molly was NOT aggressive...
we passed without incident...
or any of the fear I'd seen from her before...

we rounded the corner onto our street...
and headed for home...

we came in...

I offered her the dry puppy food...
that she had eaten the first night...



not interested...

an hour or so later...

still not hungry...

I guess I can understand that...

tomorrow will be another "big step"...
as I'm generally gone for about 6 hours on Sunday...
and I haven't left her alone before...

I'll have to make sure she gets out...
just before I leave for church...

and hopefully tomorrow...
we can find something besides cat food...
that she will eat...

...lazy Saturday

it was cloudy all day yesterday...
OK...overcast...socked-in...
with a 90 % chance of our first rain overnight...
the air was heavy... humid...[for NorCal anyway...]

I didn't hear the rain last night...
but this morning...
when I went out to go get Molly from the vet's...
it was wet...
& I've heard intermittent sprinkles since...

the heaviness is gone...
it's still quite overcast...
though the sun peeks through once in a while...
only to disappear behind the regathered gloom..

there is a freshening breeze...
stirring the dampened foliage...
that holds hopes for more rain...
washing away the remnant of the collected summer dust...

so I got to the vet's...
& they brought Molly out of the back...
wearing the big Elizabethan collar...

as soon as she heard my voice...
she started wagging her tail...
came to me and leaned against me, seeming to say...
"I knew you'd be back to get me..."

she had had "the works"...
all the more poignant, since she was pregnant...

if she had gone to Animal Control...
as shy of men as she is...
AND... being "with puppies"...
there wouldn't have been a happy ending...

moment by moment...she's more relaxed...
more... "at home" here with me...

I must admit... I NEVER saw myself as a "dog Mom"...
[I guess that makes MM & Mr GT..."dog God-parents"...]
but I found myself getting excited for her return...
and about giving her the best home I can...

she had trouble getting into the car...
[I had to lift her...]
and since my car is a coupé [2 door]...
I told her to stay in the front seat...
and she did...instead of climbing into the back like usual...
[she won't be on