Monday, May 26, 2014

Memorial Day and Going Off Line

Hope you have a great Memorial Day. I won't be blogging this week, we've had a family crisis.  I'll be back next week. In the meantime, have a pleasant productive week.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

His Daughter



Have you seen this trailer? Eighteen year old Molly Kate Kestner wrote this in fifteen minutes and recorded it on a cracked i-Phone, accompanying herself on an out-of-tune piano.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Cat Saves Boy

You've probably already seen this trailer. It's hit the internet in a big way. While the actions of Tara the cat surprised a lot of people, I doubt if it surprised many cat folks. There are a lot of cats out there that take people guarding seriously.
When I lived in IN a burglar broke into a woman's house that lived alone. The cat didn't bother the man until the burglar started upstairs where the woman was sleeping. At that point, the cat attacked. The burglar escaped but left a trail of spattered blood behind him.
Homer, a blind cat, woke his keeper by growling and hissing. The woman found a strange man standing at the foot of her bed. While he was distracted by the cat, she called 9-1-1. At that point, he turned and ran out with the cat in pursuit.
A Texas woman was attacked by two pit bulls. Her cat launched herself into the fray, giving the woman's husband time to get his wife to safety.
And on the home front: Years back, I was trying to get my declawed cat in the house because a big dog was running loose. I got him in the house and then before I could get in myself the dog jumped on my back. I really don't think he would have hurt me, but I'm sure both animals could sense my fear. The cat came hurling out of the house and ran the dog off.
Another time: When our daughter was two years old, she'd wandered out into a cornfield. The hh was frantic, he called and called but she wouldn't answer. Luckily, Bruce (the declawed cat) stuck by her side like glue. Every time my husband called for our daughter, the cat meowed. And that was how he found her. We were young and stupid and shouldn't have let a declawed cat outside. But it never slowed him down. He climbed trees and attacked dogs.  He rode several out of the yard.
When it comes to man (woman or a child)'s best friend, dogs have some serious competition.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Monday, May 19, 2014

A Mother's Day Tale and Monday

So my Mother's Day gift from my son arrived the Friday before Mother's Day: chocolate-covered strawberries. My daughter called and said she'd ordered my Mother's Day gift and had paid extra to get it there on time but had inadvertently sent it to herself. Uh Huh. She decided she must have wanted a Miss M's Day. The company that she ordered from took pity on her and let her keep what she'd inadvertently (Uh Huh) sent to her address and sent another to me, which would arrive on Tuesday. In the meantime, on Mother's Day, I had the sibs call and wish her a Happy Miss M's Day:). Tuesday arrived, I got home and felt like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. There setting on the counter was, you guessed it. A box of chocolate-covered strawberries.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

New Cover

Lookie, Lookie. How do you like my new cover?

Man with his constant desire to enslave and assert his will has destroyed the earth. Now, in the aftermath, two factions vie for power. Man, who did not learn from his mistakes, and Odin Cats.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

We've Got The House Showing Blues

Show of hands, who's been on the market? If so you know what I'm talking about.  It's craziness and to add to the pain, I'm not in a huge hurry to sell right now. There's nowhere to go in our area, at least not that I've found in our price range.  This is the kind of response we've been getting from the showings: "Needs work, inside and out, overpriced, we'll be back for a second showing." Really?
And since I've been taking Friday's off, yup you guessed it , Friday morning showings. Who house hunts on Friday mornings? Apparently, everyone in our area.  We got a call at 7:40 p.m. the other night wanting to show the house at 8:00 p.m.  Then we got a call to show it on Mother's Day.  On the plus side, it's good incentive to keep the house clean:)

~*~

Too Cute

Monday, May 12, 2014

Monday

Did you have a wonderful Mother's Day? I want to hear all about it. I got to see the Grands this weekend so you know mine was good.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Scarlett The Quintessential Mom

I blog this post nearly every year on Mother's Day. To my way of thinking, Scarlett was the quintessential mom. Her story never fails to touch me. Like many single mom's today, she was completely on her own with no one to turn to, no one to help care for her babies. And she rose to the occasion This little cat risked her life over and over to save her kittens.

In March of 1996, a homeless cat (Scarlett) was raising her little brood in an abandoned garage believed to be a crack house in Brooklyn. A fire broke out and firefighters arrived to put it out. As they got the fire under control, one firefighter by the name of David Giannelli noticed a calico cat laying outside the building with her young kittens. Fur singed off, paws and ears burnt, eyes blistered shut, the brave little calico had made the trip back into the building five times until she'd gotten out all of her kittens.

Touched by her heroism, the firefighter took her and her little family to the North Shore Animal League in New York. As he carefully placed them in a box to transport them, the courageous calico, unable to see,  nudged each kitten to make sure they were all there, then collapsed.

The story of this little kitty's heroism soon spread around the world. The league received over seven thousand offers to adopt Scarlett and her kittens. At the time, I lived in Indiana and placed a call to the League to see how Scarlett was doing. I was told she'd had offers of adoption from as far away as Japan. Sadly, one of the kittens didn't make it, but the remaining four kits were adopted out to forever homes. Scarlett was rewarded for her heroism by being adopted into a family that loved and cossetted her the remainder of her days.

Scarlett died in October 2008.

Her heroism never fails to humble me. Happy Mother's Day, Scarlett.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO EACH AND EVERY WONDERFUL MOM OUT THERE WHOSE FAMILY CONSIDERS HER THEIR HERO.



Friday, May 9, 2014

It's The Weekend

"I think we are like stars. Something happens
to burst us open; but when we burst open
and think we are dying; we're actually turning
into a supernova. And then when we look
at ourselves again, we see that we're suddenly
more beautiful than we ever were before!"
--C. JoyBell C.

Have an extraordinary weekend, everyone.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Tuesday's Tip

Thanks, Janet.
http://www.bestyummyrecipes.com/category/recipes/

Hmm, I think I could manage this. Now if I could just find someone to make some homemade chocolate chip cookies to fill it with.


Monday, May 5, 2014

It's Monday

Why can't the weekend be five days and the work week two? Just saying...

Thanks for the pic, Rye.

How was your weekend? Did you do anything mega exciting. Me...still working on edits.

Did you see the story about the widow who lost her $280,000 home because she owed six dollars in back taxes? Six dollars. Really? If you haven't read the story and wish to read more here's the link: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/north/2014/04/29/She-lost-her-home-again-because-she-owed-6-30/stories/201404290111

Vanessa Morgan is giving away a copy of Akasha and cat toys for the winner's cat @ her Traveling Cats Blog. Ever  been there? If you're a cat person, I recommend it. It's a fun blog to visit.
http://travelling-cats.blogspot.be/2014/05/cat-from-statesville-usa.html Thanks, Vanessa.  
Don't forget to check out the contest page on the right for current contests.

I should have bought a lottery ticket. This was my lucky weekend. Deer came in the backyard. They were close enough, you could see the spots on the fawn. A red cardinal in a nearby tree added to the view. Apologies for the poor quality of the picture. It was nearly dark and taken with my phone through the screened in porch. Sunday, I saw a barn owl.( Also taken with my phone. I've got to get a decent camera!) We've lived here fourteen years and hear them nightly, but this was the first sighting. He really blends. If you don't see him at just the right angle, you don't see him at all. And...I saw a bluebird!


 

Friday, May 2, 2014

Weekend

Kiss Me, Baby, It's The Weekend
Enjoy yours, blogster buds.
Thanks for sharing the pic, Rye. 

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Fox Domestication

Did you see the article on the abandoned puppy that turned out to be an abandoned black fox? It reminded me of an article I'd read in National Geographic. For years, there has been a scientific experiment running in Russia to domesticate foxes. These researchers started in the 1950s and have almost managed what it took thousands of years to do with dogs: full domestication. Their foxes crave attention from humans. When held, they lick your face and wag their tail. The problem: there is little to no money for the research. The foxes are being sold to fur farms or euthanized. A handful are being sold as pets to the US and Russia. Is  it right? Is it wrong? Personally, I find the study fascinating, but bottom line: I'm against any type of animal experimentation that's detrimental to the animal.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/03/domesticated_foxes_in_siberia_an_experiment_in_peril_.html