Feathered Friend

This morning I took my sweet Multi to have her teeth cleaned. She was not a happy camper and while I know that Dr. Mead and his staff were going to take the best care of her, I felt guilty because she was so scared. After I left her, I returned home to take care of the rest of the critters before going to work.  I was cleaning the litter boxes when Oliver got up in the window sill and started twitching and watching something outside with intense concentration. When I got to the window, I saw several squirrels running for cover and a squadron of Mockingbirds assembling. Then I saw why. See what is sitting on the back of my truck? Sorry the picture isn't great, but it's through the window and screen and the bird is approximately 25 - 30 feet away.

The Mockingbirds were taking turns buzzing and some of them actually flew into the hawk's back. I got a video, but when I played it, it seems to lurch. Some weird setting on the new camera perhaps, or maybe the playback on my laptop is wonky. I took several pictures and the video and then the camera said "out of memory" and I realized that the memory card was still in my laptop! This new camera has a small amount of internal memory to allow you to take a few photos or small video without a card (so cool!).  So I ran to the living room, go the card and thought maybe I could sneak out the side door and get some better photos. Amazingly, this hawk let me get about 10 feet away, while he was still being dived on by the Mockingbirds.

 

While I was admiring the beauty of this creature, I was also relieved that Bob was inside. At nearly 13 pounds, he is probably too big for the hawk to have gone after, but better safe than sorry.  

Multi is back at home and seems to have forgiven me. The doctor says she has significant gum disease, but no cavities.  She will be on antibiotics for two weeks. He also advised brushing her teeth (I can try!). These were his other suggestions: "You can think of using Biotene either in the water or as a gel, You can add Ester C into her diet ~75mg in her wet food daily. also CoQ10 has been shown to help at 30 mg per day in wet food." I am definitely into the Biotene idea, since it's easy and will be beneficial to all the cats and I will see about the other options. 

I am feeling quite a bit better, but am looking forward to the weekend and hopefully getting back to working on some of my projects. Of course, since I was pretty useless all of last week up until today, I have a ton of house cleaning and a mountain of laundry to do as well. At least laundry can be done while you're getting other stuff accomplished.  I really wish I had someone close by to help me get my craft and sewing stuff organized. Guess I will have to just tackle it myself.

I need to be getting off to bed. I have a Multi and a Diamond who both need some snuggling. There's one more day of work to get through and Fridays are always a little crazy. 

Break through!

It's been six days since I could hear out of both ears normally.  My ear just cleared!!  Wahoo!  I know, not earth shattering news, but it's nice to hear in stereo again (and stop hearing myself). Today was kind of hectic and while I was busy all day, it didn't seem like I got much accomplished. Frustrating.  Once away from the office, the day improved. I got to spend some time with my Mom and our favorite hair guru. Now I have a little time to relax. Oliver is purring in my lap and I have a small project to work on.

In my head

I'm feeling a little better each day. The ear is still blocked / clogged. It's so weird.  I can kind of hear, but it's like having an earplug in and I can hear myself really loudly. Bruce keeps telling me I'm speaking quietly, and I told him, it's because in my head it sounds loud! I hate the sound of my own voice, and when it's amplified in my head and a nasally because of this dumb infection.....  Well, the good thing is the antibiotics are going in and nasty stuff is going out. I'm taking this annoyance philosophically,  that I need to listen better. Not just to people, but to life and myself (even if I don't like the sound of my own voice!). 

I picked up the "Dalmatian Hug" cross stitch from the framer last week, but wasn't feeling up to taking pictures. Some stuff is hard to photograph. Even with my new fancy camera. Another lesson learned or should I say accepted, is that just because I have a wonderful new camera, doesn't mean I take any better pictures... Ha!  I am just all about self awareness today, aren't I? 

 

It's super hard to stage an object to photograph in my house. It seems nearly every square inch is already occupied. I do have plenty of wall space in my living room, but there isn't anything hung there already, and I didn't want to put a random nail in the wall, just to get a picture. The wall space in the living room is reserved for my mermaids. I have started cross stitching a series of them by Mirabilia. I have 3 of them completed, but not framed. You see, I will spend money to finish things for other people, or to donate to the rescue, as is the case with "Dalmatian Hug", but I can't seem to afford to do it for myself.  I have decided that this year, as a gift to myself, I am going to get them framed. One at a time, when I can afford to. Framing is expensive. I do have to say that the ladies that I take my stuff to are the best. For years the only issue I had was Dalmatian hair (Dals shed. A lot.) I had two purebred angels and that hair always seemed to find it's way into all of my projects. I'm pretty good and patient at using the lint roller and tweezers to get the hair out, but there would always be some left in there. Pam, at the Frame Station and Gallery, must be a magician, because she always gets it all out. The last five years has presented even more hair. Cat hair. I think it's worse than the Dal hair. There's more of it (duh, I have seven cats!) and it's so fine, and long that it gets woven in more. Actually, there's hardly and Dal hair at all, since Diamond is a mix and doesn't seem to shed much.

 I've gotten off track (again). I was saying that framing was expensive. I don't mind paying my favorite shop to do it though, if I can. They do a fantastic job, and I've never been displeased with anything they've done. I've thought about taking something to Joann's or Michael's, since they always have great sounding coupons for framing, but then I think about all the time I spent (nearly 300 hours on one piece) and especially, when they are gifts, I'm not going to risk having some 17 year old kid ruin it during his training. Besides, I try to support the small businesses in the area when I can.  I'll dig up the photos of the mermaids to post.  I think I'm going to try and figure out how to make a "Work in Progress" page on here.  I'm still learning! 

Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon

This being sick stuff is getting old.  I have so much stuff I want to do, but I have no energy. Plus there's the coughing and nose blowing and hand washing / sanitizing.... Ugh. And the meds every 4 hours.  I will be calling the doctor in the morning.  The consensus is that I've got a sinus infection.  I've resigned myself to sit in my chair, surrounded by the furbabies and watch the tube or read.  I have my computer and I have some small projects to pick at if I feel so inclined.  Guess I could frog the cross stitch I goofed up.  That is simple and not very labor intensive. Tedious, but sometimes I enjoy that kind of stuff. Color me weird, like that. 

While I was in feeding the cats this morning, I noticed that one of my Plumeria has finally gotten some blooms on it!  I was upset because one of the neighbors down the street had tons of flowers on theirs already a few weeks ago.  I hope that means they will all bloom soon!

 

I love this perky little Purslane I bought a while back. I wish I had a better landscaper (ha! I AM the landscaper).  My yard is not even worthy of the word "yard", really. It's mainly weeds.  I've been fighting them for years.  Our soil here is very sandy and the sun is quite brutal most of the year. I have not had much success with anything I've planted in the ground. The Plumeria are all in large pots. Plus I drag them all in the garage when we have our rare freeze warnings. 

Thought I'd play with the new camera a little. I was going to take some pictures of my miniatures to post, but decided it was too much work right now. Some of them need to be dusted, some need to have the cases removed so the flash won't reflect, etc.  Anyway, while I was looking them over, Oliver decided he would check out the dollhouse.  It's empty and still waiting to be finished (It's only been a 20+ year project) and some of the cats love sleeping in it. Dot is most often found sleeping in the master bedroom of the dollhouse.