Coffee...and for July 25, 2006

Coffee...and for July 25, 2006 We came from over here: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/629929/

Well, you all know that I am freezing corn today, so sorry, can't stay and chat, but help yourselves to the coffee, and tea, nothing on the counter contributed by me, hopefully someone will bring something with them.

Today is DH birthday, and I am taking him out tonight for a big steak dinner. So have to get the work done, and then "dolled" up for the special occasion.

Sit and talk all you like, I will be "listening in" from my position by the stove.

This message was edited Jul 25, 2006 12:21 AM

Well, just checking in before I hit the hey. Had a bath so don't have that *&$$ splint on right now so can type! LOL

Defoe ... I don't know where in the world you get your energy from, but how bout figuring out how to bottle the stuff and passing it around at coffee! :-)

Ann, sorry about your concert. Sounds like you will be busy with all the others on your schedule, though. Glad you got your car fixed. It's great you have public transportation in Canada. That's unheard of in rural Ga.

Maria, if you're reading this ... I've tried bunches of times to return your calls but for some reason they won't go through. I'm just so so sorry I keep missing them. My cell phone has had an accident, though ... and seems to be losing it's brain, so please try the house instead. I'll be gone tomorrow morning but will be back tomorrow p.m. Check your Email. :-)

McCool, so sorry to hear about your kitty. It's so hard to know our furbabies are suffering. I know how those vet bills can play havoc with the pocketbook. My last dog was sick for a year and was in intensive care for 2 weeks. He was *my life* ... 14 years old ... had had him 13 years. He was *everything* to me. I know you understand what I mean. Anyway, that's enough sad for tonight.

Okay, it's late and I can't remember what else I've read. Gotta get this bod in the bed. :-)

Hugs all way round.

I too. am off to bed early tonight. Took my Auntie for her INR Protime check, My Mom and I went to Earnies for pie cherries and potatoes. My DM was quite impressed with their yarde. I pick 400 cherries for Earnie's next pie. Came home with my niece to do a few chores & back out to the county (by Earnies) so my DH and DB could cut 4 spruce trees down for friends. Anyone in need of spruce cones? Came back home..did a little outside work now off to bed. My DSinL and I are trying to find something cool to do tomorrow. Maybe Birchbay or the Birchbay Water Slides. Wish I could back a trailer, I'd take the boat out!
Thanks again Ernie! PS..who's the cutie in the garden?
Karen
....Oh my!! Being attacked by LARGE yellow feline who wants out! Too bad, off to the front sunroom Mr. Duke for the evening, if your going to bug me. I don't like him playing with Mr. Rackie Coon late in the evenings..... I don't need any parties at my house. He likes to sleep with us unless he's "in a Mood" then he stands on his hind legs and grabs the door knob with his paws to turn it! He will also find anything in my room that he can crinkle, he knows I will awaken...
Forgot to add a couple pics we took out by Ernie's after killing the trees.

This message was edited Jul 24, 2006 11:38 PM

Hi everyone, I'm just checking in quickly before going to bed. Today turned into a crazy day and tomorrow looks like it will start out the same. I have to be in town by 8am to have a new power steering pump installed on the old pickup. The sheep have rearragned the hot fence but somehow it didn't register this afternoon and evening and they stayed where they should be, but I don't trust them for tomorrow, so to be on the safe side I need to turn them out into the big pasture (where they were a few days ago and unhappy about it) early in the morning before I go to town. They might find it new and exciting after 3 days in the orchard, or at least satiflying until late afternoon when I will be home again to be sure they don't escape,. They eat early in the morning, then bed down until about 4:30 or 5, and after that they get up to eat and wander. The owner will be gone all day and I have a cow to watch who will probably choose tomorrow to have her calf, and I also need to be riding both horses, and of course that will be in the heat of the day so I will bake my brains again, but it can't be helped.

I got the garden watered today, and spent about an hour on the phone with a friend who is having problems with another mutual friend. I was trying to talk with her and not cremate dinner at the same time. It's akward when somebody wants to help and gets put down again and again because our mutual friend is depressed and married to an very difficult man, which triggers these negative episodes. She takes her frustrations out on everyone, and so my advice to the friend who called me is to stay away from her as much as possible. I'm not heartless, but have had 4 years of dealing with the situation whereas my other friend has only had one year of it. And she is more sensitive than I am. My advice to her is to avoid the other friend as much as possible without hurting her feelings. That's what I have been doing for the past couple of years. That approach is working with me because now when I see her things are almost always positve, and I stay in control of the situation by having someplace else I have to be and not letting myself be trapped when she is being emotionally abusive. Some people don't want help, they just want to lash out at anyone nearby when they are upset, which in this case is most of the time. The poor lady had no friends because she drives them away. There are limits on what myself or even a therapist would tolerate. Sometimes I just want to tell her to snap out of it.

Darius, my guess is that Gracie might be in early labor if a hungry cat is not interested infood then there is something stirring. You might be a "grandmother" by the time you read this!

McCool, I hope that your kitty can be helped without breaking the bank. It's hard to put a price on medical care for them, but there are limits. I guess setting the limits before the animal is sick is a good system, but when the heart (of the owner) is involved it is difficult.

My kitchen looks like the local disaster area and I'm going to bed, (it will be there in the morning) and after all, the Queen isn't coming anytime soon. I hope you all have a restful night. Your half baked friend, Mary

Mt Baker view from by Ernie's house

Nasty Looking cloud over Canada

Before

DORK! I just locked myself out of the house when I went to turn off sprinkler! Opened the garage, almost killed myself coming through all the "to get rid" stuff at the front!
DH in grey and DB in blue, working hard after work...what troopers:) Now I really am off to be!

Morning all. Well I didn't forget how to post pics after sleeping. There may be hope for me yet.
Got up at 4:30 to find my daughter and her friend still up. Friend had her phone glued to her ear. Everytime I looked at her yesterday my phone was glued to her.
Understand I'm not a nice person first thing in am before my 2nd cup of coffeel I mad her get off the phone now. She doesn't need to come to my house and tie up our phone. Go home use your parents phone. Not mine. Now they decide to go to bed. Well hafta make sure I vaccumn the hall about 7am. Thats what DM did to me when I tayed up all night. I learned real quick not to get on DM nerves before coffee. There is no nice sweet mom before coffee. Not in this house


My Dropmore honeysuckle vine. blurry I know.

This message was edited Jul 25, 2006 5:18 AM

Morning everyone...had about two drops of rain fall - just enough for me to lug all my pots out into the open - then it stopped!

Have no plans today other than a chinese dinner with my folks. I'm debating visiting some greenhouses...or maybe just starting some zinnea seeds. Decisions, decisions.

Received some pics from a friend of our 40th class reunion (I didn't attend), but can't figure out how to open them. drat. She said everyone one looked so old and fat. I told her to go look in the mirror LOL

Guess I better go try figure it out BBL

I am up and in relatively good shape today..so far. LOL Already been out for my walk and watered a few things in pots under the front porch. The rest of it will get rain today I think. It has been raining almost everyday here lately. I am so glad, too. The creek that runs by our house was dry and we were really in a bad drought until about 2 weeks ago. This rain is so much better for the plants than plain old water from the hose. All of my gardens have just exploded since we have been getting more rain. Actually I think I need to cut some things back. My roses havent done anything this year and all of a sudden they are climbing up the side of the house! Chocolate mint is putting off new little sprouts like you wouldnt believe and you can just imaginge the tomatoes and peppers!

Sarv - LOL about the class reunion pics. I wonder what people from my class look like now. Have run into a few of them and you're right .. They do look old! HA! I wonder how I escaped that?! Just kidding.

Okay well I have to go now and wake up DS from the dead and get him up and moving. LOL No one in our house is much of a morning person. I'd still be snoozing myself if I didnt have to work today.

Good morning,

Class reunions - well I'm due for a 45th next year, but they are debating whether to have it or not. I guess the locals who alwasy get stuck with the brunt of the organization didn't think the turn-out for the 40th was high enough. I DID go to the 40th - I can get there in a 5 hour drive and still have people I can stay with in the area. In general, I found the gals looked pretty good, but the guys had aged quite a bit.
Hope you are able to get your pic open.

Better go get breakfast and figure out my day. Am working on concerts a Noon, 5 and 8. Problem is parking for the first two and getting home after the last if I don't take a car. Gotta think this one through.

Have a good day.

Ann

Hi all-I have to run for allergy shots and a day of racing around in the car :-(

cece-our garden shots are just beautiful! DGers are so inspiring!

Ann-Sorry the concert was a disappointment

Mary-Are the sheep "immune" to the shock because of their fleece? Or maybe they get shocked and forget unlike norses (and me!!). I hate "baking my brains out" so have simply declared it too hot/humid to ride lately. Lazy I guess! RE: the depressed friend, I agree. My sister had me in that position for 40 years...and nothing I said/did was going to make a difference if it hadn't by then. I have sympathy too, but sometimes I wonder if making people go "cold turkey" with their problems would give them more incentive to make the changes they have to.

McCool-Sorry about the cat bills. Our old guy (16) has ear polyps, receding gums, all sorts of "little" maintenance things. But at least he's friendly.

Hope those who need rain get it, and those who are baking get some cool breeze, and those who are hurting feel better!!~~~~~~~~~~~

Good morning all. I am not a morning person usually, but with so much to be done today, I have already got a kettle of corn on the stove. Thought DH was gonna help me, but after lifting the heavy kettle to the stove for me, informed me that he is helping his DB, the one who always abuses him. Yeah, gonna take the name Bother in Law for this one also. Oh, well, can't complain, mainly because there is no one here to listen.

Will check back in later. Sorry, no comments again this morning. ~~~~ to all.

Morning All! Finally got a good rain yesterday. I thought it was going to pass us by again with all the rumbling and ocassional lightning. But then about 7:30 it hit. Came down in buckets. Weeds sprouted even higher. Grass doesn't look as crunchy. Ground doesn't feel as hard to walk on. That has to be my imagination.

McCool sorry about Tangerine being sick. That is always a hard decision. My Kitty[real name] had liver failure. The vet gave me expensive medicine and said this will fix him!!!Out and out lied to me! Why he didn't tell me the truth. In the long run that would of been easier. We had Kitty a few more days before I had to make the dreaded decision. Good luck!!

Again cece I'm so proud of you. Great place!!
Better go and do a walkabout. Might have some cukes ready.

BBL Vicki

Good Morning GOB's... I've been up and about for quite a while... may have to go back to having morning coffee once I find my coffee pot (which I suspect is still in storage in NC). I have my espresso pot but I'd hate to start the day with a jolt.

Mike and I picked maybe a little more than a gallon of wineberries last evening, and I juiced them before bedtime. I have between 6 and 8 cups of juice now in the freezer for jelly later. The berries look like raspberries but have a wonderfully tart taste. I may have to grow some!

Finally found out what company owns the 250 gallon propane tank here. I had thought to buy maybe 100 gallons as a back up heat source but they want $60 per year just for the tank rental. Not worth it to me. The gas logs are unvented and not good for my lungs, so they will come get the tank this week. My woodstove will go where the gas logs are now and I will sell the gas logs and mantle.

Gracie seems more "normal" this morning and was hungry. I haven't checked to see how much she ate.

It's rainy and yucky so inside work today. Maybe I will get all the boxes of my clothing unpacked and perhaps start unpacking dishes. BUT FIRST (LOL) I have to go buy some shelf liner material. It would be a good day to do some jam and jelly making except I just don't feel like it. Sure wish I had a dishwasher to sterilize jars... it would free up some space on the stovetop when I'm canning.

Defoe, sometimes I wish I had a huge freezer and could just blanch and freeze stuff. Power outages are so common here in the mountains that I worry about losing food I have frozen. I've only been here about 6 weeks and the power has gone off at least 20 times. Not for very long each time, but who knows what winter will bring?

BBL

Darius, maybe Cafe Con Leche with "cuban" toast made in the sandwich grill with a rock on top? Remember? About the only thing I miss about Miami.
Pati

Never had that toast but lots of tasitas (cuban coffee) and cafe con leche! I miss cuban sandwiches and a lot of other cuban foods.

DEFO----- If you do not have a Bass Pro shop close then maybe go to the nearest fishing store containing a large stock of fishing supplies. I am sure he would enjoy that as much as all htis dolling up stuff.

SARV----- Seems kind of silly to be counting the rain drops.

oh oz - I am silly -you know that. I got up and had flax seed toast/peanut butter and then thought what the heck - got out the ice cream and made myself a sundae - starting the day out right!! And now you can really say 'how silly'!! LOL Did I mention that I almost bought myself a covered butter dish (that I have been wanting for years!!) Went to an antique place while on vacation and they had one, but upon examination, it had a chip in the base...boo hoo - I didn't get it...maybe someday....

Someone whack me with the 2x4. I did something so stupid..Decided to highlight my hair. I ususally don one of DH old tee shirts. But since I've never dripped anything on myself, I kept on the new shirt I had just gotten. And wouldn't you know it, a huge gob of the bleach stuff fell on my front and I grabbed a towel to wipe it off- Ruined two things.

oops buzzer is telling me to rinse the goop off. BBL

Oz, we do have one, in Southern Indiana, may have to wait for the weekend to get there though.

Good for those who needed rain and got it. Sorry about those needing rain and DIDN'T get it.

Who just learned to post pics? cc, maybe, congratulations, now you can play all you want.

Darius, that juice sounds good, why not just leave it in the freezer, until some cold winter morning, and make the jam, lift your spirits, and send the fragrance all over the house.

Viann,sorry you didn't enjoy the concert, maybe today's will be better.

Sommermoone, glad you got some of Ernie's cherries, and potatoes. The pic without the trees, looks like an entirely different place.

Sarv, I never rush out to move things into the rain, because it always stops. My rule of thumb, it has to rain at least 15 minutes before I exert myself moving plants.

Mary hope you don't have to be a midwife today!! and hope the sheep behave and stay where they belong.

~~~ to ves, katym and pattischell.

Got the corn done, the kitchen cleaned and now have laundry going. Had 24 pints of corn. Doesn't sound like much, but it sure makes a mess. I decided to do it inside, and then had to sweep and mop all those corn kernels that I dropped.

Well, will not get out and do my "morning walk" as I haven't had time yet. Better hurry, or it will be an "afternoon walk".

BBL

McCool, sorry about your elderly furby. Making end of life decisions is not easy, but if you are going to have to get a 2nd or 3rd job to pay vet bills, ???

dmc, horses don't ever forget to avoid the electric fence once they have touched it!!

Taking a break from unpacking my clothes, linens, etc. Whatever person that helped me pack (I think it was me) was an idiot! I found 3 tubes of caulk in with my box of jackets, jigsaw puzzles in with underwear, tea candles in with my tee shirts. Lordy what a heaped up mess.

Looks like my gas logs and mantle new would run around $1800 or more. Hope I can get half that for them as they are in good shape.

Defoe, good suggestion about saving the berry juice for a winter morning. I might save the frozen peaches and raspberries for Peach Melba until then, too. Except I'm running out of freezer space until my sister moves here and brings my upright freezer. Of course, I could eat the ice cream in there, LOL.

it seems it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. I keep forgetting to put this on my watched list. LOL Just checking in to say hi ... will try to pop back in later.
waving for now.
... Elaine

had horrible night had to go get Jessica at 11:30 pm.. step dad went had another rage told her to get out. daughter was at work.. so bad scene..have her though so to recue once more..

Sheila Canadian border patrol is a daylilly.. loved it..

van not checked yet.. so waiting heat is awful heat index they said was 105-to 108.. no one heads throbbing like was used for a drum..Take care in heat..

Twyla

Hey! Been MIA for a few days. Have been lurking and reading, but just didn't jump in and chatter. We had a great weekend weatherwise last weekend, so you know where I was. Outside enjoying the fresh air. Now it's getting hot and humid again.

It was confirmed yestereday that co-workers DH has more cancer. They found it in 3 places this time. Very very sad.

Cece - Congrats on getting pics posted. Very pretty!

Darius - I just love wineberries. Here they are supposed to be considerd an invasive species. We have several areas of them on the farm. DBIL makes a compote that we eat on ice cream. Yummm! I have never made anything else out of them. Just eat them plain.

Somermoone - What a beautiful picture from Ernies.

Twyla - Hope you are drinking lots of water to keep hydrated in that heat.

~~~~ to everyone else. Have to get back to work. Kinda busy for the next day or so. Hope you all are having a good afternoon! See ya!

Hi all
Anyone else need a cup of coffee beside me? Think I'll go fix a fresh pot and then I'll come back to comment on some of what I've missed.

Twyla, hope you feel better soon.

Didja miss me? Flew out of here this morning at 6:45 and golfed with a woman from my league and an acquaintance of hers, we're planning to do this on Tuesdays. It rained last night, but stayed cloudy while we golfed and didn't get too hot. Supposed to rain some more tonight and tomorrow, plants are loving it. Well water just doesn't have the same effect.

Hey, Darius, whoever helped you pack took lessons at the Fill the Box to the Top School of Express Packing! LOL Back in the day when my ex was in radio, (media people move all the time, just watch the news!) we knew a family on the go...her name was Norma, and she could pack her entire household in one day, and they had three kids! No kidding!

Dishes went into the automatic washer with towels and linens packed around them, she had all kinds of clever tricks. Since she also unpacked in a day, there were no surprises found in unopened boxes. Needless to say, there were no pictures on the walls or knick knacks, they had a spartan lifestyle due to his frequent job changes! Often wonder if they ever settled down in one place.

Until you get the A/C installed I'd freeze the juice and eat the ice cream!!
(Sarv and I are here to help!)

Sarv, I have learned not to wear anything of value while I mess with my hair! Sometimes those globs just fly where the most damage can be done. DD does my roots, but I do the highlighting and that will take color out of almost anything. Good thing the floor is tile! Talked to a gal at the little salon up the road about a perm, and I'm going in Friday for a consult! We'll see if I get wavy or shorn. She sounded knowledgable so I'm going to take a chance. Maybe Uncle Sam will send my allowance on time, It comes on a different day every time. There's about a five day range for direct deposit.

McCool, if Tangerine is in kidney failure, there really isn't much that can be done, except for prolonging a miserable unhappy life. If it is some other kind of kidney problem, the prospects are not much better but the vet will keep her going as long as you keep paying. Hobbes had renal failure last summer about this time, and we had him hydrated once, but knowing the prognosis pushed me into doing the right thing. He was actually beginning to smell bad from the accumulating ketones that the kidneys weren't able to filter out. You'll make the right decision. If his quality of life had been better, I would have considered the hydration done by me at home, but he was a very unhappy fellow, and I felt so bad for him.

I might suggest to Oz that all this beautification isn't intended for the DH's in our lives, as much as they would like to think so. I'm not sure any of them notice much outside of their own interests. I just want to be able to look in the mirror in the morning without being frightened out of my wits.

I could comment more, but I'm suffering from brain freeze (and sticker shock, went to the supermarket and my bill was an eye popper!) so I'm going to give a ~~~ to all and go stick my head in the freezer and see if I brought home anything good to make for dinner. Or supper. LOL

Later,
Sheila

Well, got the corn frozen, and 3 loads of laundry done. I am now tackling hulling a bucket of lima beans, this is for tomorrow's canning/freezing.

DH and DGD went with his DB to a horse event tonight. They left about 1:00, and probably won't be in before midnight. So I had a stuffed baked potato and a burrito for supper.

Hope everybody has air conditioning, as we are heading back into those sweltering "dog days" 89 here today, with temps rising as the week goes on.

Well, will be back later.

Hi everyone. Day is almost over and I'm just getting here. I took the old pickup to town this morning and it took them 2 1/2 hours to do the repair. You'd think that a power steering unit would last more than 29 years now wouldn't you? We have owned the truck for about 25 of it's years so we know what has and hasn't been done to it. Ole Blue has no AC so it was windows open all the way home.

94 out there at last look but with a nice breeze for drying the laundry! The 3rd load will be ready to hang out anytime, and the first 2 will already be dry. This time of year I can hang clothes any time and even jeans will be dry overnight.

When we had a sick kitty I felt so sorry for him (and myself thinking about letting him go) and was trying to keep him going, but one day it dawned on me that although I would have a few bad days over putting him to sleep, he wasn't ever going to have any more good days. That made it easier. When we grieve I think it is for ourselves, kind of a loss of friendship thing. They are better off.

Blessings on you Twyla, for going to the rescue of your granddaughter (I'm guessing). Stepfathers are often not a bit interested in the new kids that come with a marriage. My stepdad told my sister and I that we just came with Mom and he would feed and clothe us, etc, but we were just an unimportant part of the package. He wasn't abusive, but certainly could have done without us. There wasn't any love lost from us to him either. How old is Jessica? Will she live with you now?

Darius, juice sounds good. I have thawed juice in the middle of the winter to make jam and it sure does make the house smell wonderful.

Got to hang more laundry. ~~~ to the rest of you. Stay cool and drink lots of water.

Well I managed to get off work a little earlier today and have just finished reading all of your posts for the day so far. Came through an awful rain storm on the way home from work.

Someone mentioned a co-worker's friend w/ cancer. I have a co-worker whose sister has breast cancer. Had a lump removed last week and went to the oncologist today to find out that it is also in her lymph nodes. So now she has to undergo the chemo as well. She mentioned that she had opted to take it orally via a pill instead of through an IV. Didnt know they could do that. Anyway, I sure did hate to hear that.

So sorry to hear about the sick cat, McCool. Hope everything goes as well as can be expected.

Sarv- the last time I did at-home highlights, I got my DH to do them and it was the best my hair has ever looked. I was scared to let him, but usually I would have a girlfriend help and had none available so I asked him and he said he would do the whole thing. I was worried what it would look like, but told myself I could always color over it if it didnt work out. Could not believe he did such a good job!!

Will check back in later, got to go fix something for these bottomless pits to eat!! LOL

Hi all
Well, I promised to come back and try to catch up a bit, so here I am. LOL

The DH wasn't here for supper tonight so I had a microwave sweet potato with some of that yummy cinnamon butter on it. Actually I was disappointed in it. Won't buy it again. Would rather have my Splenda with a sprinkling of cinnamon. The DH put that in the buggy as a surprise cause I always get cinnamon butter on my sweet potato when we go out to a restaurant. Had some of that fake crab meat and a few sautéed shrimp and a tossed salad to go with it.

McCool, I really am sorry for what you're going through with poor Tangerine. Like I told you the other night ... I had to put Caleb to sleep, and it was absolutely the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. But I agree with Mary. I kept watching him ... and after all the things he had done for me over the past 13 years, I felt like if he could have talked he would have said ... "Mama it's okay ... I'm tired now, and my bones hurt, and I've served you well. Please help me get rid of this horrible pain. You need someone else to help you now." Anyway, even now as I type it makes me cry but I know he's in a better place. I've probably told y'all, but I gave him one more good brushing, cause he sure did love to be brushed. Later, about 2 weeks ... the DH came up to me and handed me a little zip lock bag. Inside there was some dog hair in it. He put his arms around me and said ...
"I know you can't go back and look at all the pics we have of Caleb, so when you get lonesome and need to feel close to him ... just slip your hand in here and feel this hair. I collected it from the trash where you brushed him that last time. I thought you'd like to have it, and it might bring you comfort. There's been many a time when I was missing my fella that I've done just that ... opened up that baggy reached inside and all those memories of our 13 years together come tumbling back. It has brought me a lot of comfort as silly as it might sound.

My DH is gentle and good like that.

Okay, didn't mean to get so serious. I'll be back to finish speaking to everyone.

Catching up on all the posts but with CRS I can't remember who did what, so cannot reply appropriately.

Got about 20 boxes unpacked and put away. Only a few hundred more to go, LOL. (Seems like that many anyway.) Always surprized at what old cherished things I find when I unpack even if it's a ratty tee shirt some good friend gave me eons ago. Never got to the kitchen stuff but did KP the kitchen except for the floor.

Tomorrow could be a busy day with my one lane bridge. Supposedly the HVAC people are coming, AND the propane man to remove the tank, AND Mike with his trailer to mow.

I put a spot of old carpet out for Gracie up against her two cardboard boxes at right angles to each other. She's using the litter box, eating okay, drinking enough water and the boxes on their sides give her protection from any blowing rains on the porch. She seems to favor the dark corner where the 2 boxes overlap. She was gone about 2 hours today and I had visions of kitties under the deck where I couldn't get to them, but now she's back on the porch. Maybe she hunts? She's still poofy so she hasn't hidden kittens somewhere.

MaryE, I need to do laundry and hang it out... just waiting for a dry day! I love the smell of line-dried laundry. My sister will probably hate it and buy a dryer.

Defoe... WHERE do you get the energy? Send me some! Or you and MaryE both send me some!

IO1, you made me cry... probably because I miss my old puppy so much too.

Gonna check Chat, might be back later...

Made me cry too. It's a burdensome love we have for our pets, and we carry it to the end of our days. There's still a basket in the small bathroom, where Oskar curled up and slept, in his last days. I went in there the other day and thought I should take out the towel and throw it in the wash....and I couldn't do it. I just sat down, patted the towel and cried. And left it there. People who don't have pets or companions do not understand that bond. But, for all the heartache when we lose them, none of us would have given up the experience of having had them.

Elaine, your DH is a prize, what a thoughtful thing for him to do. He's a keeper for sure.

Now I've got brain freeze and the sniffles so I'm going to say good night.
Sheila

Hi all,

I01, you were making me cry as well and I've never even been a "dog person". Thanks everyone for the kind words. I should have been clearer in my last post. Tangerine is at the "drinks a lot, pees a lot" stage and doesn't seem to be suffering that much with the dehydration. (It's pretty hard to tell since they can't tell us, but her personality seems about the same as usual and there's nothing wrong with her appetite.) Even though this cat has never really liked me (most of the time she tries to swat or snap at me if I try to pet her.) I definitely do not look forward to having to decide to have her euthanized. At this point I think she might have another year or two before she just has no real quality of life left. In the meantime, the vet says she has an abscess and we can't let her suffer with that either. We are giving her anti-biotics (at which she is outraged!) but will likely have to schedule her for dental work. My mother said that she would pay for it and we can pay her back when our finances aren't at such an all-time low. Miss Miceus will just have to wait for awhile to get her teeth done as she doesn't seem to be as bad. I usually notice if they act differently or look as though they're favoring something, but Tange seemed to be eating dry food and treats with no difficulty, so this problem kind of landed on us out of nowhere.

I've read everyone's post but just don't have the energy to respond to it all tonight. I still have to get medicine into Tangerine (oh joy!) and I have to finish all the candles for that order and start packing them. So, have a peaceful night everyone and I'll see you tomorrow.

Errrr, I'm back already. It just occured to me that I still hadn't explained where the bit about "prolonging Tangerine's life" came from. The vet tried to get us to either give the cat fluids under the skin once a week or put her into a program that would get her the treatment at the vet's once a week. We would have to put that cat in a strait jacket to give her those treatments and she just about strokes out having to go there once a year. I can just imagine how it would be if we took her once a week (and that's not even getting into the cost of all of this). Somehow I just don't think that she would thank us for putting her through either of those treatments.

Now I really DO have to go take care of business.

Good night Gracie and all of our friends, furry and otherwise.

Hi Everyone,

Back from a busy day.

Re Sick cats, my cat of a lifetime became ill around Christmas 2000 with fluid on her lungs. They pumped it out a couple of times and put her on meds. And they wanted to do a chest ultrasound though they never did say what they would do with what they learned. She got so stressed from the meds the she started peeing all over the house. I spent about $1000 Cdn on her, but eventually cut out everything and said "No" to the ultrasound and concentrated on quality of life. About three months later I cam in after playing a concert and we could see she had deteriorated a lot. So wo took her off to emergency vet at midnight for euthanasia. I still get weepy thinking about her, but we had another three months with her that were pretty good quality. She was only 11 but had developed an enlarged heart which caused the problems. We never could have cured it. Might have been able to control it a bit with meds, but to what avail if they stress the cat out so badly.

Got to 4 concerts today. Head usher at noon for a concert of violin and forte-piano - Beethoven Violin Sonatas. Fire marshalls downsized the venue a LOT a couple of years ago and now we can only put 258 people in a hall that they used to let us put 450 in. (Chairs). We had to turn people away this noon and there were no chairs for my ushers. We all had to find corners to sit in. Don't know why it is so low - 3 good exits from the room and 1/3 of the room had no chairs. Then I hiked over to a 2 pm concert. Arrived a bit late but didn't miss much. Interesting combination of narrator reading poems in French and English and solo (unaccompanied) violin works. I think this was the better of the two violin concerts.

Had time to pick up a diet Pepsi as I walked down the street to the next church where I was Stage Manager for a very fine violist. I had two assistants and almost nothing to do. A pianist and one musician standing up with a music stand. No changes in set-up. Almost nothing to do to strike the stage at the end of the concert which meant that I was able to grab fast food for dinner and make it to the 8 pm concert only a short time after the 6:30 at which I should have been there. The evening concert was a very nice performance of Haydn's "Seven Last Words of Christ" by a string quartet and a narrator. Again, not too much for us to do on stage other than set up because a nother group was rehearsing when we got there.

Tomorrow I'm an usher at noon at a Brass concert. Will have time for aquafit first. Then later in the afternoon I'll pick up grandtwins and take them to a narrated children's concert at 5. DH will take them home and I'm assistant stage manager again at the same church where I was this evening.

Just waving to everyone ~~~~. won't take time now to respond to all of you. Hope you all have a good night.

Ann

Well, CRS has set in permanently, I fear. Read all, and right now can't remember who did what. We know Viann is the musician, Mary the horse person, oh,oh, dmc too, some work, others are retired, but work twice as hard, some do way to much during the day, and others wish they could. We all are pet lovers, some with cats, others with dogs, but we all are kind hearted people, and love to garden. That is the bottom line.

About my energy level, since I was so sick 2 or 3 years ago, and couldn't do much, and since I have restored health, can't not let a minute go by without doing something. I just want to cram as much into this life as I possibly can.

I know it is short of midnight, but I AM TIRED, and will start the daily a little earlier tonight.

Hope all has a good night, and wakes refreshed and ready to tackle t a new day.

Be back in a bit.

Okay, have had all I can stand of July 25th, let's move on to July 26th. Did you realize that 6 months from today is Christmas, Yikes, gotta get in the shopping mentality. Follow me over here for July 26th, 2006. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/630925/

Well I got on with the intention of being able to post all the goings on here and to comment on the things I was going to be reading. Well I am now exhausted and can't seem to remember most of what I read. I do remember starting to cry at Elaine's story of Kaleb. Which by the way when did this happen??? I must have missed a whole lot during my vacation.

So hopefully tomorrow I will have the chance to get on and maybe remember more then I did today.

~~~~~~ to all.

Casey

Oh Casy ... I was telling the story about my last guide dog. I promise I *didn't* mean to make everyone cry. I was hurting for McCool because I know how hard it is to have to make those terrible decisions ... and it all just came rushing back to me. I've had my Kota girl for 10 years, and she's certainly healed my heart. I do know that the day will be coming when I'll be having to make hard decisions one way or another, though, so I can feel for others who have pets and are facing them.

I'm so glad to see you checking in. I've been wondering how your DH is doing and how you've been holding up. I'll have some free time the next few days and will give you a call if that's ok.