A Nice Day

Last night, I could not fall asleep to save my soul. I finally got up and prowled around the internet looking for that book. Finally, I was sleepy enough to go back to bed and sleep. I woke up this morning, and couldn't quite figure out why...and then I heard it: the pattering of rain falling down. What a happy sound. I fell back asleep to the sound of nature's 'white noise'. 

When I woke up, Tim was up and moving. He said, "It's so humid out. We are just not working today. Get dressed. We'll run to the new house and take care of the stuff we have to take care of and just call it an early day. I want to go to the Salamanca Antique Mall." 

The first thing we did, though, was to stop in to return the trap that I had borrowed from my friend Diane, and to pick up the rocking chair that matched my couch that she was getting rid of. We visited for a while, but the humidity was already getting oppressive, so it was a short visit. 

The comfortable chair is a perfect match to the sofa, and Tim likes it too.

That was the first nice thing.

I went down to feed the cats. Much to my surprise, the very first cat to run out and meet me was Sigh, the newly neutered. I figured that it would be a while before she allowed me anywhere close to her, but no. I put their food out and sat down on the floor. Tiger returned. Possum? No where to be found. I imagine that being picked up and fighting her way free from a cage was about all she could take of me. But I sat down on the floor to spend time with them, talking to the two that were brave enough to show up. Much to my surprise, when Sigh was finished eating, she walked over to me and climbed into my lap. That has never happened before. Never. I petted her and scritched under her chin. There were proper cuddles. She purred and purred. I guess that I am forgiven, and I have to tell you that this did make me a little teary. It was totally unexpected. 

So that is the second nice thing. 

We headed up to Salamanca, and had a very late lunch at one of Tim's favorite places, and then stopped to get gas. Because you would be crazy not to. Indian Reservations are not a part of the United States. They have their own laws. Their own law enforcement. They don't have taxes on their gasoline, and so we paid $2.83 a gallon. They also had a give-away going on.

Remember when you used to get glasses with a fill up? Cups? Key chains? I remember a really popular give away was at the Esso station, where you got a tiger tail to hang from your gas tank. (Esso gas puts a tiger in your tank). Well...things have changed. Now you get a free rolled joint. Maybe 40 years ago, this could have been my third nice thing, but no. 

We continued on to the Salamanca Antiques Mall. 

I saw a woman restocking a book stall, and so I stopped to chat with her. I pulled up MarieQ's Guttenberg link, and we discussed 'my' book, and about the disappointing lack of pictures, and how I thought that I had the wrong book, but no...the book was right. She was very curious about this, and wrote everything down along with my phone number and said she'd see what she could find out. She understood the whole grandchild thing, having been delighted to find a beloved book from her own childhood. "Miss Suzy..." she said, and immediately I knew. A squirrel who lived in a doll house. 

So...that happy conversation was the third nice thing, better than a joint. 

But...as I wandered the aisles seeing plenty of things that I liked, but was not tempted to buy, I heard someone calling my name. I turned and it was Tammy the book lady. In her re-stocking, she came across this little book, and it was filled with beautiful illustrations that she thought might please my granddaughter. She handed it to me. "It's not the book that you want, but the pictures are beautiful. Take it for your little girl." 

So that was the fourth nice thing, and it was a very sweet, very thoughtful thing to do. 

We drove back home and on the way, once again, we had an encounter with a black pick up truck. I am starting to think that those huge black pick up trucks with heavily tinted windows are all driven by jackasses. We were waiting at a light. We were going straight. That truck was beeping his horn in an angry kind of way. The light was red. He finally drove around us, cut in front of us and made his right hand turn. It was such a shock I didn't even think to get the license number. We can only assume that he thought we were turning right. Here it is legal to make a right on red. It is still illegal to go straight through a red light though and I haven't heard any discussion to change that. 

But that was only one rotten thing, up against 4 very nice things, so it was a good day. 

He bombs a country, then turns around a claims victory for bringing about peace...and then taunts the country he just bombed with a video like that. He is nuts. 

But that is the second rotten thing, so I'm going to stop here before I screw up my nice day. 

It's raining outside. 

That's the fifth nice thing. 

Also, I walked home from the Walmart, 2.92 miles. 

I'd call it the sixth nice thing, but it was still pretty humid. 

I'm still proud of myself so that's a nice thing I guess.  

The Day of Breathless Excitement (or not)

 Today was the big day. The vet visit. As noted, Sigh was ready to go. As feared, I could not get Possum to even come near me, and I think it's going to be a while. Tiger must have gotten word to lay low. I didn't see her either. 

We showed up at the clinic, and I must say that they were very organized. As each cat came in, they were matched with their name and information, and the papers were attached to the carriers. I felt kind of guilty because I was bringing a very upset cat in and she was in a live trap. I apologized for that and explained that she was feral, and that handling her was going to probably be a problem. 

She assured me that they were very accustomed to dealing with the feral population, and that most of them did come in in live traps. 

At the end of the day, I got my cat back. I bought some special food for her, but was not sure how long she should be kept confined. Much to my surprise, the worker suggested that if I could confine her, it would be great, but that she was pretty traumatized, and it might be better just to let her go if she didn't settle down. Her instinct would be to find a place to hide until she felt better. 

She howled the whole way back home, a half hour trip. When she realized that she was back where she belonged, she set up a mighty caterwauling. Against my own better judgement, I let her go. I watched where she streaked to, and opened the special food I'd gotten for her and put it on a paper plate right next to the spot she ducked under. I checked later and she had eaten it all and was eyeballing me from the safety of her dark place. 

Possum's appointment has been pushed back until next month. I have the two live traps in the garage now. They are big ones, raccoon sized. I will just start putting their daily cans of catfood inside the traps, keeping the trap door open so that they all get used to going in and out of the traps. The night before their appointments, I will set the traps so that they are functional. Hopefully, I will have two more cats to be neutered. 

It is so humid here. Temperatures in the 80s, which doesn't sound unbearable, but combined with the humidity, it's just soul sucking. We were supposed to have rain this afternoon, which we were much looking forward to. It moved from 4PM to 7PM, and then all possibility of rain was removed from today's forecast. They also removed the rain from tomorrow's forecast. It's too hot to sleep right now, and I think supper is sitting too heavy. 

I got my book, and I am so disappointed. Those fairy pictures are the only two pictures in the book. It is not the book from my childhood after all. I knew as soon as I saw the package. It was not the right size. I think I simply need to give up on finding that.  My happy memories will not be shared. 

My tomatoes have blossoms and my peppers have little buds too. 

And that was today, just filled with breathless excitement. 

A Hot Mess

 The time spent traveling to Harrisburg was spent wisely. (Read: Debby put her foot down about things, and I know this makes me sound like a tyrant, but this really has gotten out of hand.) He doesn't need all this stuff, but he keeps hauling it home. He can't. I pointed out that he had multiples of power tools. I pointed out that we will not be buying any more houses. These are things that he will not likely ever need or use again. He does not need multiples any more. He does not need 3 buckets of lead. He does not need multiple project vehicles. He has 3 big tractors. He has 2 small tractors. This is nuts. 

So. 

We got to where we needed to be and we saw the truck. I am not an expert, but the first thing that I saw was that the tires were pretty sketch. Old. Dry rot-y looking. The idea of driving 3+ hours on a scorching day made me nervous. Tim looked it over. The pully that drives serpentine belt did not appear to be turning freely. It was low on power steering fluid. Was it just low, or was there a leak? Hard to tell with just a cursory look. The battery was too big and it was rocking against the hood of the truck. We took it for a drive, and he said, "Yeah. I'm not buying this. I don't think it will make it home."

So.

Poor guy got a few more hours of me on the way home. Again, I used the time wisely. 

It took us longer to get home because, at Clearfield on 80, traffic was backed up. Bumper to bumper. Scads of tractor-trailers. It took us nearly 3/4 of an hour to travel 9 miles. I was driving and Tim was eating his supper. What irks me is that the entire 9 miles, there were signs. 'Left Lane Closed' and 'Trucks Must be in Right Lane'. Flashing lights. Over and over and over. And yet we crawled along at a snail's pace. I was leaving plenty of space between me and the truck in front of me so that vehicles could merge right. 

Did they? They did not. 

To top it off some guy in a big pick up truck behind me got pissed because I was not riding the bumper of the semi truck in front of me and began beeping his horn. He merged left and passed me waving his finger. He was stuck 3 trucks in front of me for the rest of roadblock, so I'm not exactly sure what he felt he accomplished.

Some person in a white SUV went flying past on the shoulder of the road passing everybody at a shocking rate of speed. Perhaps he had to poop. I don't know. 

What was the problem? You guessed it. After miles of warnings, people were waiting to merge right until the left lane actually ended. That was the cause of the traffic snafu. Bumper to bumper vehicles were trying to merge into a bumper to bumper lane. It was maddening. I was never so glad to see the Penfield exit in all my life. 

We got home at 9:30. 

Tomorrow is the day of neutering. I caught one cat. She is safely caged and ready for transport. I waited patiently to catch a second. I watered my plants (I have a blossom on my tomato!), Tim weed whacked and mowed. (I thought he was nuts...the heat. The heeeeeaattt!)

We had driven two vehicles because I had an appointment at PT to get my final measurements done for the surgeon on Friday. After that, I was headed to my friend's to borrow a trap. That was a fruitful visit...she had a chair she needed gone, and it just so happened to match the couch we bought, so...we shook on that. We talked too long. We always do, and we always laugh at ourselves. 

Anyways, I set the trap, and before I got out of the garage, I'd trapped Sigh, and put her cage in the basement where it is cool and dark. Here's the heart breaker. I waited and then made my way back to the garage with food. As normal, Possum came running . I had her. I had her by the scruff of the neck. I had her in the trap. I got the crap bitten out of me, and scratched all to smithereens, but I had that cat. When I released her and tried to pull my arm out to shut the door completely, she snaked out past me and was gone just that quickly. I think that she is frightened enough that I will not get a second chance. 

I left the trap set and baited. My only hope is that maybe I can catch Tiger. I just feel so bad about this.

Trump's ceasefire did not hold. 

I'm shocked. 

It sure will not be the sons and grandsons of tRUMP. 

I hear that they all have hereditary bone spurs.

Sounds like the cabinet, doesn't it?

Sunday, Funday.

I am so grumpy today. It just feels as if Tim and I are not on the same page these days. I know that it is because we're busy, but I am so tired of being busy. 

It's just hot. We spent a long day outside moving a fifth wheel camper that had not been moved in probably 3 or 4 years. To do that required moving a wood pile for the third time in 3 months, which is one of my pet peeves: I hate moving the same thing repeatedly. It doesn't bother Tim. I felt like gasoline and matches would be the solution, but he needed that stuff and knew exactly what he was going to do with it. 

Moving the camper was a trial. It involved jacking things up, charging dead batteries, finding the chains, hauling the Reese hitch from its temporary storage which was inconvenient and required moving more stuff, hauling the big air compressor up to fill old tires, digging dirt to free legs which had gotten comfortable, settling deep into the dirt, unhooking the electric to the well, after a hunt to find pliers because wire cutters were someplace else.  7 hours later, the camper did get moved. No one died which was my big fear. 

So...anyway, that's done. 

Once home,  Tim announced we're going to Harrisburg tomorrow to buy a truck and I'm mad about that too, because I thought we had an agreement, that he'd sell one of four trucks before buying another. He promises that he will, just as soon as he gets this truck that he wants so badly. It's deja-moo. I've heard this bull before. 

He's watching some blood and guts thing that involves drug lords on television. I'm taking my grumpy self to bed to read a book. 

The weather will not be any cooler tomorrow. I'm hoping that after a good night's sleep, I'll be a bit cooler though. 

Dee O Gee

 William came and worked for us today. He made $15 for cleaning the dirt out of the bed of his grandfather's truck. He also washed the exterior of it. He's saving up for a gaming computer that he wants pretty badly. We offered him work whenever he wants it. Today was the first day he actually took us up on it. He seems to be interested in painting some trim boards, so we might see him again in the near future. 

He spoke at great length about how badly he wanted this computer. We reminded him again that he had every opportunity to earn money, but that we would not be chasing him down to see if he wanted to work. "The ball is in your court. When you want to work, call us and we will set it up." It's important that he knows that he needs to take the initiative. 

It was a pleasant day with him. He worked steadily, and he did a good job. 

I took a walk today. I met up with a neighbor down the road. He has a little white dog that is so perfectly trained. She walks with him and stops on corners to wait for Kevin to tell her she can cross the road. He has had her for years, and today she was sprawled on her side in the shaded grass. Kevin was bringing her a bowl of water, which she lapped at, never moving. 

It was a hot day. I had gotten a little relief being soaked by girl with a water soaker gun up the street a bit. The father was a bit shocked. I didn't mind, though, and when the girl saw that I didn't mind, she unloaded on me. If ever was a good day to be soaked, today was that day.

I looked at Kevin's dog and said, "She looks how I feel." That's when he told me that she'd had a stroke, and that the degeneration seemedto be progressing. It started in her front left paw and now affected her whole left side. She was paralyzed.

He had talked to his vet about an MRI. The answer he got was a practical one. The vet explained that the MRI would cost about $4000, but in the end, while it would show what was happening, it would not solve anything. He felt strongly that they were dealing with some sort of brain tumor which was growing, which was why the dog was getting worse. He said that the dog was too old for invasive surgery like that. She would likely die despite the expensive surgery.

In the end, Kevin was left with a decision. He decided that his dog was happy. Still woke up happy to see him. Still took pleasure in laying outside in the grass. Still liked going to church. Still liked going to Lowe's where she has her favorite people and is known by name. 

He made the decision that as long as she remains happy and not in pain, he will do his part to make sure that she has the best summer that he can give her. He bought a stroller so that he can still take her on walks. 

We talked for a long time, about everything under the sun, while an old dog rubbed her head in the grass in a dreamy sort of way. 

A lucky find...and a not so lucky find.

 My oldest granddaughter loves fairies. When I was a child, I was given a book from my own grandmother. It had the most wonderful fairy stories. It was a book that was very old, very badly damaged. It had no cover. I remembered, though, that it was one of those books that had 365 bedtime stories. The illustrations were so great. I just loved that book, and I had always thought that it had belonged to my mother. 

I have tried for a long time to find that book, typing in all the information that I could remember about it. I put it at 1930s, 365 bedtime stories about fairies. Didn't know the author. Didn't know what the cover looked like. Seriously, I've been looking for that book for months. Ebay. Better World Books. 

I finally sat down to type up the next installment of her own little fairy story, about Bluebell. I got side tracked since surgery, but a couple days ago, I sat down and typed up four pages to make up for the fact that she had to wait longer than usual. I sealed up and addressed the envelope and put a stamp on it. 

She can read those stories all by herself now, and the last time I was there, it made me very happy to see her perched on the edge of her bed in her room all by herself, reading her story. 

When that pleasant task was done, once again, I thought of that book I had when I was a child. The stories were short, and the pictures were so sweet. She would be able to read it herself. If only I could find it! I went to Betterworld books and I began typing in information. Once again, I got nowhere. If I knew what the cover had looked like, it would help a great deal. On that site, you don't get to glance at the inside of the book, so I decided to take a look around e-bay.  I saw a pretty nondescript cover (I think that there may have been a picture on it at one time, but it has been lost).

It said that the fairy illustrations had been done by Florence Choate which caught my attention. 

On ebay, most sellers have it set up that you can look through the book and so I looked at some of those illustrations and realized that, after all this time, I'd finally found that book. 

I ordered it, and it came to $25.04 including shipping and tax. 

Imagine my surprise to find an Amazon seller offering it at $179!

The book is from before my mother, who was born in 1938. This book is from 1923. It probably belonged to one of her cousins. No wonder it took me so long to find. Wrong date. Didn't know the author. Didn't know what the cover looked like. 

I'm so very excited about this book. The stories might be too old fashioned for her, but I think that she will love the pictures. I think that she will like thinking of her grandma as a little girl who loved imagining fairies just as much as she does. She will like thinking of her grandmother's mother being a little girl who loved imagining fairies too. (I hope.)

Today, I polyurethaned the extension jams and frames on the windows. I stained some trim to finish out the pantry and I painted some molding. Tomorrow, we're headed back and we will finish the trim work in at least one of the bedrooms. We are putting the finishing touches on, and that is exciting. We will be able to begin moving in furniture after a month or so. 

And...now for the not-so-lucky find: I found another feral cat. The cat-whisperer got the crap bitten out of her today. 

Just A Day in the Life

President Donald Trump said that Iran has reached out to him and 

suggested a meeting at the White House amid Israel's ongoing 

strikes. Trump has demanded Iran's unconditional surrender.

"I said it's very late, you know. I said it's very late to be talking," Trump 

told reporters on Wednesday morning. "I don't know, there's a big difference 

between now and a week ago, right? Big difference."

Trump continued: "They even suggested they come to the White House." He 

called it a courageous thing, because "it is not easy for them to do."  

Iran responded to the UN: Iran’s Mission to the UN denies US President Donald Trump’s 

claim that Tehran has proposed coming to the White House for negotiations to end the 

ongoing conflict with Israel.

“No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House. The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to ‘take out’ Iran’s Supreme Leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian mission says.

“Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT with a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance,” it adds.

tRUMP announced that the US brokered a peace agreement between Pakistan and India. Indian Prime Minister Modi refutes that: 

PM Modi stressed that India has never accepted mediation, does not accept it, and will never accept it.”

“Talks for ceasing military action happened directly between India and Pakistan through existing military channels, and on the insistence of Pakistan. Prime Minister Modi emphasised that India has not accepted mediation in the past and will never do,” Misri said.

The US is walking back Trump's claims. 

Sad state of affairs, that a US leader is outing himself as a liar on the world stage. People always talk about him humiliating himself. I don't think he has enough self awareness to be embarrassed. 

I watched a program on the death of John Lennon today, and the comment was made that, like JFK's assassination or the Challenger explosion, people will never forget where they were when they heard the news. 

I was stationed in Seoul Korea. I had a clock radio, and I woke up to American Forces Network Yong San breaking the news that John Lennon had been shot and killed in New York City. I'll never forget the shock of that. So, where were you?

That's it really. A quiet day painting trim for the bedrooms. It was a hot and humid day today, and we were grateful for the storms that rolled through and cooled things down tonight. 

I have PT tomorrow, but I spoke very matter of factly with the Physical Therapist on Tuesday. Measurable improvement is expected for PT, but I asked him what improvement he expected to see at this point. He admitted that I was far enough ahead of things that there wasn't much improvement to be had. I have full ROM in his mind, and I am active. There is no swelling. There is no pain. He asked when I went back to see the surgeon and I told him the 27th. He suggested that I come back next week for one last appointment, so that he can get a final list of measurements for the surgeon. As far as he is concerned I am ready to be released. 

Pretty happy about that.