Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is this week and I hope we all take a few moments out of our busy day to give thanks for all of our blessings.  We could start out with the roof over our heads and all this food before us that we have to eat today and enjoy with family and friends.

Don’t forget to say thanks for all of our furry friends who are faithful and love us unconditionally.  My baby, Koki, is a constant companion and lies on my lap keeping me warm if I’m on the computer, reading, or watching TV.  She always has the sense to know when she isn’t supposed to disturb me.  I would have never found and rescued her if I hadn’t moved here, so even though it’s not the best place to live, I’m thankful for that part of it.

 Koki in my lap

 Comet

Tootie

My other two cats are older and don’t come upstairs as often.  Although Comet has come up here the last couple of days, which tells me that she must be feeling better.  I’m glad all the meds are keeping her condition at bay.  Tootie usually stays downstairs unless she wants something from me, like her treats at night.  Bless the little rascal.

We are celebrating Thanksgiving by going out this year.  The bad thing about that is that there are no leftovers, but the good thing is I won’t have to spend all day cooking and then cleaning up everything in the kitchen.  This is especially nice when I have NaNo to consider.  We’ll be eating with Aussie friends who normally don’t celebrate Thanksgiving.  That should be fun.  We’re taking a pie to their house later for dessert.

From NaNo Website

On another note, my NaNo project is coming along.  I have 46,500 words now, so it looks like I may make it to my 50,000 barring any emergencies.

The grass is behind this chair and our visitor - this is it in spring

This is the same grass the middle of October

This is the same grass taken in late November

I’m also including some pics of some grass I’ve been watching change colors as the weeks have gone by.  I can see this in the back garden from the kitchen window.  My husband planted it in the spring.  Now I wonder if it will come back next year, or if it’s an annual plant.  I guess time will tell.

Pine Valley Mountain from our backyard

This is the mountain range in front of our house.  I don't know the name.

We’ve had our first snowfall in the mountains surrounding the house, but luckily only rain here.  Even though that lasted four days and it was dreary and cold, I’m still thankful the white stuff didn’t find us this early.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone

Nostalgia

This is me at Stowe Lake in Golden Gate Park - San Francisco

Yes, the water really is that color

For some reason I drug out some very old clothes “my hippie duds” and put them on today.  Looking at old stuff from my past must have inspired me.  As some of you know, I’m going through possessions getting ready to move.  I’m finding it hard to get rid of some things, but I knew I would.

It’s not so much about material possessions as the fact that I like to keep busy with some creative project.  I feel I’m stretching my mind when I create something, so much more so than sitting in front of the TV.  I’m always up for learning something new, or practicing what I have learned.  Hopefully, I’ll be this way for a long while yet, but it all takes up space because I can’t see getting rid of things that I may use at a later date, especially now since I’m living on a fixed income.

Part of my Sewing Room disaster

I’m still working in the sewing room and of course, now my mind is going all kinds of places instead of where it ought to be going, which is clearing out bits and pieces and thinking about my NaNo project.  I’ve been working on that in the evenings and have added about 16,000 words in the last three days.  I seem to have no problem in that area and am thankful for that.

The weather here is still cooperating and it’s not too cold yet, but we have cooler days coming by the end of the week.  The birds are using the “pool” again, so we have to refill that birdbath several times a day.  They have so much fun splashing all the water out.  I even saw some yesterday splashing around in the gutter across the street.

My birdbath in the backyard

My youngest cat, Koki, is into everything I drag out thinking it’s so much fun to grab stuff and run through the house with it.  One little cat can make a lot of noise.  She’s my shadow and follows me everywhere.  The other two stay downstairs and sleep a lot. 

Koki - Sunni's Photos

We’re still dosing Comet, the oldest one, with meds for her heart and she gets a water pill daily.  She’s never a happy camper about that and hides under the bed to get away from us.  I’m not sure how I’m going to handle this when the end of December gets here and my husband makes a trip to CA.  I’d like to go along, but I can’t have my neighbor trying to give this wild cat her meds twice a day.

Comet - Sunni's Photos

Other than that, there isn’t much going on in my life at present.

I have my hands full

Sewing Room disaster - Sunni's Photo's

Hello everybody.  I’ve got to be crazy to take on all this stuff.  I’ve spent the last four afternoons going through my sewing room.  First, I had to clean in there because somehow the red sand gets in the house, even with everything closed up tight.  That’s a good reason right there to move away from the desert.

Sewing Room Mess - Sunni's Photo's

I had everything really looking nice and orderly until I started dragging things out to go through them.  Now it looks like a hurricane hit the place.  I’m not kidding.  Of course, my cat, Koki, thinks this is the neatest thing that has happened in a while.  She loves diving through everything and getting into things as she sits nearby and watches me intently.  The next thing I know, she’s off with a piece of elastic or other trinket she’s snatched.  She runs though the house sounding like an elephant has taken up residence.

Koki playing in my mess - Sunni's Photo's

I really don’t know how I’m going to accomplish this task because the more I work on it the worse it seems to get in that room.  This is only one room in my two-story house too, so I’m not looking forward to the joys of moving.

Sewing Room disaster - Sunni's Photo's

My other passion besides writing is sewing so naturally over the years I’ve accumulated a lot of stuff.  I didn’t realize I have almost enough to open my own small store.  This is forty years worth of accumulation though.  The good news is I’m making slow progress “playing with my toys” and the windows are open up here in November.  Yeah!  The bad news is it’s supposed to be 28 by Sunday night.  Boo!

Sewing Room disaster - Sunni's Photo's

More good news is that Comet is slowly getting over her bronchitis.  Yes, these cats are my kids.  She is finally eating more and sleeping better, but she still has a stuffy nose.  I can hear it in her breathing.  We’ve been giving her pills twice a day.  That’s why I’m full of cat scratches.  Oh well, I’m used to that.

Comet snuggled in bed - Sunni's Photo's

In the evenings, I try to find the time to write on my NaNo WIP.  I’m not sure why I took that on, under the circumstances, except I always like a good challenge and work good under pressure.  So far, I have 15,380 words in, so not bad considering.  I’m a little behind but not too mach to catch up.

I’ve still found the time to watch the wildlife that visit daily.  Here are some photos of that.  We have a few lakes here so the cranes go back and forth.  We have various hawks coming by everyday looking for a meal in our backyard because we have many birds visiting the “pool” and eating the food we put out.

Visiting Hawk - Sunni's Photo's

 Crane on the bluff outback - Sunni's Photo's

This brings all of you up to date so far.  I’ll be posting once a week during the month of November.  I have to spend all my computer time working on my NaNo entry.

Until next time, stay happy.

You won’t believe what was lurking around my backyard today

Coyote on my Back Wall - Sunni's Photo's

Coyote on my Back Wall - Sunni's Photo's

I caught a glimpse of this creature as I was standing at the kitchen sink.  I rushed out with my camera.  He was meandering by on the other side of my wall where he quickly disappeared in all the sagebrush back there in the desert behind me.  As far as I could tell, he walked toward my neighbors.  Not far from her house, there is a grove of tamarisks growing.  They always signal a good water supply so many animals venture there during the day for a drink.  This is a vey invasive tree, but you have to get water in the desert where you can find it, so it’s a good thing there are some scattered around the natural habitat.

Tamarisk Tree - Wikipedia

About an hour later, I was working in the kitchen and this guy was back.  He jumped upon my wall to have a look around.  I grabbed the camera and got some good shots shooting through the glass.  I knew if I went outside on my patio, I would scare him off.

Coyote -- Sunni's Photo's

A few minutes later, a hawk arrived and perched in the tree in the backyard.  They stared at each other and then the coyote jumped down into the desert again and headed toward the tamarisks trees.

Desert Hawk - Sunni's Photo's

Desert Hawk - Sunni's Photo's

With all the coming and going, it’s been like watching National Geographical in my backyard today.  That was a nice break from my NaNo project.  I had better get back at it.  I just wanted to share some photos.

We can always hear the coyotes howling in the desert at night, but haven’t seen one do this before.  It makes me wonder if he’s been in the yard at night.

Desert Sunset - Sunni's Photo's