Happy Spring

And you don’t know how bad I wish it would arrive.  It’s been quite chilly here (about 20 degrees below normal) after we had a couple of teaser days that it was actually warm enough to put on shorts.  Yay!  But I know it can’t be far away now.  That thought keeps me going.  I’m very tired of being cold.  I need to bake in some 80 degree weather for a while.

I apologize for being absent so long.  I couldn’t believe it’s been two weeks since I turned my computer on last.  Where does the time go?  It gets away from me all the time. 

This is me three months after my surgery

I’m still recovering from my eye surgery, but things are going very well.  I’ve been working hard to get this huge bill paid off.  It’s definitely worth it though when people tell me how good I look and that I’m so much better than before.  I have to admit I was awfully tired of my drippy eyes.

So you may wonder what I’ve been doing.  Well besides working, I’ve been getting everything ready to file taxes.  I hate this time of year.  Plus, hubby had eye surgery on the fourteenth so he’s needed some help with that.  It’s quite an ordeal to go through all this.  Medical procedures are necessary, but not always fun.  His eye lids were interfering with his vision so that should be remedied now.  It’s just a long healing process.  I have to say he’s doing much better than I did at this stage, so that’s a very good thing.  I’d rather him have it easier than me.  I have a lot more patience for things. 

Other than that my life is one big blur.  All the days blend together.  I never know exactly what day it is.  That’s bad I know, but our weeks at work run from the middle of the week to the next so when the weekend is in the middle of the week it really screws everything up in my head.

Raven and Koki in the bathroom

Koki walking on top of the shower

My cats are getting along better, so that makes for a happier experience around here.  However, they’ll never be best buddies.  Raven always wants to play, or wreak havoc, and Koki has her moments when she’ll put up with him.  But Koki will be thirteen in May so that’s quite a difference from being four like Raven is.  But she still has a lot of spunk about her.  I caught her on top of the shower bar a few days ago.  She loves to scare me by doing her daredevil things.

This is the squirrel who lives just beyond our wall.  He may lose his home if they build back there.

We’ve had visits from the wildlife that live in the desert behind us.  I’m not sure how much longer that will continue.  Right now that property has been sold to a developer that wants to build homes back there, so all the neighbors are up in arms.  We’re trying to stop this before it starts.  There is a law on the books that may help us.  We’ll see.  More on this later.

Happy spring equinox everyone.

I finally had to break down and do it

I’m talking about going to the doctor, which I hate to do.  I always try home remedies first and usually only see the doctor once a year.  I keep a positive attitude and am always optimistic about things, even when times look bleak.  Usually I can fix whatever it is myself, but sometimes it takes the advice of a sister or friend.  This usually always works.

In mid-December I had to go to the doctor when I came home from work with a fever and still had it the next day.  I had a bad cold and a sinus infection.  I think I probably wrote about that in a previous post.  The situation now is a bad case of athlete’s foot I can’t get rid of.  I’ve been trying home remedies for the last few weeks.  I attribute this to having to wear socks and sneakers daily at work.  My feet do not like socks and closed-in shoes.  I like going barefoot and wearing my flip-flops.  The first thing to come off after work is the shoes and then all the other clothes I have to put on for the job.  Anyway, this foot problem is an ongoing thing and I expect it to be as long as I have to work and wear this “uniform.”

After burning my feet with a vinegar bath twice a day, I had to call that quits after three days.  I was intending to kill the athlete’s foot fungus.  Well it seemed to get a bit better, but it also burned the rest of my feet.  Being the determined person I am, I put up with soaking for thirty minutes each time.  After the third day, even my strong will power figured I was doing more harm than good so I went back to my green alcohol and medicated Gold Bond powder.

 Birdbath fun

Just inserting a few pics here to break up the text.  Believe me you don't want to see my feet. 

 

Then I decided to unwrap my poor patio plants and water them and let them get some air.  That led to cleaning up the whole patio and getting rid of leaves and dirt and all the stuff that drifted in over the winter.  Naturally, I was wearing flip-flops to do this entire job, which took a few hours.  That finished my feet off, not to mention my poor aching back.

 Blooms on our Bradford pear tree

 

Since then I’ve had the worst blister on my big toe.  And of course the athlete’s foot is still there too, but not as bad as it was.  It was finally time to go and see the doctor again.  Good grief!  Twice in three months.  I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come.

To make a long story short, I have two new prescriptions to pick up at the pharmacy tomorrow.  Tonight I start my Epsom salt bath for my feet that I have to do twice a day.  “Stop all the home remedies” the doctor said, but the Gold Bond powder is okay and I can continue to use my ointment for the athlete’s foot until I get my prescription. 

This stuff better get rid of these foot problems because I can’t wear my flip-flops until that blister is gone.  I’m crossing my fingers here.

 Raven wanting to play

 

On a cheerier note, I got my car fixed and it looks great. The weather has been fantastic.  I love the 80’s and having the windows open.  And the cats continue to amuse me every day with their antics.

 A beautiful sunrise on the first day of spring

 

I’m still attending the citizens’ police academy and learning so much.  The chief of police came to talk to us tonight and Saturday we get to go to the shooting range and watch a demonstration by the SWAT team.  I can’t wait for that.  More later.

At what point are we too old to ________________?

I’ll let everyone reading this fill in the blank.  It has many meanings. 

For me this is mostly physical labor kinds of things, such as crawling on the floor on my hands and knees while cleaning the baseboard.  My house has gotten to be such a pigsty of dust and crap that I had to start in cleaning it while I have a day off.  Now my back hurts like heck tonight from all that activity.  But I got part of the dust bunnies up and dusting done.  I never got as much done as I was planning on, but that’s usually the way it goes. 

Tomorrow is back to work again.  Ugh!  Right now standing up on my feet for six hours doesn’t sound enticing at all, but I’m sure I’ll feel better once I get a good night’s sleep.  I do coconut cookies tomorrow so that’s an easy demo.  Most people like them, it’s in the warmer part of the store, and I’m not cooking so it’s easy to keep the tray full of samples.

This is our Bradford Pear tree in the front yard.

Speaking of weather, it’s finally warm.  Spring is here!  I could dance I’m so happy about that.  The trees all over town are budding out.  I even saw a bat out tonight.  That’s early for them to be out of hibernation.  So we can get ready for the allergies, but I’d rather have that than the cold weather any day.

I rewarded myself by sitting in my courtyard soaking up the last rays of the sun tonight.  I wanted to go outside so bad today, but I kept working cleaning house instead so I could get part of it accomplished.

There is life beyond work

It’s occurred to me that I’ve really been complaining about work lately so I think it’s time to write about something else altogether for a while.  While it’s true a lot of my time is taken up with work, there’s also life beyond the world of food demos. 

We’ve had some gorgeous sunsets here in the desert and I’ve managed to capture a few of them.  I just love all the oranges along with the gold and pink.  Sadly sunsets never last long enough for me.  I’m not always in a position to grab the camera soon enough either.  Sometimes the pinks and oranges give me a 360 degree view and that’s impossible to capture in one picture.  It’s a nice five to ten minute feast for the eyes though.

 Sometimes the rocks and mountains behind the house light up at sunset

Hubby got a shot of this big hawk on the roof the other morning

 

We’re also beginning to get just a small taste of the spring weather that’s coming and not too soon for me.  A few days ago it was in the low 60’s here, sunny with beautiful puffy clouds all over and just beautiful.  We had a slight breeze and it was so nice I would have liked to have bottled that day.  The next day it was back to the gloomy business with more rain and it was quite a bit colder again.  We’ve had a lot of rainy days this year, but I guess that’s better than snow and ice.  Luckily we’ve only had one day of that so far and it was hailing one night when I got off work, so that wasn’t at all fun to be out in.

 Koki likes to chase her tail on this level of the cat tree.  She's done this all her life.  She'll be twelve in May.

Raven and Koki on the cat tree

 

My cats are playing together more, which makes me very happy.  The two of them only have each other now so it’s good they can get along.  Of course I get no sleep when they both pile on the bed because one sleeps on my pillow and the other on my legs.  But I can’t throw them off the bed.  They won’t be around forever and I know I’m gone working a lot so I’m glad they’re happy to see me.

Koki sharpening those claws to attack me with later.  LOL

 

Raven with the new toy I got him for Christmas

 

On another note entirely, I’m not writing as much as I used to (except for blog posts) because I simply don’t have the time to sit quietly and think.  I hope to get back to my mystery series of future novels soon.  I found out about a citizen police academy on the radio last week so I inquired about that and have signed up for the classes that start in February.  Of course they do a background check but I expected that.  I wouldn’t want any criminals taking the class with me.  My purpose in doing this is to make my murder mysteries as realistic as I can.  My editor suggested I go to the police department and talk to someone there about protocol, so I figured this would be even better.  This class is two times a week for three months and will cover everything that the police department does.  There will be more about this later.

A close call

The hummingbirds have been pestering me to put the feeder up for about a week or two now.  I finally got out and did it.  I had put it in the garage over the winter.  It was full of dead bees that I had to clean out.  It’s been rainy and chilly so I guess this job wasn’t at the top of my list

I really love this bird feeder because it holds a lot but it has a poor design as it takes a while to get it back together when I take it apart to clean and fill it, another reason for my procrastinating.

Baby Hummer

 

Then hubby was out sprinkling some grass seed in the bare patches on the lawn when this little guy hit the window.  At this point, I still had the feeder inside.  I felt terrible.  However, I don’t know if this had any bearing on whether this poor little thing would have hit the window or not, as birds hit the big windows all year long.  The hummers had been scolding me through the kitchen window, so maybe I was feeling a little bit guilty about not wanting to tackle this feeder.

 Things aren't looking good for this poor little hummingbird

Trying to get it's act together

We grabbed the camera and took multiple photos of his/her recovery.  It was touch and go for a while.  When this little bird finally took flight it landed about a foot away from my husband who reached down and petted it gently.

 Recovering slowly

 

It finally made it to this twine we have holding a tree up and then eventually to a tree.  We were happy it would be all right and live to see another day.

 "I can fly again."

 

The next day it was on the feeder along with the first orioles of the season.  It didn’t take them long to find it.  The orioles can drain it in under a week with several of them working on it along with the hummingbirds.  Assembling this feeder never gets any easier either.  But I’d rather face that than have winter here again.

A male Oriole has found the feeder too.  Can they smell the sugar in there?

I got flowers planted too about two weeks ago, so things are looking a lot like spring and summer at my house.  Now we just need the weather to cooperate.

Y is for Yippee! I have a celebrity in the house!

Okay, I hope this will suffice for a Y word this year.  I was going to save this for later, but I’m so happy my little fur baby got his mug printed in a magazine that I just had to share this.

Back in February, a local magazine here asked for submissions of spring pet pictures for an upcoming issue.  Naturally, being the person I am, my brain went into overdrive. There had to be some way I could enter this contest.  How could I let this opportunity pass me by?

After thinking on this a few days, I made a trip to the dollar store and the craft store to get some ideas.  I knew the only one I could enter in this contest was Raven because he always indulges all my whims of fancy and will pose for me.  The other cats won’t hold still long enough.

I decided my spring picture had to be another hat because Raven likes them and of course we’ve all heard of spring bonnets.  How I wished they made cat-size hats in the party stores.  But alas, nothing like that was to be found.  So it was to the drawing board for me after I collected a few things at the dollar store and local party store.

Here are the pet pages in the magazine

It didn’t take me too long to whip up my creation.  By late afternoon I had my picture and got busy downloading my camera card so I could submit the entry in time.  The next day I had an email in my email inbox thanking me for my entry and telling me it was cute.

Then the wait began.

I had no idea which month the pet’s pictures would be posted.  When the April issue came out, I began to investigate because we no longer receive the magazines free with the newspaper.  We have to pick them up in newsstands around town. 

Raven in his spring hat

I got on the net and did a search for an online copy.  Not finding any pet photos in April, I looked at the March issue and there on page 27 was my angel in living color.  I had to laugh because it really is a silly hat (plus I was thrilled to see him in the magazine.)  The girl called him a she instead of a he (probably because of the flowery bonnet he had on).  What self-respecting boy would wear that?  But I forgive her.  She probably thinks I left the “s” out of my email and meant to say she.  I’ll give her the benefit of a doubt.

So then several emails and a week later, I finally obtained two print copies of this magazine, one for me and one for the lady at PAWS where I adopted Raven.  After I told her about it, she wanted one of the magazines too.

Call me a nutty cat lady, but I’m over-the-moon about my little celebrity.

Spring and other things

This is probably my favorite season, next to summer, for a couple of reasons.  Although the spring equinox was a couple of days ago, you wouldn’t know it here yet. We’ve had blustery weather with blowing cold wind and sand.  This isn’t the best thing around to experience but it’s still pleasant most of the time.  The new leaves on the trees and the early blooms are proof the new season is upon us. 

 Spring in Central Park NY from Pinterest

 

And I know when spring arrives that winter is a long way off.  That alone gives me reason to cheer.  I can see things growing overnight.  The new leaves are a soft, tender green.  Later they become darker and more leathery.

Life goes on with work and everything else that goes with daily life, so I haven’t had the chance to really relish in it yet.  But you can be sure I will.  We have had some magnificent sunsets lately.  There’s really nothing like sunset in the desert.

 Spring in Central Park NY from Pinterest

 

Today I was demonstrating laundry detergent at work so it was nice not to have to don the hairnet and gloves.  And I could give out samples to people who were so appreciative that you’d think I just gave them a winning lottery ticket.  It was a fun day even though not near as busy as handing out food, which I’ll be doing tomorrow.  I still made it fun for all of us, I hope, and ended up selling 39 large bottles of laundry soap in the process.  That’s pretty good considering there were four to five other brands on sale.

Tomorrow I do marina sauce and that promises to be messy and a lot busier. This job is challenging but a lot of fun.  At times like this, I’m glad I can wear black because I’m sure I’d ruin a white shirt.

 Desert Sunset

On another note we came home to discover the neighbors renting the property next door dug a large trench next to our wall.  They want to put a fence up we’re told.  What will go in this fence we don’t know yet and I’m afraid it will junk up the neighborhood.  As it is he works on rebuilding cars in his spare time.  They usually sit everywhere for weeks at a time.  We intend to keep an eye on this situation.  I went out to take photos of the whole project tonight to send to the property owner, who is a friend.  Of course the wife sticks her head out the window wanting to know what I’m up to.  I was on my property so it was none of her business, although she sent her husband over later to talk to us about it.  I guess we’ll see what comes of this.  I really don’t believe a thing they say and will be glad when they move.  Their lease is up in June.

 Desert Sunset

 

I guess some of you must face similar dramas during the course of your own lives.

Have a happy spring everyone. Get out and enjoy this nice time of year when we don’t need A/C or heat.  It won’t last long.

The nothing post

My Bradford Pear Tree in bloom

Well I don’t know if I’m at a loss for words this time, just too darn tired, or there’s nothing extraordinary going on at the moment.  But I wanted to post something.  Maybe the nothing post isn’t a good name.  That reminds me of an old Seinfeld episode.

Mostly my days are taken up with work lately and that wears me out standing up all day and putting up with the crazy people we get in the store.  You honestly wouldn’t believe some of the things that people do—or maybe you would.  When I get home I just want to chill out and not talk to anyone.

Plus, I’m beat on top of it all but I know we’ve all been there.  I should really get to bed earlier, but I never do somehow.  Life is more than just work, cooking and cleaning—or it should be in my mind, so I feel I have to read or write something at night.  Otherwise I find myself in the rut of sleeping, working, eating and cleaning and then repeating the whole list again.  Maybe that’s fine for some people, but not for me.

On the good side, the days are warming up and the sun is out so things are really looking up in that department.  I’m ready for summer.  Bring it on. 

We went out and trimmed the palm trees last week and my arms are in shreds from those thorns.  They can be quite wicked, but the wounds are gradually healing up.  The sty in my eye is still there too (three weeks today) but I’m hoping that goes away soon so I can get a consult with a doctor for cataract surgery.  As you get older in life, there are so many obstacles to overcome all the time.  I didn’t find out I even had cataracts until I had my eye exam two weeks ago.  No wonder I can’t see a thing.  I’m just wondering how they got there.

All my fur babies are fine.  Sometimes they leave me a gift of a throw up to clean up when I get home, but that’s just life with a cat.  I love them to pieces and they’re always happy to see me. That makes up for it all.

Other than all that, I’m trying to get ready for the A to Z Challenge this year, but only have half of my posts written so far because I have no extra time to get my head into that.  I hope it all comes together in time.  I am optimistic it will.  I also have the added pressure of getting our taxes done on top of all that.  So you can see there’s never a lack of things for my mind to think about.

I hope all of you are enjoying a nice spring.

Spring is afoot

In the desert things can change overnight.  No joke.  I went to get the mail yesterday and have to walk by this bush.  You could barely see tiny green shoots on it.  One day later, here it is:

Lady Banks Rose

I think this is absolutely amazing!  The leaves have grown almost an inch overnight.  I noticed the Bradford Pear tree on the corner is in full bloom also.  I hadn’t noticed any buds on it yet.  It usually pops into flower on the spring equinox.  You can set your calendar by it.  We are in for an early spring, which is fine by me.

Bradford Pear Tree

I took this photo of the honeysuckle vine in the backyard today.  It gets totally brown and looks like dead sticks in the winter.  Then in two weeks time it’ll have blooms on it.  You can see the green taking it over already.

Honeysuckle

I really think you could sit and watch things grow this time of year.  I love it.  I know the cats do too.  We opened the windows today for the first time this season while we cleaned up the patio.

 My patio - all I need now is flowers

 

I was at my neighbors to look at her new granite counter tops today and I spied a lizard on the wall so those guys are coming out of hibernation too, a sure sign spring is here.

More pictures to come as more things start happening around here.  Happy early spring to those of you who have it happening at your place and I hope it isn’t too far away for everyone else.

May as well give it a shot

Raven in his "spring bonnet"

You’ll never guess what I saw in the newspaper a few days go.  It was an ad asking for pictures of your animals in “spring attire” for the upcoming spring issue. This is a quarterly local magazine.

Naturally, after seeing that, the wheels in my head started turning on what kind of "spring bonnet" I could make for Raven so I could enter him in this contest.  What do I have to lose after all?  I know there will be lots of dogs represented so why not a cat?

My head was all a buzz because he will indulge me and pose in the hats I make for him most of the time.  I went through all my crafts to see if anything would ring a bell.  Then it was off to the dollar store yesterday to find supplies.

On Sunday I had a great time putting this thing together.  The deadline for entry is Tuesday.  I didn’t want to miss that because I’ll be working and won’t have the spare time to mess with much of anything extra.

I think it turned out pretty darn cute!  I hope he gets in, but it isn’t the end of the world if he doesn’t.  Stay tuned and I’ll let you know how all this comes out later.  Maybe he’ll be a published star.  Wouldn’t that be awesome?

Spring Fever

Raven

My little boy, Raven, is fascinated with all the activity outside.  Birds are busy hopping all over the patio, chirping happily, as spring is in full swing.  They’re gathering and building nests for the new arrivals coming soon.

The chipmunks are doing the same thing.  The females are waddling around as they scurry for food, packing their little cheeks with all they can hold.  They gather bits of dry grass and anything else they can haul to their burrows for the new nests.  I’ve uncovered my flowers so took away the old mattress covers they pick the cotton out of every year.

Baby lizards emerge from the rocks and dart across the path, or climb up the house.  The cats get excited when they reach the windows.

Raven

 

Gardener edging lawn

Raven stays glued to the window with big yellow eyes taking it all in.  Today we had the lawn edged by a gardener passing by as our edger is out of commission.  Raven was the only cat awake and didn’t miss a thing as he ran from window to window.

 Purple Robe Locusts

 

Our first blooms of the season are out and so beautiful.  They’re early as the locust trees don’t usually bloom until April.

Honeysuckle Vine

Honeysuckle Flower Bud

This honeysuckle vine goes from a bunch of sticks to lush, green leaves in a matter of two weeks time.  It’s loaded with buds already.  I’m wondering how that happened when it was a sight of brown tangled twigs not long ago.  The first year we lived here, we actually thought the plant was dead.

Lady Banks Rose

Lady Banks Rose

Here’s a lady banks rose we planted three years ago in the front of the house.  We have two of them out there.  We were wondering if they’d survive after the winter of 2013-2014, when it got down to zero, but they did.

What amazes me most about the desert is the plants that come back year after year from a state of death to full leaf and blossoms so fast.  Of course, all the critters that survive here also amaze me.

Happy Spring everyone!  I’m as happy as the birds.  I survived another winter! 

Dancing in the Desert

Well that’s what I feel like doing today. The windows are open and its GREAT outside – in the mid seventies.  I’m sitting in my office writing and I can hear the little animals getting ready for spring as they call out to each other.  I LOVE this time of year when I’ve survived another winter.  Bring on those warm days.  I’m ready!

Koki

The cats love it too, laid out in the sunny spots around the house. 

Bradford Pear out front - blooming ahead of schedule

There are teensy-tiny green buds on the trees and we had to drag out the mower today.  Things are definitely looking up.