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.

Personality Differences of the Feline Variety

It’s that time of year again when I’ll be watching people’s cats while they’re away.  I work this in between my part-time job.  Thankfully most pet owners don’t have a set time for me to look in on their animals and give them fresh food and water.  I like to play with them too and squeeze in as much extra time as I can just for this.  The little darlings miss their humans and want to be petted and loved as well. 

Cats have such different personalities from one another.  Sometimes the only thing they really have in common is fur and four legs. 

A couple of months ago, I signed up with SitterCity to watch pets in my spare time.  Of course by pets I mean cats, because I don’t think I’d take a dog walking job.  I’m a cat person all the way.  The extra money comes in handy if work is slow and the place isn’t too far off the beaten path.

Over the weekend I got to take care of the sweetest little angel.  Of course, I know black cats have the best temperament.  They are mellower than other cats, or at the least the ones I’ve known.

 Bella

Now I have to say that even though Bella and I didn’t know each other we got along great.  She would meet me at the door and let me know she was happy to see me.  This is definitely a lap cat.  She sucked that up and purred constantly while I petted and talked to her.  We also played with a feather toy and I think she really had a good time.  I hope the opportunity presents itself again later, so that I can take care of her in the future.

Snuggles

This week I have a different cat altogether.  This one is rambunctious and a bit wild. Now maybe it’s the age difference, but I don’t think so.  This yellow cat has a very bold personality.  She loves to bounce off the walls and “go crazy” after she lets me pet her for five minutes max.  She isn’t quite the lady that Bella is.  Snuggles tries to trip me when I’m carrying her water dish.  She’s definitely not a lap cat.  But I love taking care of her anyway.  I watch this one a dozen times every summer.  I’m sure there will be more cat tales to come.  Until then, I’m off to see a crazy cat.

Love those sandpaper kisses

Raven

Raven loves to wake me up in the middle of the night.  He decides I need a bath and cleans up my face before chewing on my head and messing in my hair.

I love his sandpaper kisses but it’s startling in the middle of the night.  I never realized a cat’s tongue was that rough, but maybe it seems that way when he’s bathing my face and neck.  It’s a wonder I have any skin left.  This is the coarse sandpaper treatment, not the fine stuff at all.

Once I’m awake then he’s ready to settle down again for another catnap on my pillow.  Come morning, I have to wash the cat slobber out of my hair so I can go to work. 

Raven’s taken up a real fetish for hair arranging lately.  He tries to play hairdresser to everyone that comes into the house to visit.  I’m not sure what it is.  Maybe he likes the smell of hair products.

But I’ll never chase him off the bed.  Time goes by too quickly and I know one day he’ll be too old and will retire from his grooming duties.  Then all this stuff will only be humorous memories.

Does anyone else have a pet like this?

Old age is a bitch

And this includes the animal kingdom.  

 Tootie

Two days ago we were combing out our oldest cat, Tootie, and I discovered one of her fang teeth was missing.  I was shocked.  She always hollers like we’re killing her, but a sixteen-year-old cat needs help with grooming, especially one with long hair.

When we were through with the grooming, we got the flashlight and looked in her mouth better to make sure the tooth didn’t just break off.  We put our fingers on her gums and couldn’t feel any remnants, so I think her whole tooth is gone.  We don’t know when that happened, or where the tooth is.  Perhaps, she swallowed it.  But we’re monitoring her to make sure we don’t need to take her back to the vet.  She isn’t bothered by the missing tooth at all.

I’ve had a lot of cats in my life but this is the first one I’ve had that had her teeth start to fall out with old age.  Poor girl.  I know anything that people go through animals can get also, so it makes me think about getting old and all my aches and pains.  One thing cats have over us though (and probably dogs too) is that they never complain and whine about their problems.

Maybe we humans could learn a thing or two from them.  After all, it does no good to complain, does it?  That won’t make the situation any different.  Instead, I think we should all embrace the fact we’re still alive and try to enjoy it to the best of our abilities.  What do you think?

Raven has a new bag

And you can see how long they last around here.  This one lasted a week.  He plays in the bag every night after dinner.  He got carried away a couple of days ago and played about two hours eventually tearing this hole in it.

Raven after my feet

From there it was downhill.  We got the laser out and Koki got involved too. 

Koki

 This is how things ended up.

Raven

So now he has another new one again.  I’m glad they opened one of these grocery stores near us a couple of weeks ago.  You can’t find paper bags in many places these days.

 The new "cat sack"

 

At the end of the night everyone was worn out and ready for bed where Raven has taken to sleeping on my pillow.  He’s a pillow hog, but I don’t have the heart to throw him off the bed.

Does anyone else want to share a pet story?

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.

Great spider spray

This stuff works

I know there are some of you that wish no harm to anything, even a bug or insect whose bite can kill you or make you very ill.  I like leaving nature alone too, but sometimes I have to call in reinforcements to take care of all the spiders and scorpions here.  I don’t mind them staying outdoors, but I don’t want them in my house.  My house includes my courtyard and patio.  We do sit out there occasionally and it’s nice to be free of the spider webs that cling to everything all year long.  It makes my place look like its ready for Halloween.  Plus, I don’t want to be sitting out there and have a surprise visit from one of these insects who lurk under the chairs and benches.

It’s amazing the things that can live in the harsh environment of the desert.  I can sweep up and in two days it looks like nothing’s ever been touched.  This was wearing me out.  I don’t have a lot of time anyway to devote to this.  I’d like my cleanup jobs to last a month.  Wouldn’t that be nice?

We have black widows that live in our plant pots, plus they’re everywhere out on the patio and courtyard.  They’re in the garage too, along with scorpions, so I have to be very careful where I stick my hands.  We have brown recluse here too and wolf spiders, which are another bad one, although I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen any.  I do know some of the spiders here look pretty fierce.

So last fall I went on the hunt for anything that would work.  I got so sick of cleaning up spider webs.  I wanted to share a product with all of you, in case you have this problem at your house.

The spider spray pictured above really works!  I’m amazed that something that’s actually advertised to work does the job.  Most times I’m disappointed at all the claims products make. 

I purchased this spray at my local Ace hardware store but I’m sure places like Home Dept and Lowes carry it.  Walmart may even carry it.  I’ve never looked there.  It says it kills all the spiders listed above, plus more, and also scorpions.  The stuff isn’t cheap, but it’s worth it.  We’ve had rain and snow and it’s been months since I sprayed this in my courtyard and we have no spider webs.  I’m impressed!  The guys at the hardware store told me I would have to repeat it after it rained, or perhaps after a month had gone by.  Not so, this stuff works!  I did use a whole can of this out there though and my courtyard is about ten by ten in size.  It comes out as a white foam spray and I sprayed against the foundation of the house and around all the walls and pillars.

I’ll need two cans for my patio because it’s at least twice that big.  It’s still worth it though, in my opinion.  With warmer weather coming, this may be useful.