Another anniversary – with pretty accurate drawing of our house and the repair of their driveway needed after a series of storms.
“Celebration” of the new buffet my parents got for the dining area. The two ‘spiders’ are Hal and MaryEllen.
I played my guitar and sang for a gathering at my high school in Tulsa the year before I graduated. I earned some money while in college in a group called “Student Entertainers” at Oklahoma State University, plus a local eatery close to the college. I came home for the summer and sang at a local place in Tulsa a few times, so the sweet Thomsons gave me support with this great drawing.
Finally, Mother’s Day.
Two kind, very creative people who managed to use their art ability in the commercial marketplace while quietly doing the art they loved privately. It was a joy to know them.
Amber – early photo – NOW 95 pounds – 7 years old – got along with Abby, our cat of 13 years who died recently. Jet – 5 pounds – 1 year, 2 months old – on the prowl on the office counters
Since Jet’s and Amber’s initial introduction did not go well – with a lot of hissing and spitting, lunging and barking, on all sides from animals and humans – we have ATTEMPTED to protect Jet by being super-aware of where each of our animals are, keeping two dog gates shut, letting Amber outside and THEN bringing Jet out of the back bathroom. Making sure Jet is in the living room before letting Amber in – between the two gates, etc.
This is all quite laborious, but doable, if all parties are cooperating. Now Jet is being a typical cute, stupid, curious cat, defying safeguards with careless disregard.
Example – I had let Amber out and brought Jet out of the back bathroom. I let Amber in – between the two gates – and was cleaning out the bathroom, sweeping, replenishing food and water, taking kitty litter out, and so on, when I looked up to see Jet IN the dining area – BETWEEN the two gates – just behind Amber! I quickly insisted Amber go out again. I finished cleaning, shut Jet’s door, and then went toward the dining area. Jet nimbly slid under the gate, going back into the living room. I let Amber in again, and this time they noticed each other. Jet’s back went up, but she just backed up some. Amber was only interested in a treat.
Confrontation is inevitable. I’m trying to stay calm and realize we can’t be on top of things 24/7. They will either attack each other or learn to let each other co-exist. It’s hard to know we’re doing basically everything we can do at this point. She’s a cat. She will not cooperate. Fingers crossed that things go smoothly.
It started with a super-welcome massage from Lynn Moody (479-629-7601), my massage therapist, who now has a place inside Golden Living Retirement Center in Greenwood. When I asked, she told me all of her current clients are coming to her there now, and that several residents of the retirement center have become NEW clients. One of these is my friend, Linda, who lives at the center. I gifted Linda a session, and she enjoyed her SECOND session last Monday, and has booked another. (Once you start, you’re happily Lynn’s for life. :0) ) Lynn is giving the residents a special price and is working with the staff there on helping with financial arrangements so things work completely smoothly. Lynn is a treasure.
After my massage, I went to Linda’s room, hoping for a visit. Our friend Kay and her daughter LaDonna, who lives in Albuquerque, were there! We had a good visit with lots of laughter, hugs, and a few tears. LaDonna gifted Linda a framed photo she had taken of Kay and Linda. I thought it was priceless. When I got home I texted LaDonna, asking if I might have a copy. She sent it to me via my phone immediately.
Kay and Linda, two of my favorite people in the world.
Linda seemed to really like the idea of the ‘paint-with-water’ book I brought her. She liked the fact the pictures were large enough for her to ‘paint’ without problems, that all she needed to make the colors in each picture bloom was water, and that there were sayings on each page.
So, it was almost like Lunch Bunch yesterday – without the lunch. :0) A really enjoyable morning.
Kids & Animals – Andreas Roeth – PinterestExcellent-Photography-of-Animals-in-Rain-fourpawsquare.com
The rains came and went. We had a lot of lightning with the storms in the middle of the night, but I haven’t found any damage outside yet. We’re now under a flood watch with more rain due this evening, but nothing severe this time.
Animal Comedy-Cheezburger
I have a massage this morning and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m going to see my good friend Linda afterwards (she lives in the retirement place where my massage therapist moved recently.) I found a “paint-with-water” book that comes with a paintbrush that I’m hoping she’ll enjoy. I gifted her a half hour massage last month, and Lynn said she really enjoyed it and booked another one. I’m excited to talk with her about that. :0)
Carlson-Walmart (We have TWO gates similar to this up – one between the living room and the dining area/kitchen and the other between the dining area/kitchen and the utility room)
The awareness and logistics of ‘who-is-on-which-side-of-the-dog-gate’ is still priority around here, with our efforts to get Amber and our new cat, Jet, to co-exist in disdain and/or respect, if not detente. In order for me to let Jet out of the back bathroom (where all her stuff is) I have to put Amber outside. I then rush to get the cat out – on the other side of the dog gate – then let Amber back in. The problem is that Jet is now following me everywhere, getting under the dog gate before I can let the dog in – putting her in jeopardy. This morning when she did that, I shoved her into the bathroom between the gate and the living room, then let Amber in and then let Jet out again. She looked toward the gate, saw that Amber was there, stiffened up and walked the other way. Success! We ARE making very slow progress, with no hissing, spitting, or barking from ANY of us Lewises.
I’ll get my massage, visit with Linda hopefully, then get our mail as I come home again. We’ll have lunch and then I’ll regroup for the afternoon and evening.
FIRST – We’re now under a severe thunderstorm WATCH until 5pm. We just got home from running our errands, so we can batten down the hatches and hope things go well. I don’t mind storms – I just don’t like worrying that ‘heavy heavy hangs over your head’ for long periods of time.
SECOND – We put our groceries away and I was trying to get a roast in the crock pot for dinner. Amber was barking that she wanted to come in. Jet was meowing that she wanted out of her bathroom area. I asked my husband to please leave things alone while I got the roast into the crock pot.
I did that, then cleaned up the cat’s bathroom where all her stuff is, handled the kitty litter situation outside and all is now good. She was adamant she wanted to come out, so I carried the cat to my husband, and started to let Amber in -only to find the CAT in the area I was going to let the dog into! Shriek! I took the cat back to my husband, asking him to HOLD the cat until I could get the dog in and behind the gate.
Yesterday the cat sat on one side of the dog gate while the dog was lying down on the other. No hissing or spitting from the cat. No barking, lunging and snapping from the dog. So that’s progress.
It looks like we’re in for a lot of that today, as well. I’m HOPING that enough of this and they will both calm down and decide that living together is not so bad after all… We’ll have to be extra careful going in or out of the kitchen, making sure we know where all parties are before opening the gate until we’re sure they have finally accepted each other. Fingers crossed. WHEW!
*Aside – I read an article about things that can stall weight loss. One of the main things listed was tension. Imagine that. I may be a round shape until they throw dirt over me….
I just love this artist’s work. Just looking at one of these makes my spirits lift. They are so happy and full of the joy of living and appreciating.
After all the work on the cat tower, Jet has gotten on it a couple of times, but uses it mainly as a stepping stone to somewhere else. This morning she used it to get into a spot on a high shelf in the entertainment center. She spends more time on the hearth of the fireplace than most other places in the living room.
As you can see here, she likes being with her people in the office. She likes this corner of the countertop between our two computer areas.
This morning she started following me around, coming into the kitchen while I was washing my hair. This is not a good thing because the kitchen and dining area is where I can have Amber ‘in,’ but not able to get to Jet. I’m HOPING that Jet keeps her wits and nose about her, judging when Amber is in that area before squeezing under the dog gate…
It’s supposed to be quite rainy with severe weather today. I’m planning to scoot to the post office to get a package mailed early this morning before the bad weather hits. We have no errands to run that I know of, so we should be able to get home and pay attention to the skies the rest of the day.
I told you in another post about the long friendship between my parents, Jim and Betty Wheaton, and Hal and MaryEllen Thomson; and that Hal drew pictures he gave my parents to commemorate various events in their lives over the years. My parents devoted a whole wall in our home to these wonderful drawings. They mean the world to me, bringing back all kinds of memories, a few tears, and big smiles.
My dad and Hal played vicious games of Scrabble. They were quite intense and thoroughly enjoyed by both men. They actually had a cheap trophy made that they ‘won’ from the games – the winner keeping the trophy until the next tournament. (This one shows Hal enjoying sticking pins in a voodoo doll of my dad after my dad won this round.)
My dad earned his living as a one-man radio advertising agency. He belonged to several clubs in Tulsa, one of which was a group that gave awards annually to the best advertising in the city. This drawing commemorated when my dad won the Silver Addy Award given for his ‘unique contribution’ to the city over several years.
A birthday card, also giving kudos for my dad helping with the Boy Scouts, of which my brother was a member.
The new cat tower was delivered – to the HOUSE – yesterday by Fedex about 2:30. It took us both working together until about 5:30 to get the thing assembled. We joked about remembering when we were up most of the night of Christmas Eves putting toys, bicycles, etc. together for our son…
The fur on the pieces made getting each screw started really difficult, but we finally developed some techniques that made the job go a bit easier. There were at LEAST 5 million screws (maybe a slight exaggeration).
The tower is well made with a sturdy design. It JUST went in the place we wanted to put it – to the side/under a mounted music speaker beside the entertainment center and beside the fireplace. We used a bungie cord to attach the tower to the heavy mounting of the speaker, so it won’t go anywhere no matter how strenuous a jump Jet makes getting on it.
Some of the spacers are wrapped in rope for good scratching posts. There are places to sleep in the open or inside cubes, if privacy is preferred. There are a couple of balls-on-strings to catch the attention of a cat.
We were thinking that it might be another safe space from our dog, Amber, too. We now have a chair in front of it to try discourage Amber from getting really close to the tower.
You can see Jet actually sitting on the larger cube! She, of course, immediately jumped down when I put her on it last night, choosing to sprawl on the fireplace bricks, instead. I had almost given up when she decided to jump back on it. She explored quite a bit, going up and down, batting one of the balls when it moved as she passed.
I really have no clue how much the cat tower will be liked or used, but I’m glad we got it for her and put it together. She is already finding safe spaces in the entertainment shelves, and I assume she will find many more places to get places to snooze as time goes on.
The first part of our day is good. The sun is shining and it’s 77 degrees. Toward the middle to end of the afternoon, though, things may not be so good. We’re due for 90 degrees ahead of a cold front, rain, possible severe weather, gusty winds, hail, and flying hair balls. And THEN the rain is supposed to last through the long weekend. I have to admit the smile you may be able to see is a bit forced. :0)
Vecteezy
We have our pest spray guy coming today between 10 and noon for our routine treatment. The company has apparently changed hands for the third time since we started with them. They intelligently keep the same guys who do the spraying and the work with the customers, so we’re happy. I have the guy spray for everything, including the rare elephant, since we live on top of a ridge line in a wooded area. I saw the first scorpion of the season trying to get over the door sill into the shop the last time we were out there. That was a good reminder of why the pest company spraying is well worth the money.
Jet sprawled out on the office counter behind my husband’s computer monitors.
The Fedex guy actually drove up our driveway yesterday to deliver our cat tower! We had expected to have to check to see if the delivery had been made and find the box left at the bottom of the driveway somewhere (they put on any computer email notices that it was left on the porch). This man was super nice, said he didn’t have any trouble, and actually smiled. A definite keeper!
Right now I’m planning what I’ll do when I hear the driveway alarm indicating the pest spray guy is coming up. I’m thinking I’ll put Jet in the cat carrier and Amber on the back porch.
He sells all kinds of products with photos of his work on them. You can even create your own greeting cards with his work if you would like. He provides a template!
I miss the feeling his work gives me, and so I revisit from time to time. I’m so pleased that this wonderful, creative father has found such acclaim for his talent – and a whole career!
Yesterday I brought a cloth ‘tray/basket’ from the pantry into the office and put it on the counter between my computer set-up and one of our printers. Jet immediately checked it out, clawed it a bit, and then made herself comfortable.
This morning she gave me a start when I was letting Amber back into the house. Jet was starting to squeeze under the dog gate that is between the kitchen/dining area and the living room. I managed to shut the door and encourage the cat to get on the other side of the gate. I then let Amber in, where she is between that gate and the one to the utility room.
The cat tower is due to be delivered by Fedex today between 10 and 2 today, according to an email they sent this morning. Since our driveway is such a mess, the guy will probably leave it at the bottom of the driveway. I’m hoping that if he does, he’ll send us an email saying it has been delivered. My husband and I will have to drive down and wrestle the heavy box into the back of the truck, and then into the house.
I’ll feel more comfortable when we have the tower assembled and installed – and the cat introduced to it – as that will give her another safe place to go if Amber scares her.
It certainly is a much more complicated task to get a cat and dog to accommodate each other when neither is a baby and the initial reaction is hissing and barking (from the cat and dog respectively). My husband asked last night how long I was going to go through all this, rather than simply ‘letting nature take its course.’ I told him that I would until I was sure that Amber wouldn’t eat or injure Jet, and that Jet wouldn’t scratch Amber, and that they seemed almost bored by things. Hopefully, my husband will continue to cooperate…
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This photo gives you an idea of our driveway, although ours is longer, steeper, with trees on both sides, and heavy woods where you see grass here.
No driveway repair today. I didn’t receive a text last night, as the man said he would send the night before they would be here to do the job. The weather has been really awful, putting them way behind on what they have already contracted to do for others. Until that is caught up, they won’t start on ours. The forecast for the week is rain and severe weather at LEAST for Wednesday and Thursday, if not more. UGH.
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Other than possibly receiving and putting together the cat tower today, we don’t have any other plans. I’m hoping for a quiet, calm day.
GE Profile French Door Side by Side Fridge with bottom freezer
We bought this in 2007 and have loved it. I like the fact I can move some of the shelves up or down a bit to accommodate a weird size of something. It has two pull-out bins for produce and one full-size ‘deli’ pull-out tray with a lid. Each of these has a separate temperature control for those who know what they are doing – or THINK they do. (Like me :0) )
Lately we’ve been having trouble pulling out the deli-tray bin. It’s like it was STUCK on something or had something behind the tray.
We went grocery shopping earlier today. As always, I tried to do at least a quick clean out of the fridge, adding things to the shopping list as I do. When we got home and were putting things away, I noticed water in the bottom of the two produce bins. I pulled them out to dump the water out. When I did that, my husband decided to see if he could pull the top off the deli tray and get the tray out. He did get the top off, but couldn’t figure out how to get the tray out.
I pulled the tray part out as far as I could and we could then see that under the deli tray was ICE – a THICK layer of ice from one side of the fridge to the other. I couldn’t find an ice pick, so took my hammer and used it and the claw part to loosen some of the ice. I then spent about half an hour chipping, hammering and clawing ice out from under the tray. I cleaned the bottom as well as I could and dried it, and the tray now slides easily. We got the top back on, and the produce bins back in. I started the dishwasher and announced I was going to take a break and relax and drink cold water. I’m STILL over-heated from all the labor involved. It’s amazing how hard it is to loosen a thick sheet of ice and that many, many trips back and forth with bowls of ice and then the clean up wears an old person to a frazzle.
We have no clue why we had the problem, but it looked like it had been building up for a LONG time.
Now the afternoon is half gone and all I’ve done today is hard boil some eggs, get the fridge cleaned out of the ice, put the groceries away and run the dishwasher. I haven’t touched my to-do list for the day or done any exercising, other than standing on my head to clean the ice out of the fridge.
I’ll rest a bit and see if my energy comes back as my temperature decreases.
I found a nice article about a paper artist who uses paper and tape to create incredible artwork, plus more in paper mache’. The article was written by Ann Martin, who specializes in quilling. Her website is called, “All Things Paper.” Her article is about the paper artwork of Emma Hardy.
It’s hard to believe that these sculptures are made of paper and tape – even the tree.
I am currently doing three things to move the lard in an effort to keep all my parts moving in as pain-free a manner as possible for as long as possible.
THING ONE– Senior Online Exercise Videos by Mike from More Life Health Seniors – There are a whole series of these. If you’re interested, click on the link above to scroll through the offerings. I’m trying to do at least two different ones daily.
THING TWO – a 30 – 40 minute session of old lady stretching yoga daily. I have made my own series of stretches and positions now, but I started with a “Gentle Yoga ” DVD I purchased through Sixty and Me by Kat Kabira. She got me over my intimidation of the whole yoga idea, stressing that stretching toward, and breathing into, stretches and poses was as good for beginners as ACTUALLY being able to bend over and touch your toes, for example. I do a lot of “stretching toward” and “breathing into”, and I can tell you that I really feel the difference if I don’t take the time to do my practice.
thumbpress.com-boredpanda.com
THING THREE – And finally, I try to get outside daily (if Mother Nature is feeling cooperative) to get some fresh air, walk around, and do something good in the yard. It may be half an hour harvesting veggies, weeding flower beds, weed whacking, spraying bug spray or weed control spray, etc.
The combination of these three things plus watching my carbs and sodium is all working together in my efforts to lose the lard. MyFitnessPal.com is a free website where I can list my exercise, my weight and measurements, and the foods I eat daily to make sure I’m staying on track. I believe I have finally found a good, healthy combination to accomplish my goal of staying as healthy as possible as the years pile on. :0)
When my mom fixed Thanksgiving dinner every year, I always wanted the drumstick. I don’t remember her cooking turkey any other time, but she did a great job making it a dinner to remember. She liked cooking alone, so my help consisted of setting the table and helping with clean up. My favorite part of the Thanksgiving celebrations each year were the turkey sandwiches in the days afterwards.
Now my favorite turkey sandwiches are a part of my low carb lifestyle, being modified to ditch the bread for me and substituting Mission Net Carb Zero Tortillas. They’re harder to eat, but delicious just the same.
And now, since I discovered that the deli turkey I had been enjoying for LUNCH for some time now was super high in Sodium (1018 mgs when a healthy amount is 1500-2300 PER DAY) I am now cooking my own turkey breast (carbs=0, sodium=47 mg).
Since one of my husband’s favorite things is turkey sandwiches, I can now use my tortillas and enjoy the sandwiches with him, free of guilt with a huge smile on my face – which we’ll do tonight! :0)
Hal and MaryEllen Thomson and my parents (Jim and Betty Wheaton) were friends when I was growing up. They were so close we felt they were members of our family. Both Hal and MaryEllen were artists. Hal liked to draw and paint. MaryEllen made bronze sculpture and also painted.
Hal commemorated many ‘events’ in my family’s life through his drawings. My parents liked them so much that they devoted an entire wall in the dining area (an open area connected to the living room) to Hal’s artwork.
The drawing above commemorated my mom’s selling of her first house as a new real estate agent.
My dad made his living through radio advertising in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He billed himself as the ‘second worst radio voice in Tulsa,’ (the first being a florist in Tulsa whose gravel-ly-voiced ads were just 30 seconds of her telling what the week’s special was.) He was in a men’s business club called “The Cosmopolitan Club” which did good things for the community. This artwork was when my dad was named, “Cosmo of the Year.”
This was a jab about ‘fish stories.’ My dad and his friends were famous for not being the camping/fishing/outdoors types.
My dad smoked heavily much of his life, suffering from emphysema at the end. True to their friendship, Hal commemorated the ‘event’ of needing help breathing.
I’ll be sharing several more during the coming days. These drawings are really special to me, bringing back memories not only of events in my parents’ lives, but also the special friendship of the Wheatons and the Thomsons.
Jet spent almost an hour behind my husband’s computer monitors yesterday afternoon, just as comfortable as could be while my husband worked. I came in, deciding it was Amber’s turn for more active people time, so put Jet in her bathroom/safe place and brought sweet Amber into the living room/office area.
Amber – 95 pound yellow lab
We may die of old age waiting for armistice between Jet and Amber. Jet is one year and two months old. We know she had one litter of kittens. That’s about all we know of her background, other than the medical history the shelter gave us. She is very curious and affectionate. She is VERY wary of the dog and went on instant alert, my husband said, when I found her and made sure she was on our side of the dog gate before letting Amber into the kitchen and dining area, between the two gates. The cat tower is due to be delivered tomorrow afternoon. We’re hoping she will consider that another escape area as well as a fun place, once we get it up and anchored. ONE. DAY. AT. A. TIME.
We may also die of old age waiting for our driveway repair – due to Mother Nature, not the two good men with whom we’ve contracted for the job. They are experts and know what kind of time they need to do it. The younger man of the father and son team said he would text me the night before they plan to be here. Looking at the weather forecast is what has me NOT holding my breath – fingers crossed for tomorrow…
I hope that your Sunday is beautiful and that you make this a nice day.
Pinterest – sorry, no credit to the artist was provided on this
I found this on Pinterest, and it revived my long-held wish that I could draw. Of course, if I COULD, I would do little else.
It would be so satisfying to be able to create like this, making people REACT, with just a pad of paper and a pencil.
I have a book that, if you work your way through the lessons, teaches you to draw. (Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards). I’ve tried it a couple of times now, making it through 2 or 3 of the 9 (I think) lessons, but then I bog down, totally intimidated.
Today I was reading through some of the reviews of the book, trying to get motivated to try it again. Someone said Keys to Drawing by Bert Dodson was a really good book for people trying to figure it out, so I’ve ordered a used copy of the paperback.
I don’t expect to become the next Grandma Moses, but it would be really satisfying to be able to look at something, try to draw it, and have others recognize what it is, rather than feeling like a 5-year-old.
I’m still trying to introduce Jet (our new cat) to Amber (our 95 pound yellow lab). So far, it’s quite explosive. Every day we’re careful to protect Jet because so far, Amber would try to hurt her.
Jet startles pretty easily now, still having so many things around her. She was in my lap in the living room when my husband started down the stairs. She freaked out, trying to escape. I managed to keep hold of her and took her to her shelf in the entertainment center (her safe place).
Amber
I’ve been putting Jet in the carrier and then taking both over to Amber, who is behind the dog gate. Jet immediately starts hissing. Then Amber starts barking and I stop the process, putting Amber out and trying to calm Jet down.
Yesterday it was maybe seconds longer before the fireworks started. It’s a process. I’m hoping both get bored with this gradually and eventually will co-exist.
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YaheeTech
We ordered a cat tower which may arrive Monday. It will live in one corner of the living room beside the entertainment center. It has a piece where you can attach it to the wall, anchoring the whole thing. It seems like it’s well made and we’re hopeful that Jet will enjoy it.
Right now my husband is in his recliner, trying to entice Jet to come out of the entertainment shelf she has designated her place and come over to let him pet her. After she is out a while, we’ll put her in the back bathroom where all her stuff is and let Amber have his turn at free reign in the house.
Update – I just checked and Jet is sitting in my husband’s lap, looking very happy with life.
I’ll do my ‘introduction’ process a couple of times today.
creativeartworksblog 