I Won!

I entered four photos into the fair photography contest, and two of them placed!  It was my first time ever entering anything, so I was stunned and delighted!

This one took second place (!!) in the "plant world, other" category:

This one took first place (!!!) in the "humorous" category:

We Interrupt This Blog. . .

I started this blog with the intention of giving myself extra encouragement and a way to be accountable for tasks around the house.  It hasn't worked out as I had planned, but so little actually does!  =)  Trying to blog about my week in review and plans for the next week has begun to feel like an unpleasant (and dreaded) chore instead of an interesting way to help me stay on task.  I plan to step away from this blog (yes, even the book lists, challenges, etc..) and concentrate on other things for now.

On another topic. .. May your Thanksgiving be occasioned by true thankfulness.

Sintra Fans: a House Divided

swoon-worthy

My husband and I are both Sintra fans, and were long before we met.

When we began to share our CDs with each other, it became apparent that we were, actually, fans of two different singers.

He prefers the world-weary, old gambler looking back on life, the mid-life Frank.

I prefer Frankie: the skinny band singer, whose voice makes me swoon.

world-weary

We only just realized this last month--after twelve years of marriage--but it explains a lot about why we don't always care for the other's Sinatra choices!  

Now, you can see the difference for yourself.  The same song, sung by my young Frankie (first) and then by my husband's world-weary Frank.

Looking Back: Jack Dempsey Edition

big yawn

I haven't written a look back of last week yet, and don't plan to do so.

Work was accomplished, good things did happen, goals were met, but it was all overshadowed as we watched our JackJack become more ill as the week progressed.  This illness, of body and mind, culminated in our decision to have him put to sleep yesterday.

sweet, sleeping face

It was a tremendously difficult and painful decision that was made monumentally worse by a trusted and liked vet who, because she disagreed with our decision, was rude, cruel and unprofessional.  As a result, our final moments with Jack Dempsey were spent in a room wrought with tension and stress.

For that reason, Jack feeling emotions other than love and peace as he looked at us for the last time, I am struggling to be able to forgive our vet.  I told my husband last night, that I didn't want to forgive her; which isn't totally true of course.  Unforgiveness will hurt me, not her, in the long run.

Right now, though, it's too fresh to forgive; plus it's hindering my ability to grieve fully for our Jack, which causes me to become angry all over again.

I'll return to pick up Jack's ashes, pay our balance, and see when St. John's next appointment should be scheduled.  After that, I'll gladly never enter that building again.  The vet felt that after many years as both excellent clients and cat parents, we needed to find another vet--yes she was that angry with us--and so do we.  I will never trust her or that practice again.

Enough on the that, though.  I want to celebrate Jack's short time with us.

at ease in the recliner

He was so sweet and loving, despite having been feral before I found him.  He quickly became a lap cat--well, actually, a squeeze-in-beside-you-in-the-recliner cat, or a sit-on-the-arm-of-your-recliner cat.  He sat on a bar stool at the dining room table with us, never begging, just being a part.  As his illness progressed and he needed the closeness of my husband more, he slept in the curve of my husband's arm, snuggled close.

He loved back rubs, shredded sharp cheddar, canned food with lots of "gravy" and sleeping on the couch.

He enjoyed playing with toys, but his favorite game was to chase the "red bug" (laser pointer), especially if we ran it up onto the recliner.


He knew exactly when my husband was due home from work, and would be impatient for him if he were late.

He was a kind friend to Lizzie and was St. John's idol.

Jack's heart was always torn between his love for us and his wild nature; this eventually led to his mental anguish, we believe.  We were blessed to have him, though, even just for two years.  The pain of losing a pet is negligible when compared to the joy that pet has given.

(Note: Jack's ear was folded back like that because of an untreated ear infection that caused a rupture in the skin, before we found him.  He also had been shot with a pellet gun at least once, as one pellet was lodged inside him, under his front right armpit.  Also, despite being just about a year old when we took him in, he had severe arthritis that made moving around very difficult in cold or wet seasons.  All this is due to the rough life he had as an uncared for outside cat.  If see you an uncared for cat or dog, have mercy on them and try to take them to the shelter.   They are better off euthanized at the shelter than living a life like what Jack lived before I picked him up off the side of the road!)

Be at peace at last, Jack Dempsey!  We certainly do miss you!

sunning in the window

Jack's 2012 Christmas portrait

Twelve Years

Holy cow!  Can it be possible. . .

It has been twelve years since my best friend and I "eloped" into the neighboring county.

We  got a license and list of JPs, made a few phone calls--and one appointment--and went off for a huge breakfast at the breakfast bar.  That was followed by a wee bit of shopping, the exchanging of vows, and back home for a nap.

We called our Moms, but had to leave messages on the answering machines ("hey, it's just me; we got married this morning; thought you'd like to know; talk to you later; love you both; bye!").

Twelve years.

Through better or worse.  In sickness and in health.

No arguments, though there have been disagreements and a few pouts.

Hours, days, maybe years worth of laughter.

Countless memories: shared sorrows, shared epiphanies, shared blessings, shared fun, shared joys.

Twelve years!

Summer's Blessings

I gripe a lot about the heat during the summer, because I hate the heat.  And because I hate the heat, I hate the summer.

But then there's this:

I guess if God can put the dratted heat of summer to good use, maybe he does have a plan for me?

My Friday Fives

In an effort to reflect more positively on what I accomplish and to plan goals more reasonably, I'm going to start writing out My Friday Fives.

Fox and Puffballs--my favorite so far!

1. Used and reviewed the gluten free sugar cookie mix I got from the Amazon Vine program.  
2. Cleaned the living room of cobwebs, as well as the living room ceiling fan--and decorated it with Washi Tape.
3. Reorganized my embroidery floss into my own system.  I'm hopeful this will work better for me! 
4. Caulked around the backstop of the tub.
   It's not pretty. . . it's not even homely (!) but it will do.  (I hope!)
5. Completed the July portion of the  The Frosted Pumpkin's Woodland Sampler.

1. Received many, MANY books in the mail this week!
2. Received several gifts of home-grown veggies: tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and peppers.  I am so blessed!
3.  I got four new, fantastic body sprays from Hip Hop Candy: Unicorn Poo, Angel Bunny, Frosted Cupcake and Sugared Bamboo.  I just adore all their fragrances--I go around spraying myself with different ones all through the day. 
4.  St. John asked for a belly rub for the first time!
5. Better electrical wiring, thanks to my husband and his friend!  Now I can use the chest freezer we bought with our income tax return!

Two ARCs from Amazon Vine and
15 vintage mysteries that were pretty much stolen from an ebay seller.

I am the half proud, half embarrassed owner of 36 cheesy romantic suspense novels by Emilie Loring. (Another shamefully cheap deal from ebay.)  Loring was one of my favorites when I was a young teen, and I've been going through a phase of wanting to read the things I enjoyed so much during my young days. Of course, the true mystery of these books will be whether or not I will admit it on here when I read one!

1. Use and review the gluten free sugar cookie mix I got from the Amazon Vine program.  Accomplished!
2. Return to taking my photos every day.
   I have really done poorly with my photos over the past few months.  Last year, I achieved nearly one photo a day.  This year, my inspiration has been much lower.  
3. Caulk around the tub.
   Accomplished! 
4. Dust away the cobwebs in the living room.
   Accomplished!
5. Complete the second week of The Frosted Pumpkin's Summer Sampler.
   The July portion of their Woodland Sampler came, and I finished it first.

1. Find a home for the things that got stacked up on the chest freezer when the electricity went funky and the freezer was out of service. (Isn't it funny how any unused space becomes a place for stacking homeless objects?!?!)
2. Read at least half of one of the ARCs I need to review.
   Accomplished!  Completed and reviewed one both of the books. (second review) 
3. Return to taking my photos every day.  Trying this one again.  Photo-taking brings me joy; I want to reignite that spark.
4. Sort through the box of things that I found in the cupboard above the refrigerator (that belong to my mother-in-law from when she lived in this house a loooong time ago).
   Woot!  Done!
5. Sort through the coats for keepers and donations.

1. books
2. good doctors
3. medication that works
4. rainy days
5. electricity

Some Thoughts on Independence Day

I'm sitting here, hearing fireworks from one or the other, if not several, of the surrounding communities (we're too rural for neighborhoods), towns and counties.    No joke--I am certain that we can hear at least one of the neighboring counties, when they celebrate with gunpowder.

I'm rather surprised to hear them tonight, though.  It has rained all day and most places have rescheduled for Saturday.

I'm also not as keen to hear them as some people.

I don't mind if I am watching them, but when I am not the dread of when the next loud noise is going to come can cause my anxiety to rise a bit.

Nothing like my Dad, though.  War can be pretty bad on a person's nerves.

Be considerate of your neighbors, check and see if any are veterans, hint around and see if they are going to be bothered when you go shooting off bottle rockets next door.

After all, if it wasn't for these veterans that suffered unbelievably, and still suffer today, more than we can imagine, we wouldn't be celebrating Independence at all.

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Oddly enough, the only Independence Day I really remember as a child (really the only one I can distinguish from any others) doesn't involve a celebration of any sort.

We lived in a neighborhood were the neighbors weren't very trustworthy.  We had gone to see fireworks one Independence Day to come home and find our dogs had run away from home.  They turned up safe (another, very sweet story for another time) but the next day we could see that fireworks had been thrown in our yard, no doubt with the intent to frighten the dogs.

As a result, we stayed home on occasions like that.

I remember wanting to see fireworks that year; I don't know if it was the very next year or if it had been long enough that I had forgotten why we needed to stay home.  But, I wanted to go.  I was very disappointed.

Again, memory isn't good enough to know if I pitched a fit or not, though I don't think I did very often over things like that, but I remember crying a little in bed that night and complaining a little bit to God because I didn't get to go.  There, too, I could hear fireworks from around the county and was bitter that I couldn't see them.

Then the fireflies started.

It was amazing.

They were outside my window, dancing and trailing their sparklers, and I knew suddenly and without a doubt, that I was having my own personal fireworks show right then.  That God had put them right there, right then, for me.

I remember my heart catching in my throat, and having a few tears, and of the delight.  I watched them, in perfect peace and joy until I fell asleep.

It is rare that I think of either fireflies or Independence Day without thinking of God's gift to a disgruntled child.

I wish I could accept His gifts as easily, as wholeheartedly now.

My Friday Fives

In an effort to reflect more positively on what I accomplish and to plan goals more reasonably, I'm going to start writing out My Friday Fives.

1. Finished shelving all our books on our new bookshelves.
2. Decorated my side of the bedroom shelves with Washi (like I did our hall shelves); will finish his side next week.
3. Cleaned up the hallway (though doing so created some temporary mess in other places :p).
4. Hung up a new shower curtain.
5. Finished the first week of The Frosted Pumpkin's Summer Sampler.

I love the colors they chose, muted yet bright at the same time.  I'm glad I chose the beige Aida; it really brings the colors alive.

It's a super hard choice, but I think the kawaii guitar is my favorite from this week, mainly because I loved making his little strings.

1. SIX thunderstorms in five hours on Thursday evening.  It was lovely!
2. Won a fantastically cheap lot of vintage mysteries on ebay.
3. Won another fantastically cheap lot of vintage books on ebay.
4. Had my husband home on Monday; we celebrated our excellent dentist appointments with a Chick-fil-a milkshake. :)
5. Helped St. John catch bugs in the living room.

1. Use and review the gluten free sugar cookie mix I got from the Amazon Vine program.
2. Return to taking my photos every day.
3. Caulk around the tub. 
4. Dust the cobwebs in the living room.
5. Complete the second week of The Frosted Pumpkin's Summer Sampler.

Are We There Yet?

The Lethargy of Summer is on me.

I have several half-completed projects (included my exciting Spring Cleaning undertaking) that I began with such certainty in the spring.  Now, with the heat making much of the house a sauna, even with the AC on, my enthusiasm is waning and lethargy is winning.

I stay up later and sleep later and move slower when I am actually up and at 'em.

I just want to read, and stay as still as possible so the heat won't notice me and will just rise over my head and keep going.

I don't want to heat up the kitchen to cook or wash dishes, and  I certainly don't want to get into a hot car.

My tattoos are in danger of fading from sun-exposure, but despite slathering myself with sunscreen my arms get too brown, my feet have white marks from my Chacos-- and yet my legs glow in the dark.

I can't even enjoy the evening cool because I am the tasty treat that all mosquitoes desire.  I itch, scratch, bleed, have massive allergic reactions, scar, repeat. . .

I need three showers a day to combat the sweat glow.

Ah yes.  Summer.  How do I hate thee?  Let me count the ways.

I share this girl child's attitude towards summer: Oh yay.  It's summer.  That means it's time to sit outside, practically nude, with crazy people and pretend to roast plastic hot dogs over a fake log.  Huzzah.  How soon before this madness ends and I can go back inside and read my book?

If it weren't for fresh veggies and fruits, I'd move to Greenland or Alaska.  No, by golly, I'd go to that research station in Antarctica and when my eight hours of watching instrument panels were over,  I'd go to my bunk and read or play a game or cross stitch, while drinking hot tea and snuggling under a blanket with about ten sweaters on.  You know, the way life should be.

But, tomatoes out of the garden are so good.  So are cucumbers and beans and peas.

Cantaloupes, watermelons and honeydews that are grown (as opposed to hatched or whatever it is that they do in greenhouses) are astonishing.

When I think of peaches and strawberries that taste like nature meant them to taste, my knees go weak.

For some reason, they just won't grow in the snow.

So, with every wave of heat, I'm trying to remind myself of the taste of tomatoes.

In the meantime, I expect to read a lot of books and do very little housework until I smell that first, crisp hint of autumn in the air.

Ah. . . Autumn. . . Are we there yet?

Not Bad, for a Monday

One of my favorite bloggers just posted "Days Are Hard".  Now, I'm not reveling in someone else's misfortune, don't get me wrong, but it does me good to realize that other people, the typical folks, those that can get out of bed every day, have hard, overwhelming days too.  I'm not special. . . at least, not in that way.  I'm not the only person that has bad days.  I need to be reminded of that more often.  I get so self-centered in my illness, so sure that I've got it worse than anyone else, even knowing that I don't.

So, while I hate that she had one of those days, I'm extremely grateful that she shared it.

----------------------------------

I, on the hand, had one of my good days. :)  I visited three stores and the bank.  I didn't have a panic attack in any of them, despite having inferior (i.e. non-sound isolating) earbuds.  I've fed the cats, made chili-cheese cornbread (my own recipe) for my husband, put up most of the groceries, played with my scrapbook paper, nearly finished the laundry, piddled about with odds and ends of this and that, and am about to finish the dishes.  I'm tired, but not lethargic; it's a good tired, a successful tired. Plus, it's only 11:30p, and I've got hours of work in me yet.  

---------------------------------

My husband finished building the shelves in our hallway last night, and I finished putting the books on them in the wee hours this morning.  They look great!  I added my Target brand Washi tape to the edges for some color and I'm pleased with how it looks.  I am going to have to add some glue (I have wood glue; hopefully it will work well) to two of the boards to keep the tape stuck.  I think it isn't sticking because of the roughness of the wood grain on those two.  It's a small thing though.

Here you can see five of the six shelves.  I am so happy with them!  My husband did a great job!

I choose to use the Target Washi since it is easily replaceable; I didn't want to use around 18 feet of each color and then decide I didn't like it and then cry because I had wasted super special Washi tape.  Plus, this particular Target style was the perfect width.  I alternated with the blue (seen below) and the teal stripes.  I can't find the red bundle of Washi at either of my local Target stores.  I'm really sad about that too!  If anyone sees it in their local Target and is willing to go to the trouble of mailing me two sets, I'll be so glad to pay for it and the postage and your time too!

I <3 Washi tape! I <3 books!  The combination is swoon-worthy!

In Which St. John Has a Big Week.....

and I have a low one

St. John
This week was a big week for the kitten!  He caught a lizard, a mouse, a roll of toilet paper and a snake.  Sadly, I was only able to save one of them, and it wasn't the roll of toilet paper!  I found the mouse the morning after it's demise (so that's what that noise was in the night!) and the lizard quite some time after his fatal ending.  I felt especially sorry for him--he had lots of tooth-marks in his soft self.  I think his passing might have been painful.  

We call them "lizards" (pronounced "lisssurd"), but I think they are actually Plestiodon skinks (the ones with the blue tails, but not "blue-tailed skinks" because I just now discovered that those only reside on Christmas Island; we are not residents of Christmas Island; so, if A = B, then C means that those skinks aren't "blue-tailed".  Or that we're due for another flood.  I'm not good at math.). (I am also, apparently not good at grammar, despite my claims to the contrary as I just ended that sentence with two, count 'em: two, periods.)

Sadly, we never see one with its tail to know for certain. However, we do sometimes see tails on their own, so perhaps we have skinks with blue tails and lizards without blue tails; we may even have originally tailless reptiles and reptiles that look like tails!  Who knows!

This currently tailless skink/lizard, however, was definitely dead.  And I was sorry!  (Nothing dies in my house, and definitely not by my hand, if I can prevent it in any way, unless it is a mosquito or ant; in that case, I am Death personified.)

The toilet paper was literally snatched out of my hand as I was trying to utilize said paper.  I had to ask for it back, because, well, I needed it, but lost it again while getting a few squares torn off.  By that time, it wasn't usable anymore.  After that incident, I started hiding the toilet paper.  It's no longer on the spindle-holder-thingee, but hidden in a hanging bag.  He watches me, greedily, as I take out and put up the paper, but so far he hasn't actually gotten into the bag.  Once he realizes how easy it is to do that, all bets are off.  I'll have to start using sandpaper, or air drying or something!

As for the snake. ..

What you can almost see through the frosted bowl is a snake, about two feet long.   

St. John brought it up from the basement for me to see.  I heard a wet "plop" sound, and thought "oh, another lizard/skink", and peered around the corner to see him playing with a piece of black tubing.  I thought, "where in the world did he get th-- holy cow, that's a snake!"  

I had just gotten up from a nap; how glad I am I was not still in bed, for I have no doubt he would have brought it on the bed for me to see.  

That kitten loved his snake!  I wish I could have gotten some video of him playing with it, but I was too busy having a "holy cow, there is a snake in the house" moment and saying "St. John, don't pull it!  St. John, don't bite it!  St. John, don't hurt it!" to think of videoing.  He pulled that pitiful snake and dragged it around and I was just hoping he didn't pull it too hard, because the only thing I hate worse than cleaning up cat puke is cleaning up more cat puke blood.  Happily, I was able to put the bowl over the poor thing, and save it from too much St. John lovin'.

St. John was extremely upset that I put a barrier between him and his toy, and in the photo he is trying to get it out. At the same time, the poor snake is very upset that it's trapped between a glass bowl and a crazy kitten, and it's trying to get out to somewhere without either.   

At one point, all three cats were positioned around the bowl, watching it, but I never could get a good photo of them all.

St. John's big week also included helping with laundry:

Apparently, it's important to get the cat hair on the clothing as soon as possible.

He also found a paper lantern I left on my desk and "helped" with it too:

He had so much fun with it, that we've ordered four more for him to have as toys.  I just hope he has as much fun with them as he did with this one!

Me
My week was not quite as big and exciting as his.
I got mosquito bit more times than I could count and far more than can remember happening before while were enjoying the night, Tuesday, and had an allergic reaction (something to do with producing too much histamine) and that made an already low week even lower.  These days/weeks happen, and this was one of them.

I did receive 25 rolls of Washi tape from DownTown Tape, though.  I was SO excited!  I won it in a contest earlier in the month.  DownTown Tape has the nicest I have used, and lots of varieties   Here are my gorgeous new rolls:

I am especially in love with the music notes, and all the polka dots, but there isn't one I said "ick" over.  Isn't Washi a dream?!

I started two Frosted Pumpkin projects this week, but don't have photos yet: the frames for the Summer Sampler and the June firefly for the Woodland Sampler.

I struggled to think of the one good thing that happened at the end of each day, and I'm struggling right now to remember any of those good things.  Like I said, it was one of those weeks.  

Thinking. .. 

I remember: I made some excellent mac and cheese, with swiss and cheddar; we had a lovely visit with my parents last night; we have been working on building new bookshelves and they look great; I had ice cream; I read good books; there was sun and wind and rain; I saw a turtle; I took some nice photos; there were times when my husband or my cats made me smile; I spring-cleaned the bathroom; we got rid of the ants.  Good things happened, even though they seem overshadowed.  Now that I've written them down, I'll remember them. Of course, when I read about St. John's great week, I can't imagine how I found a moment to myself so as to have a low week!

Here's my photo from yesterday; I'm particularly proud of  it. Believe it or not, that key is one of our front door keys!  There are some benefits to living in an old house!

Lots of Good Things

I'm sitting here feeling sorry for myself.  Medicine that makes me feel like a zombie, a vet visit that garnered no answers and a backed-up toilet have combined to make me feel like nothing good happened today.  At the moment, I can't think of anything, but I'm letting Bach's Ave Maria wash over me, to remind me that beauty does exist.

Thinking of good things, beautiful things, joy-inspiring things; these are the first dozen that come to mind:

• my husband
• my kitties, past and present
• my parents
• books
• the color pink
• the word "vacuum"
• the smell after rain
• crayons
• tea
• daisies
• The Great Smokey Mountains
• baroque music

Bach has helped.  Always does.

I can't believe how far into May we are.  Tempis does fugit, doesn't it?  I have been planning to post books read and listened to at the end of each month, and here I am, two weeks into May, just realizing that I didn't do it for April.  Never too late for a list, though.  I love lists!

I read:
Bars of Iron by Ethel M. Dell
Mrs. Dell wrote popular romances between 1912 and her death in 1939.  I'm not a romance reader, not modern romances anyway, but I do enjoy a "gentle" read.  Edwardian novels are among my favorites.  This one wasn't memorable, like others by her that I've read, but it was a pleasant way to while away a few hours.

I listened to:
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy; as I mentioned earlier, it was just okay, certainly not as good as War and Peace.  In fact, I'd probably have to class it as a disappointment, 33+ hours that would have been better spent listening to another book.  I'm still not certain why I stuck it out; just to say that I did, I suppose.

The first two volumes of a set of Sherlock Holmes mysteries.  Holmes was my first literary crush, back in my preteens.  It's always enjoyable to reread old favorites, and David Timson is an excellent reader.

Joy in the Morning by P G Wodehouse.  My husband and I are huge Wodehouse fans, and we listened to this one together.  While the Wodehouse plots are often predictable, I never tire of his excellent wordplay and the hilarious dialog.  I hadn't read this one before, so it was especially fun.

Because of Anna Karenina, I didn't listen to as many in April.  I'm already on my sixth this month, and I've finished reading one novel.  I like months when I make time to read enough.  That's one of the best things about audio books: I can still work on my cross stitch or do chores and have my imagination and intellect stimulated by books.  I had to learn to be able to listen, and it didn't come easy, but now that I have I love listening to audio books nearly as much as I do visibly reading.

Between Bach and books, I feel much more lighthearted, and would delete my gripes, if it weren't for the fact that I have a lovely teapot illustration that I couldn't use if I did.  (Did that make sense?)

Everyone is asleep now, except me.  Think I'll take my stack of new library books (ah yes, something good did happen today, I went to the library) and go read!

A Bit about Disappointments and Way More about Kitties

Disappointments are hard to take, and can be harder for some of us to handle.  I'm one of those, for various reasons.  So this afternoon's large disappointment (the answer of "no" to some potential income) has laid me out like a left hook from Sugar Ray.  The possible courses of action are racing around in my head like a whirlpool, the flotsam and jetsam of thoughts surfacing for a second or too before they rush around some more.  I'm trying to practice all I've learned in these past two years, and let it go, let it not overwhelm me, let myself relax.  Trust.  Breathe.  Just live.  I'm trying.  It's all part of life, I can learn to cope, and this blossoming ability to talk or write about it will bring on healing.  At least, that's what I keep trying to tell myself.

On a less personal, gloomy note: Jack Dempsey is starting to walk on a leash outside!  This is fantastic news indeed, you see, as he was terrified of even a collar.

He is a rescue--literally.  I saw him on the side of the road, a short way from our house.  He had an ear flipped back, which looked wounded, and he looked so sad and tired as he started to dive into the tangled undergrowth at the side of the road.  I stopped the car and spoke to him, then got out and walked to him.  I knew, in that moment, that he was mine, though I pushed that thought back and put him in the car and drove around to the few houses nearby to see if he belonged to anyone.  I put up notices, but happily, no one responded and he became ours.  I thought he had just come home to die; it was hard for him to go up and down stairs and he just slept--so deep, that most times I would assume he was dead when I would go downstairs to check on him.

Fancy my shock when, at the first vet visit, Dr. Penny told me he was over one year but less than two.  Imagine the lifetimes he must have lived during that one year, to look as he did.  He even has a palpable pellet embedded deep inside, under his left front leg, the souvenir of someone's air gun or pellet gun.

(Happily, the folded back ear which caught my attention at first, and had me so concerned, wasn't serious.  It's the permanent result of an untreated ear infection--you don't want the details--and will always be folded back.  After a few months of comfortable indoor life, it lost the painful, sun-burnt and leathery look and he'll even let my husband pet it.)

Given that history, it's no wonder Jack Jack was afraid of a collar, and terrified of a cat harness.  He would watch out the window with such longing, though, when we would take St. John outside.  His frustration with St. John became much greater, I think as a direct result of the jealousy, and I really was worried.

Then St. John started accidentally slipping out of his harness when he would jump to catch bugs (this baby has never known anything but walking on a harness, and runs, jumps, chases bugs and climbs trees with me hanging on for dear life) and I found the Kitty Holster online.  It works even better than a harness, and is much more secure.  They state in their advertisement "cats who hate to wear harnesses LOVE the Kitty Holster!"

I didn't believe that for a minute, but my husband decided to give it a try with Jackeroo.  We squeezed him into St. John's harness (I was reminded of the Prince Regent in his stays) and took him outside.  He did fine. He did more than fine, in fact, especially considering he was entirely too big for the holster.  After another successful try, I ordered him one in his size (figuring that even if he didn't use, St. John will grow into it).

I can't say that Jack "loves" it, by any means.  He is still a bit grumpy putting it on, and sometimes slips his leg through the neckhole (I can NOT figure out how he does that), but on the whole, he enjoys his walk and is visibly more relaxed than he was just last week.  I plan to write raving reviews for  Kitty Holster everywhere I can.

Here they are yesterday, having a lovely sniff.  Notice St. John's happy "up" tail!  He just loves going out. Jack is enjoying the feel of the air and all the smells, while St. John has a roll in (what's left of) our gravel drive.

Amazing how much better I feel now, half an hour or so after I began this post, just from all my happy chatter about two of my kitties. :)

Oh, and I got more Washi tape today!  I had forgotten all about it; ordered it from the Plaid Barn, or maybe from Pick Your Plum.  (I threw the packaging away without looking.)  How can one feel melancholy with new Washi patterns in the house!?

I'm especially excited by the one with keys!

Successes and Thanks

Up early this morning.  Honestly, most days I would just be hitting deep sleep about now.  Happily, I've been able to sleep much better for the past few days. It's a pleasure to be able to sleep rather well and wake up while the clock still says ante meridian!

This morning, though, I woke up first with the early signs of a migraine, then stayed awake as St. John, and then Lizzie came to snuggle us.  My husband is off work today, so the cats enjoyed extra time to be with him in the bed. :)  Once Lizzie got up and started playing with a noisy toy in the bedroom, I decided I would just get up and enjoy this spring morning.

I'm so grateful we are actually having SPRING right now, instead of jumping from winter to summer.  It's so lovely to have cool, sunny days or cool overcast days, with the thermometer staying 70 and below.  Such a blessing, and one I can't remember having for many years.

This past week has been an amazing one for me, now that I look back on it.  I took a chance in cooking, and failed, and yet rebounded and found a way to use the failed candy recipe as a successful icing on shortbread.

This is really amazing for me, as, not so long ago, even a perceived failure would be enough to bring a low for several days.

This is such a huge step.

Amazingly, I followed it up with making up chili without a recipe.  Just making it up.

For someone with Aspberger's Syndrome, on top of OCD and crippling anxiety, not following a recipe is a huge deal.  And I did it.  Without even thinking about the fact that I was doing it.

Thinking on it right now, I'm tearing up.  It's a really big deal, and gosh darn it, I"m proud of myself.

You know, I don't say that enough, and I feel it way less than I ever say it, so I'm going to say it again:  I took chances, I succeeded twice this week in the kitchen and I AM PROUD OF MYSELF.

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