Cat In Need

Rescued Alley Cat Seeks Forever Home

Soft paws.

Rough & tumble (he is an alley cat after all).

Loves his belly scratched.

Gets along well with other animals.

If you know of someone who has space in their heart and home for this fellow let me know. All he needs is a little love!

Darling 10 y/o Daughter (creative genius that she is) decided to create an alley cat. Her normal style is cute, neat, and fancy. I'm not sure what inspired this little fella but she put a lot of time and detail into his existence. He was just getting his stripes when…

swoosh!

He was gone.

Her brother found him in the trash.

Brother - "I found this in the trash! What was it doing there?"

Sister - "I didn't want him. He freaked me out!"

She said his red stitched spine was the freakiest of all. Whatever possessed her (literally?) to create him must have known what it was doing as the energy it put off creeped her out! Now THAT is some powerful creativity!

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Laugh A Little

Does this cat make my butt look big? 

Avoiding. I have been avoiding lately. Avoiding a very important writing project that requires time, patience, heart, soul and me. I know it is going to consume me and challenge me and change me. I   know I need to write it for me. 

I tend to put myself last. It's easy to focus on other people when your house is full of them. When they all head out the door for the day I am left with a house that needs attention so I put the house first. 

When the house sits silent and undemanding, I can hear the paper calling. I saddle up with pen in hand. The ink hits the page and the truth spills out. Sometimes it feels overwhelming. Scary. So I humor myself.

Set The Mood

It's Monday morning.

A brand new start to a brand new day in a brand new week.

What mood do you choose?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I had a really crappy day yesterday.

I could not shake my crappy mood.

Overwhelmed, irritated, frustrated.

I tried and tried to shake it but

the ugliness clung to me like a wet coat.

After searching my thick skull for a reason,

the source of the mood was discovered.

I have a 17 year old cat.

We've had him since he was one.

He's a wonderful fella...

when he's not waking me at the ass crack of dawn. 

Every morning the same thing.

Meow meow meow meow meow meow

meow meOW MEOW MEOWWWWW!!!!!

He'll sit on the floor and stare at me in my bed.

MEOW

He'll wander the house and yell MEOW!!!!

In all fairness, the vet has suspicions that he

has the beginning of dementia (poor fella)

and one of the first things I do when I wake

is give him heave duty pain meds for his arthritic

hips and spine (again, poor fella).

You might be thinking, "What a meanie!

Blaming that poor old cat for her fowl mood."

Yeah. I know! That's the conclusion I came to myself.

Except I didn't blame the cat. I blamed me.

My attitude. My perception.

I went to bed wanting nothing more than to sleep in.

I never sleep in.

Four children, one husband, two cats.

One mom. No late mornings for me.

I went to bed at 10 p.m. and was woken at 6 a.m.

Rather than perceiving my night as a full night's sleep,

I was immediately frustrated that I was woken up.

The constant Meoooowwww plucked at my nerves.

All I wanted was to sleep in and wake on my own!!

Is that too much to ask??????

Perception.

I set the mood. I set the impossible expectation.

Seeing my error, last night before bed I lay my head

down with a different mindset. Instead of "I want to sleep in", I thought "I will get enough good sleep and wake

to my faithful old friend who loves me and needs me."

See the difference?

I woke this morning feeling rested.

Faithful Farley was right there waiting for food, medicine and love and I was up and happy and ready to oblige.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Again I say...

It's Monday morning.
A brand new start to a brand new day in a brand new week.
What mood do you choose?

No fancy pictures here, just my faithful old man cat.

He's such a good guy.

I'm thankful for every day we have together.

Do You NaNo?

It's that time of year again.

Not holiday shopping.

Not turkey time.

NaNo time!!!

National Novel Writer's Month

Every year I join.

Every year I get a bit further.

This year I will fight to reach the end!

Due to the mass volume of words required per day

plus the other commitments I find myself in

plus the busy life I lead

in addition to not being 100% yet...

I am going to challenge myself to keep up with my blog

(as I truly love it here)

by following the motto

K.I.S.S.

(keep it simple sweetheart)

Today's message brought to you by

Count Cat-ula!

Do you NaNo?

Treasure Hunting

Weekend in pictures.


Thursday's find.
Found this basket full of beautiful threads and yarns
with bonus blue ball jar for $1.50!!!!

More Treasure
 Does anyone have a clue what this is?
It's some kind of loom (I believe).
I have a strong feeling I know what to do with it.
When I weave a gorgeous blanket I will share the results.
Fun find for only $0.75

I'm a sucker for cute.

These vintage looking hangers will be perfect for my daughter's room.

I paid a mere $0.25 each!

 I love old signs etc... 

Right now I keep my growing collection in the garage.

Some day I hope to adorn my potting shed and greenhouse with them.

This old grape crate end was only $0.25

complete with crooked nails sticking out the ends. ha!

My ultimate favorite find this weekend.

I adore old cameras!!!!

Aren't these just grand?

I paid $5.00 for the pair!

I'm swooning over here.

 

Nature Treasure

  My chives are in bloom.

They are so wonderful!

I love the purple and green together.

Nature's color pallettes.

Always magnificent.

Hubby made me an herb planter.

Isn't it fun?!?!?

Two nests.

Two tries.

Two failed attempts.

The birds were nesting like crazy around here this spring.

In the trees and in the bird houses.

For some reason, the majority of attempts were failures.

 Hubby carved me this bird house out of cedar.

A chickadee claimed it within a day of hanging.

They build their nest with moss.

If you peek up underneath you can see the vibrant green moss peeking out of the floor boards.

I was lying on my back for these next two pictures.

Trying to get a bird's eye view.  ;)

One with the chive blossoms in focus, the other contrasting with the house in focus.

Here is Lennon watching me from inside the house

wondering what the freak is doing rolling around on the ground outside!

 This morning's sunrise.

Hope you had a fun filled weekend.

Are you keeping your eyes open to all the treasure in the world?

A Blessing And An Update

I was cleaning my desk yesterday and found the folder that was left to me when my grandmother passed away. On the outside it simply says "This is for Lynn". It is filled with clippings and sayings, prayers and hand-written scraps, letters the children and I wrote to her, pieces of my writing I sent to her. It warms my heart that she kept it all and made a folder just for me. The best parts are the handwritten words. The lost art of writing. Handwriting, like the voice, like fingerprints, uniquely one's own. I love looking in that folder and seeing Grandma's handwriting. Knowing her pen moved methodically over the paper putting every mark down deliberately and thoughtfully. I'm going to share a piece she had saved for me. It is not written by her (rather copied) but obviously held value. My gift from her I now share with you.

A Blessing of Solitude: May you recognize in your life the presence, power and light of your soul. May you realize that you are never alone, that your soul in its brightness and belonging connects you intimately with the rhythm of the universe. May you have respect for your own individuality and difference. May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique, that you have a special destiny here, that behind the facade of your life there is something beautiful, good and eternal happening. May you learn to see yourself with the same delight, pride and expectation with which God sees you at every moment.

p.s. Huge, huge thanks to all who have kept Mr. Lennon in your thoughts and prayers. It was the oddest thing. After over a week of self-starving (even with the meds in him) and fading, he suddenly started eating! Yesterday he ate three cans of food and returned completely back to his normal self. Overnight! It was crazy!!!! Now he's back to being Mr. Naughty Pants (one of his many nicknames)! Thank you all.

Lennon Update

Thanks much to all for your well wishes. Ends up mums are not liver or kidney toxic (in other words, they're not known to cause failure of either). Just really hard on the tummy and GI tract. He's had a lot of issues with his tummy since the beginning so I am praying that it heals properly. He has to be able to eat and drink or he will dehydrate, the organs will start to be affected, etc...
The vet had a shot to stop the vomiting. He finally kept down a tablespoon of special prescription soft food late this evening (first thing to stay down in well over 24 hrs.). He seems to be feeling better than this morning but is nowhere near acting like himself. The vet said it would take time and I need to watch for dehydration and lethargy. So far so good. Been keeping him warm and lots of cuddles. Last time he tossed his tummy there was no more blood. I'm hoping to wake up to a kitten again. He's acting like a 15 year old cat (like my other kitty fella).
Thank you all for your prayers, healing energy and well wishes. I just know it's been helping him. It sure has been helping me get through. I was so scared! Now I'm very hopeful. I really must share his life story some time soon.

Thank you, thank you, thank you again!!!!!

Reverb - Defining Moment

  Reverb prompt:

Defining Moment - Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year.   This one sounds similar to a few previous reverb prompts. And how to pick just one moment or series when every moment affects. Perhaps I am just not in the mood to play along today. Instead I am going to ask for your prayers. My dear Lennon boy has eaten some chrysanthemum leaves and is very, very sick. Ends up they are very toxic to cats. The vet did not want to see him after hours last evening as he was still up and around and acting (mostly) like himself but he was throwing up bloody water. She said he probably has stomach irritation and that she would like to see him right away this morning. He curled up in a laundry basket of clean clothes in my room last night and I couldn't sleep. He just wasn't himself at all. He can't keep food down. He's not playing or running. His eyes say, "I don't feel good. Make it go away." His kitten playfulness gone. This morning I woke and went to the basket. He weakly lifted his head and gave me a little chirp. I started petting him and he purred. He won't get up. It's 2 1/2 hours until the vet opens. He finally got up. It's 1 1/2 hours until vet opens. He's acting a bit better but still unable to hold food down. They will draw blood. What else? I'm unsure. Please say a prayer for my Lennon boy. I said many as I fell asleep but it seems as if he needs more. Sincerest thanks.

Contageous

Today's skies are cold and dark.

My body hurts like hell.

My mood sucks.

I need rest.

Did you know yawns are contageous?

Once one person yawns, another is bound to follow?

I went searching for a good yawn to get my body going.

Yawning is good prep for rest.

Bingo!

Yup. Seems to be working.

Yaaawn (~stretch~)

Pass it on.

Tidbits

Hello Blog Land!

I only have time to share tidbits of my weekend

as I'm off to start NaNoWriMo!

Weekend Tidbits:

We parted with my husband's 20 year old little blue bomber. 

His rusty, trusty, old Toyota station wagon.

He's been the proud owned for the past nine years.

It has faithfully allowed him to keep his job

by getting him to work safely and on time.

Now he works from home and needed a truck for hauling.
He did not want to part with his faithful friend but it was time to move on.

So long little fella. We'll miss you!

(Little Blue is now resides with an older couple and their dog in the country)

 

 Let's hear it for Costume Parties!!!!

 

It certainly wouldn't be Halloween without pumpkin carving.

Pictured here is our beloved cat Farley.

He's a 15 year old half-persian.

We named him after Chris Farley 

because they're both big, orange and funny!!!!

 

My husband and I went on a double date this weekend.

We went to The Comedy Club.

Guess who was headlining???

The Farley Brothers!!!!!!

 

(John Farley)

 (Kevin Farley)

 Hope you had a great weekend too!

Monday's Happiness

What's making me happy this Monday?

Simple things.

Like this vase.

(and the beautiful age cracks inside)

which I purchased at an antique sale for only

50¢

to hold

these awesome Sharpies©

to start

this book

by Keri Smith

which is a gift I purchased for myself!!!!

(back of book pictured here scribed by me)

which you can find out how to purchase HERE.

I'm terribly excited to have found the book on a recent trip.

I have known of Keri's blog and book
(actually, she has many awesome books)
for some time but try hard to curb

any online charging as it is bad for the budget.  :(

But to run across it in person?

Well, that must be a sign, 

right?

Let's ask Lennon.

He says, "Go for it Baby!"

That's good enough for me!

(more about the book/journal tomorrow... please stay tuned!)

Here You Go Folks!

A small glimpse into my twisted sense of humor. Couldn't help myself!!! Lennon (the cat) has adopted my printer as his place to "hang" while I'm at my desk. He likes to be close to me.  :)
Today, I needed my printer for photocopying. Lennon didn't like this idea. That meant losing his hangout. He messed with my papers, played with the tray, tried to climb on top of the documents I was trying to photocopy. At one point, the glass was bare and he decided to jump up and take a bath. Naturally, I took advantage of the situation.

Ha ha ha ha ha!!!! I photocopied his derriere! and he just sat there! Holy Crap! I was laughing so hard. HA! Maybe a little office joke + a little humiliation at having his hind end posted on the web will teach him to stay off my printer!

..... two minutes later....

Then again, maybe not.

A Picture for A Giggle

I have oh so much to share with you, my dear blog. But alas, between the technical difficulties that have been plaguing my house the last few days and my neck, which has been causing me so much pain and immobility of late, I only have time for a few words and a small little picture.

For now, please enjoy the amusement of my darling kitties enjoying a nap on their bunkie bed.  ;)

The Life Of A Cat

Sleep, stretch, wake
eat, stalk, chase
bask, beg, caress
sleep, sleep, sleep
eat, stalk, chase

oh to live the life of a cat

those lucky dogs!

Life as a house cat.

How Bloody Brilliant
to be a cat.
Eat, sleep, chase.
Not a worry
in their pretty little heads.

What was that?
A bird?
A mouse?
A milk ring to chase?

Alas, I am tuckered out from my morning terror run throughout the house.
I think I'll just lay here
lick my pristine coat
and bask in the sunbeam.

Then you can feed me
pet me
and be on your way.
I have business to tend to.

Ah yes.
The life of a house cat.

Gratitude Attitude - Day 8

(28 days to an attitude of gratitude - learn more here)

It is 9:30 a.m. and I am already very grateful today. I am grateful I was able to sleep in!!! I am grateful for the sunshine and warm weather forecast for the day as it allows my 14 year old solar powered cat (Hi Farley!!!) to charge up for the day ;)

The presence of the sun and warm temps will also allow me to finish up preparing my home and yard for the cold mid-west winter to come.

Thank you Mother Nature for the gift of this beautiful day!! I will use it wisely.