Feel Like Complaining

Everything about our weekend simply put; just perfect. The weather, scenery, motel, food, and activities. This was the view from our motel. There were carved bears everywhere, must have been about 50 in all forms.  We packed a lunch and ate it quickly at a park because we had an appointment with the Alpacas! What a cool place that raises them for their fiber, harvesting 500 lbs. a year. They have many Alpacas, 2 llamas, and one mini donkey. The males are separated from the females and we visited them first. Very friendly and eat pellets right out of your hand. The females are a bit smaller, but much more aggressive in wanting food. The owner put about half of them away so they wouldn't overwhelm us. He was very accommodating and friendly. We got to see a spinning class in progress and then the little store which sells fiber goods. After that we went back to our room because Faith and I wanted to go to an animal shelter which also has a thrift store attached. It was closed for the h...

Abe and I have the sweetest morning ritual. I get up about 6:30, make some coffee, and we go outside. Mostly he goes around the corner to wait for the dogs but sometimes he joins me on a chair. Now that it's getting a bit cooler he doesn't always stay but wants out later. Faith doesn't usually let him out so one day he actually got on the counter and jiggled the door knob, and then he ran to me. MeMaw is the best! We're able to see him out the bathroom window so it takes a quick peek to make sure he's there. He's still afraid of traffic noise so he rarely goes to the other side of the yard, just maybe to sniff around the patio. I'm glad he feels a little like a wild cat and gets some fresh air; although he still comes INSIDE to pee! I'm taking a break from painting, just not feeling it. I have so many leftover crafty things so I'll be making small items just for Art Abandonment. I've got wire, beads, keychain pieces, and so much more I can cobble...

I was initially excited to be at Steve's with the cats and Riley again. After the debacle of my last stay and Riley sneaking downstairs to poop, I wasn't sure he would ask again. But alas, I decided yesterday that I won't be back. Riley didn't go out at all the day I got there, not even at bedtime. No dinner either. I brought her breakfast in bed thinking it would spurn her to get up to go out. I messaged Steve to tell him what was up, then nudged her one more time and she went out to potty. Feeling good about that, I went for a walk. No more than 20 minutes later I get back and don't see her, I look at the stairs and there she was on the landing.  Now, you tell me how a fat dog can get through/around/over/under these heavy stools (without moving them)! Heading downstairs I could smell shit, not in the cat variety. Lotso poop in the family room, I was livid. I texted him and gave him the latest and that I would clean it up, but will not be back. I understand that sh...

Things are beginning to slow down a bit to a do-able pace. Over the weekend I stayed with my buddy Luka. On my way I had to drive through the Indian Trail area and saw some of the houses that had burned down. Never in my life have I seen a sight like that. It wasn't the largest area affected but it was sad seeing the partial chimneys left standing all alone and destroyed cars, right on a residential street.  Check out my new mini tool. I got the lawn mowed but it left the edges looking crappy. Tony weed whacks when he can but there's no way I can manage something that big. This is a hedge trimmer and grass clipper. I've only used the trimmer so far and I was only going to be outside for a few minutes but I just kept going and going; it was a lot of fun! I was surprised at what it could do for it's size. I'll try the clipper sometime this week. A few weeks ago, Faith and I did something fun. There's a woman who lives in our part of town and she's a great comm...

Tony's heart shock didn't work that great, but improved a bit. They put him on a high dose of anti-Afib drip to keep him stable, then continued with pills later. His heart doctor who tended to him in the hospital said he was in bad shape when he came in; Tony said I saved his life by calling the ambulance. He got home Thursday afternoon and Friday was his first appointment to check his pacemaker. We did so much walking but he did great. Saturday night we went out to a belated birthday dinner for Faith. Her BD got screwed so it was really nice and we enjoyed it a lot. Tony is better than he looks here, his back just hurt so he was a bit squirmy. My recent liver scan was bad enough that I am now on Wegovy, my second shot will be this Wed. It's such a small dose that I've had very little side affects but I know they're coming!  Now we're just trying to get through our days of appointments and gross smoke. I would be thrilled to get my lawn mowed but don't know ...

(n.) When one tiny problem snowballs into a full blown disaster. You answer one email, now there are 12. You fix one issue, now 3 more appear. Five minutes ago it was manageable. Now it's a full fuckalanche. This is going to be long and choppy because there's a lot to say. Tony's pacemaker procedure went well but the breathing was still bad. We got home in the afternoon and the next day is when the fires started. I had to pick up some meds and the smoke plume looked very far away. Faith was pet sitting for her brother but since it was her birthday, she had taken a drive to a small community not far away. As she was coming back to their house (20 miles), she could see the smoke. By afternoon, we heard so many sirens and cops were going down the street the wrong way to block an arterial only 3 houses north. I went outside and saw smoke with red undertones so I came in to tell Tony we needed to go. Although we were not technically in the evac zone we left anyway. He painstakin...

It took me a couple of months, but I finally got half of the front yard weeded. They don't call it ground cover for nothing! When it takes over, it looks yucky, so most of the unpleasant stuff is gone. I've just barely started on the other side.  My cousin is still sending me family pictures that he has found. He's looking for one in particular but still hasn't found it. My grandma is in the middle with 2 siblings. My grandma liked fishing. She's happily showing off her catch :) I think there's a good resemblance to Faith here. My grandma, sitting next to a creek on Blewet Pass. The creeks name at that time was Negro, or the other N word. In 2009 it was finally changed to Etienne Creek after Antoine Etienne, a black man who was a miner and an orchardist. I read that the creek was named Negro creek because he did quite well mining there. Anyway, I'm glad the name was changed to honor him better. My Grandma, far right, with her siblings. She still loved fishin...

A quick update about Tony, he will be having a pacemaker soon. Doc said it's not urgent urgent, but would like to have it done asap. At one point when Tony had the monitor on, his heart stopped for 7 seconds when trying to regulate the fast rate he has at times. That's probably the feeling he's been having for a long time and it was never caught with just a regular ekg. As is the norm, doctors have no idea how busy they are because someone else does the scheduling. His nurse said he's scheduled out to September but she would try to squeeze him in. Oh Boy. Being back with my kitties was so awesome! Faith took the first three nights and as I was getting ready to make the switch with her, she said she had a bad Vertigo episode. I switched some things around and brought Tony up so he could drive her home. The next morning, she was sore and tired, but was able to go to work. A dang miracle is what that was! Miss Riley wasn't too sure of me for awhile. She can hardly see/...