Weekend silliness

I know, it's getting on in the week, but I've not blogged about this past Saturday night.

Once a month at the Plaza Theater, the Silver Scream Spookshow happens. This is high silliness, grand campiness. A "classic" sci-fi or horror movie is shown after a burlesque show put on by a local ensemble. Please go take a look right now.

See what I mean? The show happens before the movie is shown. June's movie was the Hideous Sun Demon.

Our friend Ralph was the official 3-D photographer for the Spookshow, and that's how we heard about it. Keith and I have been planning to go for some time now, but I was working every Saturday, and he works most of them. Since the Spookshow is on the last Saturday of the month, that usually didn't work for Keith. Ralph and Daphne usually take their kids to the afternoon matinee, which didn't work for them this month. As Hannibal Smith always said, "I love it when a plan comes together". Everything worked this month for an adults night out to the Spookshow. I also invited Gale's hubby Marty, who loves a bad movie. Gale is helping her mom post-surgery, and she'll have to join us next month. We got dinner at El Toro, as we all know beer and margaritas help the viewing experience for all except the designated driver, then off to the movie.

It's been a long time since I've had so much fun. Yes, it was really goofy, dumb, ridiculous and just plain silly. The movie wasn't as bad as I expected since it only got 2 1/2 stars out of 10 on imdb. How fun it was to sit in an audience where no one was expected to be quiet, although the 2 guys behind us weren't very funny with their comments.

And the most amazing thing has happened! Keith's mood has actually improved. I don't know if it will stay better, but I'll enjoy it while I can.

Scanning practice

A picture of Scooter when he was young. I always love the way sunlight glistens on cat fur. If you look closely just behind him to the right, you can see his mom, Pixel, snoozing.

The Artist's Way

I don't know if any of you have read this book, but several years ago (maybe as many as 10), it was recommended to Keith when he met with a career counselor. He never did any of the exercises in it, but I picked it up, did a couple of them, then set it aside. Consistency is a real challenge to me. Or I could be a bit more archaic and say I lack "sticktoitiveness". (And let's be honest, Keith has a few other choice words that he likes to use. He's just lucky I love him too much to hit him with one of my cast iron frying pans. Believe me, I've given it some thought!) :)

So, let's fast forward to this past spring. Whooosh! We've left the mid 90's, and now we're at the vet's office, where, as you know, I've spent much time over these past few years.

I always visit with the staff there. I go to and stay with my vet because they're really nice, wonderful, caring folks, and while I do have some dread about going there ($$$$), I enjoy visiting with them. Lea, who works there, asked me about the Artist's Way one day. I said what probably a lot of people have said, "I've got it, but I didn't stick with it." It turns out Lea had been asking people, and she wanted to start a group to do it. Many of us have problems with that sticktoitiveness, and a group makes you more accountable.

Today we had our first group meeting. Lea is an amazing organizer. She used to be a meeting planner (I think I've remembered the term she used). She had an outline. She had a small origami project for us to do. While I find her vision of where she eventually wants to go with all this much grander than anything that I'd planned, I think she's a perfect ringleader.

And since this is me, and I'm absolutely convinced that the Universe has a twisted sense of humor, I think I'm in the process of having it have a bit of fun at my expense. (And I'm ok with that.) For years our copy of The Artist's Way has been on a bookcase in Keith's office. It hasn't budged. I went to look for it on Friday night. It wasn't there. Now, of course I can picture the spine in my mind's eye. A tall, thinnish, burgundy book. It's not there. I ask Keith about it. He says he's seen it recently, and what he describes matches what I'm looking for. I look again. It's really not there. I look on another bookcase, then another. Yes, we have bookcases in just about every room of the house. If we had space, we'd probably have them in the bathroom too. I can't find that darn book anywhere. I break down and order a used copy, very inexpensive, from Amazon this afternoon. I go to the group and see that what I've been picturing in my mind is not at all what I should be looking for. I still haven't found my copy of it yet, but I bet it will turn up before the other one arrives. I really hope the Supreme Being has a good bellylaugh then.

I think the emergency frozen pizza is cooked, so I'd best sign off now. We're planning to snuggle Scooter as much as he'll let us tonight. I'm not sure when we're taking him for that last visit.

Scooter update

I thought I'd separate out the sad from the comical this morning. We have come to the conclusion that Scooter's time here with us is very short. The tumor won't suddenly get better, and while he eats and drinks pretty well, he can't stay hydrated. Taking him to the vet stresses him out, and he won't let us give him fluids. In fact, he's gotten downright difficult about letting us apply compresses to his tumor to keep it clean. I think he's been trying to tell us he's ready to go, and while I actually came to terms with that as much as I possibly could, I feel like both Scooter and I have been waiting for Keith. This may be very unfair, but I felt like I couldn't approach Keith about it after the whole not talking to me last month when the vet thought it was Scooter's time.

The whole situation is heartbreaking. I love Scooter so much, but then again this poor, very thin, partially deaf and blind cat that lives with us isn't the same Scooter except occasionally. For several months I've almost been afraid to touch him since he looks so fragile. He'll come at night and get into my lap while I knit, and that seems just like old times. Last night while I was waiting for Keith to come to bed, Scooter got onto my chest to sleep, something he hasn't done in a very long time.

I've got to end this right now. I'm starting to cry, and my grammar will go all to hell.

Saturday morning pre-coffee ramblings

I did try out the new pressure cooker last night. Chicken Goddess told me that it would take only a few minutes. I would be surprised how fast it was. She was right. However, (and you knew there would be a however) I still managed to have the safety valve release a little steam too.

When she said fast, I still didn't comprehend just how fast. Let's face it. A totally new experience for me is using a pressure cooker. Never grew up around one and never paid attention when Dolores was using one. I didn't know my chicken would be done in just 3 minutes. I just knew that couldn't be right, so after I released the steam from the vent, I decided I'd better heat it up just a little longer. When the steam started coming from the safety vent, I turned the heat off immediately, released the steam and ran it under some cold water so I could open it up and take a look. All cooked. Maybe even a little overcooked. Chicken breast can get a little tough sometimes.

And yes, it was a little scary at first, but now that I've been able to experience how it all works, I'm raring to go again. I think I'll need to get a larger one. This one is small. Really just large enough for one meal for two people. I'll need one that will make a roast or pot of stew.

A confession

I've always loved owls. Ever since I was young, I've found them to be fascinating birds. I'll admit to being a little jealous of Harry Potter and his relationship with Hedwig. How I thought I would love to have an owl.

Today, while waiting for a prescription at Wal-Mart, I saw a book entitled Wesley the Owl. The cover also had the description "The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl". Intrigued, I put it in my cart and started reading.

It is such a sweet book. I know now that I wouldn't really like having a pet owl as they are so much more work that I would have ever dreamed. However, I do think the rewards are huge for sharing your life with such an intelligent animal. It's an easy read, and I recommend it. Take a look at the link, then go read this book.

And even though I don't think I could raise an owl, I find them even more fascinating now.

Another one?

When I came home from knitting tonight, there was another orange cat hanging around with Mamacat. I've been trying to decide if it's related to her, or if it's a new cat. And here I thought I was finished with the trapping and vaccinations for ferals for awhile.

Getting back on track

With the picture taking and blogging. You may remember that I'm in the Nefarious Yarn Club by Cosmic Fibers Yarn, and this month when I opened the package there was this ever so cute bag made from button fabric. I must mention that I have signed up for the additional swag to go with the yarn. The swag has been really fun. I don't think I posted last month's goodies, now that I think about it. I'll attempt to remedy that soon.

Anyway, this month her nefarious character was the Other Mother from Coraline. There's nothing like evil pink yarn! I don't think you can see it very well, but Carrie also makes stitch markers every month using Shrinky Dink plastic. You can probably see it between the yarn and the bag if you embiggen the picture. (Yeah, blame Jebediah Springfield for my grammatical incorrectness, but I think embiggen is just a fun word.

On to other things. Yesterday Gale and I had planned to go see the knitted chickens at Knitch. We did go, with the addition of Alma, aka The Chicken Goddess. I always have fun when I go adventuring or shopping with Gale, but Alma added a whole new facet to it. One of the local Indian grocery stores, to be exact.

We had gone to lunch in a small plaza that had the Indian grocery store and a couple of Indian restaurants. Of course, we had gone there in search of lunch, but as you can see to your right, I also did a little shopping.

I've been wanting a pressure cooker for some time now, but (sorry Mom) my Mom instilled some odd fears in me as I was growing up. One of them was that pressure cookers are dangerous. Like you couldn't ever use one without it exploding. It would maim you, kill all your pets and blow the roof off the house. Needless to say, I was terrified of them for a very long time. (Fish bones too, but that's another story.)

However, Keith's mom used pressure cookers all the time. I've read recipes that give directions for using a pressure cooker, and I've been wanting to try one. When Keith's mom passed away, we got a couple of them, but they were older and missing parts. I didn't know enough to order the proper things online, so I've never used them.

Alma said that she uses hers all the time, showed me which one it was, and I bought the last one of that size that I could find. She also suggested a particular packet of sauce for cooking chicken and told me how this type of pressure cooker works. Apparently they build up a head of steam and release it all in a burst, causing the pot to whistle. The instructions on the back of the Butter Chicken Sauce say to cook your meal for 2 whistles. It just sounds so fun. Tomorrow night I'm going for it.

Why not tonight? you may ask. Easy, we've got lots of leftovers in the crockpot from yesterday, and I'm going to a baby shower tonight. Keith gets leftovers while I get Chinese food.

And finally, here is my sock in progress for Summer of Socks 2009. Yes, the yarn really is that bright. I'm not sure when I decided that the more obnoxious the sock yarn, the more fun it is to knit, but I'm enjoying this. It's Jitterbug in colorway Red Parrot. I've finished the heel flap and will be turning the heel later today.

Slackin' again

I noticed I've hardly blogged at all this month. It could be the heat, but more likely I'm spending time online other places instead of here. I know I shouldn't be so fickle.

So let's take a look a what all's been going on lately. Honestly, this past week I've done a lot of mindless knitting. The knit group I'm in has decided to do a community service project instead of a swap for the holidays this year. We decided to knit stoma covers which are used by people who have had tracheotomies. They are collected by the Atlanta Knitting Guild and given to Grady Hospital. I've made 4 of them this past week. Easy, mindless knitting for a good cause.

All the things that look like bibs are stoma covers. I'm sure there are patterns out there, and you can use it to practice a new stitch pattern, but then it wouldn't be mindless knitting.

The pattern I used is of my own invention, such as it is. If you care to knit any up, the finished size needs to be between 6 - 7" in both height and width. I figured out how many stitches I needed to cast on to make one about 6" wide, knit every row (garter stitch) until it was long enough, or it looked like I may not have enough yarn. On the final row, I knit 3 stitches, bound off all stitches until I got to the last 3, and knit the final 3. I put the first 3 stitches on a holder (safety pin), and worked a 12" long 3 stitch I-cord with the final 3. I bound that off, picked up the 3 stitches from the holder and made another 12" I-cord. These are fast and easy. I made 1 in one day, then cast on for the next one. The striped orange one is made from 2 yarns, 1 a solid and the other a self striping with a large amount of orange in it, changing colors every 2 rows.

For the record, as I was using dk weight yarn, I cast on 36 stitches. I have some crochet cotton that I'll probably use for some more this fall, and I'll have to cast on a lot more stitches than that. Check your yarn weight and work accordingly.

It's been a great way to use up leftover bits of cotton.

I do knit pretty firmly from doing all those socks, so these are quite sturdy. I think they will hold up well to multiple washings.

There has been some sewing on the horizon. As you can see here, I was cutting out pieces for my next Barcelona Skirt when Lily had to help as much as she could. Lily has been rather grumpy lately. We've had temperatures in the mid to upper 90's for most of the past week, and I've been bringing her inside by noonish. She's been cranky that I'm not letting her stay out, but a couple of times she's looked almost like she's having heat stroke. She can be very fleet and sneaky, so I've had to go after her a few times, and in her crankiness I've been bitten. Unfortunately for her, I ignore the biting and carry her protesting (and sometimes growling) into the house. I think all the sitting on the pattern pieces and fabric was her revenge. I can deal with biting, especially when the alternative is rushing her to the vet for heat stroke.

Summer of Socks 2009 officially started at 10:00 a.m. on June 21. These are not my SOS socks, but instead part of a pair that are going on hibernation until September 1. I just thought I'd show you a sock picture. I'll have more pictures later this week.

Happy Birthday, Scooter!

Yes, today Scooter is 19 years old. Today I'll spoil him even more rotten, maybe a can of salmon or tuna.

Most of the photos I have of him still need to be scanned into the computer. I've only got digital ones since 2006. That's when this picture of him and Monster snoozing together on some clean laundry was taken. See how lively he looks then? Well, he was only 16.


This next photo is from 2007. He still looks pretty good, but I think he's starting to show his age.


Honestly, I've taken very few pictures of him this past year or so. I know it's probably selfish of me, but I always want to remember him as the wonderful, loving, snuggly, good natured cat that he was. While I love him still and snuggle with him most nights (when he allows it), I'm not so sure I want to remember him as the shadow of his younger self. The poor little guy is so bony. He's arthritic and doesn't groom much anymore. He's not always cooperative when we try to groom him either. He bit Keith quite soundly the other night.

Keith and I both know that soon we'll have to take him to the final vet visit. His tumor is still growing. A couple of days lately he seemed like he wasn't feeling that great, but then I realized that he was finding places in the house that didn't have ceiling fans or where away from the A/C vents. I think he's be perfectly happy if I let the house get really warm, but the rest of us would melt.

Summer Insomnia

Yes, I have it again. It's all due to the fact that we can't afford to keep the house as cool as I need it to be to sleep well. Honestly, I probably need to sleep in a refridgerator. I love it when it's about 60 degrees. Perfect sleeping temperature for me. Since it's just plain horribly expensive to run the a/c to keep it that cool, I now wake up almost every night roasting. I've read that most people are comfortable sleeping at 68 degrees, but when daytime temps are in the upper 90's, well, you see where this is going.

The summer solstice is Sunday, and once more I'll be counting down the days until the fall equinox. Don't get me wrong. There are things I love about summer, but the heat isn't one of them.

One thing about insomnia is that I start thinking about really wierd things. Like what I'll blog about next. One thing is TV couples who are just wrong. I must admit that CSI Miami is such a bad TV show. I do watch it sometimes as everything about it is soooo wrong. Like this past week, why are two scientists who are supposed to recover evidence babysitting someone who's going into witness protection? Why are they helping him go over his court case? Just so wrong. And that brings me to the couple of that show which is bizarre. Calleigh Duquesne and Eric Delko. Eric is such a wimp. Pouting, butt-kissing, masochistic - just all round wuss. And Calleigh is a two-face, using the term from Seinfeld. You know, she looks great in some lights and absolutely awful in others. I think she looks old enough to be Eric's mom. Ugh! I'll admit that I don't watch it that often anymore, and it's not even bad enough to fall into the "so bad it's good" category, unlike some movies I've watched. (Empire of the Ants leaps to mind.)

See, insomnia is not good for me. There was another TV couple who just plain bugged me with their wrongness, but those thoughts slipped into the ether once sweet sleep came upon me.

In pet world, I think Scooter is fading now. My beloved has finally seen it also, and that decision will be upon us very soon. Scooter's 19th birthday is this Sunday, June 21, and unless something drastic happens, I'd like to be able to celebrate it with him. However, I'm keeping an eye on him. I don't want him to suffer. Last night he was a mega petting pest, muscling his way into my lap as I was eating a midevening snack and getting settled to watch Predator yet again. He's now hiding and sleeping, but Keith said he was very demanding about his petting this morning too.

The heat and humidity are making Sassy's skin problems worse. I'm going to give her more Benadryl and see if that will help until I can take her in and get her allergy tested. Yes, I think it's come to that. I won't be able to do it until next month, but next month is nearly here. I've got an open prescription for the medicated shampoo, and it looks like I'm going to need it for her. Such fun.

Random ramblings

First, thank you Kim, for the complement. I'll admit that I don't think I'm awesome. What I do think is that TNR gives me a way to make a difference and to be able to live with myself. In the past we've had feral cats that I've wanted to help, and I didn't know what to do. Now I do know, and that eases my conscience so much. I can still help without becoming the crazy woman with all the cats. Although, both Keith and I realize that when we ever move, we have to trap and take our 2 feral cats with us. At this point they depend on us whether they want to live with us or not.

Today we did our bit for the economy. Usually once or sometimes twice a year we go shopping for Keith. He dislikes shopping for clothing, so most years it's a bit of an ordeal. We head up to the North Georgia Premium Outlets and spend the day looking for clothing for him. Over the years I've gotten more savvy about how to do this. "Oh, those shoes fit and you like them! Why don't you get two pairs instead of just one?" This works for pants, etc.

However, he's been talking to some of his coworkers and one of his brothers in law and found out that other guys go shopping more often at places like T.J. Maxx. Today we went to a nearby mall that has a Burlington Coat Factory store, and I discovered once again why I should always have knitting in my purse. I perused the women's clothing pretty quickly. I've got fabric for 3 more Barcelona skirts, so all I really wanted were a few more T-shirts. No such luck finding what I wanted, so I headed over to find Keith. I found him trying on pants. He had tried 2 pairs with only 1 pair fitting him. I helped him find ties and more pants to try on, then I got to sit and wait while he tried them all on.

Thank goodness that he did end up with 2 pairs that he liked, along with 4 ties and 3 shirts. I got a $4.99 tank top to wear with my pj's. I was amazed at the bill (it was a very happy amazement). Now he's got to go through his closet, then we're off to get a few more items for him. When they had a change in management awhile back, the man who came in decided that the men in his department needed to wear ties while in the office. Honestly, Keith hasn't had to wear a tie in years. Many of his are dated looking, and I was glad we found some he liked, some in the most gorgeous silks. I doubt we're doing more shopping this week, and I mostly wanted to post this to remind you gals out there that men can be surprisingly slow when shopping, so always take your knitting with you.

I've got to see if I can talk him into the outlets. I still want some new T-shirts, and I'm brand specific since I found some last year that I love. Either that, or I'll just head out to Phipps one day and see if I can find them in a non-outlet branch of the same store.

Vet trauma

At least I think that's what she would think.

Today I woke up and trapped Mamacat. She's the first honest to goodness TNR cat I ever did, and she really needed an update of her rabies vaccination.

I was pleasantly surprised to see her waiting for breakfast, so I quickly baited the trap and took it out to where she normally eats. She was suspicious, but the aroma of tuna quickly got the better of her.

Poor, poor kitty. The trap was sprung, and after I brought her to a safe place, I took a quick shower and then we went to the vet.

I knew that while she was at the vet's office that I wanted all those things done that kitties need done, like being de-fleaed, getting any necessary vaccinations, etc. I hadn't been gone for even 45 minutes when they called and asked for verbal permission to anesthetize her since she wouldn't let them near. I said sure (what else could I say?) and went about my business.

Mama is a surprisingly healthy cat. No ear mites, no worms. She got her shots and a flea treatment (Oh! the indignity), then was put into a cardboard cat carrier for me to bring her home in. By the time I picked her up, she was fully recovered from the anesthesia. I figured she may not have eaten all day, so Keith brought her some food, then I released her from the carrier.

Off like a shot she ran! I was expecting something like that. I know she'll be back, but it may take a few days for everyone to calm down again. Hopalong had showed up for breakfast today too, but he saw the trap and ran off. I'll keep peeking out as night falls to see if either of them is waiting for food. I do hate to leave food out when they're not there. I've got some of the plushest squirrels you will ever see eating at my house.

I feel very happy even though they may be upset with me. My only two ferals are now vaccinated and sterile, and while I can't save every cat or dog or child out there that needs saving, at least I've what I can.

Next week, the trap goes to my sister in law. She's succumbing to the lure of TNR and is about to rescue some cats she's been feeding. It just takes a little effort from a lot of people to make some real change, doesn't it?

See, I'm still knitting

I know you were thinking that with all the sewing and quilting lately that my needles were sitting idle. Well, you'd be wrong. They haven't been totally idle, although there has been less knitting.

I got some work done on this sock. I'm not sure if I'd written that I was having car sock withdrawals, but I was, so here's what I cast on. Miss Babs in her Watermelon colorway. It's brighter than the picture shows, but it's still on the more pastel side. I've also done some work on the front of the Green Basil, but it's not very interesting to look at right now. Thus, no photo.

I can't remember if I mentioned that when I called the county extension service after having the drainfield redone, the master gardener I spoke to told me that we would probably have to take down all the trees that had some major root damage. She didn't think we'd have to do it immediately, but she seemed to think sooner was better than later. My beloved doesn't want to think about that right now, and I've not pushed the issue (yet). However, this morning the neighbors behind us and one house over are busy cutting down trees in their backyard. While I totally understand that as we have an overabundance of sweet gum and Q-tip looking pine trees in this area, I'm not exactly happy. I was counting on the neighbors to keep their trees so that we would have shade after ours were removed. I see that ain't gonna happen. I think I'll be very happy very soon that I've gotten the curtains up in my office.

Keith is taking vacation this week, so I'm dragging him to Textile Warehouse to look at curtain fabric for our bedroom and kitchen. Right now we have blackout roller shades in the bedroom, which we will leave up, but the room looks unfinished without curtains. Yes, we've been in this house much longer than we had planned to be (pretty convenient location), and there are still plenty of things we've not done yet. I'm thinking Roman shade for kitchen and just some plain panels for the bed and bath.

I think I'd better make sure our Lily is inside with all the trees falling out back. Have a great Sunday!

A slight panic, followed by realization

Whaddaya mean I'm not helping?

Yesterday and again this morning I found myself somewhat worried. You see, I had some tingling and numbness in my left hand early in the morning. Many of us know the warning signs for heart attack, and that's one of them.

Other than that, I felt fine, so yesterday I decided just to be aware of how my body was feeling. Then, it happened again this morning. Is it time to panic yet?

That's when common sense prevailed. For months now, when I sleep on my back, I fling my left arm over my head. I'm not sure why, but I do. My left hand ends up dangling off the pillow behind me. Do you think that's why it's been a little numb and tingly in the morning? Time to figure out a better way to sleep.

As for the quilting yesterday, I got most of the long quilting lines completed. I've been thinking I need to outline each log in every square, but I find that I don't enjoy the actual quilting nearly as much as the piecing it together. In fact, quilting itself is tedious. I noticed that my quilting wasn't as neat as I would have liked, but that happens when you are racing through something that you're not enjoying. I'd love to have someone who actually likes the quilting part to do it for me, but it's very expensive, and I see why. I'm not sure now how I want to finish quilting it. I do have another one that has some long quilting lines, and I may get those done while I think about them both.

Yikes! Big business strikes again!

Fashion-Incubator was linked from Ravelry. Apparently the Design Piracy Prohibition Act will have all those unintended trickle down effects that will do things like put lots and lots of small designers out of business. It's time to contact your congressperson again. Follow the link to Fashion-Incubator as she already has all the links to petitions and ways to fight this ridiculous legislation.

Yes, quilting is in my future

I pulled down the quilt to take a look, and yes, I have to work on it today.
Since it's a log cabin, I think I'll be lazy and "stitch in the ditch". This means I'll quilt where the different colors are pieced together. It will look quite nice. Once I've done that, I'll think about what I'll do in the large triangles on the side. I'm not a good enough machine quilter to do the fancy stitching, so I'll have to hand quilt anything fancy in the triangles.

Curtains are finished, finally

I tend to get a lot of help around here, of the feline sort, whenever I have a project in my lap. In a moment, I'll show you why these curtains took so darn long to finish. Don't you just love this fun fabric? I bought the fabric first, then got some help choosing a paint color to go with it. Here are the first pair. Yes, the window is in the corner of the room. What do you expect from a cookie cutter house from 1961?

Anyway, I was using a technique I learned from quilting to sew in the lining fabric. Using tiny little stitches that barely show from the lining side, you then insert the needle between the layers of the decorative fabric so that no stitches show on the front.

This is the front of that same area, and I'm stitching between the edge and the machine stitched row. Yes, tiny little stitches by hand. I'm not sure I'd do it that way again, but then again, I might.
The worst part about it is that cats are used to sitting in my lap or right up against me when I'm working. I had to use straight pins to hold the lining to the facing fabric. Straight pins and pets just plain don't mix. So, my sewing was always set aside when kitties needed snuggling as kitties will not be denied.

I find myself at a loss about what to do today now that this project is finished. I had machine sewn all the pieces several years ago, then set them aside after sewing the first lining in. (It was such a pain!) Now that I'm not working, I've had a case of finishitis, and this is the second large sewing project that I've finished. I've got 2 quilts that are all basted together, waiting for quilting, and I can do much of the quilting with my sewing machine. I'm really thinking of tackling one of them so it won't be hanging around haunting me. If so, I'll take some pictures of it later.

Pets and stress

Poor Sassy has been distressed since the back yard was all dug up. The fence had to be taken down in order to get the big truck with the tank back there, so she's been stuck in the house more than she's used to for the past couple of weeks. How has she been handling it? By scratching the fur off her butt from rubbing on the sofa and chewing some of the fur off her tail. Ugh.

We bathed her again yesterday with the prescription shampoo, so I hope that will help, but I'm also going to the health food store today after the dentist to get a Bach Flower Remedy or two. I've got to figure out which ones I need, but I'd thought this would be better than putting her on anti-anxiety meds until we get her domain back into shape. The fence should be put back together today, so at least she can get out back for more than 5 minutes and start putting her smell back onto everything.

As for Scooter, he's hanging in there, eating anytime we'll feed him the things he wants to eat. I haven't taken a good look at his tumor in a few days (it's pretty gross). We haven't taken a real, go anywhere vacation in a little over 2 years. That was when the elderly cats got to a point where I refused to travel. Keith really wants to go somewhere, and he said we'd just take Scooter with us if he's still around. I don't think he's thought that through. I doubt anyplace will want an elderly cat who sheds like mad, pees large amounts (at least he always makes it to the box), and occasionally drips blood in their rooms. I know the only reason I put up with it is I love him so much. While it'd would be great to get away for a few days, I'm not sure I could do it until after Scooter passes.

I'd better get moving since that dental appointment is pretty early. So I'll end with a picture of Chubbers begging for tummy rubs and lots of nibbling on the hand that feeds him.