Category Archives: Uncategorized

News you can’t use.

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You can’t use it, but read it anyway.

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Now that was one busy woodpecker!

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Seems like terrible waste of alcohol to me, but yes. You can.

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I don’t know about you, but I’m quite glad humans can’t regenerate. Think how many women Donald Trump could grab with all those extra appendages.

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Wow. That’s taking hide and seek to a whole new level.

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Of course they do. Though I’m not sure what the tax rate for blackmail is this year…

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Just for fun.

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Because I was waiting for my husband (to please stop talking and get back in the damn car!) the other day… I scrolled through my cell phone’s photo album all the way back to the beginning to find the very first pic I took.

(As of today, I have 16,999 photos there. I love technology!)

April of 2013.

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Meet Little Cheeper, a baby robin we found on our lawn after a storm. No nest or mother in sight so we adopted and raised him until he was old enough to release.

Did that little bugger poop? You betcha!

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We kept him in a cat carrier overnight, but let him fly around during the say to strengthen his wings.

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I didn’t want to hand train him as the goal was to set him free…

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But he was a sweetie who followed me all around the house.

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And helped me blog.

He was an adorable little guy, even if he did occasionally resemble a Starship Storm Trooper.

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We fed him canned dog food per the vet’s instructions, supplemented with live worms and fruit.

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Blueberries were his favorite.

All too soon (for me) it was time to let him go, and though I cried… it was the right thing to do.

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He was hesitant at first, but when he felt the gentle June breeze? He took off for the apple trees and never looked back. I kept my eye on him for a few hours as he explored our property.. but he took to the air like a pro and was gone to do what robins do soon after.

❤️

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Are you a plant person?

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There are currently 31 houseplants in our home and my husband is rapidly running out of jokes about living in a jungle.

There are big plants…

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And small plants.

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Plants that started out small… but have grown too big for their pots.

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Hell, there are even plants trying to make a run for it and escape their pots altogether.

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The money tree hasn’t netted me one red cent…

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And the pothos will probably wrap around my legs and swallow me whole one day…

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But I love plants and never seem to get my fill.

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Exactly!

Although by the looks of that picture, I actually do have all of those plants.

🤣

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Oh, the places he’ll go.

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten is a cat.

And as such, he is required to explore every square inch of his territory. This means whenever a drawer, door or cabinet is opened… he’s there.

Under the kitchen sink? Yes.

The spare bedroom closet? Absolutely.

So when I went searching for that old photo of our trip to Washington DC the other day? A new opportunity opened up for His Lordship.

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It was somewhere he’d never been before and he took full advantage…. even though there wasn’t much room to recline.

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Ugh. The pre-digital, cell phone accessible photos days.

How did we ever survive that? It took me almost an hour to find one stupid picture.

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St. Patrick’s Day with a Scot.

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We didn’t have any specific plans for St.Patricks Day so after running a few morning errands we decided to stop at our local pub for lunch on the way home .

Appropriate beverages were consumed.

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Noticing the owner, and our favorite Scottish bartender, was slightly out of sorts… we inquired as to the reason.

Turns out he’d wanted the day off… because while most people enjoy that holiday? He hates it.

Naturally I asked why.

“Because I’m tired of everyone asking me what part of Ireland I’m from.”

Which probably explained the sentiment on his shirt.

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☘️ 🤣 ☘️

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Let’s play.

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Don’t argue. It’s required…

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My parents were not vacation people and we never once loaded up the ‘62 Ford Falcon station wagon to hit the open road when I was a child.

Oh, there were wonderful day trips to the Jersey shore to swim and stroll the boardwalks… and overnighters in NYC so I could get my fill of dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History or stuff my face full of cotton candy at Madison Square Garden when Ringling Brothers was in town…. but a true road or airline trip vacation?

Nope. Never.

I can’t honestly say I felt deprived, when you grow up in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area there’s always plenty to see and do. And while we might have spent a few days in Connecticut or upstate NY with my parent’s friends on occasion, I wouldn’t really call that a ‘vacation’.

So as weird as it sounds, my first “real” vacation happened right after I got married at the ripe old age of 20. The husband and I were living in North Carolina where he was stationed when we jumped in his shiny black 280ZX with T Top removable roof panels … the ultimate in cool in 1984… and headed for Washington DC. I’d never been so we did all the typical tourist stuff – the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, The National Zoo, the Jefferson Memorial and of course there was the prerequisite sexy photo in front of the reflecting pool at the Washington Monument.

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Complete with stone washed denim and chunky silver link dangling belt. Oh to be that thin again. Sigh…

Done with the nations capitol, we headed to Newport Rhode Island where the husband had been stationed at the Naval War College years before.

Here’s a pic of his handsome self receiving a commendation for saving a young man’s life.

❤️

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I honestly don’t remember much about what we did in Newport other than visit the Breakers… that oh so cute and cozy cottage where the Vanderbilts used to summer.

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Those were the pre cell phone and selfie days where you had to rely on your husband to take a good picture and then wait a week to see if it turned out.

So that was my first real vacay.

How about you?

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In the dark.

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The giant N’Or Easter predicted to slam the Maine coast came and went yesterday with admittedly high winds…. but not nearly the amount of snow they were promising.

The weathermen said a foot, we got roughly 4 inches. But it was the heavy wet crap that weighs down tree branches which then take out power lines. And at 9:00 last night?

Poof.

We woke up to darkness and no electricity today.

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Thank goodness for a fireplace. It doesn’t heat the whole house but kept the living room a toasty 63.

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And thank goodness for powerful battery operated lanterns that light up the kitchen so His Royal Highness can be fed.

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Turns out the problem was right next door where a tree fell on the main line that feeds the whole road. The power company was out early …

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As was the husband… who won’t use the snowblower when it’s heavy and wet because it clogs the auger. It was still snowing when I took the picture so his newly cleared driveway was filling back up behind him. Why didn’t he wait till it stopped?

Because we had no power, which means no satellite, which means no television. He was bored.

Thankfully the power came back on late morning and nothing in the freezer or fridge was lost. The temperature is supposed to be 48 tomorrow so it will all melt again.

I swear I have winter whiplash this season.

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The culprit. The wind lifted it right out of the ground…

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That’s harsh.

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We love visiting the National Parks and always appreciate the helpful Ranger Service that provides excellent directions and local history.

When we were taking in the natural splendor of the Great Smokey Mountains Park in Tennessee and viewing a herd of elk?

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A Park Service employee was right there to answer our questions….

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And make sure I didn’t get a close up photo.

We saw bear in the park as well…

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Though no one was around at the time to give us this helpful advice.

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I can’t say that would ever have crossed my mind, but then again I’ve never been chased by a bear after my girlfriend broke my favorite martini glass…

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Oh, alright.

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You scratch my back, I scratch the furniture.

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten is an exemplary feline with very few destructive habits. When he first agreed to cohabitate with us and let the husband and I be his slaves… he did however choose one chair to sharpen the royal claws. Not wanting to have shredded upholstery, his minions shopped for an alternative.

But when… after 4 replacement items were tried and rejected … an acceptable substitute scratching post was purchased? He transferred activity there and has been happily loyal to his sisal ever since.

As you can see, His Lordship gives it a workout. Which is why he has to have one with a weighted base so it doesn’t tip over and scare him back to the chair.

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His servant has repeatedly glued, tied, cut and attempted to fix the damaged areas but came to the conclusion a new post must be purchased.

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Problem is, the favorite can no longer be found.

Oh! The horror!

After repeated shopping trips to every pet store in the area, Amazon was checked. And May I say… the selection was impressive. Had His Lordship wanted a palm tree …

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An orange…

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Or even a cactus it would have been no problem.

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Though I can’t say that cat looked too thrilled.

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A cherry? Sure…

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A giraffe that could swallow Lord Dudley whole?

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It could be his for a mere $265.

Hell, there was even a carrot.

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But what there wasn’t …. was the only plain, square, weighted base scratching post he wants.

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The search continues.

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