Georgia Was on our Minds

Hey, all! It’s been a busy time around here. Golfer and I went to visit Bikini and family for a few days. Golfer’s brother went also and the two of them went to see a round of the Fed-Ex Championship tournament. They had a good time and the weather was great. It was wonderful to spend some time with Bikini. The kids were on school break, so it was a more relaxed time.


They are all missing Zapper and Zoom, who had long battles with different cancers. But the kitties had a good, loving life. I am sure soon there will be more furry kids in the house. Currently there is Fred, a little dog who was abandoned at the airport where Brief works. Fred sounds like a good little guy, but unfortunately has some medical problems of his own. He will be treated for heart worms soon.

Speaking of furry family…. Our Cinder had surgery this week to remove two growths on her neck. She handled the surgery well and is now at home recuperating. The first lump turned out to actually be her thyroid with a growth on it. Don’t know yet what the second lump was, but her doctor is having them both analyzed. When I was talking with the doctor I asked about medication, figuring Cinder would have to take Synthroid or something and the doctor said Cinder’s other thyroid would pick up the slack and Cinder should be fine. I never knew that cats had two thyroids!

The furry boys are doing well and are as busy as ever. I’ve caught Cecil playing with Angus and Finnigan a couple times!

There were a few days of catch-up after Golfer and I returned home. And we’ve had some doctor appointments this week. I saw a new doctor, a pain management specialist. He was very nice and we had a long talk. For starters we’re trying some new exercises for in the pool, a cream to put on my lower right leg and foot and a new prescription. I took the first pill last night and am feeling a little “off” this morning, but it is gradually getting better. I figure it’s worth a try. If it turns out to not be helping, I’ll tell him I don’t want to take it. He’s also ordered an MRI and some blood work.

The Garden Center people came and did the work on our side yard. It looks good. And as it is supposed to rain this weekend, we’ll find out if the work and changes solve the drainage issues. The new small mulched area with a Soft Caress Mahonia looks good. (I had to look that one up when the lady mentioned it!)

Nurse J is doing okay and they are all busy at her house.  BeyB is doing fine with high school.
It’s Friday and I’m glad. You all take care and stay safe!

Headlines and Other Things That Make Me Wonder

Hey, all!

We've been having some lovely weather here in Virginia.  It is such a relief to be able to open a window and not feel a heat wave come in!  Golfer and I have been busy taking care of some things around the house and in the yard.  All is well.

There have been some thought-provoking news items lately that I would like to mention.  They just make me wonder what the world is coming to. 

This is an area with a lot of water around it.  That means to get somewhere you usually have to use a bridge or a tunnel.  This weekend the powers that be have decided to schedule work on the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel - closing the Eastbound section from Friday evening until Monday morning.  At the same time, they are closing the Southbound lanes of the James River Bridge.  That leaves the Monitor Merrimac Bridge Tunnel (the M&M) as the usable option to get anywhere on the "Southside". Even on a really good day it doesn't take much to make traffic a real nightmare around here.  What do they think will happen this weekend??  Great scheduling guys!

Earlier in the week I read a headline that made me chuckle:  "Pilot checking plane's brakes ends up in ditch."  Now, really.  If you were checking the brakes wouldn't you head in a direction other than towards a ditch?  I'm pretty sure Brief, our son-in-law aircraft mechanic, would agree with me on this!

There have been several articles on West Nile Virus and Ebola and other assorted "exotic" diseases.  Is it really necessary to tell people "do not mess around with dead animal carcasses."????  That just seems like common sense to  me.

Then there are the warning signs in the ladies' locker room at the "Y"..... "CAUTION!  WET FLOOR!  Again, common sense.  It's a locker room with bathroom area, showers and hallway and door directly to the pool area.  Women are going to be wet.  That means drippy water.  And someone complained about a wet floor??  So they put the stand-alone signs around that you can trip over.   Geez!

So, life goes on.  Life is good.  Have a great weekend and stay safe!

AHHHHH!

Hey, all!

Today is beautiful here!   It rained last evening as a front came through and this morning it was in the mid-60's.  Started out a little cloudy and then the sun came out.  I had to go to the Commissary and do a couple errands and it was lovely in the Mustang with the top down!  Most of the Summer it has been way too hot to have Duke's top down.

It's been a rough week around here for technology and electronics.  First the hacker with our computer and then the DVD player died.  It was only about two and half months old, so that was especially annoying. And, as if we don't all have enough to worry about, today's paper has an article about how hackers can get into our cars' computers and mess them up too.  Crap!

I got some yard work done yesterday - first since we got back from the beach.  There was some clean-up, pruning, weeding, and other usual stuff.  I replaced the ailing geraniums out back with two lovely yellow chrysanthemums.  Our yard is still soggy from all the rain, but looks pretty good right now.

I hope everyone is doing well.  Stay safe!

Hello!

Well, it's been a couple weeks since I posted here.  Things have been busy.  And I have been battling a sinus infection and bronchitis.  I made some improvement after the first visit to our doctor and starting on the meds. We went on vacation and when we returned it really relapsed.  I am now on some new antibiotics and am feeling better.

So.  Vacation was good.  The trip down to Myrtle Beach was a little rocky with some bad weather and LOTS of rain.  Our friends who didn't leave as early as we did got caught up in the closing  of  I-95 and detour.  But we all got there safely and had a good week.  The guys were playing in the World Amateur Championship.  There were over 3,000 players in the tournament.  The weather was really good the first two days there and then it was off and on rain.  Golfer did not have any rounds canceled, but there were some days others did.  It was a good week.

We returned home last Saturday and we had catching up to do - cleaning, laundry, yard work, etc.  Also, cuddly times with the furry kids!  They were good while were gone and Lisa took good care of them.  We have had to move a few things around.  Finnigan is a master gymnast and is up and around everything.  We have removed most of the bird collection and the large driftwood and shell pieces on the top of the entertainment center.  He has also been up on the mantle, and on the antique side-by-side in the dining room.  Sadly, my small red compote dish  did not survive one of his runs.  Angus is active, too, but is not the jumper that Finnigan is!  Cinder and Cecil are doing well and are quite tolerant of the youngsters!

I thought about writing earlier, but we have had some computer problems at our house.  Some nasty #@*&%#!!!! hacker got us with something that froze our CPU.  We had to take it in and have a "geek guy" wipe it and clean it up for us.  Golfer is in the process of loading programs and recovering things.  Geez!  I asked how this could have happened and he said the hackers are getting smarter and sometimes you don't even have to click on something, just run your mouse over it and it opens.  So be careful!

So, school is now in session.  BeyB has had a good start to high school.  Boxer and Bloomer are almost ready for a break in Georgia (they start the first of August there).  Halloween decorations are out on display in stores.  I have started our Christmas shopping.  And life goes on!  Take care and stay safe!

AWWWWW, a Milestone

Our furry babies are growing up.  I've found two little baby teeth while cleaning.  I tried to look in their mouths and make sure all was okay but they would have none of that.  It was wiggles all over.  I didn't have enough hands to try again!  Sweet babies.

In other news it is dark and rainy here.

All is well.  Stay safe!

Furry Kid Pictures

I've been asked when I would be posting more pictures of the new furry kids.  Well, they're cute as anything and move so fast it's hard to get pictures.  So here are some of them after they've romped, run, jumped and hurled themselves around the house!

First one is Angus.

Finnigan is between leaps in this pose.















Third one is of both of them  trying to sleep where my silk hydrangeas USED to be!

This fourth one is of Finnigan.  He likes to sleep in this chair while Golfer and I watch TV in the evenings.

And just so they don't feel left out, I'm including pictures of Cinder and Cecil. They're still just as cute as ever!  They all cooperate in many things and you can see Cecil is on the large doily that is supposed to be on the antique sewing machine!  Cinder says all these boys are wearing her out!

Stay safe and keep your furry kids safe, too!

Relections of Elvis

I was out and about this morning doing errands in our car that has the XM radio.  I love the Elvis station and that is what I usually listen to while I'm driving.  They were doing a recap of Elvis week in Memphis.  Elvis died on August 16, 1977.  He would have been 77 years old now had he lived.  And who knows, he might be out there somewhere now singing his heart out. 

But it all got me to thinking about Elvis and how I have always been a fan.  I was raised by Mom and Granma who both loved him, so you could expect no less.  Mom lived to be 101 and was a fan until she died.  She had Elvis cards, posters, scarves, pictures, plates, etc.  We played Elvis Gospel songs at her funeral.

When I was about eight years old, Mom and I went on a vacation with Granma and Granpa.  Mom didn't own a car until I was ready to learn to drive, so the trip was a big deal.  We were going to visit some relatives, and since it was close to Memphis, we planned to see Graceland.  As a side note, Granpa was a great guy; he was actually my step-granpa.  But when you were in the car with him, the rule was if something wasn't on the right side of the road, he didn't want to stop. (this may be why I have absolutely no problem making u-turns!)  He did get outvoted on seeing Graceland!

Somewhere in a box of old photos there is a picture of me standing right in front Elvis' front door.  This was back when Graceland was just starting to be a big attraction and there I was in my eight year old chubbiness just grinning away.

Several years ago Golfer and I took a road trip and stopped in Memphis.  We stayed at the Heartbreak hotel.  I'm glad we got to do that before it was closed.  It was fabulous!  The decor was similar to some of the rooms in Graceland.  The breakfast buffet included peanut butter and bananas!  We took the Graceland tour.  It's all impressive.  This photo is me standing in front of the door smiling.

Stay safe and while you're at it, listen to some good Elvis music if you can!