alarmcat

things that make me happy #2 – abby cat

Abby is my sweet baby girl. She turned 15 years old this fall. Originally my daughter wanted a kitten for herself. I wanted nothing to do with another cat. At that time, I had just recently lost a cat, so I didn’t want my heart broken again. I was determined NOT to get attached to another cat!

We found Abby at a pet store near where we lived. She was the runt of the litter and was so adorable. Her eyes were as big as her little head!!

Tym & Friend with Abby - Halloween 1994

She loves playing with string. These days the string has to come to her…she doesn’t chase it much anymore!

Over the last 15 years, my daughter moved out. Abby stayed. I married and moved away. Abby moved, too. Now Abby lives in Arkansas, spending her days sleeping on the couch, the chair, in the basket, back on the couch. In her old age, she’s developed some medical issues (I won’t go into them) but it requires that she have an enema every third day. My husband and I used to take turns but now Bob picks this chore over doing dishes! Crazy, right??

I know someday Abby will leave us and break my heart. But for now she makes me happy.

i’m back!

Wow, I’ve been neglecting you. Sorry little blog. I’ve been so busy with work projects that by the time evening rolls around, I can’t bear to get on the computer again to blog.

Plus since the time change, I’m usually ready for bed by 7:00…but make myself hold out until 8:00!! What an old lady, right? Man, I hate this time of year. We have had some fairly nice weather lately, so I shouldn’t complain too much. At least I’m able to get out on my lunch hour and take a walk.

I’m heading into that season that just pulls me into a real funk. More than the usual funk. So I’ve decided to make a list of “things that make me happy” and share them with you. I just think it’s time to assess things going on in my life before the dreaded winter sets in and I hibernate. I get so bummed when it seems like all I do is work, eat, sleep, repeat. You know?

At first, I started a list of ten twenty things….it kept growing. So…let’s begin and see where this leads. (Don’t worry. I’m not going all Pollyanna on you. It’s me after all!)

Things that make me happy #1 – Sketchbooks

I have boxes of them that I’ve accumulated over the years. Some have a “theme” and I add them to on occasion. But most of the time, I like to start on one and just add to it every day until it’s full. I keep some of the more recent ones on a shelf in my studio. It’s good to go back and look at old sketchbooks. It makes me remember where I was at the time. So….here’s a sketch of some sketchbooks!!

fall colors

Now that the weather has cooled down, I’ve started my daily walks again at lunch time. Late last week was the highlight of the fall colors. It’s been absolutely beautiful. I wanted to photograph every tree I saw. Of course, photos don’t really show you their true beauty. Just not the same.

 

 

 

 

 

Did a road trip to KC this weekend, too. It was time for our Annual Painting o’ the Pumpkins with my sister, nieces, nephew and grandson. I always look forward to this event!!

california dreamin’

 

Sorry I’ve been away so long. I went to California last weekend to visit a dear friend—my old college roommate. It was nearly 20 years since the last time we were together. We lost touch about ten years ago. Thanks to Google, I found her again last spring. God bless Google!!

We had a wonderful time catching up and reliving old memories. She gave me the grand tour of southern California. We drove around Burbank, Long Beach, Santa Monica and Malibu. I loved the scenery but definitely not the traffic!!

We had lunch one day at Bubba Gump Shrimp. Here I am acting the part of a tourist!!

 

Just before I left to return home, Air and I went some place I’d never been before—IKEA. Oh my God, it was wonderful!! Thank goodness there isn’t one close to my house, I’d be there every day!! I’ve never seen such beautiful things! A designer’s paradise!

What is it about certain friendships that you just know you will always be friends? Well, at least I hope we will be friends for many years to come.

We haven’t changed a bit!!

nothing much going on

Enjoying my time off…even though it’s still rainy and yucky out. We went to see David Sedaris last night at Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. He read for about 90 minutes and then took some audience Q&A. Man, he is so funny!! And witty!! I wish I could write like that. He can make the most ordinary, mundane things seem hilarious.

We worked in the yard some this morning. Mostly pulling out dead and dying stuff. It's too wet to plant bulbs or put in the pansies…so we’re off to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3D. Hope it’s as good as the previews.

mount magazine

We’re doing a staycation this week…the hubby and me. Mostly we plan to work in the back yard. We have great plans and keep talking about them. Now is the time to get something done. Over the last five years, we’ve added lots of shrubs, veggies, herbs and flowers here and there. Now we need to define the paths and add a stone patio for the picnic table. Sounds like a fun vacation, huh?

To kick off our week long vacation, we did get away for two days of hiking. Well, that was the plan anyway. Yesterday we drove to Mount Magazine which is about 3 hours south of here. Perfect time of the year for a road trip. The fall colors are just showing. We did a 5 mile hike around Cove Lake. The first mile is all uphill…but what a great view!

This picture is titled “Pretend like you’re not mad.” I had handed the camera to Bob to take a pic of me. I carefully wrapped the strap around his hand. He decided to take off his glove as he was having trouble hitting the button. “Bam” my camera hit the rocks. Battery, memory card and a small orange piece (that will never again belong to the camera) flew out. It was Nikon roadkill! All I could think was “I’m glad I didn’t get the expensive camera.” I shoved the pieces back in (minus the orange one) and it still works!! So, on with the hike.

We saw tons of mossy rocks, brooks and streams. Mushrooms everywhere. There were white ones, orange ones, yellow ones and some that I can only describe as looking like half-eaten Jonagold apples laying by the trail. Here is a pic of one of the white ones. They were huge….this one was as big as my hand!!

 

There are supposed to be Black Bears in these woods, too. We didn’t see any. We did see lots of animal tracks. Deer? Bears? Who knows? There were lots of friggin’ spiders though! That’s why you always let the tall guys lead the way!! To clear away the spider webs J

After this hike, we headed (by car) up the mountain to the Lodge on Mount Magazine. It was so cold and foggy at the top!! We got up this morning hoping to hike some more but it was still so thick with fog and now raining that we just packed and headed home. I took this picture to show what we should have been seeing from the top. All the white area is where you should be seeing a valley and a lake.

 

Oh, well. The Lodge is really wonderful. I will definitely go there again. But call first and make sure it isn’t foggy!!

what a coincidence…

Last Friday night, I started reading a book that I had picked up at a flea market.  “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” by Lisa See. Very good. I have trouble putting it down. The past few nights I tell myself: Must. Go. To. Sleep. Now. Well, maybe one more chapter. Anyway….it’s that good.

On Saturday, I stopped in at the Friendly Bookstore just to browse. I like to shop here because my purchases support our local public library. (Have I mentioned that I have a book addiction? Yes, Hi. My name is Sue and I’m a book-aholic.) So I’m standing in front of the Historical Fiction shelves. Five shelves tall by three bookcases wide. A woman passes behind me. Then stops and comes back. A book had caught her eye, so she grabs it and shows it to me and says “This book is so good!!” My jaw just dropped! Guess what she’s showing me?? Yeah. “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan!!” Out of all the books on the shelves, this is the one she grabbed! I said to her, “You’re not going to believe this but I just started reading this last night!! And it is so good!!”

What are the odds, huh?

we do things different down here…

Who needs a fancy bus stop when a dining room chair will work just fine, thank you very much!

I passed by this chair several times last month before I noticed it was chained (yes chained) to the bus stop sign. I guess if you want to sit and wait, it’s BYOC.

things i ate

Another in the series of “things I ate.” I’d rather not share what I ate on Saturday. It was not a very good weight watcher day. I’ll just say that the day ended with a huge bowl of gelato! I shared it….but still….HUGE bowl. HUGE.

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Whew….the end of a very busy week. Well, almost. Tomorrow we are having a fall carnival for the kids at the shelter. I’ll be there for a few hours tomorrow doing face painting. The number one request last year was…..Spiderman!! Maybe this year I’ll get to do something besides spiders. I can only hope.

Here’s a pic I took of our new birdbath. It’s a very popular hang out. Most times there are at least 10 birds splashing around!!

And this one is a sketch of a sign I saw. Heading west from my house, there is a stretch of road with No Parking signs about every 20 feet or so. This one had what looked like Morning Glory growing on it but I’m sure it’s just some weed. I think all signs should have flowers or vines on them. As long as it doesn’t cover up the message on the sign, I guess. It’s just prettier that way.