SONNY

Dancing, dancing, dancing on legs that are straight and long,

I can hear him singing with a voice that is pure and strong;

The Gates of Heaven have opened and Sonny has come home

To walk with his Lord forever, where he has always belonged.

He was born not perfect in our sight, twisted and halt from the start.

Some who thought they were wise suggested a special home would be smart.

But Sonny was embraced by his family, by sisters who were always there;

He wasn’t tucked away in some corner, hidden and shunned in his chair.

He never ran or danced in this life; he never played football or hit a home run;

He never did a lot of things we take for granted; but Sonny was always SOMEONE.

He was out and about in the home town, appearing at many an affair;

From parades to the paving of sidewalks, look around and Sonny was there.

At the start he would shove that old wheeled chair his mother had labored to make

Backwards through house and on sidewalks, looking over his shoulder to navigate.

Then modern technology and helping hands intervened to allow Sonny to move

Forwards instead of backwards in the electric chair he came to love.

Constrained only by the strength of the battery Sonny would wander the streets

In his marvelous electric wheelchair loaded with umbrella, drinks, and treats.

Weather was the only curtailment, along with his sisters’ decrees,

That limited Sonny’s excursions along those McMechen streets.

Winter meant Sonny stayed indoors when the weather got messy and cold,

But Sonny had loads of companions and TV shows that never seemed old.

Spring, summer, and fall he would make the break and escape womanly care for a time.

He was safe on the streets of McMechen but his sisters never knew what they’d find.

He carried the mailbag for the mailman; Lou was his friend for so many years.

They paved an alley for Sonny so he could visit his friend Ed without fears.

Sonny was part of the city and part of more than one church, too.

There were always strong arms to lift him and put his chair alongside a pew.

So Sonny and his sisters grew older, and the four sisters were now down to two.

Hard choices were made by the family and Sonny’s wandering days were through.

But he found new friends in the Care home and for a time was joined by sister Ruth.

Sonny had new halls to wander, new faces, new women, new foods.

As in every life there were good times and bad;

There were struggles, joys, laughter and tears.

But this last little boy of the Walton’s

Fully lived every one of his seventy-eight years.

Dancing, dancing, dancing on legs that are straight and long,

I can hear him singing with a voice that is pure and strong;

The Gates of Heaven have opened and Sonny has come home

To walk with his Lord forever, where he has always belonged.

© 2011 M. C. MacFadyen

In memory and celebration of my uncle,

Charles E. “Sonny” Walton, Jr.

September 27, 1932 – January 29, 2011

Spiffy

Got a couple of cute pics of Sassy in her "spiffy" sweater after shoveling the sidewalk yesterday. Lady Jane put her appearance in too. She followed me across the sidewalk as I was shoveling slowly toward Mom and Dad's. Every time I stopped she sat down and meowed at me until I started shoveling again. I guess she wanted the path cleared so she did not have to "walk" in the snow (more like wade through it). Nancy and Richard came down and cleaned off Dad's vehicle so I only had the sidewalk to Mom and Dad's, our front steps and walk, a small path to the street, and our vehicle to clear off. I took my time and enjoyed the scenery.

The last big storm we had there were any number of younger, stronger souls out in the neighborhood asking if they could clear walks for cash. This time I did not see anyone walking with a shovel. Thankfully, several neighbors have yard tractors or ATV's with plows, etc., and took care of the street (and Dad's driveway, thank you). I did not even see or hear kids out sledding this time. I remember sled riding down the lane when we lived "on the hilltop" and getting soaked to the skin and loving it. Today the kids stay indoors and play videogames. Times change.

Today both DH and I went to the doctor. He has been in misery this weekend with another bad headache and pain all down his left side from hip to foot. Diagnosis - sciatica. So he got a cortisone shot and Rx for pain meds and was told not to go to work at least tomorrow. I got another "gentle" probing of my bursa in the left hip and Zipsor samples and Rx to fill later. The doctor also talked me into trying a fibromyalgia medication called Savella. He gave me a two-week starter sample of the Savella as well as an Rx for it. Read up on both online and does not sound too bad for side effects so going to give it a try. Both the doctor and I think the bursitis could be partially fibro pain or could be triggering some fibro pressure points. I know I really hurt right now - worse than I have in a few years.

Weather prediction for the next few days says another 4-8 inches of snow is on its way. They already cancelled school in a number of local counties.

After the Storm

The snow finally stopped falling yesterday afternoon although it was flurrying when I got up this morning. Today we will have to dig out - sidewalks and steps but not Dad's driveway as some kind soul has done that for us. A newscaster yesterday estimated that a 10 foot by 40 foot driveway with the snowfall we have had (8-14 inches) comes out to about 5400 pounds of snow to be removed.

Took some pictures thru the bedroom window yesterday and this morning.

It was beautiful coming down and piling up as long as no problems developed. DH and I and Mom, Dad and Beth all stayed home. But Jen had to work Friday and Saturday. The last I heard she stayed near work overnight Friday and would stay again last night if need be. Hope to hear more of her story soon. I have to wonder if the store even had any customers on Saturday - a level 3 alert in that county means no one on the road unless it is an emergency.

DH has another bad headache today. We had hopes that the neurologist was right and the medicine he prescribed would take care of the headaches but today he is in real pain again. And I have bursitis in my left hip. The hip and leg had been getting progressively sorer for a few weeks and at my regular check-up last Monday I told the doctor. He gave me a cortisone shot and said let him know if not better in a week. Well, it was a little better for a day or so but still really giving me a hard time so I guess I have to call tomorrow - especially after we do the shoveling and car clean-off today.

Took some photos of the snow but am missing the one of my dog Sassy in her "spiffy" (DH's description) new sweater. Sassy is and always has been so skinny. I call her my hollow dog as she sounds like a drum when you pat her on the ribs. She also has had some health problems this year and I recently bought her two winter sweaters. She adapted to wearing them very easily and even wears them in the house when it is really cold out. I got a picture of her in one of the sweaters but still need to get the "spiffy" picture.

The outdoor cat who adopted us has hung around through all the bad weather. I made her a better winter shelter (not what you see in the picture) and have filled it with pine and cedar chip bedding that she can snuggle down into. She smells like cedar now and I wonder if that will have any impact on her hunting. She spends time over at Mom and Dad's too on either of their porches. I broke down and began feeding her when it snowed the last time and have continued to give her dry food and a bit of canned on the colder days. She is now known as Lady Jane Grey. Very friendly and loving once she is certain you mean her no harm.

Beginning to plan for Vacation Bible School this coming June. The theme this year is Joseph in Eqypt. Looks like fun but I am not shaving my head to get in character. I may wear the eye make-up though. LOL.

I'm Still Around

I have been remiss in posting. Got out of the habit during the time I could not be on-line on my own computer and so much has been going on since we got the new computer that I have not gotten back into the habit.

Happy New Year to all! And thanks to Linda for reminding me I have friends out there who care about what happens to me and mine.

Lets see ... since my fall experience - which I am still recovering from, not as young as I used to be and those pesky bruises have left some deep seated pains behind - DH has had cataract surgery which went very well, he continues to get good reports on his PSA and blood sugar has improved too.

We have been adopted by another cat who is NOT NOT NOT coming in the house. She is a sweet grey and white bundle with a nice thick coat and must be getting food somewhere as she has been with us several weeks now and is still nicely padded along her ribs. We have provided a warm shelter for her as it has been very cold recently. In spite of no food from us she comes running up to us and purrs and even rubs against the dogs who have accepted her presence too (resignedly, I think).

Sassy, my going on 15 year old dog appears to have had a stroke just this past week. We came home from shopping Tuesday night and she was having balance problems and weakness in her rear legs. She had been fine that morning. Wednesday I took time off from work and got her to the vet who diagnosed stroke and gave her a steroid shot and other injections as well and gave me pills for her nausea. There has been improvement and she should continue to get better over the next several weeks from what the vet said and what I have read on-line. She finally started eating a little again last night and this morning is not looking so miserable. She was drinking fluids all the time so I was not too worried (sure, I wasn't) but am relieved she is showing interest in food and keeping it down again.

There are so many more things that have gone on but I don't want this to turn into a litany of woes (too late).

So on the brighter side - I have taken another step into the electronic age and have a digital photo frame which I figured out how to use by myself and an mp3 player the size of a credit card that also displays photos, videos, etc. I even discovered that my little mp3 player will plug into my bedside clock/radio/cd player and play through the speakers. I feel so empowered (lol).

I have a cell phone and have, with some trepidation, learned how to text and add minutes to it. Now I have to figure out how to clean up old messages I no longer want (just have not taken the time to do it).

I am still taking photos but not on a steady basis. The recent snows have provided some good shots.

I have let my hair grow for the first time in my adult life and now have hair that reaches below my shoulders (almost below my shoulder blades I think but hard to tell looking in the mirror myself). I want to get it trimmed/cut into layers that sweep back from my face and bangs to camo what I think of as a high forehead. All I need is the courage to let someone do it to me.

There were a lot of good and wonderful things that happened in the last year. There were also some not so good and wonderful things that we have survived. I'm sure the new year will be the same. Looking forward to new joys and challenges.

And Life Goes On

Thanks for the welcome back from Jen, Kim, and Linda. I really missed you all. Kim, I need a new invite to your "new" blog as the old one expired.

Our lives have been so interesting lately that I often think of the blessing/curse "May you live in interesting times." I would settle for some boredom right now (but not too much, Lord).

Some wonderful things have happened since January. We finally were able to get a newer vehicle thanks to DH's temporary VA benefits (lemonade from lemons). We got new TVs for the living room and bedroom (he can watch football and I can watch HGTV, NGEO, etc.). And of course the new computer. We have been eating out more often (I love that part) and eating better, too. There are other good/nice/wonderful things, too.

But what stands out right now are the challenges.

You know how much I look forward to Vacation Bible School each year. I love doing the crafts with the children and plan all year long to have good, easy, enjoyable, keepable crafts for them. This year I made it all the way to the Friday before the week of VBS. I had a regular doctor appt that day and DH and I went together (any excuse to take time off work). I mentioned to the doctor that I had had an upset stomach the day before and unusually for me I did actually upchuck. He said at first that it was probably just a gastro-intestinal virus. But as he was almost out the door he turned back and said "You know what, my wife had symptoms like this and it turned out to be appendicitis." Since he was going to be out-of-town for the weekend he wanted me to go over to the hospital and have tests done right then so we could rule out any problems with the appendix. That same night I had surgery to remove my appendix. That was June 12.

I missed all of VBS and dear sister Beth and niece Jen had to take over the crafts. They did a wonderful job but I will not hear the end of it for a long long time (probably every time it gets close to a new VBS).

I then spent the next month recuperating. I had hoped to get back to work quickly as we had just had a new database installed the same week as my surgery and I needed to be there to learn it the same time as everyone else. No such luck. My appendix was not in the "normal" location so I was not able to have the scope surgery but had to have the old-fashioned full incision so the pesky thing could be located and removed safely (Thank you, Lord, for CAT scans so they did not have to go poking around too much). So I did not get back to work even part-time until a month after the surgery. Part of the incision did not want to close and I have had to continue doctoring for it.

Two months later it has finally healed ... just in time for the next part of the saga.

Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy ... I have developed a "shadow" in my right eye that the opthamoligist says is due to this four word condition. It just happened this past week and I got to the eye doctor the next day. There are at least two versions of this thing and I seem to have the less nasty of the two ... the non-arteritic form rather than the arteritic or giant cell version which can be really bad. But I have lost part of the vision field in my right eye and there is a chance it could get worse or even appear in the left eye in the future. There is also a chance it could improve somewhat over the next few months. A little depressed right now but coming to terms with it. At this point I still have good forward vision and hope to retain that. As long as the shadow does not spread it should not impact my reading, computer useage, or photography too much. Driving should not be a problem (if DH ever gets my car running again - it has not been driven since my surgery).

So life does go on and we are enjoying as much of it as we can. There are wonderful things every day. Clouds and sunshine that just take my breath away (I love light and shadow playing together). The cats running around the house in insane antics (and DH and I have the wounds to prove it). Children and babies (almost always make me smile). Flowers and trees and even insects (isn't the imagination of the Lord wonderful!). We will prevail.

Christmas Present

A present to me from sister Nancy.

The hit of the family gathering last night at sister Nancy's - a pony tire swing to go in Nanny's yard for all the kids to play on.

My fiber-optic Christmas tree which is the only "safe" tree with 5 cats (3 of them just 6 months old now) in the house.

Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Past

Three little girls in the late 1950's. I am the older blonde on the left. Sister Nancy is the little blonde on the right. Sister Beth is at the bottom. And of course, the real Santa Claus is holding us.

Another thing begun ...

Today my mother is 84 years old. Happy Birthday, Mom.

Also today, DH and I (and Mom, Dad, and sister Beth) went to the hospital for the first of possibly three epidural steroid injections into DH's neck for the pain he has been having for months now in his neck and left shoulder and arm. A frustrating experience for him and for me. We went to see the "neurologist" two weeks ago and this is what was set up. We waited for the instructions to come thru the mail as to when and where to show up. The only thing that came was the time of the actual appointment. So I called. "Well, I think you just go directly to outpatient radiology" was the answer I got from the neurologist's office. We checked in at the outpatient information desk instead and that was the right thing to do. They did not even have it set up right in the computer. According to the computer we were supposed to be there last Friday - but he is only there every other Wednesday so what was a Friday date doing in the computer anyway! Rant, rant, rant.

Anyway, the actual procedure took less than 45 minutes after waiting only 15 minutes beyond the appointment time. Funny thing, there was an "X" on the back of DH's neck after we got home and the injection was actually done about 3 inches below the "X"? So far no bad reactions.

We went out to eat breakfast after we left the hospital then DH and I came home and went back to bed and slept ...

All this medical stuff just makes me so angry sometimes. Some of the medical people are good and seem to really care about the patients. Others just push people thru as fast as they can with no compassion at all. I guess the more you see the less you care sometimes.

Sorry, still ranting. Going to happy place now. See the beautiful sunset photo I just took. Isn't it lovely. Happy thoughts.

Another Frosty Morning

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Jen's on Thanksgiving Day. She and her husband have hosted Thanksgiving for several years now and we all enjoy it immensely as they do practically all of the cooking and then send leftovers home with us. We had 4 kinds of pumpkin pie - traditional, applesauce-pumpkin, layered pumpkin cream, and my sister Beth's sweet potato pie (which I counted as one of the pumpkin). The food was fabulous. The companionship and laughter were wonderful.

I have to go grocery shopping again today. Yesterday I avoided the Black Friday shopping (terrible what happened in New York) by not going out until the afternoon and then only went to one grocery store and the dollar store next to it. No crowds, no rush, but awful "modernized" Christmas music playing both places. What have they done to my carols and classics? (Getting old and crochety here.) Today I have to hit the larger store for the things I did not find in the smaller grocery and I need pet food - again, still, for ever. I have been working on photo Christmas crafts and need some supplies for those, too.

Myste is going outside on her own without a lift but I go with her everytime. She cannot do steps and there are two places she could find herself trapped in our yard. One is alongside the house from the back to the front. This is a very tempting place for her as DH comes home the front way. If I put her out the back and she even thinks he may be coming home several hours early she manages to go down the two steps but then cannot get back up and sits at the bottom and barks and barks until I come with the belly lift and help her back up to porch level. The other steps are next to the garage and at least there are grassy ways around them but I watch carefully and try to keep her from attempting those steps also.

Happy Thanksgiving

It is bright, crisp, and cold this morning and there has been a water main break in town. We have very low pressure right now but at least we do have some water. It always seems to happen - cold weather on a weekend or holiday often means a water break. The poor guys were supposed to have today and tomorrow off ... now they have to work in the wet and the cold. I am thankful for them being there as well as all the other things I have to be thankful for. This year that includes so much.

Thank you, Lord.

Running in Circles

What a week ... so far.

I have been home with Myste all week learning how to take care of her with her rear legs nearly useless. We are both doing better, learning what we need from each other. She is much the same as she was mid-week ... no strength in her rear legs but she does move them and they twitch along with her front legs when she runs in her sleep. I have been absolutely exhausted much of the time but am apparently adapting as I have felt better the past two days.

We are not ready to give up on her anytime soon. DH is talking an outdoor wheeled cart for her and we are looking at options on-line for that as well as bedding to relieve pressure points and a rear-lift harness to help us move her indoors and for "quick" trips outdoors. There are a lot of sites on-line with good information on handicapped pets and I am reading a great deal when she will let me out of her sight. The other problem we have is that the steroid upsets her stomach even with the extra stomach medication. Bedding is getting washed often but thankfully we have several sets of beds (Thank you, Mom and Dad) and blankets and padding. Just a few more days of the steroid left to go.

We are not expecting a "recovery" at this time. Her hind legs were already weak from the previous injury and it is not likely she will regain even as much strength as she had last week. But she is not suffering and her appetite is still good (although considerably restricted since we are hand-feeding her and she cannot clean out all the pet food bowls as she was inclined to do) and she is still functioning.

I do have much greater appreciation of what my mother and her sisters went through in taking care of their handicapped brother all those years.

The video shows Myste in the background and Velcro rediscovering the scratching post which I had moved from the floor to the shelf in the cat crate to give myself a little more floor space while tending to Myste. Velcro did finally catch her tail but it keeps escaping and she has to chase it all over again.

Peach Maple

My favorite fall maple has finally come into its glory this season. This tree is in my parent's yard. It is not truly Fall until this tree changes color as far as I am concerned. Yesterday the tree was still nondescript. Today, even with clouds and rain, the tree is glorious.

Sister Beth and I went to yard sales and a craft sale today. There were only about a half dozen sales listed in the paper and almost all of them said rain or shine or indoors, so off we went a 8 a.m. I came home with more tins for packing christmas ornaments in and two more collage picture frames. We went to a moving sale just two blocks over. The elderly lady had recently moved to a nursing home and her family was clearing the house. All the accumulation of years of costume jewelry, souvenirs, holiday decorations and kitchenware was spread out for strangers to paw through and walk away with. But she has gone into a nice home with another relative already there. That was the sale I got the picture frames from and also a few of the tins. I also came home with some wooden clothes hangers to try to make musical harps for next year's VBS and another wooden bar stool for Dad.

The craft sale was at a local high school. Beth and I were inside out of the rain but exposed to temptation in the form of baked goods. I came home with two small pies - pumpkin and apple - for DH and me. Beth got fudge and buckeyes and we shared the buckeyes in the car. Chocolate and peanut butter - nothing better, except maybe Nanny's Christmas Peeper Cookies and my Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies and .....

Update

DH had his prostate surgery on Monday. We were at the hospital from 5:30 am until after 3:30 pm. All went well with the radioactive seed implantation. The actual procedure only took about an hour then he was in recovery for a while then was taken down to the cancer center for more scans to be certain everything was where it should be. Then he was told to walk and drink and walk and drink so they could be sure the bladder was working before they would discharge him. So we walked, and walked, and walked, and walked. He kept telling me I could go sit down with Mom and Dad and did not have to walk with him but I told him if he was walking, I was walking. It took about 4 hours to satisfy the cancer center people that he was emptying his bladder satisfactorily. We stopped and ate on the way home then went to the pharmacy for Rx for him then home. The next morning we went back to the cancer center at 8 am for a re-check of things then he was released to come home with more Rx and take it easy for a few days instructions.

So then I collapsed. Probably just the stress of worrying about him and pushing so hard at work the week before to get as much done as possible so I would not feel guilty for taking this whole week off. I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday in bed with a slight fever and internal upsets. Back to normal now.

So this is the first time I have even been on the computer all week. I have tried today to check in on everyone's blogs just to see what you have all been up to while I was "away".

Oh, yes. We have not put the kits away at night all week either. They have not been crated at all since we got back from the cancer center on Tuesday. They are enjoying their freedom immensely. Once we settle down for the night we have a few problems with feet moving under blankets (Spot especially likes to attack feet) and have learned to keep an extra multi-folded sheet on the bed to help protect our toes. During the night we are sometimes aware of little bodies bouncing across the bed and creeping up the sides but for the most part they are good little kittens and bother the adult cats more than us.

Summer Colds

Long time no post. Didn't even get a post in about last Saturday's yard sales. DH and I have both been down with summer colds - right before DH's scheduled surgery, of course.

Beth and I did go yard saleing on Saturday and I came home with ---- more picture frames! I picked up two large frames (really large) and a few smaller ones at various sales and also got some plastic display cases DH can put some of his model cars in. There are supposed to be some more good yard sales tomorrow if the rain holds off and some are rain or shine sales. These late season sales are surprising me.

Cousin Barb says the vet has told her Shamus is a girl kitty. So I am even more confused about the 3 I have left. Actually only Tigger is still a question. Based on pictures on-line I know Velcro is female and am 99% certain of Spot. But Tig's fur around the (ahem) posterior and determined squirming doesn't allow a clear view of the questionable area. I am leaning toward female since Shamus has been declared female but am still not certain. It doesn't really matter either except for future surgery purposes.

DH called the doctor's office when he got sick and was told the cold should not interfere with the prostate surgery as he should be mostly recovered by then. We are hoping this is the case as we both scheduled ourselves off work next week. DH will have the radioactive seed implantation on Monday if all goes well. It is out-patient surgery and he should come home that night then we have to go back the next day for more checking that everything is where it should be and working well. Then we wait and see what his PSA is in a few months and what complications develop. Everyone says things should be fine but I always worry about the unexpected.

I haven't even been out to take any pictures this week since I was down with my cold. I admired the sky and clouds going to and from work but once in the house did not feel like going back out with the camera.

And I have been carless this week, too. DH's car has been the shop for extensive repair and he borrowed mine last week and broke it, too. The tensionor? that holds the serpentine belt that powers everything that needs power broke on Friday. We got it fixed this week but because the shop uses "only genuine GM parts" we had to wait for the part to come in and I only got the car back yesterday evening. So his car is still sitting at the repair shop awaiting a few more paydays (repairs almost as much as the car is worth!) and our wonderful brother-in-law loaned DH his car for the past week. We are very grateful to him for doing this. It would have been extremely difficult for DH to get to work and home again otherwise.

It won't matter too much about vehicles next week as we should be home after DH's surgery and Dad takes me to and from work as needed here in town. Dad is also going to be providing transportation home from the hospital after DH's surgery and back and forth the next day as his vehicle is much more suitable to DH's tender condition. Dad has a Tahoe and DH can get up into it rather than down into a car.

Fare Thee Well, Shamus

Last night cousin Barb came and picked up Shamus to take him to his new home. So far no one has taken over the job of rushing out the back door when I let the dogs in or out. It is 1/4 quieter and fewer toes are being bitten and swatted. I now only have to count to 3 when accounting for kittens. We will miss the little fella.

But he is going to a good home and will be well-loved and spoiled. Barb's neighbor's little girl will be there often to play with him and he will have his own crate and a new scratching/climbing pole (as soon as Barb assembles it). And two very adult cats to keep him in line.

So, fare thee well, my little one.

Grey Pearls

I took this shot yesterday morning and did not discover its fascination until this morning.

This past weekend was interesting. Sister Beth and I went to a reunion for the school we attended before we were all transferred to a consolidated high school. We were among the last students to attend the old school but graduated from the new consolidated school. It was interesting being the "babies" at our age. The graduates were celebrating graduations that had occurred as much as 75 years earlier and the last graduating class was in 1968. We were considered to be class of '69. There were only 6 or 8 of us in this group but there were over 150 people at the reunion including one lady who came all the way from Florida to attend. It was a good meal and lots of laughter and we saw people we rarely see anymore.

I have been letting my hair grow longer and Jen wanted to "play" with it for the reunion. Now I have had naturally curly hair since childhood. I have a few pictures of me as a very young child with straight hair but nothing beyond the first few grades of school. Jen straightened my long hair. Curly it reaches below my shoulders. Straight it was about mid-back. It was an interesting experience to have long straight hair. I kept saying it felt like baby-doll hair it was so smooth and silky. I still have to assimilate this experience.

We did go yardsaleing again on Saturday too. I got MORE picture frames including two that have owl pictures in them. I used to collect owls like crazy but not so much anymore. These however may get to keep their frames and be hung on the walls as long as I find a place they won't be staring at my husband all the time. This past weekend was probably the end of the good yard sales for the season. There may be a few more in September but it will be nothing like during the summer months.

Web Shots

I was out and about yesterday morning and this morning and got these nice shots of webs I thought I would share.

Shooting webs is something I find challenging and rewarding. They are so delicate and intricate and the sun and dew do marvelous things with the strands.

I also got some macros down the throat of the trumpet vine in Mom's yard.

I hope all of these can be biggie-sized when you click on them. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't?

I have not been on the computer much this past week for various reasons including the release of the kittens from the cage in both the mornings and the evenings. They are 8 weeks old now and have no respect for gates or barricades intended to keep them confined to safer areas. So ... except for the basement and attic they have free run of the house for unrestrained play until the dogs and the humans wear out. They still try to nurse from Stormy and she still wants them to do so at times but all are eating dry and canned food and drinking water (right alongside the dogs at times - no fear of bigger animals with bigger teeth at all). They also appear to have been successfully litter-trained. They have accidentally (I hope) used the speaker button on the bedroom phone twice now and put the phone off the hook as a result. Smoke runs and plays with them in delight and momma Stormy is becoming less of a worrywart and plays with them too. When they wind down I gather them all up and return them to the crate for food, drink, litter usage, and some well-deserved rest (for us, although they sleep, too).

Yardsaleing on Saturday netted only 1 picture frame ($1) this week but I also picked up an electric fountain to use for VBS next year (only $3) and a stainless steel water dish for the kits (50 cents) and a set of 4 glass coasters you can insert photographs into ($1) and 5 12 inch rulers (10 cents for all 5) that will also go into the VBS supplies. The fountain has a large rectangular base about the size of a large baking dish that holds a hollow "rock" that hides the pump and has a hole up through it for the water to come out of. On top of the "rock" you place a fake shell that directs the flow of the water. Looks good and works okay and will fit in with most of the VBS themes we use.

Still a month to go before the seed implantation procedure for husband's prostate cancer. Tomorrow we go for his pre-op and then back to the cancer center for more information. I know worry is what has upset both my IBS and fibromyalgia. Aches and pains galore but he is what is important right now. And I know that the worry is useless and unnecessary. Lord, I believe. Help me with my unbelief. It is so hard to let go of worries.

But in the meantime, He has provided the comic relief of 4 romping kittens and 2 semi-adult cats and 2 "where did those cats go?" dogs.

Fair Photo Results and more

Wow. The Fair photo contest results are in and the whole family did well. We submitted a total of 35 pictures among 11 family members and came away with three Best of Show (two Reds and a Purple) in their categories and numerous other ribbons as well.

Jen and her youngest boy got two of the Best of Show (both had a Blue with a Red Best of Show) and Dad had a Blue with Purple Best of Show for a picture of Mom and Uncle Sonny in the portraits category.

In total we had 17 Blue, 12 Red, and 6 White. Now keep in mind that every entry gets something, but we still "done good."

Now we start working on next year's photos.

I have been letting the kittens have almost free range of the living room in the evenings and it has resulted in some hilarious moments. We have a tower fan in the living room that they have decided is a climbing/scratching post (I intend to purchase a real one tonight) and Shamus and Tigger have both made it to the top of the fan before DH or I realized they were climbing. The descent is a little tricky and Shamus has landed in the waterdish and then walked around shaking paws to rid them of the wet.

All four go each in a separate direction to distract the two of us so kittens are always somewhere they should not be - over the fence, behind the recliner, on top of something, under the recliner, inside the bookcase, etc. After a half hour or so DH and I are exhausted but smiling as we corral the four marauders and put them back in the crate.
Momma and Smoke are delighted to have them out of and back in the crate, too. Smoke either guards the front door area and makes certain the kits do not play with his yellow jingle balls or sits in the hall to the bedroom and watches the kittens scale the fence and the fan and our legs, etc. Sassy, my dog, spent most of last evening behind me in my recliner as the kits cavorted. She watched them very carefully but did not want to be on the floor with them.
I think I am trying to ignore/forget about this next item. My husband's doctor sent him to a urologist to have his prostate tested recently. When we went for the ultrasound the urologist did 6 biopsies as well. Two of the six came back positive. We go to an oncologist this coming Tuesday to find out the next step. The urologist is very optimistic. He said there is "nil" chance of this being fatal as it was found early. It has been hard for me to talk about this with anyone yet. We are still a little in shock. He is also angry, depressed, and blaming himself as he feels he must have done something to cause this. We need your prayers.

Weekend Tales

What a weekend we have had. Saturday was submission day for photographs at the county fair. We had talked about all of us going down together Saturday morning as soon after 10 am as possible. So I was over at Dad's around 9 am with my extra picture frames to help him get the last of his photos printed, matted, and framed. We called sister Nancy to find out when she would be ready and she told us she still had to pick up her photos as she could not get them printed at the store the night before. She could not get the photos before 10 am and would come to Dad's after that. Jen called and asked if she still needed to bring a particular picture frame for Dad to use and said she would be there "ash shoon ash I finishh eashing" (exaggerated for effect).

Dad and I located the photos he wanted and after a few false starts got them printed. Jen arrived, Nancy arrived. We listened to Nancy's adventures of the night before getting her photos submitted to the photo-printing center and choosing frames and mats (frames one size, mats another, no option available) and Jen began trimming mats to fit Nancy's frames with Dad's large paper cutter. I cleaned the glass, and cleaned the glass, and cleaned the glass again after fingerprints were added during reinstallation in the frames, and cleaned the glass again. I have three small cuts from the edges of glass on the fingers of my left hand and did not even know I had them until much later. We laughed and talked and commisserated with each other about husbands and men in general as we all worked on finishing Nancy's fair submissions.

Around 11:30 we headed for the fairgrounds. We had to take the long way to get there as the 7th St entrance was closed to discourage people from using the fairgrounds as a shortcut to 12th St. As we went thru the gate at 12th St the sign hanging on the half open gate advised that the other gate was closed and no thru traffic. On the back of the gate once you are inside was spraypainted "Told you so." lol

There were only a few people ahead of us in the photo submission line and the wait was short. More people arrived after us and their wait was, of course, much extended by our submissions. When we got there the tag numbers were in the 70's. When we left, the numbers were in the 100's. Our family had over 30 photos submitted between adults and childrens categories.

Then we went home and napped.

Sunday "The Cousins", as we have called ourselves for 40 some years, went to Cameron to sing at a luncheon after church service at one of sister Beth's churches. Dad went with Beth when she left at 7:30 in the morning. She drove his Tahoe and all the equipment out and Dad got a front seat (passenger side) to allow his still tender hip room to move and adjust. The rest of us left after 10 am in two more vehicles to provide easy access and more front seats for vertigo prone (and therefore car sickness prone) passengers. It was a gorgeous day and the ride was pleasant and we all arrived with only a bit of dizziness. You have to understand that part of the trip was on Route 250 and with no other alternative route for us. 250 is famous for very few straight stretches and lots of ups and downs as it follows the natural contours of the hills. It is beautiful but a difficult ride for many people. My problem is not so much vertigo or car-sickness as it is the later effect on my fibromyalgia. I usually feel the effects the next day in aching neck, back, and shoulders. So far today, Monday morning, I am not doing too badly.

We arrived in Cameron with plenty of time to spare and no mishaps. I had remembered to take my camera and got the following pictures of stained glass in the churches.

The luncheon was wonderful. Good food. Good people. Lots of laughter. We sang afterwards for about a half hour and they enjoyed the music as much as we enjoyed doing it. Lots of smiling faces and people singing along on the familiar numbers. Thanks and congratulations afterwards. Nice people.

We had a leisurely drive home as well and cousin Barb stopped in the visit with Shamus and the other kittens before heading home herself. We were all exhausted but happy.

I am still tired this morning and this is a very choppy post. I am certain I will remember more about it later but wanted to get this much down now.

Clouds and Kitten Tales

Last night's storm that rolled thru made for some beautiful cloud photos. The storm moved southeast quickly just about sunset and the lowering sun gilded the clouds. My photos, while nice, just cannot do justice to the real thing.

Tonight the kittens met some little great-nieces of mine. All four kittens got well handled and the little girls were delighted. They romped and chased each other and got picked up and carried back to the center of the room (the kittens, not the nieces although there was some tickling and hugging going on with them, too) and just generally entertained us all.

And Sylvester has a new name and a new promised home. My cousin Barb was at Mom and Dad's tonight along with my sister and the great-nieces. She has had two black and white cats during her adult life but does not have one at this time although she does have two other adult cats. As soon as she saw Sylvester she said "Shamus the 3rd." After he played a while with the little girls she picked him up and he settled down with her and went to sleep just as if they belonged together. So, Shamus it is and Barb will take him home when he is weaned and ready to leave momma and siblings.