Another week has passed

since I last posted. I don't know where the time is going right now. But I was out taking pictures this morning and wanted to share with you. The maple across the alley is developing nicely. It is not as full as last year, maybe as a result of a rather dry summer.

Before the sun actually topped the hills I got a few softer shots including this one of a dewdrop.

Then the sun came out and I got some nice web shots with rainbow gleams on the webs.

I also got a different view of Mom's flowers by the basement door.

The "twin" tree by the alley has its oak part turning and these leaves dangle low enough for nice pictures.

And the goldenrod is starting to fade but still provides a nice landscape.

More

I did go out and get more dew-covered web photos yesterday. These are both the same web that I discovered in Dad's Japanese Maple.

Then I worked on winterizing. I replaced the plastic on the basement windows on the south side of the house but discovered I must wait for cooler weather to do the north side - the bumblebees are still working on the daisies there. Then I started on the front porch - taking down old lights and plastic and replacing with new. We put up a panel of plastic to break the wind that comes from the north and right into the front door. The old panel had lasted 2 years but was becoming brittle. Then we took down the old string lights that we use for porch lighting all year (so much better general illumination than regular porch lights) and replaced them with new strings of LED lights. I like the new look. DH helped with the front porch so it went quickly as he could hang the lights without having to climb the ladder.

I don't like ladders and heights though so it was a real challenge for me to go up and down the step-ladder and balance myself while stapling plastic and threading the cords through the hooks we use to keep our lights up.

I managed to injure myself, of course. I had a can of air to clean out the electric sockets and at one point I knocked it off the bench onto the floor and then stepped on it with my left foot. The foot is not as sore now as it was after that and after all the climbing on the ladder so I may just get away with some aching. No swelling or bruising at least.

It is dark later in the mornings now and earlier in the evenings. I will enjoy Linda's posts from Australia so much during the coming months as she is moving through spring and summer. She tagged me for something I am still thinking about. I have not forgotten, Linda.

Misty Fall Morning

A view through my window of a misty fall morning wreathed in drifting fog and spangled with dew filled webs led me outside with my camera to take photos of God's creation. Now I am waiting for the sunshine to break thru to get more photos of the field filled with dewy webs.

Haven't been on much this past week and was not on at all on Saturday. We finally got DH's car back from the repair shop. Now that the muffler and exhaust pipes are repaired we can hear other sounds that are probably not right. Oh well, if these old cars will just last till late winter we may be able to get another one for DH to drive to work. Since I only do in town driving for the most part I will make do with my faithful if not always reliable Buick.

Sister Beth and I went yard sailing again yesterday. Surprisingly there were quite a few listed in the paper. Many of the people we normally meet at the yard sales were out and about too and voiced their surprise and pleasure at these late season sales. I bought only 1 picture frame with a really interesting "carved" frame with a pattern of ivy leaves. I also came home with a plastic Discovery Kids potter's wheel that will go to church for VBS next year. We found one yard sale that was absolutely fascinating with the variety of items including crafts, sewing, needlework, books, jewelry, old tins and baskets. We got a large cardboard box full of miscellaneous crafts items for only $3 and sorted and shared it between us later on.

My best buy of the day though was pool noodles. We went to a garage sale in an alley and the first thing I saw after getting out of the car was a batch of 6 foot long foam pool noodles. I began gathering them up immediately and then asked the lady how much she wanted for them. She said she would be glad to give me the whole bunch for only 50 cents. Joy oh joy oh joy. I took them all and managed to squeeze them into the car trunk along with all the other items we had already purchased and got the lid shut. Then I looked at the rest of the sale. I told sister Beth that we would have to be careful opening the trunk as it would be like one of those cans of snakes you trick people with. Pop! Zoom! Wheee!

You may not recall why I am so delighted with the pool noodles. They are what my cats use for scratching posts instead of the furniture. We have a "real" scratching post that they climb all over and sit on top of - but rarely scratch. So I cut pool noodles into various lengths and attach the pieces to the outside of their crate at the corners. It helps to protect our toes from the corners and the cats use the longer lengths to climb to the top of the crate. And they shread the bottom portions. Unfortunately, I did not get to the stores in time to stock up for the winter and so I was considering buying pipe insulation foam covers to get us through the winter. Now I may not have to. We have POOL NOODLES!

DH has had a hard week. He is apparently still swollen internally from the surgery and it has irritated other problems he traditionally has in the same area. He has been so uncomfortable. Things are improving again now but it was a difficult week for him. He was in pain whether he was standing, sitting, or stretched out in bed. He could still watch football, though.?

Sunshine has broken through, I am going back out for more web shots. More later.

My favorite flowers to photograph

are in my parent's yard. When I go out early to take pictures of dew and mist and raindrops, these delightful blooms by my parent's basement are all closed up tightly. While they still take a good picture, this is the way I love to photograph them. I really like the juxaposition of the peeling paint on the porch post and the vibrancy of the flower.

Sister Beth and I went to a few yard sales this past weekend. There were not many listed in the paper this time but we still found a few good ones. The first one we stopped at was just a few doors from a bakery. Oh, did the donuts smell delicious! But we resisted and went on our way after exploring the sale. We both came home with some nice clothing from one sale. The lady had lost weight and was selling her previous wardrobe in several sizes. Fantastic prices for good quality clothing. Most of the rest I bought will be for VBS next year.

I did NOT buy a single picture frame this past weekend. But I did work with my photgraphs and the frames I already have and have now hung a number of photographs on my bedroom walls. I have collages of Queen Ann's Lace in one multiple frame and of dew-spangled spiderwebs in another. Funny, I don't like spiders at all but I love the pictures of the webs.

The kittens are 14 weeks old now and are starting to walk like cats instead of kittens. There is a swagger to their stride now whereas before they bounced and teetered along. DH has taken on some of the feeding duties to help the kits bond more closely with him. It seems to be helping especially with Tig-Tig who will settle down on the footrest of DH's recliner.

Yard Sale Treasures

Sister Beth and I went to yard sales again today and did we have fun. As we were leaving the neighbor up the street was walking to the neighbor across the street as they were also going to the sales. We met up with them at about 4 of the sales we hit. And of course we ran into other people we regularly see at yard sales, too. I came home with 3 more picture frames, a nice acid-free photo album that will hold 8x10 photos, more tins for putting the glass picture balls in for Christmas, a bread-machine recipe book (I am always looking for more bread recipes), more things for VBS next year including a battery powered bird in a cage that sings and moves (I think we will have to set up a booth just for the birds next year), 6 king-sized flat sheets that have never been used for only $1 each, ... and the above-pictured cat habitat ... for only $2.

I brought the thing in the house and put it where the smaller of the two NIC crates I built was positioned. As you can see, all 5 cats were delighted with the new addition. Spot is the one on top of it all, momma Stormy and Velcro are the next level down, Tig-Tig is on the bottom inside and Smoke is creeping around the outside (he looks so small in this picture but he is actually bigger than momma Stormy. All the blue stuff you see on the floor is shredded pool noodle. They love the pool noodles for scratching and I am constantly cleaning up the floor around the crates. I have a length of noodle attached from floor to the top level of the larger crate and they have almost clawed it in half. It is hard to believe the kits are 13 weeks old now. Barb keeps me up-to-date on what Shamus is doing and says she is just as rotten as my three.

Sister Beth and I filled the car today with all our treasures. She carried her last purchase on her lap on the way home as we had no more room in the trunk or the back seat (we could have turned the cat habitat around and started filling it up with smaller items but we were both tired and decided to call it a day. She did get some larger items today too like the wicker plant stand and basket and the shopping bags of yarn she found. DH is very patient and long-suffering about my yard sale finds. He watches as I unpack and describe each item and what I intend to do with them and makes appropriate sounds at intervals ... he does not understand the attraction of the yard sales but does like the savings on things like the cat habitat (around $30 in stores) and the king-size sheets.

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.