It's What????

We're so sorry to report that today is National Squirrel Day. The girls all agree that it is just totally wrong to have such a day.

The squirrels around here are out of control. They empty the bird feeders before the poor hungry birds can get a chance to eat.

They chew on the deck and have even ripped up the chair cushions.

When we're in the yard they yell at the dogs and even throw acorns at them.

But we're on the job, at least Syd and Mack are on the job. Mackey watches for them and alerts us when they're approaching the feeders.

Sydney has even disposed of a couple of the pests in her own way.

So go celebrate in whatever way you see fit.

Squirrel Day, phooey!

Schizophrenia?

Mother Nature seems to be suffering from some sort of mental disorder. As an example, take last week here in Missouri.

 Friday it was 65 degrees and windy. Remember this is January. Then it was announced that we were under a tornado watch. That lasted all day. Around six PM the tornado sirens went off and we all went downstairs to watch the weather reports. The tornado was slightly east of us and soon we were able to go back upstairs. The wind was blowing hard and it was raining. Boy, was it raining! About 4 inches.

The next morning the temperature had dropped alarmingly and we had ice on all the surfaces. Then the snow started, about two inches of it.

Sunday was quiet and the temperature hung around the freezing mark. On Monday it was in the forties and today, Wednesday, it's heading for sixty.

We just watched the forecast and we're expecting freezing rain on Friday and very cold temps for the weekend.

For awhile I've thought that good old Mother Nature was bipolar, but I'm beginning to suspect something worse. So what do we do during these rampages?

We sleep in a sunspot, of course.

Holiday Ready

Well, we've been missing in action for quite a while. It's been a very difficult year for us and we've been just spending lots of time doing nothing together. The Portie girls are old and they miss their siblings. Mackey has started having seizures again after almost a year and Syd just does her own thing all by herself.  But even if we'd like time to stand still for awhile so we can get our act together, it keeps racing on with or without us.

So we'll just jump in as if we haven't missed a beat.

Yesterday, late in the day I realized it was my holiday, the Winter Solstice. I don't know exactly when I started celebrating the Solstice as my own personal holiday but it makes sense to me. One doesn't have to follow a certain belief system or join with like minded people to acknowledge the Solstice. One only has to believe in science, which apparently has become an option these days.  As a teenager, I always thought I was descended from witches or Druids. Since getting deeply into genealogy, I find that I do have some of those folks in my background. It makes me happy.

 Tomorrow is a much newer, less serious holiday that I find amusing, Festivus. It
 appeals to me mostly because I don't have to do anything except complain. That comes easily. You can see that the people who lived here before us planted the Festivus pole in the ground, but it hasn't grown an inch since we've lived here.

It's not like we haven't done anything at all for the last few months. We've been somewhat busy, just not in a frantic holiday sort of way. First the Christmas cactus took only about a six week rest this year and is back in full bloom again.

 The older plant is still alive though it looks more like a tree with a thick woody trunk and only sends out a handful of flowers. I can't part with it because it's still alive and well.

I find it hard to throw out healthy plants when the flowering is over. In this case I have a couple Poinsettia plants that were given to us three years ago. After the holidays they dropped their leaves but the stems were still alive. I kept them in a cool bright window and watered them weekly. So here we are three years later and look what we have.

I've recently completed a Christmas afghan, all except the fringing which I'll tackle this week. It gets added to my small but growing collection of Christmas afghans.

 The red one I made for my Grandmother about 40 years ago. It's what started my collection and I've already chosen one for next year. I'll start it in the spring.

  I also made these little creatures just because I thought they were cute.

 This one is a reindeer.

This one is supposed to be a hamster. OK, I'm not sure why the designer thought it looked like a hamster but here it is.

 This one was supposed to be a bunny, but mine wanted to be a dog. Surprise! He's my favorite, surprise!

Norma Jean is practicing for Christmas Eve. She knows she has to sleep before Santa comes. Norma Jean is a very good sleeper.

This little kitty is also ready for Christmas Eve. She's in her jammies and has her blanket.

Notice that she's wearing her mousie slippers.

Today I'm thinking about making some cookies. So far I'm still in the thinking about it stage. Hopefully I'll actually get started.

 Mackey says we hope your holidays are bringing you joy and not stress.

Today

Happy Solstice, everyone. We'll be back tomorrow to catch up. Busy celebrating today.

What Does Obsession Look Like ?

When my boys died in the Spring, I became depressed. My girls are all pretty independent but my boys were my babies. They followed me everywhere and climbed on my lap and I miss them terribly. I knew I had to stay busy or I'd lose it so I picked up my knitting needles and a ball of yarn and got busy. It turned into an obsession. As soon as I finished one thing I started another. Want proof?

Those are only some of the items I made. I also made this couple who went to live with a friend.

I made a whole kennel of mini dogs.

My most recent pieces are these two, Oisin the Reindeer and his little girlfriend. I finished her last night.

This one is my favorite. I call him Boy. I started him the same week that Sebastian and Noah died. I incorporated their colors into him. His sad little face makes me cry but I adore him.

Now I'm ready to start another creature. I'm not sure yet what it will be, but I'm picturing a frog fairy.

Senior citizens?

Remember this?

This was the day Rob surprised me with two sweet little spotty pups.

Can you believe that those pups are seven years old today? They are officially senior citizens. It's been a rocky seven years. Aside from all the issues with the older dogs, Mackey and Sydney have given me a good amount of gray hair.

Mackey is a sweet little dog but she's suspicious of everything. If you call her, she'll come see what you want but don't expect her to come close. She only wants to be touched at bedtime when she demands a bellyrub. Mack doesn't sit on your lap or cuddle.

Mackey likes to destroy toys and relieve them of their squeakers as quickly as possible. She loves to bark at anything that moves or anything she imagines moving.

Mackey also suffers with seizures. They last 12 to 15 minutes and are really frightening. She has become aware of when a seizure is coming on and tells me. I have learned to recognize her signal and we've managed to get her some valium in time to ward the seizure off. It's been several months since she's had to go thru one.

Then there's Sydney. She's the total opposite of her sister. Syd loves to cuddle and sleep on a lap. She would love to be an only dog for someone who could hold her all day.

Syd doesn't care about toys or treats. She's a hunter. Every day she patrols the yard to look for prey. She's caught squirrels and rabbits, birds, mice and lizards. But her favorite are moles. She's caught a couple dozen moles.

Unfortunately, Syd is crazy. With absolutely no notice, she will attack another dog. The other dog can be sleeping or walking along totally unaware of Syd's presence. Suddenly Syd attacks and has to be pried away. She hurt Norma Jean badly.

Sydney now lives in the garage and back yard and is allowed no contact with the others. She takes Prozac daily and seems quite happy with her isolation. It makes me sad but the only alternative is euthanasia.

So today the girls will have a special dinner and lots of attention. Then we'll face whatever the future holds for them.

 The girls got new cars for their birthday.

 Mackey claimed them both.

Happy birthday, girls.

A Dilemma

 She's lovely and successful.

She's a dancer with the world renowned Safari Ballet.

Should she accept the handsome and fabulously wealthy Lion King who has asked for her hoof in marriage?

Or, should she run off to sail the high seas with her true love Captain Horatio Hippo?

Our Mom has gone off the deep end. Send help!  Mackey