Kitty watching

So I'm sitting at my desk, typing this, watching a cat seek shelter from the rain under the tarp a neighbor has over his woodpile. I think it might be the same cat that I watched walk through the snow. Anyway, as he walked from the shelter of the neighbor's car to the tarp I saw that he was limping badly. It looks like he has something wrong with one of his front feet. I get so angry at people who let their animals roam loose. I don't know if this is a feral cat or if he's just out for the day. It's maddening. Would anyone let their two year old child roam the streets all day? If they did, what would people say? What would people do?

He's resting now. I hate being stuck like this. If I try to go out to him he might very well run away. If I leave him there I don't know what will happen to him. Grrr.

I. groomed Miss Minnie last weekend and did a fabulous job. She is such a beautiful girl. Just beautiful. This is the pile of fur that was left.


Almost enough to make another Minnie. And here she is, her beautiful self.

The eyes have it

We took Poochie and Bear to the ophthalmologist today. Both look good although Buddy, a.k.a Bear, has two sores on the corner of each eye. I feel a little guilty about that since I HATE it when he has eye goo around his eyes and probably can be overly aggressive about picking it off. I ordered eye cleansing solution to help get rid of the goo and we have medication from the vet for the sores.

Still waiting to get the rest of the results of Maddie's tests. Her cardiac ultrasound came back showing just a little thickening of one of one of her valves but no compensatory changes were seen. That's good news and means that she doesn't need medication yet. We're just waiting on the x-ray and abdominal ultrasound results.

A beautiful day today with sun for most of it. Snow is on the way though - just horrible. I am OK with Winter but this back and forth is just the pits.

Maddie

Yesterday Mom and I took Maddie to the vet for her annual check up. I. had took her in January for a routine thing and at that time the vet said that he heard a heart murmur. I trust this vet but also feel like he might over-diagnose at times. I thought I had scheduled yesterday's appointment with the other vet but for some reason that wasn't how it turned out. Anyway, he heard the murmur again and also detected an enlarged spleen or liver. So she will be having an echo cardiogram and an x-ray. She's not showing any signs of disease which is very good. She'll be 12 in June. Can't believe that.

I bought the pups a new toy at the vet yesterday. Pogo fell in love with it. Here he is with it. He worked on it most of yesterday afternoon which is unusual for him. Isn't he cute?

Why isn't her birthday on our calendars?

“Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” - Susan B. Anthony


Susan B. Anthony's birthday was yesterday, February 15th. This year is the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birthday and there is much (deserved) fanfare about that event. Has anyone heard anything about her birthday though? Granted, she was born in 1820 so we are a few years short of her bicentennial. But still, would we be where we are today without her and her fellow Suffragettes? That's definitely worth remembering. Thank you and happy birthday, Ms. Anthony.

As the light grows

Remember that fear often looks like a shadow until light is shown on it. Then you can see what a gift it truly is. Thank you to LunarMusings for the video and inspiration.

A little hubris, and then vindication

So I live in Massachusetts but work just about fifteen minutes over the border in New Hampshire. New Hampshire has a very different culture than Massachusetts, especially in the part of NH where I work. Sometimes if I'm being really cruel I'll joke that it's like a Third World Country. One thing in particular drives me crazy and that is, the poor plowing that happens in NH during the winter. Once you are 50 yards or so over the border into NH the road will go from bare to snow covered. This 50 yard mark is the exact location of the turn around for the plows. Every storm is the same.

On Wednesday of this week we had a snow and ice storm. Not too bad but still very messy to drive in. On my commute into work I finally had a chance to grab my camera to document the cause of my frustration. This is a picture of the plow that I followed from Massachusetts into New Hampshire. Note the condition of the road in MA. Just wet pavement.

And then, just past the magic turn-around, snow covered!!!



I was incensed for the hundredth time.

On my way home, though, I felt the fall after the pride. The roads in NH were still snow covered but were drivable. However, once I crossed over into MA the traction was much worse and I slipped several times. I was feeling quite sheepish. Not to worry, though, because vindication would soon be mine. The next commute, the road in MA were down to bare pavement and the NH roads are still covered with ice ruts.

If anyone within my earshot complains of paying income tax in MA I will quickly direct them to my blog where the evidence of the difference this income makes is clearly on display!

Sacred Life Sunday

I owe you two Sacred Life Sunday posts. I know it's not "owe" but more would like to share two posts with you. Last Sunday was another snowy day. Between what fell during the day and that night we had roughly 8 or 9 inches of snow. I was sitting at my desk on my laptop when I saw a neighborhood cat working its way through the snow. By the time I got my camera it had reached the cover of our neighbor's sun porch. I snapped a couple shots of it there before it started out into the weather again. The snow was right up to the bottom of its belly..
I also was able to take a faint picture of the cat trail left in the snow.

I'm not sure what it was about the cat that connected me to Spirit that day but it did. Maybe it was wondering about what the cat was thinking sitting under the porch. I am a sound believer that animals have thoughts and dreams. I've caught Pogo, one of our dogs, sitting in the the sun in our backyard on a beautiful early fall day. No reason for him to be there, other than to be enjoying the warm and the light. There is Spirit, running through all of us, whether we have fur or skin.

Today is clear but cold. A beautiful blue sky overhead. I have been thinking for several days now of taking a picture of the baseboard heating elements in the house because I think they are so cool. They are cast iron, like most of the metal things in my house, like the tub and the sinks. I had never seen anything like them before I bought my house. Today the sun allowed me to take a couple of pictures of them. The wordage on them says "Base Ray." I'm assuming that they were put in when the house was built in 1953. Base Ray just sounds like a 1950s term. Science-fiction-ish and modern. This is a section of the element in the dining area. They're either painted white or this brown color. We repainted one of them in the room where my computer is but I wouldn't do it again. I'll just leave them as is in the rest of the house. Just love them.

These are some other random pictures I've taken recently. Last Sunday I made the puffiest German pancake ever. It rose so high it touched the oven rack above it. It was a little tough, I think I stirred it too long, but was just beautiful.

I. bought me a beautiful Pelikan Piccadilly Circus fountain pen as a do-over birthday gift. I had been using his (he has the Place de la Concorde model) and had fallen in love with the way it writes. I love pens, ink, paper, and all related accouterments. I've used my pen several times now and can't wait to write something with it. I had been a slacker pen pal to those I had met through Letter Writer's Alliance but the pen has breathed new life into my pen pal habits!

Lastly, I purchased this sheet of vintage stamps from eBay. I love it. They are $.08 stamps (not sure how I'm going to use them because I don't have other postage that adds up to $.42) of Postal People. I had forgotten about the adhesive on the back of stamps before the self-stick version came out. Love the colors, the retro look to the clothing, the car, etc. I wonder how many of the jobs portrayed in the stamps still exists in the Postal Service today with all the automation. Now I have to find other stamps to buy to bring me up to $.42! Poor me. ;)

Really lastly, I. and I went to a PRNE meeting yesterday and have agreed to write a blog for PRNE and to create a Facebook page for the group. I put both together last night. Please check out the blog http://poodlerescuene.wordpress.com/ and add Poodle Rescue of New England as a friend on Facebook!


Bright blessings,