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      Saturday, July 01, 2017


craftstuff
08:17 AM - 07/01/2017

The topic: Yay. me!
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After the back incident, I wanted to make more cards (for the store) and I just kept putting it off.  I was having the hardest time getting motivated.

A couple of weeks ago I pulled the files I wanted to use. I imported them into to my Silhouette Design Studio. And there it sat for a week or so.

And then it was really hot. I mean, I couldn't move a muscle hot because I knew I'd melt.

Then we went to a movie. Most certainly didn't want to get everything laid out, then leave. It was always something.

This past week, I finally pulled the paper. Well, most of it. Brian asked how I was doing.  "Um...."

Thursday afternoon, I finally got started. I cut out one set. I'd only planned on doing two of each card, but I cut out four.

Then yesterday, I cut out enough for sixteen more cards!  I need to cut out envelopes for four of them, but that won't take long.

The last set I cut out was the most involved. I kept pulling more paper. Last night, around eight, Brian laughed at me when I said "I'm almost finished" because he was watching television and the machines were going. I asked him why he laughed, he said 'you've been saying that for the last three hours". 

I did two more pieces of cardstock and I was done! I put everything away and now, everything is ready to assemble. Except for those envelopes.

But I'm pretty happy I got it done.

      Tuesday, July 04, 2017


otherstuff
10:31 AM - 07/04/2017

The topic: I’m feeling melancholy today
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You know, I've got the blues. I don't know why.

Tears keep wanting to fall and I'm just not understanding where it's coming from. Maybe it's because I'm tired of sick cats. Because I'm frustrated I can't fix what's wrong with them. I held DaNiece in my arms for almost a half of an hour and finally got her to purr. She's eating and drinking, but she'll follow us and and just cry.

We think her brother Sammy is losing his hearing because he's yelling a lot, like Miss Elizabeth used to do. For the past month, he's moved from the bedroom, where he lived for years, into the living room, where there's the new cat furniture. And from there, he spends a lot of time outside laying in the grass or clover or under the catnip. He eats and drinks, he's just getting old.

This morning I found a nasty lump in Skip's mouth. It's not bleeding, it's just a big lump. He's our FIV kitty. He's lost a lot of weight this summer. He eats and it doesn't seem to bother him, he's not in any pain that I can tell. But it's a concern.

I put Advantage on sixteen cats last week. Rocky and DaNiece don't get it because they react badly. Monica and Joey didn't get it because I don't want to freak them out.  So, we still have some fleas. We're hoping the Advantage works like vaccinations do. The herd getting it will protect those who can't. I woke up yesterday morning with a flea on my upper lip. Holding DaNiece this morning I got one off of my ear. So, they're leaving the cats, that's a good thing. Being on me? Not a good thing.

I know that some places the fleas build up some sort of immunity to Advantage, but I would think to build up the immunity they'd have to be exposed to it. The only place close by that has a pet is behind us. So, I don't know where the exposure would be coming from, since our guys don't get it but a couple of times a year.

I haven't done a decent house cleaning in years. I mean, a real thorough cleaning. I need to . I want to. I used to like cleaning, although I complained about it the entire time I did it. I liked having a clean house. I really want to wash the windows and screens, but ran out of window cleaner. Brian should be getting me some this week.

And it's supposed to start getting hot again.

I just wish I had more motivation and more energy. I think I got a good start on it today. I don't have the television on. I'm listening to music. The computer wouldn't be on, but one of the pieces for the cards didn't cut out right. My bad, I fixed it, but I really didn't intend on being online today. Taking a break.

I took a third of a Xanax earlier.

I need to take a shower. That should help. I hate the blues.

      Friday, July 07, 2017


catstuff
07:51 AM - 07/07/2017

The topic: So. DaNiece
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We've lost a lot of cats over the years. Some to quick diseases. Some to not so quick diseases. And we've come to realize that a sick cat will either get better, or won't.

We've reached that stage with DaNiece.

After two weeks on metronidazole, her stools were getting better. Then something happened and they were back to really nasty. She was kept on the med for another week. No change. I called the vet, she's now on prednisolone, a steroid, that should help with inflammatory bowel. Should.

Last week I ordered some Natural Balance food, chicken and pea, a food without some of the ingredients that cause flareups. She's not a big fan. (Mystie is and amazingly, Mystie's stools are finally getting better! Instead of finding many drops of dried runny poop in the morning, the past couple of days clean up has been pretty easy, not much wiping or searching to be done. And since her last bath, she's stayed clean. Fingers crossed.)

The problem with DaNiece is she seemed to be losing her appetite. She picked at tuna (not really the best thing in the world to feed a cat, but just to get something in her tummy). She likes eggs and she ate a couple of scrambled eggs, but I don't know how complete a food that is. She really went after baby food (we keep some on hand for such an occasion). But baby food is something else that won't be long term. And right now, I'd really like her to get something formulated for cats. Supplement with the other stuff, but get her to eat cat food.

I had a great idea. I mixed chicken baby food with chicken Fancy Feast. She ate it. She ate it right up. This morning, she has eaten over a can and jar of beef food. So, I'm hoping I've hit on something that will get us through this. She seems to have a little more energy this morning, she was in the kitchen crying to be fed this morning. I've seen her poop once, there was a nicely formed stool in the midst of a bunch of watery stuff. If it hadn't been for the watery stuff, it would have been perfect.

She's only been on the pred for two days, she fought me yesterday for her daily dose. Fighting meds is also a good thing.

She's still getting daily fluids. I had watched her drinking more often on her own and pulled back on the fluids, she went three days without. That was a mistake. So, back on. Only 60cc, not much, but she's a little cat.

So, right now we medicate and wait. Like I said, I hope she doesn't start turning up her nose at this food, like she has others. (You can tell if someone has a sick cat by looking in the fridge and seeing lots of barely eaten cans or bowls of cat food.)

We're having another heat spell, I'm sure the heat doesn't help. Today is supposed to be the hottest of this spell, then a cooling trend.

She's such a sweet cat, I hope she pulls through.

daniece   


geekstuff
08:33 AM - 07/07/2017

The topic: Argh!
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Computers. Routers. Modems. Wi-fi. External hard drives! Makes a person crazy.

Last month, Costco had a 5TB external hard drive on sale for $120.00. Five terabytes is a lot of storage. I figured I'd get one, use a USB hub and have two external hard drives connected to my Netgear Router. Run them as media servers. Listen to my music out here in the other room via the Roku, even with the computer turned off. Or listen via my phone or tablet from anywhere. Cool, huh?

With all of that storage, I figured I could put all of my little home movies on it and watch those on the television. Even the Disney meet movies!

Hard drive gets here. I knew I'd need a hub, but I had an extra. Uh, no, I don't. Crap. Ordered a cheap one from Amazon. I finally got everything set up and the other computers and the Roku saw the added drive. Great.

So, earlier this week I'm working on cards. I have music playing. It keeps losing the connection. Damn it. Really annoying. I'd been having problems with my tablet going offline, I wonder if it's related. I had repeatedly rebooted the router, but I kept losing the connection. Now, problems with the Roku. Hm.

It was related. For some reason, the router's wi-fi connection isn't strong enough for the Roku and the tablet. The one I use for the laptop is fine (it's a different channel). I found the signal extender I had been using before the new router was set up and got it plugged in and running. The tablet saw it. My phone saw it. The Roku saw it, but wouldn't connect to the local internet. After trying out a few different things, I unplugged the extender and reset it. Then the Roku saw it. Yay!

Well, it's about that time of year for Meh to have it's birthday Fuko. Not really sure when it will drop, I went back to the office and booted up the computer last night. I check my speed. No, that can't be right. My download speed wasn't even 25Mbps. My upload speed was faster! That's just wrong.

Damn it. I waited for Brian to be done with what he was doing on his computer and unplugged the router. Plugged it back in and waited for it to completely reboot. It took longer than I liked, but I ran another speed test and the download speed was now 385Mbps.

I'm glad I know how to fix this stuff by myself, but life was much easier before all of this technology, for sure.

14110225


otherstuff
12:44 PM - 07/07/2017

The topic: Took some video in the garden yesterday.
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I thought I'd share.

      Saturday, July 08, 2017


mrs. crankypants
11:43 AM - 07/08/2017

The topic: Note to self
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Watch the damned video tutorial before starting the cards! This means even picking out the paper!

Grumbling, looking at the awesome embossed and sparkled card stock pieces that took forever to do, just to make sure they were dry for card assembly.

You know, those pieces I spent hours on researching how to do the glitter embossing and many test embossing and sparkle glue colors.

banghead

Back to the garage to pull more paper. Then recut the pieces that need to be recut.

 

crankystuff    craftstuff    cards   


catstuff
01:18 PM - 07/08/2017

The topic: So, is she losing or gaining weight?
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Part of me wants to believe Neecy has put on a little weight. She's not looking so boney.

But then, the other part of me, the realistic part, says that with as much as she's pooping, she's gotta be losing. (Sadly, life experience has taught me that optimism is a lie. It only breaks your heart.)

I'm sure that thing on her neck, one of those thyroid things, I kind of thinking it's called a "goiter" has started to interfere with her swallowing. Which is one of the reasons I think she's so amenable to the Fancy Feast and baby food mix. It's much easier to swallow. I used my last jar of baby food yesterday afternoon, so we went to Walmart last evening.

We got thirty-six jars of baby food. Twelve each of turkey, beef and chicken. All flavors that we have with Fancy Feast. When we got home, I got a jar and a can of food, added a pack of Fortiflora and used a stick blender to mix them together to a liquid consistency. She almost finished it. She was really hungry this morning and I took the little that was left from last night out of the fridge and she turned her nose up at it. There wasn't much, so I did another batch. Once again, she almost finished it. She did a little grooming, then laid down and slept.

So, I'm sitting here, working on the cards and have an idea. I do some research and I'll ask the vet next week if we could try hitting her with both the prednisilone and metronidazole. I have enough metro left for a couple of doses, I gave her a dose not that long ago. I'll give her the pred later this afternoon.

Anyway, back to the weight. I've been thinking about asking Brian about weighing her on his shipping scale (for years he used the old baby scale I got for the cats so long ago, but it finally died), and this afternoon I asked.  He said "where is she?" He grabbed the scale and came inside, she was in the kitchen and he set up the scale. He turned it on, then I put her on it. She weighed 5.5 pounds.

At the vet's office almost four weeks ago, she weight 4.9. So, she's putting on weight. That's a good thing. Yay!

And I'm also going to see about upping her fluids. She's not drinking much (I will really water down food for her to lap up, that works),. but it's so hot. And her skin does not spring back from the pinch test.

So, I'm still hoping she pulls through. I'm not giving up.

daniece    catstuff   

      Sunday, July 09, 2017


craftstuff
08:54 AM - 07/09/2017

The topic: I got part of one of the cards put together last night
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AND I DID IT WRONG!!!! I tried taking pieces off, but they ended up ripping the paper.

So, I put everything away and sat and pouted for a while.

This morning, I recut those pieces,. One of them I had never been happy with the color and  looking through the paper stacks I found one that would work much better. Got them all cut out and glitter sprayed, all I needed to do was wait for them to dry.

They're dry, I get my glue. I've been using Scotch Tacky glue for this. I used to love my Beacon's, but since I started pouring the glue into one of those smaller bottles with a fine metal tube for a spout, I'm having a much easier time controlling the glue. What I'm working on needs finesse and the Beacon's is for larger pieces.

I notice the little bottle is almost empty. Go into the garage to refill it. I look in my adhesive storage box. No glue. I check the storage container. No glue.

I HAVE NO GLUE!!!  What kind of crafter am I that I've run out of glue? And if I haven't really run out, where is it?

141031065

craftstuff    card from hell   

      Thursday, July 13, 2017


otherstuff
02:51 PM - 07/13/2017

The topic: Stuff
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I finished the card from hell yesterday. I told Brian before I had the first one finished that I was never going to make this card again.

First card finished, I had the three others left to do. I said "I have to finish these three, then I'm done."

He sez to me "you said you were never making another one of those cards."

Well, I have to finish these three, everything is cut out, I just have to assemble them. Once I've finished "this card" meaning this set. Then, I'm never making it again.

"But you said...."

Well, they're done and they're fabulous! And I learned some stuff along the way that will come in handy with other projects and I probably will make more of them, the frustration level was just pretty high with everything that could go wrong, going wrong. As well as things that shouldn't have gone wrong, but I screwed up by not taking the time to think things through. Photos later.

I was just back in the office and I was walking down the hallway. I see Mystie in the poop position in front of a wall vent. (She goes whenever the urge strikes. She's old, we just deal with it.) I ask her "are you pooping?"

Brian answers from the bedroom "no, why?"

OMG, I'm dying here....

rotfl

craftstuff    conversations    card from hell   


catstuff
05:48 PM - 07/13/2017

The topic: The sick cat roller coaster
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Or, when I think we may be near the end, death watch.

I thought we were there with DaNiece today. I worried about this weekend, what if she got really bad? I told Brian if she didn't turn around by next week, we might start considering...well, the end.

She seemed fine this morning, she had a jar of baby food (turned her nose up at cat food), she got her prednisilone.  An hour later she got her metronidazole, then her thyroid med. As the day wore on, she started crashing. She was wobbly, she was having a hard time lifting her head, it was scary. I could tell she wanted to drink, she'd sit by the water and do nothing.

She's been getting fluids at night, just 60cc. She came in at one point and I did the pinch test on her neck. Dehydrated. She was dehydrated. I know this stuff, but I looked up the symptoms again. And all but one fit. Around one this afternoon, she got fluids. An hour ago, she started perking up.

She'll be getting more fluids tonight. And we'll see how she's doing tomorrow, I might give her two tomorrow as well. And longer. Because it's hot here. And she's got diarrhea. Since it was a month ago today that she last saw the vet and had a bunch of tests run, I'm not worried about heart problems. Miss Elizabeth got 120cc at one sitting every day. I'm sure
DaNiece can handle 60cc twice a day. At least until after she gets over this hump.

I can't believe she's doing this much better in just four hours.

This brings back memories of Annie. She was getting 60cc a day, but she didn't make it. And the vet tried to find a vein to give her the sedative, her blood was really thick. Because she was so dehydrated. I don't want that to happen to Neecy, not if I can help it.

daniece    catstuff   

      Friday, July 14, 2017


catstuff
07:01 AM - 07/14/2017

The topic: She’s giving up (or is she?)
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After the fluids last night, she's showing no improvement this morning. She won't eat anything.

She did last ngiht, but this morning, nothing.

And she's really dehydrated. Again.

Holding her is like holding a ragdoll. She has very little strength. I think she's slowly starving to death. What little she eats goes right through her and a month of medication isn't working.

She was at the fountain outside this morning and Brian turned it on, so she could lap from the falling water. He said "you notice her breathing?"

Yeah, she's having a hard time with it.

I'll be calling the vet to make final arrangements this morning.

Or maybe I won't. She just came inside, crying in the kitchen. I placed different types of food in front of her, nothing interested her.

Then I scrambled an egg. She's eating.

I told Brian I'm going to give her fluids, but hold off on her meds today. Maybe there's something there that she's not processing. At this point, I can't see her doing any worse.

daniece    catstuff   

      Saturday, July 15, 2017


catstuff
06:17 AM - 07/15/2017

The topic: DaNiece update
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Cautiously optimistic.

I don't want to get into details just yet, but she's shown improvement over yesterday. At this point, it doesn't look like we'll be saying goodbye just yet.

I'll have more details on her progress on Monday or sooner if the improvement is vast.

I'll just say that this morning, she's feeling a lot better.

daniece    catstuff   

      Sunday, July 16, 2017


otherstuff
12:52 PM - 07/16/2017

The topic: What the hell was that all about?
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So, we have Disney movie rewards and Regal rewards. Regal is a theater chain. This summer, they had a promotion together, that you see Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2, Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Cars 3 that you get a bazillion points if you see all three. Well, maybe bazillion isn't the right amount, but if you see all three and use your Regal Crown rewards card, you'll end up with thousands of points. For Disney, you get over a thousand points.

This morning, we finished out the last of the three. We went to see Cars 3. There weren't very many people (we try to catch these as late as possible, since almost anyone who wants to see a movie, has seen it by this point).  Guardians had one other couple, there were a few more than that at Pirates, but not many. This morning had more than the other two put together.

With kids. Brian reminded me "you have to remember what the movie is".  That was okay, kids don't bother me. As long as they aren't major distractions, running up and down the steps or crying their heads off. One family had two boys, probably two and three years old and a baby in a carrier. There were a couple of dads with the kids, mom not present. Mom's day alone! Yay! Uninterrupted housework or just putting her feet up and chillaxing for a couple of hours.

So, the previews start. I fekking start to cry. I don't feel sad. The previews aren't particularly pulling at my heartstrings. Well, the one for Fernando caught my heart. But, I'm sitting there wondering what the hell is going on? Why the tears? No reason. There was absolutely no reason for it.

It stopped after the movie started (after the short, which was really good; and brought more tears). But I sat there trying to figure out why the waterworks. I ended up putting it off to how stressful the past months have been. My back going out, then DaNiece (who is still showing progress). Some sort of emotional release.

So, we're about an hour into the movie when the youngest boy in the row down starts getting antsy. Like toddlers do. Having to sit still for so long has to be tough. Dad did his best, taking the kids to the end of the row and walked up and down the aisle with them. It was at the side, it affected no one's view of the film and gave the kids some movement.

But that just wasn't enough. The little boy started to whine, he cried a little, and he settled down, but ten minutes later, he was back up. He actually walked to the end of the row we were on (we sit on the end so I don't have to crawl over people or chairs when I have to use the restroom), up the steps and I kind of caught his attention and whispered he should go back to his mom and dad. The steps are staggered as for depth and he had legs shorter than mine and I didn't want to see him fall. His dad finally noticed that Junior wasn't sitting by mom. She was watching the movie.

They left shortly after that. I guess the kid just wasn't ready for the big screen. I felt kind of bad for the parents, but these outings are needed to gauge the children's development, I guess. At least the parents were considerate enough to choose a viewing when the theater was almost empty.

Anyway, the movie's over, we leave. I mention the crying to Brian. Imagine my surprise when he said he cried all through the movie! He said his eyes would dry up, then something would happen and he'd start again.

I said "must have been all of the onions".  He looked puzzled, then got it and let out a little chuckle.

Yeah,. I think it's stress. For both of us. It was good for us both to get away from the house for a couple of hours.

On more exciting news, Game of Thrones, season 7 starts in seven hours and forty-five minutes!

      Monday, July 17, 2017


catstuff
07:22 AM - 07/17/2017

The topic: About DaNiece
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She's getting better every day. Seriously better. I'm very happy I didn't finish that phone call last Friday (I was put on hold and hung up).

Because she's getting better. Slowly. What did we do?

We kept giving her fluids twice a day (I say "we" because Brian lays on the sofa, we put Neecy on his chest and he pets her and speaks softly to her while I put the needle in and give her the fluids). Friday, I started syringe feeding her Hill's A/D. (Yeah, we always have some on hand, we buy it by the case.)  I started doing this on the kitchen counter.  I did it on my own a couple of times throughout the day, then Brian helped that night. But it was definitely something I could do by myself.

To make feeding easier on both DaNiece and me, I started taking her into my bathroom and shutting the door to keep the vultures at bay. That way, neither of us felt any pressure from them. At first, I wrapped a towel around her and used a clothespin to hold it in place. As those who have syringe fed a reluctant cat can attest to, it's oftentimes a messy job.  Saturday morning, I started to feed her with the syringe then stopped and waited to see what she'd do on her own. She ate.

The big thing that helped her?  I quit giving her her meds. The last time she got any medication was Thursday morning. She didn't get them Thursday night because I just wanted her to sleep. She didn't get them Friday morning because it was a matter of "why bother, if she's going to die?" And I really thought it was the end for her. I really did. Looking back on the past few weeks, she started getting worse when she was getting the medications. They worked for a couple of days, then they didn't. They were making her worse. Was it really the medications? Or was her problem something that meds wouldn't fix? There was one way to find out. Brian said "let's give her the weekend" after the discussion last Friday morning.

If she crashed, we could take her to a local 24 hour clinic to say goodbye. We wouldn't let her suffer.

Since the only place we would see her drinking water was from the fountain on the patio and only when it was running, Brian set it to run all night.

Saturday, she ate two cans of A/D. To make it more lappable, I added a little water and blended it. Poured it into a little glass bowl. But she ate two cans throughout the day.  And she was drinking more and more water at the fountain.

Yesterday, she didn't eat as much and I was a little concerned about what she'd eat when we left. So I scrambled an egg for her and chopped it up so the pieces were very small. She maybe had one can of A/D yesterday, but she ate a little of the special kibble last night and kept it down.

Brian got the scale and weighed her. She's up three ounces from Friday. Yay!

So far this morning, she's eaten a full can of A/D. In less that an hour and a half, she ate an entire can of A/D. She's a hungry girl.

She's grooming. She's talking to us. Last night, for the first time in weeks, she crawled up on me when I was watching television and stretched out.

I think we're getting our little girl back. She's still pretty weak and when she's recuperated more, I'll start giving her the thyroid meds.

Her poop is still not the best, but it's better. As long as she's putting weight back on, I won't concern myself with the pudding like poos she's having. (I was thrilled yesterday when she farted.)

I don't know which of the meds made her crash, the prednisilone or the metronidazole. Or the combination. At this point, it doesn't really matter. What matters is she's getting better. And that's what's important.


Breakfast

 

daniece    catstuff   

      Saturday, July 22, 2017


catstuff
11:43 AM - 07/22/2017

The topic: A short DaNiece update
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She's hanging in there. I don't know what the deal is, but she hasn't had much of an appetite. Last weekend, she ate like a champ.

She's quite fond of scrambled eggs. I was reluctant to give those to her as often as she would eat them, but according to anything I could find on the internet, it was "don't do it!". I asked a friend who is really up on pet nutrition, has been for years, she feeds raw to her crew and they all do nicely. (We got some frozen raw Instinct bites last week, rabbit flavor and chicken flavor and I'm glad there's a refund if the animals don't like it; cats definitely weren't interested.)

Anyway, she said to let her have as much as she wants. And to powder some of the eggshell at least once a week and add a pinch for the calcium.

I'm thinking that maybe part of the lack of appetite is because she's been getting the prescribed dose of her thyroid meds. It hadn't kicked in when she was so hungry last week. I'm going to cut back on those to see if it helps kick it up a notch. As it is, I'm giving her A/D via syringe a couple of times a day. And she does nibble on kibble. And she likes the occassional taste of baby food. I add a probiotic to a small amount of baby food and syringe that into her mouth, making sure she's getting something.

We're still giving her fluids since she's not drinking much. This really bothers me.

Last week. I did some research on a different probiotic and started her on Proviable-DC. Amazingly, it's working! (Maybe the firming of the stools is a reason she's not drinking so much water as she had been, since the food is going through her system much more slowly than it had been, I dunno, the mind goes all over the place during times like this.) Her stools from last night and this morning are almost normal. Not perfect, but more formed than not. They are a weird color because of all the egg.

She's also sleeping a lot. In the morning, she definitely wants her breakfast and she's purring a little more than she had. But she's not out of the woods yet.

So, right now, we're just keeping our fingers crossed that she pulls through.

daniece    catstuff   


mrs. crankypants
04:55 PM - 07/22/2017

The topic: We went shopping yesterday
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First we stopped by the doctor's clinic to pick up a prescription for Brian. He waited in the car while I went inside. Lots of moms and kids. Full waiting room.

Then we went to Costco. I turned in the prescription. Found out that Costco has a sort of insurance for customers. I wish we'd known this before. We could have saved a bundle over the years since we bought generic and didn't use our insurance because there were too many rules (the most important one was we could only buy one month's worth at a time for our blood pressure meds; at triple the cost of buying three months' worth at a time). The regular price for his pills is over twelve bucks, it was seven dollars and a nickle.

Anyway, we continued the shopping, got everything we needed, and some that we didn't, came home and unloaded.

Today, for the first time in years, I have a sore throat. It's not a sore throat from being dry, it's a damned sore throat and it's getting worse by the hour.

Meh.

smdance

      Monday, July 24, 2017


otherstuff
08:54 AM - 07/24/2017

The topic: I don’t do illness well
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Whatever started on Saturday, knocked me down yesterday. I don't think I've ever had anything hit me so fast and so hard.

My head hurt so bad, I couldn't stop coughing and my nose just keeps on running. What finally helped for the headache was two Excedrin (which I really try to not take because of my blood pressure). I had a temperature over 101°.

I didn't mind the chills, I welcomed them because it's been so hot all summer, but they didn't last long enough. Then I was burning up.

I used a ton of tissue. Where does it all come from? I would venture to guess I've lost five pounds just blowing my nose.

Not as bad today, I'm tired, a slight headache, lots of coughing and nose blowing. I hope it leaves soon. I have stuff I need to do.


otherstuff
12:00 PM - 07/24/2017

The topic: Amazed….
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When Amazon had their big sale thing earlier this month, I got an Instant  Pot. A pressure cooker. An eight quart pressure cooker. I have an old fashioned pressure cooker, the kind you put on the stove, but I haven't used it in over ten years. I figured this electric pot might be a handy thing to have, being as the weather has been so hot and all. It has lots of settings and can be used for more than just pressure cooking.

I used it for the first time this morning. I was kind of intimidated, but I went for it. A cup of water. A frozen chicken breast, clicked the poultry button and set the time.  I cooked a frozen chicken breast in ten minutes. Cooked to shredded.

DaNiece ate a quarter of it.

I used my new appliance for kitty food. 

I have to see what else I can make besides cooked chicken breasts.

14110216

      Friday, July 28, 2017


otherstuff
06:53 AM - 07/28/2017

The topic: Who remembers those microwave cakes?
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They came with a mix and a little pan to put them in and "bake" in the microwave.

I miss those. I know they have mug cakes now, but those aren't the same thing.

I miss pudding pops as well. I liked the thin ice crunch coating.

Damn. Food memories.

Do you have any?

cwm14


catstuff
06:19 PM - 07/28/2017

The topic: I watched DaNiece wash herself
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And I smiled when I realized I'm no longer in fear of her not getting over whatever was going on with her. In the past week, she's made great strides.

There was a little nervousness when I gave her a dose of her thyroid meds last Saturday afternoon and she became lethargic. (The last dose she's gotten.) One of the scary symptoms of her illness (I doubt we'll ever know exactly what it was) was unresponsiveness when she was sleeping. There was no push back when you'd lift one of her paws, it would just fall back. Pick her up and her head would just loll. But she finally becomes responsive, so while it's weird, it's not alarming.

Sunday, my cold was storming on and Brian made us Chunky soup, a big can. Neecy was very interested in my meal. I put a little down for her, with the gravy and a potato. She ate it all. And every day since, she's expressed strong interest in whatever we're eating. The amount of eggs she's getting has dropped considerably, Since her first taste of chicken, when she only ate a small amount, her appetite has gotten stronger. This morning, she ate a half a breast at one sitting.

Her poop is so much better. Still a strange color, maybe because she's still eating some egg each morning. But it isn't watery in the least. She's going about twice a day now, where she had been going every couple of hours.

Her fur looks better, her eyes look better and her little nose is moist. Just two days ago, it was like leather. She's a lot more alert and responsive. She actually will lay there with her head in the air, looking around. Before, she wasn't able to hold her head up.

But she's way better now than she was two weeks, even a week ago. She's going to be with us a while longer, I'm pretty sure.

daniece    catstuff   

      Monday, July 31, 2017


catstuff
07:11 AM - 07/31/2017

The topic: I’m so pleased with DaNiece’s improvement
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As each day goes by, she's progressing more quickly. 

This morning, she looks like she's almost back to the old DaNiece, the before sick DaNiece. I'd quit weighing her daily after her last bout of thyroid meds (the 22nd) because she just kept losing and it was disheartening. Then last Thursday I weighed her and she was four pounds, eleven ounces. I weighed her yesterday and she had gained three ounces. One a day. She weighed four pounds, fourteen ounces.

The strength in her legs is coming back, she's jumping onto the coffee table with no hesitation. Where holding her had the feeling of a ragdoll, with limp arms and legs, now there is push back. If she wants down, you know it.

She's sleeping better and more rested. And when she's awake and wants to eat, there is no question about it. In the morning, she will follow me until she gets her morning egg. She gets her egg before anything else is done.

So, it's good. And the updates will probably be less now, since she's on the definite mend.

daniece    catstuff   

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lisaviolet is seventy something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.

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