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      Wednesday, October 02, 2019


otherstuff
07:47 AM - 10/02/2019

The topic: It started off slowly
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You know when you accidentally look at something bright, then when you blink, you see that bright part?

That's how my migraines start. I have peripheral vision, but not in the center of my eye. And my memory gets a little weird. Things just go away. I can't think straight.

I got one yesterday morning. It wasn't all that bad as migraines go, but damn, it's scary when I can't remember things as simple as cat names. It started when I was making a little pot of coffee, the white, jagged spot in my vision. It didn't take very long to realize what it was.

The eye thing and memory thing were gone in less than an hour, but the headache hit. Not so bad that it hurt constantly (maybe taking the Exedrin migraine kept that at bay). I could focus and read, but damn, bending down or coughing were painful.

Feeling better this morning, but then I'm trying really hard not to cough. Man, I can't imagine having these on a regular basis. That has to be brutal.

migraine   


catstuff
07:55 AM - 10/02/2019

The topic: Rachel, the kitty
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Rachel, Ross's sister, got to go to the vet on Monday.

She'd been showing signs of mouth problems and I called last week to get her in. The only thing she works at eating right now is tuna.

So, we took her in, she got bloodwork and ears cleaned out and a nail trim and is going back on Tuesday for a dental. It's been about a year and a half since she was last in and she's lost a couple of pounds. Her last trip was for a dental as well. The vet thinks she's healthy enough to be put under.

Her bloodwork showed moderate kidney disease. The vet called in a prescription for Calcitriol, which should be here tomorrow.

Poor little girl.

rachel    mouth problems    catstuff    calcitriol   

      Friday, October 04, 2019


otherstuff
07:29 AM - 10/04/2019

The topic: Almost home from our walk this morning
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We see the crows at the curb across the street from our house. I've been trying to make friends with the crows, making a clicking sound and tossing out raw peanuts in the shell. So, the crows interest me.

(One of the neighbors mentioned wondering where all the peanut shells were coming from...plain)

We're trying to make out what they have. Some sort of bread? Nah, a paper wrapper? Really can't tell from that distance.

The closer we get the more obvious it is. longface

Not a good thing. Not bad, but not good.

"Brian, you have to get it, you have to take it away from them!"

It was a Styrofoam bowl. We use these to feed the cats at night. They last a couple of weeks, wiping them out with a paper towel before using, then we replace them. Well, the other night, the cats didn't eat their food (the night after the possums were in the office). There was a lot of food left the next morning and I told Brian to just put it out front for the birds. I thought he'd just toss it out, but he put it out in one of the bowls. And this morning, the bowl was in the possession of the crows. At one point, the crow dropped the bowl and Brian started over to get it and another crow picked it up and flew off with it.

Last time I saw it was on somebody's roof.

Leftovers will now be put out in a heavy, pottery type bowl.

leftover cat food    crows    bowls    birds   

      Tuesday, October 08, 2019


otherstuff
02:41 PM - 10/08/2019

The topic: Conversations…
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Argument in the office after someone asks for lead time on something he didn't order. He was asking via the invoice I sent for the item he DID order. Paid in full, shipped out, order complete.

Him: he wants to know about the other thing

Me: he didn't pay for the other thing

Him: he paid for the other thing

Me: no, he didn't pay for the other thing

I pull the invoice. He's being dramatic. Sighing. Rolling eyes. Putting his hands on his desk just a little too loudly.

Dramatic.

I show him the invoice. I show him HIS paperwork, his handwritten paperwork, the form he fills out everytime he sends a quote. When someone pays, he uses this sheet, where he lists out what he needs, options the customer has chosen (all entries handwritten, by him), to manufacture the order.  He had covered what the guy paid for in green highlighter, with an arrow and the word "paid".

This is the sheet I use to generate the invoice. Things got a little loud.

Him: oh, he didn't pay for the other thing

Me: yeah, that's what I said. "he didn't pay for the other thing." I know how to read.

Him: well, I'm sorry, excuse me

Me: yeah, well, next time, save the drama

Him: there was no drama

Me: rolling my eyes....

conversations   

      Tuesday, October 15, 2019


catstuff
08:22 AM - 10/15/2019

The topic: Well, I’ll be gobsmacked
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Friday morning I went out front to share peanuts with the crows.  I've read how smart they are and how they learn people. I imagine myself going outside and clicking my tongue and having them flock to me and eat peanuts out of my hand. Yeah, I really do. I'd love to tame them down for me.

So, I toss out the peanuts and I see a little dog across the street. Sniffing one of the neighbors' lawns. Bad time of the day for a dog to be in the street. Our street is wide, very few cars parked at the curb and morons driving on our street don't seem to understand that the 25 in 25 MPH is the maximum speed. It's really bad at certain times of the day, when parents are taking their children to school. The fact that they're in a residential area, where there are houses that people live in, seems to escape them.

I walked out to the street and got this dog's attention. It looked at me and came to me. I picked it up. A boy. It's a boy. I walk back down to our yard and yell for Brian. He was in his shop, so he didn't hear me. I yelled his name a couple of more times with no response, so I went with the tried and true "YOOHOO!" That worked.

"Did you lock yourself out of the house?" he asked.
No, I need you to come out here.
"Why?"
I have a dog.

He comes out front, looks at the dog. What now? He's annoyed that the dog was loose. He thinks he's seen it before. He has no kind words for the owners. A dog running loose. So irresponsible. He took the dog and I got my cell phone and called the vet's office. Explain the situation.  "Bring him down here and we can check for a microchip." He had a collar, but no tag with any identifying information. There was a charm type thing, but that didn't help in the least.

We went inside, Brian set the little dog down. No interest in the cats, whatsoever. No barking, no growling, just a pretty chill little dog. Huh. He gets a carrier and we get the little dog inside. He grabs the keys and we're off to the vet's office. Minutes later, we're there (it's not even a mile away). Bring the carrier in, take him out. One of the receptionists takes him from me and behind the desk and scans him for a chip. No chip. A tech comes out from the back and looks him over. She says he seems kind of thin. They said he looks like a Shih Tzu.

He's been groomed. His paws looked kind of dirty, so did the white fur. Has he been on his own for a while or what? They offer to keep him and give him a bath, trim his claws. Okay, sounds good to us. We leave him there.

On the way home, the discussion began about what to do if we can't find his owners. Even discussion about do we WANT to find his owners? We could give him a good safe home. There was some serious conversation about what we wanted to do versus what we should do.

I did a "found" message with a photo of him on a Facebook page for lost and found pets in our area. Nothing.

The vet's office called to let us know he was ready to go home. We went down there and picked him up, along with a bag of canned dog food and kibble. No charge for anything. That was so nice of them.

We'd already decided to keep him if the owners couldn't be found.

When we got home, he went out in the yard and pooped. I checked it out.  It was a good poop, a decent poop. Brian went to the closest pet store and brought back a collar and leash. (The vet's office had kept the one on him when we brought him down.) The collar was too big, but it was the smallest they had. We'll deal with that later.

This little dog is not abandoned or a stray. He has owners. He got out.

Brian had mentioned earlier about a black car that was going slowly down the street and someone had been calling. He didn't  think much about it (really? it never dawned on him that this might be the little dog's owners?). He said it looked like a Deputy Dawg car. I said "well, maybe it was the owners of the cat you heard last night".  (Coyotes..he said it was horrible to hear.)

"Maybe."

But that poop. The poop. It was a good poop. The poop of a well fed dog.

I asked him if he had one of the fat Sharpies in the office. No, but he'll get me one. I got a piece of cardstock, 12" x 24".  Wrote on it. Showed Brian. "Not big enough, fill the page." I got another sheet and tried again.

F O U N D
Small male dog

I grabbed a couple of push pins and took it out front and attached it to the post that holds up our mailbox. Within the hour, we got a hit.

The people across the street were pointing at our house. There was a car coming to a stop in front of our house. A second car was behind it.

A black Deputy Dawg car. The man in the front car got out. We exchanged some words, how I'd found this little dog, his trip to the vet, he described how he got loose (yard work the day before and the gate wasn't properly latched; the dog (Jingles is his name) got out Friday morning). He described the little dog perfectly. We went up to the front door.  The little dog was standing at the screen. "That's him", he said. I opened the door and the little dog came out, cautiously.

I told the guy if we hadn't found the owner, we'd have kept him. "Seriously?" he responded. "Yeah. We like him and there doesn't seem to be a problem with the cats, he doesn't chase them and just seems pretty laid back."

Well, the dog belongs to his mother-in-law and a couple of months ago, she discussed giving him up. But decided to keep him. If I meant what I said, about taking him, he'd talk to her about it. Okay. They leave. Jingles is going home.

I called the vet's office, explained what had happened, gave him the dog's name. Kind of sad, but it is what it is.

Within the hour, there was a voice at the gate. I go to the front door to check it out. It was the guy.

"Are you still serious about taking him?"

Yeah. Still serious.

"Well, he's in the car and so is Gramma, she'd like to meet you."

I walked out, Brian followed. Introductions around, hand shaking. Mike handed Jingles to me. I handed Jingles to Brian. I asked Nancy if she'd like to come in.

She's eighty-seven years old and not in the best of health. This day had been awful for her because Jingles had gone walk-about.  She was a nervous wreck, her blood pressure was through the roof, she was dizzy and it was just really tough on her.  The discussion about rehoming him two months ago was because of a similar incident. And now she could give him to someone she was pretty sure would give him a good home. A safe home. Her son-in-law worked a lot, her daughter was gone for work as well, and she just didn't feel it was a good thing for Jingles.

She cried.

Jingles is a purebred Shih Tzu, he's eleven years old. The only thing that she was worried about was if it didn't work out "don't have him put to sleep", she said. Brian reassured her that we don't do that. He'll have a forever home here. She cried some more.

We exchanged phone numbers and she called Sunday morning. She has all of his records, did we want them? Yes, please. Brian told her that Jingles was fitting in nicely. And she can visit anytime. But that we'll be taking him for walks and can take him to her house (it's just around the corner).

So, we have a dog. A Shih Tzu. He's eleven years old and he's so darned chill. He's quickly becoming acclimated. He sleeps on the sofa or loveseat. He likes the yard. He runs. He bounces. The delivery of his new toys showed up last night and and he prefers the ones that squeak. I ordered a halter for him for walks and a new collar that fits. Today I will make a tag for his collar. We have to find out about licensing him, which we will do.  Microchipping is also on the agenda.

We have to get his feeding down, we've free fed for so many years, but that's not an option with this little guy.

Like I said, the cats don't seem to mind him so much. He's more an object of curiousity. Pancho hasn't left my sight for days now. He has Jingles within view quite a bit. They both sleep on the sofa. If I'm sitting there, Pancho is at my hip. Jingles stays on his end. Yesterday, Pancho was on the arm of the sofa, Jingles on his end, and Rory wanted up. She jumped up and woke Pancho. Rory didn't complete the jump because of Pancho, so Pancho didn't see her. The ruckus woke Jingles who sat up to see wussup and Pancho decided it was Jingles who disturbed his rest. I had to get him to understand that it wasn't Jingles, leave Jingles be. He did. This morning in the backyard, they actually touched noses, sniffing one another, no hissing.  Jingles just trotted off.

So, we have a dog.

jingles    dog    catstuff   

      Saturday, October 19, 2019


catstuff
08:49 AM - 10/19/2019

The topic: Rachel update
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I was remiss in the followup. In other words, I didn't do it.

She came through the dental fine. She had some really nasty things going on, crumbling molars, roots that were being reabsorbed, but that was all taken care of.

She's eating kibble again without any problems and is back to being her affectionate self. A lot more purring.

So, that's all good.

Bobby is also having problems, so we took him in on Wednesday. He would be eating and he'd yell in pain. Didn't matter what he was eating, kibble, treats or soft food, it would happen.

The vet found that on his left side, the gum area of his molars had pus. The other side wasn't as bad, but it still needs work. We'd taken him in a year ago September for similar problems, but nothing was done at that time.

He's an old cat at this point, so, once again, we're reluctant about anesthesia. The vet drew blood and started Bob on antibiotics for the infection (same thing Sammy gets). We made an appointment for this coming Wednesday for his dental. If the bloodwork came back bad, no surgery. But his bloodwork came back great, so he's going in on Wednesday to get his teeth all nice and purty and the bad ones extracted. The antibiotics are already helping.

rachel    dental    catstuff    bobby   


catstuff
08:59 AM - 10/19/2019

The topic: Jingles is acclimating nicely
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This morning I got a right complete face washing. First time since he's been here he was that thorough.

The first few days he was here, I slept on the loveseat, he was on the sofa. Around the end of the week, he wasn't as anxious about my whereabouts and I could leave the room when he was sleeping and he stayed put. So, I went back to bed.

I would hear him in the morning when we started to stir, his little name tag jingling when he walked. We've got his feeding schedule down and, until this morning, he'd never barked.

This morning's bark was brought to you by Charlie Ahole getting a little too close to the food bowl. There was the initial growling, then the barking. Charlie took note and Jingles ate in peace. What's funny is Jingles doesn't clean the bowl and it's got food in it for a while and the cats have absolutely no interest in it. Why they sit and watch him eat is beyond me. Rory does the same thing.

Silly cats.

We don't take him on our walks, he needs his own walk. He stops and sniffs and sniffs and sniffs and we'd never get home. At least not in a timely manner.

We love him.

jingles    dogstuff   


otherstuff
01:29 PM - 10/19/2019

The topic: In late spring, I planted seeds
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They were planted out front, in big pots. I planted Indigo tomato seeds, beefsteak tomato seeds and two kinds of bell pepper seeds.

The seeds started to sprout in the mid-June. But they didn't grow very much. Because they weren't getting much sun. Last month, Brian moved them to the backyard, where there was a lot more sun.

And the Indigos started to thrive. They blossomed. They were pollinated. And thit morning, I counted ten tomatoes! The beefsteak plants started to blossom this week, so hopefully, we'll have some of those as well. One of the pots with the pepper plants was empty one morning. I found the worm that ate the plants and sent it on to its maker. The other pepper plants are still growing, just not very fast.

What surprises me is the indigo plants. When we had them in the ground, at the side of the house, they didn't have near the fruit that they do now, even though they were bigger and had more room to grow.


The pots


The Indigos


More Indigos


Poor little beefsteak plants


The avocado trees are loaded!

 

tomato plants    photos    garden    avocado trees   


catstuff
03:57 PM - 10/19/2019

The topic: Introducing Jingles!
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Click for a bigger photo

I made his tag with my Silhouette Curio. Our phone number is on the other side.

jingles    dogstuff    curio   

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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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