And HEEEEERE's Medora

That was supposed to sound like Johnny Carson, just in case you were wondering (snicker).

Anyway, meet Medora, my newest Grand Kitty. Isn't she a sweet little thing? She's between three and four months old and really runs the show both at her house and at mine. She rules all the other cats with an iron paw.



She's busy, busy, busy getting into mischief. Below she's managed to climb to the top of Lovely Daughter's patio door screen. Fortunately they have Paw Proof screen so it can't be damaged by kittens doing acrobatics.

And of course she has to help Lars eat his breakfast. She jumps up onto his shoulder, tries to climb down his arm and lick the milk out of his spoon as he puts it to his mouth. She's just a bit on the spoiled side.

Doesn't she look innocent, though?

On another note, I'm getting frickin' tired of this constant heat. Minnesota in September is NOT supposed to be 90 frickin' frackin' degrees every day with a dew point above 70. That makes it pretty darn uncomfortable. Ole keeps telling me to quit bitching because in January when it's 40 below I'll be wishing for it - the heat that is.

Autumn is my favorite time of the year in Minnesota. The bugs and humidity are gone, the temperatures are cool, the leaves are turning color, the sky is a vibrant blue, the air is crisp and the flannel shirts feel so soft and snuggly.

Poor Ole has been suffering over the weekend. Coffee withdrawals, you know. Ole never drank coffee until about 20 years ago when he quit smoking. I guess he substituted one addiction for another, but I'd sure rather have it be coffee drinking than cigarette smoking. Anyway, his coffee pot died on him the other day. So Poor Ole, in order to get his morning cup (I should say pot) was heating water in the microwave a cup at a time, pouring it through the coffee maker, letting it drip through the grounds, then pouring himself a cup of coffee and reheating it in the microwave. That's a lot of work for a cup of coffee. Sure glad I don't like coffee. If it would only taste as good as it smells - but it doesn't.

Anyway, in order to alleviate Ole's suffering I finally managed to find a space saver coffee pot. We had one two coffee pots ago and I just loved it because it bolts up under the cabinet and doesn't take up any counter space. So when that one died I went shopping for another one, but there was none to be found in the city. Since then we've burned up two more pots. So yesterday when I was walking through the small appliance department at Wally World, what should appear before my eyes, down on the bottom shelf in a far corner, but a space saver coffee pot. I snatched that baby up so fast and put it in my cart - it was done in a flash. It was the only one on the shelf, too, so I considered myself pretty fortunate.

Life is pretty dull in Ole and Lena land when the biggest thrill of your day is buying a coffee pot, don't ya' think?

Oh, well.

Uffda - my aching back

UFFDA - my back is killing me. Ole and I have been busy changing the "face" of our backyard. We tore out a very large flowerbed and replaced it with over 200 pavers and built a firepit. I guess I proved to myself that I can still work like an old plow horse - even if the temperatures have been in the 90s over the last two days. And those of you who live in other parts of the world don't understand what a temperature of 90 means in Minnesota - because the humidity is at 90% at the same time!! And that makes it VERY HOT!

Below is what that area looked like last year. Quite a transformation, don't cha' think? And a lot less work this fall and next spring.

And we have 13 new little family members that actually managed to hatch!! This is one very busy mama duck. We have ducks on the river every year, but no mama has managed to get her eggs to hatch for years because of the instability of the river level. Every time it rains the river rises several feet and floods the nest out. This year the river level has remained high throughout the spring so she must have built her nest on a high spot and lucked out because the river went down instead of up.

They're so busy peeping and pecking for bugs and worms every morning and evening. And Mama is ever on guard watching and protecting. I'm going to throw some grain out in that area to keep them coming back.

Well, we're having another "rain event" today. That's what the local weatherman has started to call them - "rain events." We don't just get a nice shower now and then - we get deluged for days at a time. It's getting really old and very depressing.

I got an email from someone named Rhea this morning - asking whether or not there are still any hoboes around (reference yesterday's entry.) Well, Rhea, I currently live just a half-mile from where I grew up next to Bum's Jungle and haven't seen any hoboes back in that area for years. A few years back there was a hobo convention that took place on the east side of the state, and that summer we had a ton of Folks on Foot that were making their way to the convention. Minnesota is noted as being a really easy welfare state, especially the county that I live in. So at that time, all the hoboes would hop off the trains in the city, go to the welfare office and collect $360 and then hop back on the freights and head for the convention. At that time you didn't even have to establish residency in Minnesota - they would just give you money. If I remember correctly there were several thousand hoboes that attended that convention - so I guess the answer is "yes" - there are still hoboes around. But at this point it's a very rare occasion that I see one riding the rails. My buddy, Art, used to ride the rails and has an interesting story posted on his blog. I'm sure he's got more to tell, he's just got to pull them out of his memory banks.

By the way, Rhea, I don't recognize your name - what's your blogger name?

I'm really disappointed in you folks - I guess my blog isn't as well-read as I had thought - or are you just trying to keep me from getting a big head (snicker). Only a few people have signed my Notify List that's WAAAYY down on the bottom of the page. If you would like to continue to read Lena's Latest Gossip and be notified when I update, please sign up so I don't have to cry and feel really bad. (sniff, sniff, pulls tissue from box.)

Simon the Senior Citizen

And so dawns another day in the far Northland – at least Simon, the senior citizen thought I should be aware that the sun was coming up. Just one morning I’d like very much NOT to observe that fact, but then I guess cats are creatures of habit, and let’s certainly NOT break the routine here.

Somewhere around 5 a.m. I started feeling this paw touching my cheek – tap, tap, tap. No response from the human. Once again, tap, tap, tap. This time the response was a human hand that tried to SLAP that furry paw to get it to stop. Oh, darn – missed. Thirty seconds later – once more – only this time with just ONE claw out, prick, prick, prick on the cheek. By this time consciousness is starting to come to the surface in the human brain and I realized I might just as well get up and feed him or I would get no peace. I know, I know – all I’m doing is reinforcing his habit, but I’ve TRIED in the past to out wait him and have failed. This cat has the most patience I have ever seen and he can thoroughly out wait me in that category. So I got up, stumbled out to the kitchen, put canned cat food in a dish and watched him gorge himself. He has a self-feeder full of dry cat food, but heaven forbid he eat THAT in the morning!!

By this time I was awake enough to rationalize that I might as well start Ole’s coffee pot so he’d have something to stimulate his brain waiting for him when he got up. By the time I got that all organized and going, Simon had cleaned his plate and was sitting in the middle of the kitchen with an extremely pleased expression on his face, licking his paws and washing his face. Then he glanced up toward the patio door.

I could just hear his brain formulating cat ideas within. There sat Herkie (the white cat who was ostracized from the house days ago), waiting by the door, wanting to get in of course. Herkie has discovered that he actually can go back to Lovely Daughter’s house, his original home, where he can eat, sleep and be merry if that’s what cats do. So he’s certainly not starving and has a nice warm bed to occupy if he wants. But for some reason he seems to prefer my house, sitting there trying to make me feel guilty about not letting him in – but guess what – that ain’t happenin’ anymore, Dude!! So Simon is making trips back and forth between the patio door and me, begging me to take his buddy back and let him in. Nope – Simon – sorry. I’m not wiping cat spray off my walls anymore!!!

Now when Simon was a younger fella (he’s about 15 or 16 now) he was kind of a social butterfly. He’d be roaming around outside and quite often would bring a stray cat home with him; they’d perch by the patio door and beg to come in. He was always like a little boy bringing home a stray puppy. Of course, that’s how Simon arrived here also. He was a stray that lived in our pole barn for an entire summer but wouldn’t come near us. Then one night, late in the summer, he must have reached the pinnacle of loneliness or something, because he came up to the house and started crying pitifully. I took him in and he’s been a resident ever since. So I guess he figures if I took him in, I’ll take in his buddies too. Kind of like the hobos used to do – spread the word or leave marks on the fence post that “this lady is a soft touch.”

BTW, some day I’ll have to repeat some of the stories my mother used to tell me about how the hobos had her mark when she was a young woman on the farm. (Makes note on list of things to write about in the future.)

Anyway, back on track here. Having a senior citizen cat in the house brings on its own issues. Simon is getting to the point where he can’t jump anymore, which means he can’t make it up onto our bed at night. When he was still living at Lovely Daughter’s house she tipped a clothesbasket upside down for him and he used it like a step. I put a small 2-step stool by the side of the bed and that seemed to do the trick until one night I tripped over it in the dark and stubbed my toe REALLY hard – OUCH!! Then for some reason Simon quit using the stool and took to climbing up the side of the bed just like he would be climbing a tree. We have one of those really high beds and he can get a good grip in the sheets. Maybe he’s dreaming of days gone by when he’d be outside climbing trees or something.

Then there are days when he sits in the middle of the floor and you can just tell by his eyes that he’s off in LaLa Land somewhere. Wherever it is, he certainly looks like he’s enjoying himself. His eyes are glazed over, his whiskers are twitching, sometimes his paws knead in and out like he’s a young kitten – and this is when he’s AWAKE. Imagine what goes through his mind when he’s sleeping!! Or maybe it’s too much kitty LSD!!

I hope when I get to that point in my life (which isn’t far, believe me) that my thoughts will be as pleasant as his seem to be! LaLa Land – here I come!!

PLAN FOR THE DAY: (Do I actually have one?) I’ve been trying to work my way through the house cleaning carpets and other heavy cleaning. That’s on the days when it’s raining outside – which seems to be most days lately. I’m making progress – have one room left upstairs and then have to hit the basement. Then on the nice days I’m trying to keep up with the weeds outside. Believe me with all the rain we’ve had the weeds are getting WAY ahead of me. In addition to that I’ve ripped out one flower bed (12x15), found homes for all the plants and if it ever dries up enough, we’ll cover the entire thing with pavers and make a fire pit in the center.

So now what do I do today? Well, it rained again this morning about 6 a.m., so it’s muddy – again – but now the sun is shining and the wind is blowing gale force. But then that’s normal for this part of the country. At least the wind keeps the bugs out of your ears and from flying up your nose. Guess I’ll have to draw straws as to which direction I go today.

Must get busy – must keep nose to the grindstone – must get up from the computer - - -

The Football with Legs

It's been 10 days since I've posted - bet you all thought I'd died and gone to heaven or some such thing. No such luck - you're still stuck with me. Life has just been a bit on the chaotic side. I've hardly had time to read diaries let alone write - but things should be better now I hope. It looks like there's been a lot of defectors from Dland. I've tried to comment when I have had the opportunity to read, but leaving comments on the Dland site has been almost impossible due to the slowness of the site. The comments are very slow to post, if at all, but extremely QUICK to let you know if Andrew thinks you're a Spammer!! So on to better things/places such as Blogspot and Wordpress.

This DARN rain that just doesn't want to give up pouring by the bucketful up here. I checked my feet yesterday and I've started to grow webs between my toes in order to be able to navigate around here. And it doesn't just sprinkle - it pours down to the point where it's impossible to see across the yard. Our grass is at least six inches high because I haven't been able to get it cut, so with the bit of sunshine we have today I guess I'll go out and try to make hay. Maybe this should be my solution?

A group of us got together on Memorial Day to go for our first Harley ride of the season. Well, THAT ended up being a fiasco. We had waited all weekend for what was supposed to be decent weather but as usual the weatherman screwed up again. It was "somewhat" sunny when we left the house at 9 a.m., but a wee bit on the chilly side so we were all leathered up. The plan was to ride to a little town called Wolf Lake, about 60 miles east of here, where the have a big Memorial Day celebration. The fireman put on a big pancake breakfast, etc., and then there's a nice program in the cemetery afterwards. Since Ole and friend, Normie, are both from that area (both Finlanders) we decided it would be a fun thing to do. We all went last year and had a wonderful time. Ole met a bunch of relatives he didn't know he even had!! I'll have to tell you that story sometime - Ole is NOT who he APPEARS to be!!

Anyway, we got about a half hour from our house, went up over and hill and around a curve and hit a cold air mass that turned Ole's whiskers white with frost. It was SO cold, and we could see rain falling up ahead. We pulled off the road and consulted and decided to stop in Detroit Lakes for breakfast instead of going all the way to Wolf Lake and then decide what to do. By the time we finished breakfast the sun was shining there, but it was still raining in the direction we had to go. So we blew that off, went to the local flea market, ran into a bunch of friends, didn't find any "fleas" worth buying and headed for home. Ole always wants to take the Harley when we go to the flea market in the summertime because then he thinks I can't buy much due to lack of storage on the bike to bring things home. The funny thing is - I'm never the one who finds something to bring home - it's always HIM. There have been times when we've had to come home, get the truck and go back to the flea market to bring home what he bought!! And they say women are the shoppers - NOT!!

I also have developed some cat issues over the last days. Herkie, the white cat that has been living at my house, has decided that he needs to start marking territory INSIDE my house. I caught him one day backed up to a beautiful, wool, Icelandic blanket that I had hanging over the stair rail. Caught him in the act of applying his scent to the blanket, promptly picked him up and placed him not so gently on the deck with the promise that he would not be allowed back in my house if that was the way he was going to act. All he did was look pitiful and plead to come back in. Well, about four days went by, and it was cold and rainy, and every morning he would be at the patio door pleading and crying and begging. My heart can only stay hard so long so I took pity on him, let him back in and threatened him with the fact that he could exit again quickly if I caught him marking again. He seemed SO appreciative, filled his tummy and found a place to sleep. All went well for several days until last Saturday night I caught him backed up to the bathroom doorframe getting ready to do it again. I yelled at him, which caused him to stop and then swatted his butt. This only deterred him for a second or two, he walked farther on down the hall, backed up again the door to the computer room and let go!! Again he was promptly picked up and placed not very gently on the deck. I now will take NO pity on his pleadings and he will NOT be welcome in my house ever again. Just called me "Hard Hearted Lena!"

This brings on another problem - the cat hierarchy at Lovely Daughter's house. Her "Football With Legs" is a real bruiser and a bully and doesn't tolerate Herkie in the house very well because Herkie wants to be the "A" cat also. So the other day when Herkie was apparently hungry enough to go back to her house to eat, the Football decided he wasn't going to allow it and started a cat fight. Unfortunately Lovely Daughter stuck her bare foot between them trying to break them up and immediately got clawed three times by the Football. Guess she wasn't thinking about the bareness of her foot, just reacted to breaking up the fight. The New Man immediately went to work on the injuries with peroxide and ointments, etc., but by the next day her foot was all swollen, etc. He took her to the walk-in clinic where she was given a tetnus shot and a shot in the backside of some heavy duty antibiotic, along with some to take orally. By the second day her foot was even worse - swollen and purple all the way down to her toes, so The New Man took her back again, she got another shot in the butt and was told to stay off her feet for the next three days with her foot elevated. If she isn't better by tomorrow she is to go back and they'll be giving her antibiotics through IV. Not a good situation.

So I don't know how things will all hang out at her house - The Football won't give in to tolerating Herkie in the house, and Herkie can't live here anymore. Something's going to have to give - or I should say Someone - and it "aint gonna be me!!" I suggested Herkie become a Shop Cat out in Ole's shop - but Ole doesn't want that either if he's going to be spraying all over marking territory. And the thing is Herkie is neutered. I thought neutered males didn't mark anymore? Maybe somebody should tell that to Herkie.

Enough for now - the sun is shining and Farmer Lena has to go make hay.

Wee Little Teeny Tiny Baby Kitties

What a weekend - I hardly had time to catch my breath.

I went flower shopping with Lovely Daughter on Friday afternoon. We've known the people who own the nursery we do business with since Lovely Daughter was a little girl. In fact, their daughter used to babysit Lovely Daughter, so we go back a ways.

Anyway, one of the big attractions there is not only the beautiful plants and flowers they have, but they always have a whole mess of baby kittens every spring. They have a number of mamas that are always prolific, and the fun thing is that none of the mamas care which kittens they feed - so all the little baby's tummies are always round and firm and fully packed. The two batches of babies that we found this time were about four weeks old - had their eyes open and were very active. One even managed to crawl over the top of his cardboard box and fall down onto the floor. One of the batches had a little long-haired gray baby that looked just like my Petunia did. In fact, this is the place that Petunia came from, so the baby is probably a distant relative of hers.

Many years ago we had a cat named Cindy that we got from a different neighbor. She was just a wee little mite when we brought her home because her mother had been run over by a car. Cindy wasn't even old enough to eat by herself at that point so we gave it a good go at bottle feeding her. Unfortunately by the time we got her she had been several days without food so was so hungry that we just couldn't get it down her fast enough. We called the family that owns the nursery to see if we could bring Cindy over to find a surrogate mother. Their answer was "of course" so we put Cindy down by one of the mothers, she snuggled right in and started nursing and grew fat and happy over the next few days. We brought her home when she was able to eat solid cat food on her own at the age of 6 weeks, and she lived to be a fat old bag of 14 before she died. So every spring Lovely Daughter and I always go visit the nursery - not only to buy flowers but to see all the happy babies and the wonderful mama kitties.

On Saturday Ole and I were up early to help friends move into their new house. It wasn't a long move - just down the street two blocks from their old house, but it's still time consuming and hard work. Now Dick and Kathy have been married about 6 or 7 years and they each have a son from a previous marriage, both of whom are still living at home and are both 19 years old. Young men with strong backs, legs and arms. Otherwise the moving team consisted of Dick & Kathy, Norm & Vera, Ole and I, and Kathy's parents who are older folks, in their late 60s or early 70s. Kathy's father shouldn't have been helping us as he was having trouble with his knee - it was all swollen and I could tell when he walked that it hurt him.

Now these two 19 year old boys stood around and WATCHED the men move all the heavy stuff - washer, dryer, freezer, furniture, etc. And then it came time to move the boys' stuff into the basement and they STILL thought they were going to stand around and watch. The guys were trying to get a handle on a very large reclining sofa that was to go downstairs when Vera piped up to one of the boys and suggested - no told him to get his a - - over there and help. It was a very large, heavy and difficult piece of furniture to handle. The young man gave her a dirty look and said flat out, "NO. I can't lift that!" At that point I reached my limited. The Grandpa has a bad knee, Dick has a bad shoulder, Ole has broken his back and had 3 ruptured discs over the years, and Normie has shoulder trouble. And here stands this big strapping 19 year old that refuses to lift a finger while the guys are hauling HIS furniture downstairs. I reached over, got him by the jacket lapels and said, "Now you listen to me you young punk. You're 19 years old, don't have any physical problems, and that's your grandpa over there - he's over 70 years old with a bad knee and you're going to stand here and watch while he works to get YOUR furniture downstairs. YOU are a lazy sack of shit and are totally worthless!" He turned on his heel, made some disparaging remark about how insulting I was and walked away. AND THERE STOOD HIS MOTHER AND DIDN'T SAY A WORD!! Then his grandmother walked up to me and said, "You know, he lived with us while he was growing up and I guess we spoiled him a little bit." I told her I didn't think she had done him any favors, that's for sure.

Well, we made it through that hump and by 5 o'clock it was Miller Time and we were all still in one piece and had just about everything moved out of their old house with the exception of what remained of the boys' stuff. Everyone refused to move anymore of anything that belonged to the boys. After that episode we all figured they could move it themselves. Wonder how they liked them apples!

Sunday morning brought another early rise - I sure could have stayed in bed and slept a lot more, but I had promised I would help out at church. Sunday was our annual spring picnic, and the church secretary had called me earlier in the week to see if I would help set up and serve. Because the word "no" doesn't seem to be in my vocabulary I ended up in the kitchen from 9:30 a.m. until everything was cleaned up at 1:30 p.m. We served 150 people - pork roast, grilled hot dogs and hamburgers with beans, potato salad, all kinds of other salads, and lots of brownies and other kinds of bars. It was good, but I was tired when that was all over.

I definitely was planning to check my eyelids for leaks when I got home, but as usual THAT didn't happen. Every time I would just doze off the phone would ring or someone came to the door. Even Simon, my senior citizen, was getting frustrated. He would just get all snuggled down on the afghan by my legs and I would have to jump up to do something. The last time that happened he got up, turned to give me a disgusted look and a cranky meow and went somewhere else to sleep.

So today I am suffering from arm issues - definite overuse this weekend. But I'll just keep plugging along. Housecleaning is on the agenda today as I can't work outside because it's too muddy. We have more rain and severe storms forecast for this afternoon so I guess my gardening will have to take a backseat again. We had a horrible storm on Friday night. We haven't had a good old thunderstorm with lots of lightening for several years, and Friday night's made up for that. The sky was constantly lit up, and at our house we received just over 2 inches of rain in about a half hour. North of here several miles they got over 5 inches so the field are all under water. The crops have drowned and will have to be reseeded if it ever dries out enough. Fortunately south of us they got just a fraction of an inch, so that means the river won't be rising much - at least for now. I guess we'll have to see what the rest of the week brings as we're supposed to have storms all week long.

Well, I had best get started shoveling the cat and dog hair. Rosie the Rhoomba's got her work cut out for her today, believe me!!

Has Jess Come Back?

I can’t believe that it’s been over a week since I made an entry. I think that’s the longest I’ve ever gone. Did you miss me? Huh? Huh? Did ya?

It certainly hasn’t been due to a lack of things to talk about – just a lack of time to sit down and compose something readable. I’ve had all these pieces of things floating around in my mind so forgive me if this entry is disjointed. But then what else can you expect from a ScandiHOOvian!

A couple of weeks ago I noticed a very large black lab out by the end of our driveway one day when I walked out to get the mail. As I came closer to the mailbox he took off across the highway and kind of peaked up out of the ditch at me. I waited for a bit, hoping that he would come closer, but instead he took off down the ditch and across the railroad tracks. Later that afternoon when we took the grand doggers for their afternoon spin, the same black lab was again in the ditch along the driveway. He was interested in our dogs, but a bit leery due to their barking. They can be somewhat intimidating when they’re both barking, their big white chompers are showing and the hair all along their backs is standing up. Beau even has the ability to make all the hair on his tail bush out just like a cat. Anyway, when we returned home, the lab was gone.

I saw him several days later, again out by the end of our driveway, just kind of hanging out. It looked like someone had dropped him off and he was waiting for the return of his owner. But that wasn’t going to happen.

Last Saturday afternoon we were invited to a graduation barbecue in our little village, and who should be “attending” the party but the black lab. He was extremely well mannered, didn’t beg for food at all, even though I’m sure he was hungry. He just kind of sat around and waited for someone to invite him over for a scratch and a morsel. At that time I found out that he belonged to a guy who lives in a little town six miles down the road from where I live. The guy is a trucker so spends several days a week on the road. Along with this black lab he has two other dogs that he keeps in a kennel when he’s gone. I don’t know if he has someone that comes by and checks on them or not, but apparently the lab somehow gets out of the kennel and goes looking for attention. Last night I spoke with the mother of the graduate that had the party and found out that the lab is still at their house and sleeps on their deck at night. She gives him water, but hasn’t given him any food because she doesn’t want to encourage him to stay. People who know the dog owner have tried to contact him but haven’t had any luck so apparently he’s either STILL on the road or on the road AGAIN.

This little scenario has touched my heart deeply because the lab is the spitting image of the black lab I used to have named Jess, right down to the few white hairs on his chest and a few on the toes of his front feet. His head is shaped the same and he carries himself the same. Now people who don’t know dogs would say all black labs look alike, but that’s not so. Just ask any dog owner and they’ll tell you that each dog, even though it’s the same breed, has very distinct physical and personality features. Daisy and Beau are both German shepherds, but they are as different as night and day. Even Ole commented on how much like Jess this black lab was.

This really wrung my heart because Jess’ death was very sudden and unexpected. He was ten years old and sleeping on the floor by my side of the bed when his loud panting woke me up one night. I got up to see what the problem was and the poor dog was breathing extremely hard and foaming at the side of the mouth. I thought maybe he was choking on something so tried to encourage this 80 lb. dog to get up and get a drink of water. I even brought his water bowl into the bedroom but he couldn’t get up on his feet to take a drink. By this time we knew there was something very serious and I called the vet – it was 3 a.m. He told me to meet him at his clinic. Ole and I managed to get Jess loaded into the back of my van and I took off the 10 miles into town. Jess was still alive when I arrived at the vet clinic and the two of us managed to get him inside and onto an x-ray table. After a lot of checking and a couple of x-rays the vet determined that Jess was in the process of having a very serious heart attack, and if he did live through it would be seriously impaired. I had to make a very difficult decision that night and opted to have Jess go to Doggy Heaven. I brought him back home and Ole and I buried him in our pet cemetery as the sun was coming up that morning.

I’m so upset with that dog owner for not taking better care of his dogs. Apparently this dog has escaped numerous times, and fortunately to this point has not suffered any serious accidents from being out on his own.

Maybe this is Jess that has come back to me in another dog’s body?

KABOOM and the Bedroom lit up

KABOOM and the bedroom lit up. And it's NOT what you think - get your minds out of the gutter, People!

I awoke with quite a start before sunrise this morning as the entire bedroom lit up from a flash of lightening and an immediate BOOM, which indicated that the lightening had struck extremely close. The biggest issue with this was that Hercules (white kitty) was sleeping on my feet, which were uncovered by the way. He flew straight up in the air, which must have been at least three feet, then down again and like a cartoon cat made running motions with his feet. Unfortunately his claws were out, and I now have three very deep, long scratches on my leg.

On top of that, we’re dog sitting for the next six days, and Grand Dog Daisy hates thunderstorms. So the lightening and thunder precipitated a lot of whining and unrest. Poor thing. Beau on the other hand, sleeps right through everything. Typical man, he’s just like Ole. You could blow a stick of dynamite under the bed and neither Ole nor Beau would wake up. And that’s no lie!!

So Daisy was trying to comfort me with my cat scratches and I was trying to comfort her from being unnerved by the thunder.

Lovely Daughter and The New Man flew out to Reno this morning and won’t be back until next Thursday, so Daisy and Beau will live here on a full-time basis. Not that they don’t almost do that now – at this point they only sleep at Lovely Daughter’s house. Oh, well, what’s a bit more dog hair (snarky comment).

Don’t get me wrong – I’m an animal lover and have been all my life. I’ve got the softest heart of anyone in the world when it comes to animals whether domesticated or wild. But at this point in my life I’m just so tired of cleaning up all the hair I don’t even know where to begin telling you about it, so I won’t. Rosie the Rhoomba makes my life SO much easier, BUT . . . . I can’t tell you how nice it was to set Rosie off the other day, head for the grocery store, and have a freshly vacuumed carpet when I returned. And I need to clarify – it isn’t just the hair, but also the sand and dirt that gets dragged in. Oh, well, enough complaining. I love them dearly and will miss them dearly if Lovely Daughter has to move from this location due to County ordinances. We’ll miss her too – just thought I should stick that in there – it isn’t JUST the doggers we’ll miss.

But I won’t miss getting cat scratches on my bare leg at night, believe me. But I will miss Simon, my senior citizen. He’s such a gentle old duffer. All he wants to do at this point in his life is sleep and be close to someone.

So anyway, where was I before I digressed? Oh, well, it really doesn’t matter. New thought: (Remember, these are ramblings of an Old Woman.)

I’m not going into the Diaryland issue – that’s been covered enough already. I’ve made my opinions known by jumping ship and moving here. I really can’t express to those of you who are still on Diaryland how simple this site is to operate. Give it a try, okay?

Let’s see – what’s happened since I last made an entry here. Hmmm. Okay. Last night – Friday night – karaoke at the Local Watering Hole. We didn’t stay long because Ole volunteered to Rise and Shine at 4 a.m. this morning to take Lovely Daughter and the New Man to the airport to catch their VERY early morning flight to Reno. He’s such a dear, isn’t he? The only problem is he can’t hear the alarm clock when his hearing aides are out, so I had to wake up anyway just to keep poking him to get him out of bed at that hour. But he got them there on time for a 5:30 a.m. flight (remember we’re not at the edge of the world, but you can see it from here). I just spoke with Lovely Daughter and she said they had a terrible flight – lots of thunderstorms and the plane they were supposed to connect with in Denver had been struck by lightening in the air, so the mechanics were giving it a good go-over. As I told her, better on the ground than having trouble in the air, ya’ think? But as a result they were several hours late getting into Reno. But they are there, on the ground, safe and sound and enjoying themselves. Already lost money on the Kentucky Derby, but oh, well, you can’t take it with you, can ya’?

So Ole and I and the two grand doggers spent the morning being lazy after having to break up our night’s sleep. Stayed in bed and watched a movie or two, ETC. Finally got into gear about noon and started prepping food for tomorrow.

You see, tomorrow is our 40th wedding anniversary!! Can you believe I’ve put up with him (and vice versa – snicker) for that long???? We opted not to have a BIG party like so many people do for that milestone, and just invited some friends over for supper. If it’s not raining we’ll grille on the deck. I’ve got everything else ready, so it’s just a matter of marinating the chicken and ta-dah – I’m done!

If I have time tomorrow I’ll try to post some pictures of the EVENT that took place 40 years ago. Jeez, that sounds like it was the Dark Ages, or something – 40 years ago. Well, I guess it actually was the Dark Ages back then. Lots of reminiscing to do tomorrow. Oh, the stories I can tell – unfortunately most of them are PRIVATE – only for Ole and me – snicker.

Well, enough for tonight. Hopefully we won’t have anymore lightening strikes on top of us like last night.

Please leave comments – and I’m just not organized enough yet to have a Notify List going, so you’ll just have to put up with an email. Sorry.