Bits and Pieces

I was watching TV last night when my attention was diverted to a scene outside my front window. The evening sky was a most glorious color. Not wanting to miss a photo-op, I arose, picked up my camera and ventured outside. The photo above was the first photo.  As I stood, amazed at the colors on Nature's canvas, in just two minutes the scene had changed to this:

Ahhhh!

I haven't tinkered with the colors in any way. I did change the ISO from 100 (first shot) to 800 for the second one.

* * *

I'm down in my back, again.  I've been arising early to work in the yard, trying to get some things done before the heat drives me indoors.  On Monday morning of this week, I must have applied too much "vigorish" to my weeding which, because of my knees, is done in the least ergonomic manner one could imagine: I brace my feet and bend from the waist to do my weed pulling. 

Uh, oh!  Something that I shouldn't have stretched stretched, or moved out of its normal place, and I've been paying the price for my folly ever since.  Muscle relaxers and Aleve don't seem to make much difference. The weeds seem to know that they are safe for the time being and are laughing behind my back, I'm sure.   About all I've done since Monday is to keep the birdbaths and feeders replenished and to water those plants that must be watered if they are to survive.  Otherwise, my yardening activities are severely curtailed.

* * *

I noticed yesterday that the blooms on the oakleaf hydrangea, which is very near the birdbaths, have changed from snowy white to an interesting greeny-pink, as evidenced below.  I find the aging blooms quite beautiful.

Oakleaf Hydrangea Bloom

* * *

I've been letting the cats come into the back yard with me when I go out in the early mornings. They are quite enjoying the experience and, for the most part, are content to wander inside the fenced area. The only escapee is Missy, my solid black mama kitty, who takes great delight in hopping the fence, sitting down in the neighbor's yard and looking at me as if to say 'nanananabooboo'.  Fortunately, I don't have to stress myself trying to go get her, as she soon tires of agitating me and hops back over the fence, albeit with a smug look on her face.

* * *

Tomorrow is also a day.

Where, Oh, Where is My Roll of Ribbon?

This knot of ribbon, which is, in real life, only 2" across, is an integral part of the design for a card that is to be made at the Christmas "Stamp-a-Stack" I'm co-hosting on November 13 and November 14. I need to make 160, yes, one hundred sixty, of these knots, ready to apply to the cards. However, I have a problem!

When I left to go to Virginia, a full roll of this polka-dot ribbon (the only one I had in my stash), was on my stamping table. Safe enough, I thought. But, oh, no! Sometime during my absence, the entire roll of ribbon disappeared. I spent the better part of a day looking for it. I've cleared everything from the stamp table, piece by piece, looked on the floor and under cabinets, moved boxes and bags and so on and so on. I've looked under the kitchen table, in the living room under the sofa, under the chairs, under my bed. No ribbon!

I suspect that one or more of the cats, trying to get even for my prolonged absence, knocked the roll of ribbon off the table and batted it around to who knows where! Missy, my black mama cat, has been known to carry entire rolls of ribbon from the stamp room into other parts of the house, but I've always spotted them in plain view. The culprit might even have pushed the roll off the table into the large trash bin that I keep nearby, and which Gardening Daughter thoughtfully emptied during my absence. (Note to self: move trash bin to another location.) If that's the case, my brand new roll of ribbon is now residing under a pile of yuck at Mount Trashmore, the local landfill.

All is not lost -- except the time I've spent looking for it, and even that had a benefit: my stamping table and environs are neater than they've been for some time. My stamping partner and co-host of the Stamp-a-Stack has some of this particular ribbon on hand which I can use for the project, since I don't have time to order and receive it in time to prepare for the stamping event. I'll just have to order two rolls, one for me and one to replace the one I will "borrow."

Off now to cut paper and create kits for the other cards -- which fortunately don't require red polka-dot ribbon.

More, later.

Bits and Pieces: Cats

I think of my cat Sweetie Pie as still being a kitten, although she is 7 years old, the youngest and smallest of the three cats who own me. Sweetie Pie has been plagued with ear infections since she was about one year old, the cause of which is unknown; she just gets them. The other cats have had no such problems, at least to date, for which I am am truly thankful, as Sweetie Pie's visit to the vet this past Friday cost almost $100.


Usually, a week to ten days of a topical antibiotic squirted into the ear canal clears up the problem. This time, however, since Sweetie had a similar infection just this past March, the vet has prescribed an oral antibiotic in addition to the stuff in the ear.


For those folks who do not have cats, a note: cats DO NOT like to take pills -- or anything else given to them which is not to their liking! Sweetie Pie doesn't much like having a tube stuck down inside sore ears, either, but performing that task is "a walk in the park" compared to trying to give her a pill.


Gardening Daughter, who is also a cat person, said she would show me how to administer the pill, which is a bit smaller than a standard aspirin. Her process is as follows:


1. Place said cat on the floor and kneel over the cat (Note: one might want to say one's prayers while in this position);
2. Gently but firmly clamp said cat between the knees, cat's head facing outward;
3. Pry said cat's mouth open (all the while trying not to get one's hands ripped to shreds by cat's front claws);
4. Insert fingers, and the pill, between said cat's razor sharp teeth, placing pill as far back in the throat as possible;
5. Immediately remove fingers and clamp said cat's jaws shut;
6. Blow on said cat's nose (this part seems to be the key; for some reason it causes the cat to swallow);
7. Release a very upset cat.


O-K! Like eating a piece of cake, right?


Gardening Daughter demonstrated this intricate procedure for me on Friday evening, was cajoled into coming back here on Saturday to do the same, but was unable to be here yesterday evening when it was time for the pill. What to do? What to do? Sometimes I surprise myself with my foolhardy faux-bravery! Last night was one of those occasions.


My knees being in a somewhat less than desirable condition, I am not able to kneel on the floor (not if I wish to rise again without crawling to a heavy chair and pushing myself up with my arms), so I substituted the top of my higher-than-usual bed, where I could stand and just bend over to do the deed.


I placed said cat on the edge of the bed, rear feet hanging over the side, and gently leaned my body down upon hers to (Hah!) immobilize her -- I can think such foolish thoughts, sometimes! I pried open her jaws and threw the pill in, then clamped her jaws and blew on her nose.


There followed the immediate escape of said cat, with said pill lying nearby on the bedspread -- not even the least bit moist! Said cat was now sitting on the pillow on the other side of the bed sending stares at me that would melt the Polar Ice Cap! "Sweet kitty! Good girl! Come to Mama." Hah!!


After a small runaround, and much sweet-talking, said cat is once more under my control (Hah!, again!) This time I wrapped her body in a crocheted afghan in an attempt to entrap her feet. Once again I pried open her mouth and inserted the pill. I didn't get a chance to clamp her jaws shut before the pill, this time bitten in half and rather moist, was deposited on the bed and she was out of the confines of the afghan and gone.


Did I give up? Pat, the foolhardy? No, sirree!!


Ah! Enlightenment! A bit of information given to me by the vet tech who delivered the pills finally worked its way to my conscious mind. She had told me that the pills were "chewable" and I could break them up and put them in Sweetie's wet cat food. My cats don't eat anything but dry food, so that wasn't an option, or it would have been exercised with the first dose.

Chewable? That means they can be dissolved, right? So... I took the remaining portions of the pill, dissolved them in warm water and sucked them up into a small (needle-less) syringe that I had on hand. (No, I do not now have, nor have I ever had a drug problem. I think the syringe was a leftover from administering liquid medication to a long ago deceased dog. Thank goodness, in this case, that I am a pack-rat. It took me a while to find it, but I did find it!)


Said cat was captured, again; again wrapped in the afghan, jaws pried open, syringe inserted into mouth, and --- with one plunge, the now liquefied medication was administered, and swallowed.


YAY!!!


Since there are seven more doses of this medicine she has to take, guess what system I'm going to use tonight?

Cat Tales

"Missy"

Today was the day set for the cats' annual visit to the veterinarian. Taking all three of them on one day sets my budget back a goodly chunk, but when it's over, it's over. They are well behaved cats when away from home, like most children, and Dr. B. has no troubles with them. He calls them "compliant."


Since I am not physically able to tote all three cats at once, and since I have only one cat carrier, I have to take turns ferrying them between my house and the veterinary clinic, a distance of only a little over one mile. The folks at the clinic are used to this procedure, which I've followed for the past few years.


The first one to go was Sweetie Pie, the youngest (although she's not a kitten; it doesn't seem possible that I've had her for almost 7 years). I learned several years ago that if I don't take her first, she "hides out" when she gets a sniff of vet's office on the one I bring home, and goes into deep hiding, and I had just as well give up trying to get her to come to me voluntarily. Sweetie Pie didn't mind being inside the carrier; it was getting into the car that set off her vocal protestations. Thank goodness I had to listen to this caterwauling for only a mile! Once we got to the clinic, she was as good as gold and offered not another sound. Oddly, she didn't vocalize as much on the way back home.


Sweetie's mother, Missy, was next. She didn't like the carrier -- at all! Plum hardly! She and I both became contortionists before she was safely inside. Unlike her offspring, she did not protest the car trip and, like Sweetie, was a real pussy cat while at the clinic. She was greatly admired by the vet and the assistant for her chinchilla-soft fur and beautiful green eyes.


Squeak, the big boy, was the final one to make the trip. Ususally, he is waiting for my return and I have no trouble getting him into the carrier. Not today!! He went underground while I was gone with Missy and I spent the better part of ten minutes looking in his usual hiding places. I finally found him under my bed in a place that I could not reach from either side. Clever (and wicked) kitty! I went about my business as though I was home to stay, and in about 5 minutes his curiosity got the better of him. I was in the kitchen making a cup of coffee when he came strolling in with a "whatcha doing, Mom?" attitude. I snatched him up quickly and stuffed him into the carrier, and off we went. Whew!


All the cats are in good health, as I expected they would be. I was advised to put all of them on a diet of 'senior' cat food, although none are overweight. Guess middle-aged cats need to watch their diets, too.

Camera Critters - Post 68

Twenty-five pounds of Cat in a Ten-Pound Box

My daughter's Maine Coon cat, Arthur, one of the most loving cats I've ever been around. He was adopted from the Colorado Springs Animal Shelter as a tiny kitten, and specifically chosen because he had huge paws! As you can see, the rest of him caught up with his feet!

Photo by Jean Moser

Camera Critters is the creation of Misty Dawn. To see others' photos for this week, visit here.