Good news and bad news

Our phone service is back. That' she good news. The problem was a bad spot in the line outside. It took them days to get here but in the long run there is now no static and we have a dial tone. 

The bad news is that we took Top Gun our cat to the vet. He has been losing weight, actually five pounds since January. After blood and urine tests it was determined that he has diabeties.  It's as bad for cats as it is for humans. This means that to treat him we will need to give him injections twice a day for the rest of his life. There is a lot to learn about his treatment but we want him to have quality life. I think this comes under the heading...it's always something.  Top Gun was a stray from North Carolina. We've had him for eight years so we don't know how old he is exactly. He has been such a loving, vocal part of our household. He's a great mouser and loves being outside. Hopefully we can get his diabeties under control. 

Where is spring?

April is holding out with bad weather right to the very end. Today is windy, cold and rainy and keeps us all inside. Even the animals are hunkered down. 

“With so many trees in the city, you could see the spring coming each day until a night of warm wind would bring it suddenly in one morning. Sometimes the heavy cold rains would beat it back so that it would seem that it would never come and that you were losing a season out of your life. This was the only truly sad time in Paris because it was unnatural. You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintry light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen. When the cold rains kept on and killed the spring, it was as though a young person had died for no reason. 

In those days, though, the spring always came finally but it was frightening that it had nearly failed.” 
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Too cute!

I waited a long time for a girl. Oh how I'm lovin' it. 

When things break

The phone rings. You answer it. An every day task. Except this weekend. Out of the blue we had static on our line....and then. No dial tone.  

The phone said...line in use. 

Then it said....no line.  

But when I tried calling it with my cell phone ...it rang. 

Then static. 

Then the dial tone came back...then it was gone again. 

Time to deal with Verizon.  After punching numbers for a machine for ten minutes we started to set up a time for the repairman.  And then they let me talk to a person. She was kind. She was efficient. It was lovely to hear a voice that answered when you asked a question. At the end of the conversation I asked her if there was a way to by pass the machine.  Yes, there is and she gave me the number and told me what to do.  I'm putting that in my address book. It's worth a million dollars to me. I hate machines!

By the way...don't call. The repairman can't come until Wednesday. 

Saturday musings

Hat PIns

I am going to visit my sister Linda in Fredericksburg, Virginia soon and we are going to get a table at a flea market. She and I are always talking about simplifying our life and one way to do that is to declutter.  So I’ve been up in my attic sorting and trying to find things to take with me.
    When Don and I were younger we loved to go to flea markets, auctions and estate sales. We would collect all kinds of country antiques. My house was decorated in the country style. Don loved crocks and jugs and we had plenty. Now we’ve moved on but the jugs and crocks didn’t. We put them up in our attic and there they stayed. Until today that is.
    I brought them down and am going to price them to be sold. There is a time in  your life when letting go seems the reasonable thing. Along with the crocks I found a great old lock and key, some hat pins, a wicker magazine rack, a really old vacuum cleaner, and old stained glass from when I took a glass a million years ago. Out it is going. And into the van.
  I feel great satisfaction in looking at empty space in the attic. Oh here is a puzzle for you.  How can you not find the matching lids for the bins when nothing leaves the attic?

Brushstroke and Waterlogue

Just trying out a new app called Brushstroke. The second picture is done with Waterlogue. 

Brushstroke

Waterlogue....don't you love the artistic effects?

Self Portrait

A good book on a rainy day

There's nothing Like  a rainy day to slow you down and make you take a pause. It's pouring out there so after coffee with my friends and a quick trip to Walmart I'm tucked inside and ready to grab my book. It's quiet and dark and the perfect day to just curl up. Like the old song says...love a rainy day. 

I can watch them grow

I swear these daffodils grew just today.  The seventy eight degree temperature was the cause. Even the peonies came up four inches in just one day. After our constant cold the warmth was so welcome. Sadie and I went for a mile walk around marilla Reservior. It was so nice to see all the kids with their parents fishing. There were actually thirty two cars there. That sounds crowded but it wasn't at all it's a good sized lake and everyone was spread out. 

  I hope you all got to enjoy a beautiful day today. 

We start and we end as family

How nice it was to have Scott and Chris here for Easter. Scott is almost finished with his first year at Shippensburg University majoring in computer science. They live in southern Pennsylvania near Carlisle. We had a relaxing weekend  it was nice just to take it easy. We walked the dogs round Marilla and watched a few movies. On Saturday we went to Jamestown to the Red Lobster to celebrate Chris' birthday. I always love it when the boys are home. 

Happy Easter

She thinks she is a person

Our dog doesn't know she's a dog. What other dog listens to your conversations and hangs on every word?  And when you say a word she recognizes she reacts by cocking her head and giving you a look that let's you know that she knows. Do other dogs beg you for walks as soon as you get home? Do other dogs understand that when you say Chris is coming she knows what you means and sits vigil at the door or window?  Do other dogs come immediately when the phone rings to sit on your lap to 

Listen?  How many other dogs will not let you out of their sight?  And even follow you to the bathroom?  Yes, we spoil her. We even give her the right to have an opinion about what she wants to do. But we love her. And she is so devoted. What a dog. 

Out for a photo walk

This morning I took my camera with me determined to find something to shoot. I am so longing for photo walks this year but the weather is keeping me inside still. But this morning I discovered some lingering flowers dried up from the harsh winter but still beautiful in their shape. And unexpectedly there were leaves popping out of their twigs. Surprise…spring is actually on its way.

Oh how I miss her

I'm having Downton Abbey withdrawal. There was something enchanting on Sunday nights when I could lose myself in the series. The writing....the characters...the plot.  They all came together to fill an hour of joy. There were snappy one liners from all the characters but the queen of quips was the Dowager Countess. She would put on a prune face or wrinkle up her nose and come out with some shows topping lines. Season five....hurry back.