HELLO FROM NORTH CAROLINA

I am posting this from a PC that I had shipped with all my MESS from Tucson. I had not "used" this PC in over 2 years and it sure is much slower and "different" than the laptop I have gotten "spoiled" with. The darned thing WORKS though which is INCREDIBLE since I bought it in 2003 from a wonderful friend who built it for me. He knows who he is!!! Thanks BOB!

I cannot believe how time has just FLOWN BY since my big move in July! There was the ten day trip by auto with Kitty and Grandson Mylz then the hectic pace of getting a new residence while bumming off my daughter, her man and my grandkids for a month. Now it is these piles and piles of boxes still blessing my garage and storage room not to mention their contents which must find a home either inside the house or in the stash for Garage Sale.

The house I bought, me and Fannie Mae, is 1000 sq ft SMALLER than my Mother's home. Now it's kinda like trying to fit a whale in a sardine can. BUT it's MY SARDINE CAN and I am a mere 3 miles from my daughter & family & see the grandchildren nearly every day!!! YAY!!!!!

I am trying to get all my BEADS and YARN located and organized which might takes years if not DECADES! I found "some" of my Christmas decorations and found a place to erect my 3 foot prelit artificial tree (on my former kitchen table in the Craft room). The most splendid part is I finally get to SHARE my Holidays with the little Family I have here....not what I have but WHO I am with!!!

Must admit I splurged on a couple of purchases for which I will be in hock for a long while...new 46" SMART TV, new 'he' washer and dryer and the house came with a marvelous side by side Samsung computerized refrigerator & high end Kenmore range/oven/microwave that are only 2 years old. So I am very "comfortable" in my new digs.

Been keeping busy knitting now that the cold weather is nearly here. Joined this fabulous group of knitters/crocheters that meet at the local Yarn Shop where I teach an occasional Bead Crochet class. A Row of Purls is the shop's name and our "group knit ins" are twice a week, Monday and Friday evenings. I usually get to just the Monday gatherings as Fridays are reserved for grandchild sleep overs at MY house.

The climate is not messing with my osteoarthritis nearly as much as I thought it would. I am staying pretty active compared the "life of a slug" that I used to lead in Tucson, AZ. Yes, it is more humid, which means my skin is soooooo much happier! People here think LOW Humidity is in the 30% range....HA HA HA...Tucson's average is about 10% I believe!

The people here in Fayetteville, NC are SUPER!! I have the Sweetest Next Door Neighbor Lady who has been a Godsend on Gardening Help!! I acquired a HUGE yard and Lots 'O Plants and Trees that this Desert Rat is gonna need a huge amount of assistance in what to do about it all!!! Especially come early Spring planting time!

The Travel Cat, Squeakers is VERY HAPPY in her new "nest" especially since familiar furniture came in. She is not too "pleased" that we have two "outdoor" cats from next door that like to hang around our front porch and yard. She is especially "miffed" when she sees them rubbing up against me when I am outside doing yardwork or whatever. She trys to tear them apart through our insulated, double paned windows to no avail. HA HA poor Squeakers! She was an AMAZING Travel companion on the LOOOOOONG drive here. She gave us NO GRIEF!!!

So that's about all for this Post. Will get some photos up from the Laptop shortly. Sorry this has been so BORING a BLOG for such a long while...maybe it will improve in time...I HOPE! HAPPY HOLIDAYS ALL!!!

Squeakers turns THREE

I apologize for some errors in my previous post which I could not correct properly...

My little girl kitty is a THREE year old today...Happy birthday little Squeakers!!

It's my Party & I Can Sleep if I Want To!

So here's the deal...I turn two years old today, well according to the veterinarian I am really something like 18 years old in people years, HUMBUG!

You can pretty much get an idea of how I spent my day..lolling around in a half empty drawer that my soul mate hasn't even properly prepared for my BIG CELEBRATION!

Then she has the GALL to wake me up just to take these stupid pictures!

And WHO SAYS it's my Birthday anyway? Was she there? Did she "see" it happen? HECK NO!!!!

Think I will just try to ignore the whole mess.

And go back to my ORIGINAL PLANS....after all, 4 am comes around pretty quickly and that's when I have to get busy everyday disturbing HER sleep to get her to PLAY with me!!!

Squeaker, Queen of Her World

BUT NOW......It's Just the TWO of US Again!

My soul mate and I were abandoned to fend for ourselves again on February 25th. Took me awhile to come out of my FUNK of being without my little ones, but I am recovering...slowly.

My little soul mate, Squeakers keeps me on my toes! Then there's all that NEEDS to be done so I can get this place sold and get out of here to REJOIN my crew out there in God's Country (North Carolina).

So where am I with all this STUFF that needs doing? Well, while they were here, April & Ella, we had a pretty good sized yard sale with lots of helpers & got rid of a bunch o' stuff. After they left I gave away the dinosaur Hammond organ and they actually came and used three VERY STRONG men to carry it out in the rain to a trailer they rented and drove away with it.

Next, the handmade cutting table that my Dad constructed was given to a very dear friend who has a bicycle business that he could use it in. They also came and disassembled the huge unit into three pieces and trucked it away. My friend and I then cleaned up & organized the largest storage room.

Yesterday I called a roofer who built up the roof (a FLAT one like mine) across the street and gave it insulation and some pitch to let the water runoff. They will be out in a day or so to do an estimate. Then I will call painters for bids on the interior & exterior. Finally I will take all this paperwork along with a list of my debtors I want to pay off to my local banker to apply for a Home Equity Loan to get this work done. At long last, if all that comes through, I will be able to list the house to sell and PRAY it goes quickly.

Oh yea, I still have boxes of clothing and items from Christmas to send to the kids that would not fit in their luggage. Then there's the continual packing going on....I DO GET A BREAK to BEAD and even have a class scheduled here at the house to teach a friend to do "ndebele" or herringbone stitch this Saturday. Haven't taught in ages so I am so glad she is a friend and won't judge my rustiness.

There it is...the blog is now current! Did I miss alot of things we did...sure! But hey, at least I brought this thing up to date! I just wish I was current and more active at managing my online stores so some sales could be happening! All in due time, I guess. NAMASTE!

My Watch Cat

I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't experienced it for myself......it goes like this: We had rain yesterday and again last night. Well, that IS UNUSUAL, yes...BUT the real strange part happened real early this morning.......

My sweet little kitty, Squeakers, was really off on her rousting timing. She is never off on the time she has chosen to wake me, 3 am. I still am not 100% sure why that is the chosen time but it's like she has a built in alarm that sets her off and she starts to torture me.

This morning it wasn't even 1:30 am yet and there she was...meowing, scratching me through the sheet, biting me... so I did what I usually do when unnecessarily disturbed by the rambunctious night rambler. I groggily reached for the trusty spray bottle on my headboard and gave her a squirt while barking "NO". That is usually all it takes, one squirt and she relocates to the hallway and pouts herself back to slumber until 3 am (wake-up time).

Not this morning, oh no she just kept coming back and repeating the scene over and over and over. I finally decided after a good half an hour, by then I was awake enough to think, maybe I should just get up and walk around. I rose from the bed and watched her as she headed toward the door out of my room. She was acting really "spooked" peering out into the hallway. HMMMM? (I have always thought cats can see ghosts but I was really hopeful that's all that this might be)

I staggered half awake out into the hallway and now she has her hackles up outside my mother's bedroom doorway. Mom has an oxygenator pumping away in her room while she sleeps and the dog is out cold on the bed beside her as always. I poked my head in the room, nothing odd, though I did hear a slightly different sound emanating from somewhere. So I started the trek through the rest of the rooms to see if I could find the sound.

Nothing unusual, just a slight pitter- patter of raindrops on the flat roof as a gentle rain was falling. But Squeakers is not content that I am doing all this. She is still aggitated and meowing at me like I am some ignorant schmuck. She is back to standing in mother's doorway and looking spooky again. " Okay Okay I will go inside", I tell her as I tip toe into the room so as not to arouse any of the heavy sleepers. I get to the master bath area and I hear the sound again only louder now. I look up at the skylight directly overhead and lo and behold...droplets of water are drip drip dripping onto the sink countertop and the floor. AHA,

now I know what she was telling me..."a leak! we have a leak!!" she's been saying in her own purr-fect way. ( I swore she sneered at me when I made the discovery.)

I got an empty wastebasket and lined it with a plastic bag and then placed a towel over it to catch the water. Squeakers surveyed the operation with approval and she was content....and I was ......WIDE AWAKE!

Her adventure and duty was finished, she fell sound asleep.

I worked on stringing beads for a choker I promised a trader. Had a cup of hot cocoa. Then got on the computer and networked my head off until 7:30 am when I finally crashed and burned until 10 am when it was rise and shine because Mom was awake and I needed to start chores.

I thank GOD for my little Alarm Cat who is so conscious of what could be potentially hazardous to us mere humans. By the way, did I say that the DOG SLEPT SOUNDLY THROUGH THE WHOLE EVENT?

SQEAKER asks that WE ALL join in today's PURRS FOR PEACE at 3 pm EST!
To find ou more about this event please go to:http://www.confuciuscat.blogspot.com/

Little Miss CLEAN EARS

This is the CLEANED OUT left ear!


This is the CLEANED OUT right ear!
I am feeling soooooo much better now!
signed: squeakers

This is my little SQEAKER before the fateful FLUSHING!!

My Muse was Flushed!

Okay, Okay....before any panic sets in....only her EARS were flushed yesterday. I swear, it's like she is my little baby child. I have been just sick with worry about her since I dropped her off at the Vet at 8 am Tuesday, July 7.

They wouldn't let me pick her up until 4:30 pm. I fretted about her starving since 10 pm the night before and not having water to drink all this time and such. When I picked her up after too long a wait in the lobby (well the scared momma in me thought so, anyway)...the doctor called me in to inform me that she has NEVER SEEN SUCH A BUILDUP OF WAX in a cat's ears in all her years of veterinary medicine.

I discussed the possibility of an inner ear infection. Poor Squeaker has been missing the mark when jumping up on things for about a week. She said it could very well be, as she couldn't see all the way to the drum in the right ear. The left eardrum was clear. So she gave me tablets to crush in her food.

I had used drops in her ears once before and nearly had to go to the ER for all the scratches I received in the administration of said drops. Hence the use of crushed tablets in food this time.

Last night was torture for me because she refused to sleep near me in any way. I got more rest, sorta, since Squeaker slept through the night for once, but my concern for her recovery and the deviation from the norm had me stressed nonetheless.

I FINALLY got her to eat some canned tuna from my hand and a couple treats about one hour ago. She still will not drink water. She has brought me her favorite toy (substitute for a baby's "blankie" I think) and has actually ventured to the picture window in the living room to watch for lizards and birds for a few minutes.

She will not attempt to jump up on anything yet....confirming my suspicions of the inner ear problems.

Gosh, do I sound like a new mother or what?????

She Fell Into My Life...

Today is the day this sweet little girl came to be my soul-mate one year ago and changed me forever!