Not as Much of a Blubbering Mess

She graces the button of this blog. Cat, Herself, Mistress of All She Surveys. She will continue to do so.

This was not the best week. As my Facebook and Twitter friends know, that final trip to the vet had to be made a couple days ago. It sucked.

Today is better.

Today I can remember her with smiles. She was a bitchy kitty. The other two cats that I share space with were constantly on guard. Had Herself had it her way, she'd have been an only cat. Only in her last days did she allow Sir to groom her. And then only for a minute before she growled and sent him on his way.

 Little Wee was always waiting for the ambush that chased her from my lap, the table, pretty much any place that she was settled.  Lap sharing was not big on the Mistresses list of things to tolerate.

This is Wee and Sir. Wee is somewhat camera shy.

 Ocassionally, there was a truce called, usually on chilly days when a lap was what the weatherman called for.

And Catnip parties were always a free for all.

 Though as a rule, she made it clear who was TopCat.

 

There is a dog also. She was very tolerant of Gizmo. Mostly just ignoring him.



This morning Sir spent time luxuriating in my empty lap. That was good. Wee still awaits ambush, but she's beginning to relax some. Gizmo just knows something is wrong, in his dogly way he's trying figure out how to fix it. Mostly by barking at every imagined bump, thump, or breath someone takes.

There is still an empty space in the house. And empty spot where she would curl in my lap and demand her daily belly rub, head tucked into the crook of my arm.

As Sir and Wee get used to her absence, I have no doubt they will fill those spaces.


But, She will always be in my heart.

The Rants ARE Alive and Mostly Well

Well, is this not the saddest thing ever.  I haven't been here in a year and a half.  Hopefully I can get back more often.

Things have changed, the restaurant that had begun to be more pain than pleasure is now a thing of the past Tennis' Ramble Inn closed its doors for good on May 31st. It was a wild weekend. Too many hours worked, so many customers in mourning. We had a great thirty years. But it was time to end.

Due to that ending, I am temporarily unemployed.  And. I. Love. It. It's been thirty-two years since I've been out of a job, and that was only a month. Yes, I will have to find some form of employment, but not for a little while. I plan on looking in September.

This summer is mine!

It has been only two and half months since I've worked, there was the selling of equipment and gutting of a building to be done before it was all over.

So how have I gone from seventy hour work weeks to too much time on my hands?

The first week was spent luxuriating in sleeping in every morning. Until 5:30 am.

Hey, that was sleeping in, I'd been getting up around 4:00 am for years.  It has stretched to about 6:30 now, with the occaisional 7:00.

The hardest part was figuring out what to do. I had a gagillion plans. Including getting back to writing.  The other blog, Elsetime & Otherwhen has seen a little action. But it took some time to get back in the swing. There are a few new stories on the other blog.  And I've been putting some of my older stories (edited a little) onto WattPad.  I'm even working on completing one of my never ending works in progress.

I had to get a scheduling app, I wanted to get so much done I ended up overwhelming myself and accomplishing nothing. I ended up with Schedule Planner Pro for my Kindle.  It has issues now and then, but suffices for my purposes.

I set aside time each day to write. I schedule my daily "chores", things the husband was doing since I was at work ten to twelve hours a day. Each day is scheduled a "big project", rearranging the living room, harvesting crops from the garden. We pulled the fish tanks out of storage and got them up and running again. I needed to organize the Christmas tree hoarde, So much more to do,

I have been doing more at home cooking. Even baking bread! And the kitchen has been organized better. One thing done on the list,

For the first time since we moved back to the family home, I've had time to pick enough of the wild raspberries to make jam.  The Best Crop of Peas ever has already been picked, shelled, blanched, and frozen. Corn and green beans are coming along. And why would anyone ever plant more than one zucchini? That's all I have, but it's making more than I know what to do with.

That is likely enough Rant for today.  But as things progress, I'll be back.

Or you can find me on twitter @2old2tap
And Pinterest, same handle.
I'm here and there on the internets, See you there.

A Return to the Rants for a Life Update

So here I am, back at the old blog.  It's been almost a year since I've posted here.  I usually spend my words on the sister blog, Elsetime & Otherwhen.  That's where I stretch my creative writing muscles.  Though lately they've been stiff and unmoving.

Doesn't mean I'm totally idle, though.  I have been busy.

The restaurant eats most of my time.  Seven days a week, ten to twelve hours a day.  For the last year.  We listed it for sale back in August.  I'm ready to move on.  Just waiting for a buyer now.

So, since the Muse has been silent lately, I've found other things to do to entertain myself.

***

My newest adventure is DIY-ing.  I've started making my own chemical free stuff.
Stuff like...laundry soap, shampoo, lotions, sugar scrubs, and shower steamies.  My next experiment will be in making my own soap.
When I started, it was just for fun.  It's also less expensive than the store bought products.  As I learn more about the chemicals and additives in the commercial brands, it is beginning to be a lifestyle choice.

(And it's fun as well.)

***

Of course, I still have my ongoing love affair with yarn.  And bowling (a love/hate relationship).  And I'm already starting to get spring fever.  Ready to start sorting seeds and get the gardens going.


In the last month I read several books, which was wonderful.  It had been far too long since I just curled up and read.  Most have been books by my writerly friends.

Eric Storch's "Impenetrable Falsehoods"
Cameron D. Garriepy's  "From the Earth to the Moon"
Lance Burson's "The Ballad of Helene Troy"
"Echoes in Darkness" an anthology featuring many of my writing friends.
"Precipice 13" the second collection from the Write on Edge group, where I post my stories when I can find them.
"Embryo 2" by JA Schneider

Next on the list is Stephanie Ayers' "Til Death Do Us Part"

There are so many more I've read or are on my to read list.  Most of them by indie authors I've met on Twitter or Facebook.
Patricia Lynne, Andrew M. Crusoe, Tui Snyder, Molly Campbell, Shelton Keys Dunning, JM Gull, Rayne Hall....I can't name them all.  But, give the indie authors some support.
Someday I hope to be one of them.

***

As to my own writing, I have been slowly working on cleaning up a few stories.  Trying to put something publishable together.
A friend has also been trying to construct a real live web site for me.  Hopefully it'll be up and running in a few months.  I will undoubtedly make her crazy with tweaks and whistles and bells and stuff.  Between her job and mine, the building will be slow and careful.  Fair warning, when it is done, I'll be trumpeting all over the social media.

***

That's about it, I think.  You may see me lurking in the corners of Twitter, @2old2tap, or hanging around the Facebook sharing cat pictures.  I have even been know to haunt Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and even Tumbler every now and then.  Don't hesitate to wave if you see me.

Dog fArt

Here I am again!  I do get over here every once in a while.

Especially when I have a Rant...

I have a dog, a Cocker Spaniel.  We acquired him accidentally.  He has issues, I call him my Broken Dog.

He came to us flea-ridden and unhousebroken, after three years, it's still a work in progress.

Earlier this week he began acting weirder than usual.  Hiding behind my legs while I sat in my chair.  Hiding under the bed, skittering wildly around the house like he was being chased by demons.

It didn't take long to sniff out the problem.  

On one of these mad dashes, he left behind some lovely designs.  Poo art, of the runny kind.  That's also when we discovered what demon was harassing him.

The ejection of runny poo paint requires air.  Or in more common terms, farts.

The dog is afraid of his own farts.  

The dog was running from his own rear end.

It didn't matter where he hid,  the demon found him.

He was certain the invisible assailant was blowing raspberries up his butt.

Now, we did realize at this point that the dog was not well and made a vet appointment, we are not heartless.  Mostly.  Except for laughing at the fart assaulted dog.

I paid for that, the vet is not cheap.  I get to make bland food for him for a week.   I barely cook for the husband and me.  Now, I'm boiling hamburger and rice for the dog.  

At least the fArt Show is over, I can put the mop bucket away...

Quarterly Update?

Yes, yes.  I know it's been four months since I bothered to write here.  It's just that I never seem to have anything much to say.  At least in real life.  Now go visit the "sister blog", Elsetime & Otherwhen, and you'll see where I'm wasting spending my time.  And words. (I write weirdo stuff, just so you know)

So, now a trek into the last few months of my Real Life:

I lost one of my key employees at the restaurant, so I've been on 7 days a week since late August.  That is hopefully about to change.  I've got a plan, should have a day off every week starting a week from now.  Fingers crossed.

In December my third grandchild was born.  Another granddaughter.  She was born a toddler, 10 lbs, 15 oz.
And she is, of course, beautiful.  Just like her mother and siblings.

I'm not one for resolutions, so I didn't make any.

I have, though, promised myself to work harder on my creative writing.  So far, so good.  That means the "sister blog" has been getting a workout the past week.  Here's hoping I can keep it up!

Let's see....

Oh Yeah!  For those that follow my tweets or my Facebook feed, you all know I'm a Christmas tree lover.  I managed to do 14 trees.  I've threatened to let my friends and followers help me with color combos next Christmas.  We'll see if I can remember that for a whole year.

That's been about all the excitement around here.  Hope to be back here sooner. <3

My Late Summer What's Up

My schedule has been turned upside down.  I'm still trying to figure out where, when, and what I'm doing.

I haven't written anything, fiction, memoir, Random Rant, for a month.  I'd like to get back to my stories and the characters growing before they just up and leave.  Thoughts pop in and out of my head, and I let them get away.

So I figure I'll write what little is in my head over here in the Rants.  Maybe something will click.  Again.

The Restaurant

We just lost a key employee.  This happens in the restaurant business.  People move on.
So now, I'm on a seven day week.  4 am.  Every day.  Whoopee.

Just before she left, we'd begun a new specials adventure.  Stepping outside the box and trying lots of new stuff.  Mostly a lot less deep fried stuff.

Of course the biggest accomplishment was making more work for myself.  But, I'm enjoying it just the same. I've been making new side salads, using fresh veggies and making dressing.  And trying new dessert recipes that I've found on the Internet and Pinterest.

So by the time I go shopping, fix the daily goodies, and finish the bookwork, I'm on my way home by 3pm on most days.  Noon on good days.

Hopefully we'll find some new help with ambition and new ideas soon.


The Spider

During my off time, I can usually be found loafing in my recliner.  With yarn, the TV remote, or the iPod.  And most likely at least one cat.

The husband was reading his mail or the news on the other side of the room.  Suddenly, he says "Wow, that's a big spider!"

I don't look because he finds it amusing to lie about large insects just to see me squirm.

Okay, I take a sneaky look.

OMG!  This thing was the size of a baseball.  And WALKING TOWARD MY CHAIR!!!

Now I have a contract with spiders, because I understand they are "good" insects.  The contract states they may not be in my space.  The floor is part of my space.

I say calmly to the husband, "KILL IT!"

He did.  He stomped it.  Crunch.  Ewww.  I told him to dispose of it outside.

He flushed it.  Now, I saw that episode of Night Gallery.  I haven't flushed a spider or washed one down a sink drain since.

He thinks I'm nuts.


The Grandkids

I still have my once a week day with the grandson and granddaughter.  And since I haven't been writing I've spent my free time crocheting.  We now have a set of Winnie the Pooh and Friends.  Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger and Piglet.  Each pattern came with an accessory.  Hunny pot, butterfly, dragonfly and flower.

The grandson was adamant that each project was incomplete until its accessory was finished.  I was starting Eeyore before I made the Hunny Pot for Pooh.  This was a mistake.  The Hunny Pot was finished quickly under the watchful eye of a three year old.  Then I was told I could return to the donkey, and don't forget his butterfly.

The granddaughter likes when I'm crocheting because she can get into more trouble before I catch her.  She has emptied the dog's water dish, gotten into the basket of empty K-cups from the Keurig and thrown the used coffee grounds around, played in the toilet, used the cats' litter box as a sandbox, spilled two cans of pop and a cup of coffee.  That was all in one five hour visit.  I can't wait until next week.


The Daughter

Is expecting her third child around Thanksgiving!!

That is all.


The New Litter Box (skip if you don't care)

I had heard of this new litter box system.  Tidy Cat Breeze  I have to say I am impressed.  Litter boxes are the one thing I dislike about my cats. This system works just like they say, and my cats are starting to use it.

The Plumbing

I was crocheting happily and sort of watching TV when I became aware of water running.  I removed the cat and peeked into the bathroom.

The floor was half an inch deep in water.  Only, thank goodness.

So I got the plunger and plunged.

Nothing.

I got the mop and cleaned up the water.  Then plunged some more.

Nothing.

Husband came home.  Got it working.  Yay!

He ran a load of laundry.

The toilet began to burble.

The wash water backed up into the shower cabinet.

Three bottles of drain cleaner later, all is well.  Maybe.

I told him not to flush that spider...

I've Been Busy

It has been a hectic few weeks.


I finished my fundraising stint for Muscular Dystrophy.  My friends and family helped me raise $505.00 for the MDA.  Thanks again to all who contributed cash and moral support. (this is the worst pic ever!)

The derecho that blew through on June 29th left a big mess in the yard.  We're still cleaning up.  We were one of the lucky households, we never lost power.

I played with my other blog, Elsetime & Otherwhen, a little.  Added some new pages to try and organize some of the related stories.  Actually wrote something too!                                            

Finally got almost all my profile pictures changed out since the haircut.

And been busy with work as usual, restaurants are demanding creatures. 

Oh, and spoiling grandchildren.  OHOHOH!  Grandchild number 3 is on the way!  Due in November.

That's it.  For now....