
This blog is meant to be a documentation of our journey into the world of retirement. I know the title should be "Older, but wiser". However, I really didn't know if that would be accurate. The "Older, but better...?" title could also be misleading. The 5 cats in the above pics are: Molly, Rose, Tux, Julie, and Ghost. (I have tried to make this collage smaller, but with no luck...)
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Monday, April 7, 2025
Monday thoughts...
Also thought I'd let you know that our 2 young bobcats returned. They seem to like the high grass in our backyard. DH actually seeds it with winter grass so that it's high and green for Easter. The feral cats love it! They hide and play in it - and I put out giant colored plastic Easter eggs in it - which they toss around.
I just love seeing everything green again. When it's green and overgrown, our back looks like Jurassic Park.
I know I've posted these before, but just thought a reminder wouldn't hurt...
Oh, and we saw a strange thing this morning. Our 2 crows (we call Tom and Jerry) were eating on our front lawn... when out of the sky 2 other crows came down and dive bombed them - scaring them off. It was odd as although we've seen some birds attack hawks, etc. we'd never seen crows attacking crows.
Going to add a few memes that I find a bit uplifting:
and
You
had so much life left to live…
So
many sunrises to wake up to,
So
many more memories to make,
So
much more love to receive…
It
will forever break my heart
That
you didn’t get that time.
The world's problems take a back seat at times like this. Not sure they should, but they do...
Hugs (virtual),
Rian
Saturday, April 5, 2025
just a few simple things...
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I think this is true... |
It's Saturday morning here and raining. We had thunderstorms all night and now warnings of flash flooding. Generally this doesn't affect our area, and since there's no warnings of tornados, we're good.
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We don't have a large porch here. But love to do this at my daughter's in the hill country |
I really don't have much to post about. But thought I'd post a few pics and memes. We did have 2 bobcats in the yard the other night. I have videos, but they're not too good as we have to chase them out quickly before they find any feral cats or kittens. But if you look carefully, you will see one in the yard in the first video and one on the fence in the second... and DH chasing the one out on the fence in the third.
*Remember to hit the small square to enlarge video,
then the arrow to play...
and 'esc' to get back to blog*
We get lots of wildlife in our backyard due to the creek and greenback behind us. We have seen bobcats before... but not often. We see more coyotes, raccoons, possums, box turtles, frogs, and snakes... and of course feral cats. We welcome all but the coyotes and bobcats for as beautiful as they are, they are a danger to the smaller wildlife.
The next pic is one I took of our neighbor's peacock sculpture. Their tree died and they had someone do this:
and lastly just a meme that I thought worth mentioning (especially in today's world):
and...
Hugs (virtual),
Rian
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
April 1, 2025 Rabbit! Rabbit! White Rabbit!
Saturday, March 29, 2025
an interesting Hallmark movie... and more
I know that many (mostly men, but some women) don't care for Hallmark movies (where there's almost always a happy ending - and generally end with a kiss). Personally I love them. So very tired of the shootem' up, blood and guts, killing, and crime stuff.
I do like a good mystery, some quirky detective shows (Elsbeth and High Potential), a little time travel (if it's not too out there), but generally prefer things like "All creatures Great and Small" (one of my favorites) and "Heartland".
But... recently we've been watching a Hallmark Time Travel series (yep!). It's called "The Way Home" and a little different from the almost always predictable story lines for Hallmark. You might try it and see what you think.
Nothing much else to say except my inside plants seem to be happy and doing well. Here are a few pics: (wish they were better pics, but the glare from the sun is too bright this morning).
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Mandrake, Ollie, Cat, and Sonny |
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Monty and Fiddle |
I added that small white orchid (on the top pic) that was on sale at the grocery for $6. So far so good. I don't know much about orchids, so if there's something someone knows that will help me keep her alive and happy, please tell me. My others seem to be happy. I talk to them, name them, give them light and water, and play them music box tunes. They seem to like it...
The feral cats have brought home a few friends lately. The large grey one that we call Shadow brought home a big long-haired black that is now eating with us fairly often. And 2 black and whites showed up for dinner the other night.
Tom and Jerry (the 2 crows that frequent our front yard and occasionally bring friends) are becoming regulars... and are a bit pushy. They now fly over or sit in the tree and "Caw! Caw!" at us to bring out more peanuts. But we don't mind, and I actually caw back at them.
Oh, and a strange thing happened in the parking lot of the grocery the other day. DH and I were putting groceries in the car and there was a grackle (not a crow... longer, thinner) perched on a sign close to us. He was making all kinds of noise to other birds in the area... reminded me of a traffic controller. Anyway, as we were putting things in the car, I was 'talking' to him. He would stop, listen, and then continue his squawking. Then - right before we got into our car, he zoomed overhead and almost hit me in the head. I was amazed... like 'what was that for?' (weird)
Guess that's my news. Working on my next sketch. It's a rowboat on a sandy beach. Will get down to water-coloring all of them sooner or later (probably later).
Oh, and I guess some of you would like to hear our recent good medical news. After viewing my latest cat scan, the Oncologist told us that the nodules in my lungs have gotten smaller. This is a good sign. So he is recommending another cat scan in 4 months, but no lung biopsy now. However, he is sending me to a Pulmonary specialist to see if these things in my lungs are inflammation or infection. Actually I'd like to know. Perhaps the mystery of my chronic cough will finally be found...
Closing with a few pics that I like:
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someone's pet frog |
This one reminded me of my youngest granddaughter's pet frog (Suki). We caught her outside my house one day and she's doing really well. I almost caught Suki a friend the other day... but the little booger got away from me.
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Do what you can...
The sea gull sketch is mostly water-coloring the sky, water, and sand... so not much to see. Sketching, water-coloring, or writing takes me into another zone... time passes and worried thoughts don't enter (for a period of time).
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tree removed and fence repaired |
And that's about it. I'd better get back to mopping the other half of the kitchen floor.