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...)
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| "I'm scared..." |
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| "me too..." |
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| "not looking..." |
Hugs (virtual),
Rian
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 |
Have a wonderful weekend... make yourself or someone else smile!
Hugs (virtual),
Rian
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| huge tree fell across fence and covered most of yard |
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| tree removed and fence repaired |
Last Thursday afternoon (March 13, 2025), my oldest son received a phone call from the Police Department in California telling him that his 17 year old son died in January.
At first he thought it was some kind of sick joke. But as the conversation continued, began to realize that it wasn't. His son's death was confirmed by the coroner's office, but no details were given.
After calling us with this news, we spent the rest of the day and night trying to understand how and why we were not told before now.
We are devastated... and confused.
Sorry to be the bearer of sad news. World news is sad enough right now, but this is heart rending.
Just thought those of you who follow me here might want to know.
Hugs (virtual),
Rian
Storm came through here in North Texas Tuesday morning. We were awakened at 4 am by a tornado warning alert and sirens! Actual high winds and rain hit the area about 5 or 5:30. Our area lost power, but we have a generator... so we were fine. But power stayed out in the area till about 7 pm Tuesday night. Granddaughter's school was closed due to the power outage - as well as some businesses.
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| this is where the tree fell from the creek area across our fence |
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| this is where the middle part lies across our yard |
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| and this is the very top of the tree that's almost in our driveway |
But outside of branches and trees down (huge one by the creek and behind our neighbor's house fell and came down across our fence and back yard.) Really huge tree - maybe 30-40 ft... and 20 ft is laying in our yard! I've been calling the city as the tree is part of the greenback by the creek that I'm guessing belongs to the city? Anyway, we just need the city to come cut it up... and it's laying across our whole yard almost into our drive-way.
We will take care of the fence, but think the city should remove the tree. However, I've been calling city services and haven't gotten a call back yet. We are also calling our insurance company to see what they think.
OK... another thing. Those of you who have been following my medical tests know also that other things have been going on. So recently my PCP ran another series of tests pertaining to my thyroid. The reason for this was because the pet scan showed 'inflammatory thyroid changes'. I found this curious as even though my thyroid tests have always been normal, my daughter has Hashimoto (a chronic auto-immune condition where antibodies attack her thyroid gland). It's an immune system malfunction. Well, the nurse practitioner called me Monday to say that this particular test shows me positive for Hashimoto too. This is a new development.
Now that's how this week has started.
Then of course there was the President's state of the union speech last night. We didn't listen to it although we usually listen to these. I always enjoyed listening to Obama speak. But I can't listen to this President speak... it un-nerves me, makes me feel uneasy, and anxious.
So, here I sit on a Wednesday afternoon trying to find calm on a beautiful cool sunny day. Life is good... for now... so, I'm trying hard to appreciate each day as it comes. But it's difficult not to worry about what may come in the days ahead under this administration. There are so many things being done under the 'guise of good'... that are hurting so many. How can anything that hurts people be for the good?
Think I'll stop here today and have an afternoon tea/coffee break with DH. Will continue tomorrow.
Now it's Thursday and I just got back from my Mammogram... ugh! Really dislike those since I have a lot of scar tissue that make them painful. Anyway, done and done!
Now we're heading out to City Hall to see if they can do anything about this giant tree in our yard...
Found out that the city doesn't own that land. The Chinese Bible Church that sits on the other side of the creek does. City Hall sent us over there. We talked to the manager there and he took the info and pics and said that they would get back to us. He was very nice. Hope they do follow up.
Oh.. I did pick up a new plant for the front room over the weekend. It's a Monstera. Isn't it gorgeous? DH was looking for mulch and I was looking at plants and this little beauty said, "Look at me! Take me home, please!"... and I did!
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| I call him Monty... (all my plants have names). |
OK... time to close. Leaving you with this little gem of a meme:
Hugs (virtual),
Rian
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| Rabbit! Rabbit! White Rabbit! It's March 1, 2025! The year is flying by... |
I want so much for this to be a good year. But it's certainly not looking like that's going to happen.
Told DH yesterday that it was miraculous that so many actually survived the Pandemic, but may be lost in the next 4 years.
Who would have thought that the U.S. citizens would ever let this happen? After the civil war, how can anything be allowed to divide us again? After Hitler... why haven't we learned anything? Are we as humans fated to destroy ourselves?
Everything our country was built upon... life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is being taken away. The constitution states "We the People"... not one man. The words on the Statue of Liberty:
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
Do they mean nothing anymore?
How can this be happening?
I don't understand.
Sorry this isn't an uplifting post. It's all just so sad and unbelievable.
Hugs (virtual),
Rian
It's 11 F here this morning (Thurs). Hopefully this is the coldest it's going to get. Supposed to warm up by this weekend... sure hope so. We have the heat lamps on outside for the ferals, lots of food, water, and blankets on the porch. We also have a heated tent-like winter cat hut that our daughter sent us a while back that is plugged in and handy if needed.
Actually it isn't bad this afternoon. Temps up to 28 and sunny. We went out to the grocery after lunch and it really wasn't too bad. (BTW, Dug I looked for those Utz chips, but couldn't find them... did however, find and bought the VO5 shampoo.) Does anyone remember Halo shampoo? That's the one my mom bought when we were growing up and I remember that smell well.
Friday... here. Still cold.
We did go out to dinner with a dear friend and her hubby for her 79th birthday this week. She and I went to grammar school, high school, and college together, and were in each other's weddings. Lost track for a few years when DH and I moved to Florida, then Texas. Then serendipitously (is that a word?) they moved to Texas too. Now we're back - and it's as if we never parted.
The other friend I mentioned in my last post (whose birthday is coming up soon too) will be 80 next month. She was one of my room-mates in college. It's kind of a funny story as both of us were assigned rooms with people that (how do you say this nicely?) were not compatible? Nice girls, but very different ideas about fun and life.
So we decided to switch room-mates. It worked out very well and she and I have stayed friends over the years. She lives in New Orleans, so we don't see each other very often, but we text almost daily. She lost her husband a few years ago to Alzheimer's and was herself caught up in Katrina as well as another hurricane that took the roof off of the condo she lived in. So she's had to move several times on her own. But she's a strong person and seems to handle it all well.
That's about all I have to share this week. I'm still on antibiotics, but am feeling a lot better. Next Cat scan is in March...
Question: This is just an 'out there' question that I've often wondered about. Nothing terribly important. But if any of you have tile showers, do you wipe them down after every shower so that mildew doesn't collect in the grout? I've always done this and wondered if others did. Of course if you don't have a tile shower (which probably dates my house), this wouldn't apply to you.
Now - just a general mention concerning all the 'stuff' going on in the world today. I saw this meme... and had to share:
Thanks for reading!
Rian