sleepless night...

It's 1:30 and I'm awake - one of those nights where my monkey mind won't stop thinking about 'things going on'.  I did sleep for a few hours, but then woke up thinking again. 

Several things are going on that have me - I won't say worried, but concerned. So I spend part of the night thinking about what I could do, praying, and generally allowing my mind to jump from one thing to another - so sleep doesn't come... except in spurts. Sooner or later, I end up either in the computer room (like now) or sitting in the den with the cats having a cup of tea and watching old 'I Love Lucy' reruns.

We've had a couple of surgeries in the family recently. And even though they are all doing well - these are on my mind - as well as other family matters regarding kids and grandkids. Families are wonderful things. I love them all dearly, but you never stop worrying about them. We pay for all those wonderful moments of joy with... the occasional dark night of the soul. I've always believed in 'you do what you can, and leave the rest to God'. But sometimes... it's hard to hand over the burden. 

OK, enough of that. I also had my pre-surgery appointment this week where my Eye Specialist went over all the details and info needed before scheduling my cataract surgery. They measured my eyes and discussed the type of lens I will be needing. I've known the last few years that I would have to have cataract surgery eventually and have been putting it off. However, it seems that my cataracts may now be encroaching on my narrow angles and my doctor believes that I shouldn't put it off any longer. So... we are scheduled to do it at the end of this month (sigh). And although I'm fully aware that it's not a serious surgery and is done everyday, I still hate the thought of someone working on my eyes. 

...and it also means my pottery (because of the clay dust) and my exercise (aerobic/yoga) will have to be curtailed for the month of September (sigh again). But what can you do? These things happen as we age... and we deal with it, yes? 

I did learn something though.  Apparently I have astigmatism in both eyes. Didn't know that. One is not enough to do anything about, but the other will require a special lens. Reading about astigmatisms (yes, I googled it), I learned that when you have these, it may cause headaches if too much time is spent reading. I read every day and definitely every night at bedtime and frequently wake up with a headache. Another thing I didn't know. It always amazes me how I could live to be this old (71) and yet never heard of this. Guess it's like they say, you never stop learning.

OK, on to another subject: You know from previous pictures that we have quite a few black feral cats that come and go in our back. Well, we also have one black and white (half grown) and 2 very young Siamese kittens.

This half-grown kitten is watching a blue jay in the tree above him

This Siamese kitten's mother has 2 black and 2 Siamese kittens with beautiful blue eyes

Sorry the first picture is not clear, but I take them through my french door windows and the raccoons keep the windows all smudged with their little paws.  This Siamese kitten was playing with the yellow ball between his paws. (You might have to enlarge the pic to see it) Our inside cats share their toys with the outside ferals (believe me, they have plenty enough to share). But occasionally some toy will turn up outside that we don't recognize and we wonder where they found it and who brought it into our yard. Once we found a small stuffed animal that we'd never seen before. We suspect there's a toy thief amongst us...

raccoons smudging windows

young raccoons beating the heat in feral cats' water bowl

all trying to fit into water bowl

We have to change the water several times during the day due to the raccoons bathing in it. But we don't mind. It was 107 F yesterday and although we haven't looked,  most likely the creek out back is dried up. At one time we put out a small plastic kiddie pool for the outside critters during the heat, but they still seem to prefer the water bowl...

I told DH last night that if we ever down-sized or moved, one thing I would insist on would be a window over my kitchen sink so that I could continue to look out on all the critters that make life so entertaining.

Happy Weekend to All!