new children's story and other trivial info...

FYI:  I just added another children's story to my blog. It's just the next story under Children's Stories at the top of my blog and the title is "The Odd Little Duck". (if you're not into Children's stories, ignore this)

Beyond that, I got a few things this weekend... my salad spinner, milk bottles, frying pan, and veg trug! (...it takes so little to make my day)

frying pan, bottles, and masks

salad spinner

The Veg Trug hasn't come yet... supposed to come either today or Monday. It also has to be put together, so depending on what is going on here, it might be a while. But since I most likely already missed the spring planting dates, I may not use it until the Fall or next spring.

It's been so long since I've planted anything but herbs that I'm not sure what veggies are good for which season. I've grown bell peppers before and they do well. I'd like to plant carrots, potatoes, and lettuce.

Oh, and I plan to make the Irish stew with Guinness tonight. Will let you know next post how that turns out. 

This is short as my granddaughter and I have been playing Animal Crossing online (she at her house and me here) this morning. She had me go over to her island to see all the new things she's done and new critters that have moved to her island. Also she was excited as a mama dove has laid eggs in their backyard (in real life)... and this morning the eggs hatched!

So now that it's already 10:30 a.m., I need to get busy around here. 

Thanks for reading. Hope you have a wonderful weekend! And don't forget to check out the new story (if you're interested) under Children's Stories! 

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

Check out my "pages".... across the top now!!

Hurray! I did it!

This last time I was checking out the 'layout' on my blog and tried to move my "Pages" to across the top, it worked!  Look right above this post!  Don't know why, but suddenly there was a line across the very bottom of my screen that allowed a "Save"! (Did I never see it before... or did it just appear? I don't know and I don't care. It worked!)

Now I wonder if I can change the font or color on that... since it doesn't show up very well.  Oh well, another challenge. 

Also I recently ordered a few things from both Wayfair and Amazon that fellow bloggers either showed or mentioned. One was the Veg Trug that Debbie has that I've been wanting for a long time. It was on sale this week on Wayfair. (If you're interested in anything on Wayfair, they are having a great sale... just for a few days). The other thing was those glass milk bottles that Dug mentioned on his last post. DH and I both thought those were a good idea since our half gallon carton of whole milk always goes bad before we can use it up. Thank you Debbie and Dug!

I will report that we believe at least 3 feral mamas have had their kittens. They show up to eat and are no longer fat. None have had them in our yard that we can tell... (we do check). Even White Face moved her 3 babies off the cat tree on the back porch (thank goodness as they kept falling out) to somewhere else. 

Another cat related story: DH was outside closing the side fence one day last week and a walker asked him about the Wildlife Refuge sign on our fence.  He explained that if you meet certain qualifications (trees, water, bush and ground coverage - basically water, food, and shelter for wildlife) your yard can be qualified as a wildlife habitat.

She said that she didn't live on the creek as we do, but her neighbor does have a bird sanctuary in their backyard. I was interested in this as at one time I raised both Zebra Finches and English Budgies. We don't anymore due to the number of neighborhood feral cats we care for now.  But I do have several empty bird cages that perhaps her neighbor might be interested in. We shall see.

And lastly, before I close this, I will say that recently I've come across 2 new recipes that I'm going to try. One is an Irish Stew made with Guinness and the other is a Garlic Chicken Fried Rice. Both recipes sound like something we would like. If they turn out to be something to add to my favorites, I will let you know... or they could just turn out to be a 'one off'.

(also I will mention that DH finally got his haircut at the barbers after more than 2 years of me doing a really sh...y job! The time had come - at least while we're seeing a somewhat diminished covid outbreak.)

... however, I did order another batch of kn95 masks from Amazon... just to be cautious.

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

 

sad story...

White Face's 4  kittens - 2 days old

DH took this pic of White Face's 4 kittens that were apparently born  Friday night. White Face didn't come to eat Friday... which is very unusual for her. But she was there Saturday morning and it looked like she had had her kittens (as she is a small cat and had a very large tummy towards the end).  So we watched where she went after she ate and soon realized that her kittens were in our yard not far from the side fence. So when she was busy eating later in the day, DH went over and quietly took a pic. 

We were worried because where they were would make them in harms way for the rain that was coming Sunday night. But we put our faith in the mama that she would take care of them and move them if necessary. We hesitate to get involved when they are so young and need their mother... and usually the mothers are pretty smart about taking care of their young.

Well, it did rain, but not as bad as expected. But when we got up Monday morning, White Face had moved the kittens up on the porch inside the cat tree. It wasn't until later in the morning that we realized that there were only the 3 black kittens in the cat tree. And we noticed that  mama kept returning to the spot where she originally had the kittens. She was looking for the little white one. 

When she returned to her 3 kittens without the white one, DH and I started looking and listening... nothing. Not a sign of him or her. We don't understand it... and apparently she doesn't either as she keeps returning and looking when she leaves the others. It's a mystery... and one that has us sad today... 

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

Texarkana... Winston, and hummers

Winston

"Come play out here with me?"

Winston is our oldest son and daughter-in-law's Golden Doodle.  He is huge, not much over a year and very playful. He also thinks he's a lap dog... and just hit 75 lbs.  This next pic shows his size better.

But he is a sweetheart... and very lovable. My grandson and I visited them in Texarkana the weekend before Easter. They have a netted deck out back and these little hummers kept going inside the net. Finally my son hung a feeder out there... and they went right for it.

I hope everyone had a nice Easter. The weather was fine here. We didn't do any big get-together, but I did make the 3 of us pork chops with brown sugar and garlic butter as well as some cheddar rice with broccoli and sweet potatoes. For dessert we had a pecan peach dump cake - which is the one of the boys' favorites. 

We didn't do baskets this year... just each got some Easter chocolate (of course). I did have an Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt for youngest granddaughter yesterday... and am now getting ready to put Easter away and start using that table for working on my jungle quilt. 

Table set for Easter Dessert

Going to close this with a pic of White Face out in the yard. She is ready to burst... (even thought possibly we might get some Easter kittens, but no). 

White Face

Oh, funny story here (kind of)... DH and I just got back from shopping at Central Market. We were picking up curb-side, but went inside to get something first. Apparently one of our neighbors was inside, started waving and saying hello. I didn't know her. But DH recognized her as a neighbor that lives a few blocks down. Anyway, we stopped to say hello and she said, "You're the neighbors with the black cats..." And I said, "Actually, we don't own any cats, but we do feed the neighborhood ferals".  She laughed. So... I guess we have a reputation?? (we do have a "Wildlife Sanctuary" sign on our fence... and a Black Cat sign in the window saying "Welcome" - guess that's enough to draw attention...)

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

Easter 2022... running with the bunnies

Guess what!  Leo returned for Easter!  

I can't remember if I told you the whole story of how Leo appeared in my daughter's garden a while back. They took him in and he seemed happy to be inside and part of the house-hold. 

Then they noticed that there were other bunnies around... about 3-4 I think. Some looked just like Leo, some were solid black... all very large.  When they took Leo outside, the others seemed to come around him. So eventually my daughter let him go back to running with the bunnies... 

But he keeps returning. And while the others keep their distance, Leo is happy to be handled. He likes to go down in the turtle area and eat... and he likes to go into the chicken pen and lay around (the rooster doesn't like it, but Leo ignores him).

Since it was Easter, I thought I'd continue with Leo's story.

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And I have to show you the adorable Easter towels my daughter sent. She loves bunny everything... so it's not unusual. 

That's it!

Happy Easter to All!

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

Sharing a strange dream...

The dream is starting to fade…

 

You may think me mad… or weird or whatever… doesn’t matter. What matters is that I don’t forget. My eyes are tearing over the prospect that I might forget.

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The Dream

 

I was in Ireland (I think). Could have been anywhere… maybe Maine… but it felt like the Ireland of my dreams. I was wandering around fairly pointlessly, milling with people that didn’t ‘see it’… and thus, neither did I.  I was walking up and down the old streets haphazardly looking for something… and not knowing what.

As I passed an old wharf… like so many you see around Ireland and England (most are not pretty and picturesque like you imagine, but dirty and dingy looking). But this one looked fascinating… as there in the harbor were huge rock boulders in the water… and then part of an even older wharf… and then the sea. It had things in the harbor area that had rusted and just been left… old abandoned boats and what looked like a huge rusted slide… and there was junk all around.

A girl appeared… at least I think it was a girl.  She/He was odd looking, kind of strange with lots of long dark ratty hair… and an old floppy coat. As she passed me, she was talking to herself out loud and said that she might find those things here… meaning rocks on the muddy beach??? I don’t know what she meant, but I knew she was right… and that she belonged here.

I followed… with much joy (and found even more). She leaped from the boulders across the slushy muddy beach and bog, as well as the water that lay between us and just made it to the wharf’s edge. There were a few old folks watching. I looked at the expanse and thought out loud, ‘I don’t have that much jump in me’.

Later, I found myself on the older wharf looking into the deep churning sea and up at the sky and knew this was what I was looking for. This was it… a sense of adventure and freedom… and inexplicable wonder bubbled up inside me and no matter how hard I try, I can’t describe it adequately. I can only thank God for allowing me to remember it (yes, I had a similar experience years ago, but the memory has faded).

Now I was on top of the giant rusted slide looking at my friend on the wharf and mirroring in her eyes this shared joy. As I looked around me, so many things on the town-side looked shabby, all but an old painted green building which seemed to glow with charm. I asked her where she lived and she pointed there… and I knew it… even as she pointed.

Then, as I thought of swimming in the sea, I somehow lost hold of the joy… let ‘fear’ creep in, and the weird island in the water now moved slightly and I saw millions of tiny pink tentacles in the water… and I was afraid. When our eyes met, she saw the ‘fear’ and the thought that ‘I’d been betrayed’ in mine. Then, I saw the ‘No! Stay with me!’ in hers.

I chose to trust… and jumped in! Immediately I knew that it was alright. The tentacles (if they existed at all) only helped to lift me and I found myself back on the wharf with my new friend.  She/He was beaming. We headed towards the green building. Her/His mom(?) was there… so very happy to see me and I could feel how proud she was that her child had found someone to share the joy.

And I did. She/He was not a wild child… but perhaps an angel??... sent to remind me that the something I’m looking for is still there. It’s real. We just lose sight of it in our every day lives. But it does exist… and we mustn’t ever stop looking or be afraid ‘to see’.

 

Well, that’s it. When I went to bed that particular night, I hadn't felt so hot.  The areas behind my nose and throat were burning… and I figured that either I was coming down with something or having a sudden allergy attack.  I gargled, took a Tylenol, and crept into bed. When I awoke the next morning, my throat still felt a bit scratchy, but I lay there keeping my eyes closed trying to hold on to the feeling and remnants of the dream. I knew it would fade as the day progressed… so finally pulled myself up to sit and record it. 

 

I know this is a weird one. But I’m sharing it just the same as it was an important one (to me). I don’t know if our dreams are there to teach us, to remind us, to comfort, or if they’re simply a hodge-podge of stuff in our memories (maybe all of the above). But personally, I think there’s more to them than we know… and if anyone knows of any research being done (and there must be), I’d love to read about it. If so, leave a message in your comment or email me.

Thanks for reading

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

Monday, Monday...

love this... (and so true)

I'm still trying to move my 'pages' to be across the page under my heading pic... but no luck. It actually says to do this 'use tabs'... and shows 4 tab spaces. I tried that... nothing happened??   I can manually drag them to the spot... but haven't found a way to make it stay (and yes, I tried 'save'). It reverts back to the right side-bar when I leave. This is not terribly important, but it irks me that I can't seem to do it.

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I wish I could do this for so many people...

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like this too!

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Some of my favorite cat funnies:

You may have seen these before, but I can't help it, they make me laugh every time!

and

 this last one that reminds me so much of my youngest granddaughter and cats!

some cats are saints...

Happy Monday!

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

 

April 1st (April Fool's Day 2022)... and Rabbit! Rabbit!

 

April Fool!!  

and...

Rabbit! Rabbit! White Rabbit??

Have a great weekend!

Hugs (virtual),

Rian