the sweetest thing...

Gizmo

Oldest grand daughter (17)  found this little kitten at a gas station last week.  My daughter sent me this pic of them both napping. 

More pics...

the sweetest thing

I think he's found a home... what do you think?

Other news on the horizon:

First - Thanks to all of you who shared my joy with the publishing of my book, "Time After Time"!  It's a good feeling to scratch something off my very small bucket list. But at the ripe old age of 74, time was running short. 

On that same 'time was/is running short' theme... I will mention here also that I've been very concerned that my 'radiation' cough has gotten worse lately. Now I cough so much in the morning and sometimes after I eat or drink - that I choke and my eyes water and nose runs. Also I cough up very thick mucus. And when this happens, my nasal airway closes up and I have to breathe through my mouth. The episode doesn't last too long, but it's worrisome (and I hope I didn't gross you out too much). 

I know some of the reasons this could be happening. And of course one of them is that my Breast Cancer could have metastasized to my lungs.  This was my worst fear.  However, this worry was put aside yesterday when I went for my annual Oncololgist's appointment. He both listened to my lungs and x-rayed them. Said that they were clear - no problem there. Thank goodness! What a relief!

However, he mentioned that other things that could cause these symptoms were reflux, asthma, and aspiration... and wants me to have a breathing/swallowing test run in the near future. I will do this, but probably not until September. We hope to visit our son in Hawaii in a few weeks... and that's the priority on my agenda now. 

If anyone out there is even halfway familiar with these symptoms (which I have put off as due to 'old age' for a long time), I would appreciate your input. 

But now I have another reason to celebrate besides the book being published! My worst fear hasn't come to pass.

Hugs,

Rian

Share the joy?

Just click on the picture and it will take you to the book !

Hi, this is an exciting day for me as I'm ordering my first batch of  'author copies' of my book from Amazon.  I imagine you didn't even know that I had a book published... and why would you? I've used a Penn name (D'Arcy Regan Hart) and have avoided self-publishing for a long time. But a dear friend enjoyed my story and encouraged me to publish it. So I thought... OK, why not?  

It's called "Time After Time" and is a story told in 3 parts... about a woman in her 60's who has recently became widowed. I myself am not widowed, but have enough friends and relatives these days that are... that somehow this story unfolded in my head. It is not the great American novel, nor was it intended to be.

It is simply a story about Annie Smith who having spent the last 42 years of her life lost in the lives of her husband and children, now comes to realize that without her family to care for, she has no focus. Annie, the wife and mother, was no more. Realizing that she must come to terms with this, she embarks on a journey to re-find her former self. 

This journey takes her to the little town of Carrick Cove, Maine (fictional) - a place where a few years back, she spent an unexpected and unbelievable week. Here on a cold rainy morning, she steps out of a coffee shop into the path of an oncoming truck - and encounters a friendship that will not only change her life, but give it new direction.

This is almost word for word the description of Part One, "A Time for Kindness"... which is how the story begins. It continues in Part Two, "A Time for Herself" and then Part Three, "A Time for the Past".  It is not action-packed, but has warmth, kindness, and yes, a bit of sadness too. My hope is that the story will make you smile.

Now I'm not posting this because I expect people to run to Amazon and order it. Seriously. But I just wanted to share this moment with you - for as as much as I put this off, I do find it exciting to see my book in print.


Hugs,
Rian 

the possiblity of dreams... and other things

My son recently texted me about how he believes that dreams are sometimes prophetic - or if not prophetic... at least a form of guidance. I tend to agree. Now not all dreams have this tendency. Some are simple re-enactments of what's going on in your life, whether it's real life drama, worries, TV shows, etc.   And some of these are jumbled up nonsense. But.... I have had dreams that helped me solve a problem or make sense out of something that never did before. 

And I think that when I dream of family that has passed, it's a form of visitation. Whether or not this is because my mind wishes it to be so is of no importance - I enjoy the visit - whatever the reason.

I'm re-reading a book I read a long time ago called "Minding the Body, Mending the Mind" by Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. (Personally I think it should have been called, "Minding the Mind, Mending the Body".  But it talks about something called Psycho-neuroimmunology or PNI.  I don't intend to explain what this is... but I take it to be the study of how the mind affects the body - in this case the immune system. It seems to confirm the belief that 'attitude' is extremely important in how our body functions. In many ways we already know this, but this research into the subject tries to explain why this is so. 

Many will just call this "psycho-babble" - but I find it fascinating and it confirms things I believe, but cannot explain.  Crazy? Maybe - but happy crazy. 

I have always believed that my mind knows exactly what my body should do... and it knows how to mend itself... if everything is working correctly and we have the courage to trust this knowledge.  That's one of the reasons I always give my body time to recoup on it's own when sick... and not involve a doctor unless certain criteria are met (fever over 103 F, 2 weeks with no improvement, etc.) This has always worked for me for the most part. But I do realize it may not work for everyone nor may not work for me as my body ages and things no longer work as well as they used to.

But it's an interesting read.

Also just finished my new little clay critters. If you can't tell what they are, there's a seal, a chicken, and a little puffin lying on his back with his feet in the air.  They are in the process of drying... and will be under-glazed later this week. As you can see, the chicken and puffin are already almost dried, but the seal is still wet clay. The grey clay (cinco blanco) will whiten upon drying. 

clay critters

Streetlight Update!  Yesterday a crew came out and worked on our streetlight most of the day. I have to say it looked like some sort of electrical problem as they dug a fairly good sized hole in the area. So I feel a little better about them taking so long to replace a light bulb - as apparently that wasn't the prob. Just wish someone would have told us up front in the beginning. But hey! we're not in the dark anymore!


Oh, and I have to say that sometimes this digital world we live in  (online messages to the city and also to doctors and their billing services in particular) is more efficient than the old way (calling by phone and/or trying to reach them by mail). It's been DH and my experience lately that we get answers back faster by sending a text message than any other method of communication. Have any of you noticed this?  We've been a bit slow to connect up digitally with our doctors, etc. But once done, we can go online and send questions, messages, etc. - and believe it or not sometimes get an answer the same day. 

Thanks for reading! And know that I appreciate your comments!

Find Elmo... no, find the feline in the pic!

Find Elmo! No... Find the feline in the tree!

I've always liked this picture. Thought I would share it with you. There's a feral cat up in that tree. Can you find it?

I also wanted to share a video of the little feral Siamese looking kittens in our yard. But I'm not sure how to upload it. Going to try...
So far, no luck.

So here is a pic of 2 of my daughter's 3 dogs. Moose is the Great Dane on the left and Willow is a rescued lab mix on the right. Willow is up in age, Moose is 3.

DH and I had dinner with some old friends this week. The guys grilled outside while my friend and I sat with our feet in the pool and talked. As hot as its been around here, it really wasn't too bad that evening. They have lots of trees around their pool and there was a breeze.  Later we had dessert and coffee inside... and talked some more.  It was great fun spending time with them. DH and I are not very social... meaning we don't do a lot of socializing - parties, clubs, travel, etc. So when we do get together with old friends, it means a lot.

And another dear friend took me out to lunch for my birthday yesterday. We went to Whiskey Cake... and it was really fun. I tried to put some pictures here, but it didn't work, but you can google Whiskey Cake Kitchen and Bar and see pictures. It is an interesting place. Everything they use there is fresh and local.  She and I split a bacon cheeseburger with home-made chips and a side order of fried green tomatoes with a dipping sauce. It was fabulous. Also we had coffee and split a whiskey cake that is covered with some sort of whiskey caramel sauce... with a cup of freshly whipped heavy cream on the side. Delicious!

I guess this is my post for the day. Reading a good book by Rhys Bowen. Think I'll go and make myself a cup of tea and pick up where I left off last night. 

Have a great weekend!