Def-y's Categorizing: May 2005 Archives

Meet Ninotchka.

She's the middle in age of three raccoon mommies who are living in our attic. One of these clever ladies ate her way through the roof, and the others, being no slouches, followed.

We were just about to evict them, when they gave birth. We are waiting for the day when we see tiny furry bodies milling around under the bird feeder.

Dear Husband has created a raccoon door, to allow the mommies access to their babies, while keeping the rain out. He's also slipped lightweight metal under the bottom row of shingles to prevent other holes. Once the babies are outside, we will repair the hole and have the entire roof re-shingled.

Enjoy it while you can, Notch. It's time for you to face the wilds of suburbia again!

I'm recuperating from three weeks of Spring cleaning and heavy housework. I volunteered to host two pot luck brunches in my home. You know that I had pages of "To Do" items. I diligently worked my way through them, and the Red Hatters came to us a week ago. It was a wonderful party. They filled the house with their laughter and conversation, and we had a great time, but it didn't prepare me for Friday's visit with the exerecise group.

Elegant Mother and I have been attending an exercise class together. I enrolled her in it five or six years ago, to get her ready for a trip to the Chelsea Flower Show in England, and we have stayed on, and on, and on.

I've been trying for some time to get a picture of my Mother all dolled up in her Red Hat Finery. My brother was in New Orleans and bought her an incredible purple boa to go with the outfit. She wore it for the Red Hat Society brunch that was held at our house last weekend, and was the hit of the day.

Here's Elegant Mother on May 21st, standing on the sidewalk to our home:

The bane of a homeowner's existence.....repairs! We built our house 16 years ago, and when it was ten years old we reached the point were it was patch, Patch, PATCH! You'd think a new house would stay "new" longer.

Whewwwwww!

I've spent the past three weeks working on my Spring cleaning, and getting ready for two brunches which will be held here. I've been "missing in action" from my blog because there was so much work to be done. It's been worth it.

We held the first gathering today for our Red Hat Society group.

Actually, that should be WE came, We saw, We conquered Iowa. My mother, one of my nieces and I visited a niece in eastern Iowa this week. It was a totally unstructured weekend. We ate, and shopped, and scrap-booked, played Spite and Malice, quilted, knitted, chatted, ate, drank, ate, and generally had a wonderful time.

I was in the grocery store last week, and I was reminded just how dependent we have become on computers in our lives. I'm old enough to remember when a cashier at the grocery store hit keys on a cash register to ring up the cost of the items. Each item was marked with a price rather than a zebra stripe.

If the electricity went out, they "rang" you up by hand, and you went on about your business. These days, if the computer is malfunctioning, or if the electricity goes off, you're out of luck. No sale. There is nothing they can do to make a sale.

Saturday, I was in eastern Iowa, visiting with relatives. My niece had planted flower boxes on her deck, and a bird I had never seen visited one of them as we watched.

The bird's body was a mustardy gold color. It's wings were barred in black and white, rather like a downy woodpecker's wings. It was slightly smaller than a robin, and had a similar shape. I didn't get a good look at it's beak, but it seems to me that it was long and pointed, rather than the blunter beak of a cardinal or gross-beak.

I browsed through my bird books, and the closest thing I could find to what I saw was a female "Northern" or "Baltimore" Oriole.

Can my birding friends suggest any other birds I might look at that fit that description?

I've never seen a deep gold bird before.

When I get back to the computer, I'll have several things to talk about.....the incredible wind that we've had the last two days, along with very chilly weather. One stand of tulips in an unprotected spot were denuded of petals.

I've been pondering the drawbacks to having a computerized life, especially for those who have never learned to do things from scratch to begin with. The same problem existed when they tried to teach us "New Math." It failed because there wasn't enough focus on the basics. I think that jazz performers have to learn Classical music to be able to depart from the "rules."

We're making a trip to Iowa this weekend to commune with the cows and our relatives. I'm looking forward to an unstructured visit, some shopping, good food, and the chance to beat my niece at Spite and Malice. See you Monday!

I'm sure in my ramblings in the past month I've mentioned that we will be hosting two brunches, one for the Red Hat Society group to which we belong, and one for our exercise group. These brunches fall just six days apart, and I've been working for the past ten days or so to get things ready. When I set the dates for these brunches, I forgot that I had committed to spend the weekend with two of my nieces and my Mother.

So, perhaps you can understand where I've been, and why my blog has gone quiet. By the end of the month I hope to have my Spring cleaning done, and then maybe I'll have a bit more time to visit.

Meanwhile, I hope you are all having wonderful weather and have had the chance to get outside for a bit.

Last night Dear Husband and I went to see a community performance of Fiddler on the Roof. We had an early dinner and then drove west through the farmland to the town of Sandwich, Illinois.

One of my friends from exercise is a member of the troupe that puts on at least one musical each year. This year she was cast as Gramma Tzeidel, and nearly brought the house down.

Most of our friends went to opening night, or the performance last Sunday. I wanted to be able to go with my husband, and we had commitments last weekend, so we got tickets for the final performance.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms I know. And, Happy Mothers Day, to those of you who don't have your own children, who have lovingly cared for stepchildren, nieces, nephews, godchildren, or even kids who are not related to you. To me, it's not simply the ability to give birth that we celebrate, but the care and love that help a child to become a strong, healthy adult.

I hope that your loved ones take the opportunity to tell you how much you mean to them. Don't assume that your mother knows you love her. SAY IT!!

We're all yet livin here, just getting on with life.

Elegant Mother is recuperating from her cold and the cat scratch. Dear Husband, as we speak, is moving the mast from it's winter storage to the top of the boat for it's ride down the Chicago expressways. Ed, The Occasionally Insufferable," is outside chasing birds and chipmunks, and Step Son is off to work.

I am going to collect a book on tape and go out to play in the gardens. I'd love to stay and chat, but sunshine and warm weather are calling to me! Have a great weekend!

Ed (the cat) seems to be doing well with his regimen of antibiotics. We are into our second week of one dose down the throat every other day. He is wary when my stepson and I are in the room with him, with good reason. Usually I pick up the cat, and hold him, while my stepson opens the cat's mouth and delivers the meds.

SS works the 2:00 to 11:00 p.m. shift, so we were going to try to medicate Ed before he left. Unfortunately, he was on to us, and got away. That meant I had to wait up until SS returned from work. I was ticked at not being able to go to bed. I was reading, trying to pass the time, when Ed hopped onto the table and stretched out, asking to be loved up. I obliged, thinking that this would be the perfect position to collect him when SS arrived.

Of course, ten minutes before SS got home, Ed left the table.

When we were ready to do the dirty deed, I went to get Ed, and he got away from me. I figured that we were out of luck for the night. The cat had made a bee line for my mother's bedroom, and slipped through the barely open door.

A few minutes later SS was on his way to the stairs to his bedroom, when he realized that my mother was out of her room, and the door was standing wide open. He stepped in, and discovered the cat stretched out for the night on the sewing desk. He scooped him up, walked to the kitchen, and I squirted the meds into the back of his throat. Yummmmmmmmmm! Triple Fish Flavor!

(sighing) Thank God. One more night of meds down! Only four more to go!

We had a quiet week this week, until Friday. I'll just give you the highlights or we'll be here forever.