Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Our friends arrived safe and sound with their brand new fifth wheel. We hooked up the electric (no sweat), then the water (dang, there's a leak at the faucet), and promptly went to the hardware store...
Part of our ongoing process of clearing out the "got too much of this" now involves having them go shopping in our pantry before going to the store. After the holidays, we're taking the larger pantry apart and rebuilding the interior into an actual walk-in pantry. So the more they help us use up, the less we have to pull out and store somewhere while we put up the new shelves.
Meanwhile, at least one of the cats has decided to use the new Litter Maid. I'm fairly sure it's Alex, because he's stopped peeing in the shower. Spotacus just prefers to go outside.
Our neighbor down the hill has a fifth wheel hooked up, too. Don't know if they are living in it while work gets done on their house, or if they have guests. When they were getting the hookups installed, we thought their sewer had failed or something, from all the bobcat work going on, but no, just an RV hookup.
We finally got the windows people out here to estimate all new windows on the S&B. The final installation measurements are on Monday, then they'll order. We should have all new windows by mid-Feb, and with the exception of the hall bath water heater (which works just fine, even as old as it is), we'll have finished the last of the fixes that made this place a unique fixer-upper.
Winter projects will be the re-done pantry and a garden shed, plus some tree trimming on our undeveloped property the other side of the lake. We want potential buyers to be able to walk the entire property line, and one side is very heavily treed. May need more batteries for the chain saw on a stick to get that done; won't need the big chain saws, luckily, since they both need fixing.
Tool maintenance is definitely something that needs to be in the budget...
What with one thing after another the last few days, we haven't gotten the tree trimmed yet, so that's today's project. Spotacus has completely ignored the tree, giving me some hope that he won't try to climb it again.
MDL and Leoghaire were up here early for breakfast. After they ate, they stayed on the porch for a while. I guess they were hoping for more corn. But with the meadow partially mowed and a little rain, green shoots are available for grazing.
I do love it here. Mid-December and we don't need the heater.
Lots of outside activities to help improve our overall fitness - amazing what a half hour of weed whacking can do for the core and shoulders. So waking up this morning with a very painful ankle was a drag. Not swollen, no bruising, but it hurts -- probably from standing so much yesterday on flip flops. I'll sit at the table and get the ornaments out of their boxes and let WLToo hang them on the tree.
Guess I'd better get to it. Hot tea? Check. Christmas music? Check. Ornaments box? Still in garage. Sigh.
Later, y'all.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Czarny, black cat
Rainbow Bridge: Spotacus, Alexander the Grrreat, and so very many more
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magnusfide
On the Road Again and Again and Again...
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Joined: 10/30/2009
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A goat would help with those weeds ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/awink.gif "awink")
"The only time you should fear cast iron is if your wife is fixin' to hit you with it."-Kent Rollins
First law of science: don't spit into the wind.
Magnus
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Magnusfide, while this is goat country, I really don't want to have yet another herd of critters to deal with at my age.
Finished all the Christmas decorating and such. Just a bit of general cleaning and we're ready for the Christmas party. I hope my ankle holds up for workout tomorrow -- I need to unkink after all the decorating.
Spotacus has been on patrol outside most of today. Not sure what's got him so intent, but he just came inside, ate a quick snack, then demanded to go out again. He took up his overwatch position on the pool deck. We looked, but saw nothing out there. I think he's just messing with his humans.
Alex is trying to get into my lap; he hasn't had any lap time today...
Later, y'all.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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We wound up having two Christmas parties...
The writers' group party was on Tuesday, and went off very well. Plenty of food and drink, lots of interesting conversation.
Thursday, a couple arrived for Tuesday's party (he'd written down the wrong date). We happened to be placing a nosh on the table, with more than enough food, so we just had another, smaller party. I liked this one better. We all sat around the table, ate too much, and chatted for hours.
Short Friend turned in her volunteer applications for the thrift store and the library. She's already working Saturdays at the thrift store (today's first day), and will begin at the library in January. Tall Friend wants to volunteer at the thrift store, but isn't quite ready to get started yet. He's much more comfortable being retired (many years) than is Short Friend (retired in June), who gets very easily bored.
Mom arrived safely to Sister's place, same day that Nephew arrived from his Army post. They both depart on the same day, too. We'll have Christmas Eve (traditional tamales dinner) at Sister's, then Christmas Day here. Brother and wife arrive here Christmas Eve morning and depart Sunday after Christmas, then Mom stays with us from that day to departure. So we'll have 11 for Christmas dinner and six for Christmas morning in jammies, with cocoa, Christmas music, and opening gifts.
Even though it's been in the 40s or 50s at night, with highs in the 60s, Alex got very cold yesterday, so I turned on the heater. He's much happier.
Spotacus is spending more time inside, too, so I guess the 60s, a light breeze, and the occasional mist we were/are having got through his incredibly dense fur. At the moment, he's asleep on the bed, after going out at 0430 and staying out until about 0700, shortly after WLToo got up.
Someone peed on the floor at the foot of our bed, which I found with my bare foot when I let Spotacus out. Yech.
Could have been either one of them, since they're both acting weird. Alex has been caught twice peeing in the kitchen sink, even though we keep his new litter box clean, and he does have trouble jumping that high. The noise of a failed jump is what alerted us to investigate and find him in the sink, peeing against the high sides (he doesn't have to squat). Spotacus doesn't like this litter box any better than the last two, so when he called at 0430, I knew he needed to go outside. I may not have gotten up in time, or it may have been Alex not wanting to get very far from the bed and his warm humans. Sigh. Life with elderly cats...good thing we've lots of experience there.
Spotacus has put on his winter weight. He must weigh 16-17 pounds now. He loses it in the spring, then puts it on starting in October, regular as the seasons. Makes holding him a challenge, as he puts my arms to sleep.
After a short break: we were watching two eight point bucks pacing our fence. The one on the inside looks to have been shot high on his shoulder through to the other side. He's moving reasonably well, though he hasn't enough energy to jump the fence. Tall Friend and WLToo will keep an eye on him while he's inside our fence. If he bleeds out inside the fence line, we have fresh venison. If he gets outside, oh well.
There are at least three ten acre properties within this deer herd's area, so it's quite possible that the buck was shot legally, but got away. It's also possible that someone on a smaller tract of land was poaching and couldn't follow the buck off their property. We haven't heard gunshots in several days, so this buck just may survive, if he was shot several days ago, judging from the way he was moving.
Seeing him reinforces our belief that Leoghaire's Daddy has been shot, since we've not seen him in about three weeks. He was a truly beautiful buck, so I'm sure someone thought his rack and meat was just the thing.
If I were a committed hunter, I'd not be going for the best looking racks - I don't collect trophies. I'd be looking for the lesser racks with good meat, and leave the big racks and great meat to father more high quality deer. But that's the farm kid in me - one improves the breed by culling the herd's lesser specimens, not the better ones. Sigh.
Time to do some editing for a bit of income. Later, y'all.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Well, shot buck left, still moving slowly but smoothly, so he just might survive.
After a day's high of 72 yesterday, it's 51 and windy, windy. Short Friend popped over and said she's cancelling our morning walk. Good idea. Walking into the wind might devolve to walking in place...
Spotacus didn't want to go outside after breakfast. He simply took over my chair. Alex took my space in bed. Guess I'll do something useful...
So nice to be ready for Christmas. No stress. Well, there is that little issue of not knowing yet which veggies to serve at Christmas dinner, but the pantry's full, so coming up with servings for 11 won't really be an issue.
Leoghaire came up by herself yesterday, after MDL had already been fed. I fed her, then stood by to keep a forked spike from driving her off. Didn't recognize that buck, but it might have been one of Gimpy's from last year or the year before, considering he wasn't particularly scared of me. Leoghaire would spook, run three feet, come right back to eat, and so on until she finished. Then I took up the bowl and went inside, while the buck came to see if there were any leftovers. Nope. Leoghaire was not about to share.
Time to bake some gingerbread. Later, y'all.
Later, y'all.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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The holiday crowd has finally departed, leaving only us, our friends, and the crud. Short Friend brought it home from volunteering at the thrift store, gave it to Tall Friend, who gave it to WLToo, who gave it to me. I'm staying home until I'm better, so I don't share it with anyone else.
Officially changed Spotacus' name at the vet's office, when the boys went in for their annual exams and shots. She was picking him up and suddenly started laughing. She'd just made the connection of Alexander the Grrreat and Spotacus. Anyway, both guys are in fine fettle.
Alex has reverted back to a young cat habit. When we had three cats in Virginia, they all preferred to drink fresh tap water from a glass by the bathroom sink. He decided to be afraid of the fountain where Spotacus drinks, and after trying the swimming pool/hot tub water, the deer trough, and various rain puddles, he started jumping into the kitchen sink and drinking whatever he found there (ewww), before finally settling on our bathroom sink. So we got a wide-mouth short glass out for him, and he's happy. He talks to the glass before getting a drink, drinks, then runs out of the bedroom still talking. For a cat who rarely chatted in his youth, he's gotten quite talkative.
The shot buck is doing just fine. Came up to the porch and looked for any leavings from MDL and Leoghaire's dish, then wandered down into the meadow, still with a slight limp, but not much visible damage anymore. A huge 10-point buck was down there, too. He also has white rings around his eyes, indicating a similar parentage as Goggles/Leoghaire's Daddy (who we've not seen since mid-November), and is gorgeous. Hopefully, this one will survive to father more fawns and improve the herd.
Time to finish editing a dissertation. Later, y'all.
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magnusfide
On the Road Again and Again and Again...
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Cats are interesting creatures. It could be that Spotacus told Alex in a very serious way that he didn't want Alex drinking from his fountain anymore. Now it makes Alex nervous. Or it could just be a noise that's make Alex nervous and that's why all the talking is going on.
Glad you're on the mend.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Magnusfide, when dealing with elderly cats, anything or nothing can trigger odd behavior. At the moment, Alex is drinking from his glass on the sink and from the fountain. Spot tried the glass, was not impressed, and went back to the fountain.
Today we have the heater off, the doors open to the breeze, and I fed MDL and Leoghaire while barefoot. Then I stood guard and soaked in some morning sun to keep the other does from pushing Leoghaire away. It's a beautiful day in the Hill Country.
We went to see "American Sniper" (heckuva movie) and now are watching Green Bay vs Seattle. Well, everyone else is watching; I'm posting here...
WLToo is working with a voice actor to record his first book. Audiobook fans will shortly have the opportunity to hear his books. Working with the voice actor to get the tone, pronunciations, etc., just right has been a lot of fun. It's always a challenge getting science fiction stuff pronounced the way the author hears inside his mind.
Spot is laying on the pool deck, soaking up the sun and watching whatever it is he sees. Alex is on WLToo's lap. Well, no, now he's hovering over my shoulder. Guess it's time to move the laptop and let him on my lap.
Later, y'all.
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Wanderlost
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Wow. I didn't realize it's been so long since the last post. So much was going on that I simply forgot all about posting.
Without going into great detail, here's a quick synopsis of the last three months:
WLToo had catheter ablation and now is doing wonderfully. Parkinson's is not getting any worse, either.
I'm off all prescriptions and doing just fine.
Wildflowers in profusion this year; extraordinarily beautiful here now.
Mama Doe Lassie is fine, preggers, and coming by without Leoghaire more often. Leoghaire herself comes by at least once a day. I do believe within a couple of years, she'll be the dominant doe. Amazingly fearless is she.
L'Andante is ready for our short trip tomorrow, to help host Mom's 90th birthday. All kids are coming, which leaves her a bedroom short -- good thing we're bringing our own bedroom.
Tall Friend and Short Friend can't come with us tomorrow -- F350 decided to cost more in repairs than it's worth. They'll stay here, get a new truck, and have a little warranty work done on the fifth wheel.
Alex is doing just fine. His medication has stopped the a-fib. At the moment, he's annoying WLToo by rubbing his kitty jowls on WLToo's computer.
Spotacus has worn a harness before, I do believe. The harness training is going fine. I sneak up on him, put it on, take him outside immediately, then let him do whatever he wants within leash distance (so far he just sits or lays down). When he's ready to go back inside, he stops just inside the door and waits for me to remove the harness.
Removed the recliner from L'Andante so Spotacus' travel cage will fit. Don't think we'll miss the chair much.
The boys won't have to stay in the RV when we're over at Mom's. We can put them in the quanset barn during the day, then wipe the dust off and bring 'em back to the RV at night.
Alaska trip planning is moving along. However, now relatives want to fly in, stay with us, then fly out. Trouble is they want firm dates for when we'll be where to make plane reservations, and we don't have a clue yet. Sigh.
Well, time to get busy and finish loading L'Andante. Later, y'all.
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magnusfide
On the Road Again and Again and Again...
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Good to hear your news and all are doing well. Relatives flying in to share your trip sounds difficult in logistics.
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