Good Morning everyone from a bright, warm sunshiny day in the mid-eighties! We're not used to that big yellow ball this summer; I know I keep looking for those black roiling clouds!

Thanks for the lovely comments about Farrah. She is the only cat I've seen to put her toys in a paper sack, preparatory to dashing in and pulling them out and attacking them. But then she is racking up several firsts as she becomes more safe and happy.

I had a similar looking cat, Beau, who would open cupboard doors to put his toys inside or to exchange one for another, perhaps it is part of the breed mix they seem to share. Beau lived until mid-2011 and was also a foundling. Someone had been evicted from a non-pet apartment, and when the owners went in, they found two dead kittens and a barely alive Beau. His eyes were still the kitten's milky blue, and it was very expensive saving him, but then I was working, with funds. He grew quite large, alpha and looked so much like Farrah, only quite bigger. Shirley will remember him.

I have had dogs or cats or some other type of animal since birth as my mother raised Pomeranians and my dad, working bird dogs. My sister had horses and my younger sister, Dalmatians so it is a family thing, perhaps from our family's farming background? At one time, I had three large flight cages and six parakeets. Anyone who knows birds knows that parakeets are the small "Hell's Angels" of the avian world.

I was attempting to breed the couples, but they must have hated each other. One female wouldn't let the male of the cage off the cage floor or near the food and water. He had to be rescued. I finally gave up and gave all six birds and three large cages to a friend who had a room size aviary with some parakeets. To my chagrin, all six settled down, found other mates and lived happily ever after away from me and those cages!

My sister had similar issues with an older Arabian mare and one Tennessee Walker gelding that took an instant dislike to each other; she had six or seven horses and these two had to be kept apart and unable to reach the other if any peace was to be had. After trying for a couple of years, hoping for amity, she finally sold the mare at a loss.

I have been attempting to do some more advanced PSP tutorials during our PSP classes summer break. Why I thought I  could simply pick and choose is beyond me. I have regressed to a whiny child and knowing that each and every error is probably a simple over looked action has me frustrated! I know others in the forum are probably keeping a wary eye out for me these days. 

Grammer is another case in point. The warning for this post had me squinting too! "Squinting modifier, Incorrect: Possibly miswritten word: "over looked."' I also apparently tend to write in a passive voice rather than an active one. Now not only am I expected to be more active physically, but more active in my grammar as well!

Well, I hope everyone has a good morning, and that Maryann is feeling better now. I'm off to pay some bills and see some friends.

Good morning all.  Another nice day up here in the GNW. 

Hi everyone.  Another ditto day as far as the weather goes.  Our Weather Station said we got to 104 degrees yesterday.  It was a very busy day as I got out early and took care of 5 errands.  When I went to take the wrong sized window back they realized they had made mistake in ordering and said they would order the correct window and told me just to discard the window.  I measured our windows and it won't fit any of them so have it on the street for city pickup this morning. However, the hardware store just called and asked if I still have it as they had given me someone else's window and mine to the other person.  So I recovered it from the street and the lady said she would be out to pick it up and if not I will just take it back.  Hopefully they can recover mine.

We enjoyed a nice lunch with Scott at Ruby Tuesdays and later last evening he came out for awhile.  Nothing out of the ordinary on tap for today.  I will go to coffee and then the Wisdom class and then spend the rest of the day taking it easy. 

Shirley, we take advantage of the Ruby Tuesdays coupon a lot as it is the nicest restaurant in North Augusta (at least that we have tried).  I save the coupons that I get via email to a coupon folder and then when we dine I just bring up the coupon and show it to the person serving us.  I like their salad bar. 

MaryPage, I sometimes silence my phone and then rely on the vibrate to tell me of a call. 

Patricia, we had dogs from the time the children were small until just a few years ago when our last cat had to be put to sleep.  However, our pet days are over as neither Pat nor I am up to dealing with a pet and all that is required.  My son had to take his little dog to the vet a couple of days ago as he had been sick.  Blood test all were negative and he now seems to be better.  However, Scott's bank account took a hit for $300. I think your writing is just fine. 

Larry, it is unbelievable what it costs to have a pet these days!  Well, I am too old and frail to have one, although I would dearly love to have a cat, without the work.  When I go to Debi's, I enjoy her Bichon Frise, Pupper.  When I go to Anne's there is Meg, their Goldendoodle, and their wonderful orange cats, brothers Jonathan & Sherlock.  They have another, unrelated dark brown female cat, as well, and for the life of me, I cannot remember her name at the moment.  Everyone in the family has at least one pet I can enjoy.  Maria's Chester, a Cavapoo, is my favorite as a personality, while Kathryn's Madison, called Maddie, is a sweet black lab, which is more or less the signature dog of Annapolis.  You see them standing on the prow of so many, many boats heading out of our harbors and marinas with their faces pointed seawards, or walking around town on leashes or lying under sidewalk cafe tables.  It is in my lease that I cannot have a pet, but in all honesty, I could not manage one any longer.
A beautiful day here on the Chesapeake.  Our temps are not terribly high, what with being right on the water, but the humidity is getting pretty bad.

Angelface I was quite caught up in your comments about writing in the passive/active voice. I took a university credit course in writing and my professor constantly stressed the use of the active voice and would mark my essays accordingly if I failed to do do. To this day I make a conscious effort to follow her rule and I feel it increases the vibrancy of one's writing.

Good morning from another bright sunshiny day in the Interior! We are expected to reach 90 degrees perhaps today or at least, higher eighties, and I hope it continues! Sadly, August is known as a month of steady rain, but maybe mother nature will give it a miss this year?

Don, in school, I was quite proud of my vocabulary and my knowledge of literature and medieval history as only those with little to boast of can be! However, my knowledge of grammar was nearly empty, and my spelling was such that I needed to interpret my papers until I took to carrying a dictionary around. A small note to that is I often found dictionaries not to have a word or words I looked for which came as a surprise. I found the Oxford dictionary and have never purchased another brand.

I was taken aside by one of my college professors and told he had become aware that I read a lot and that many of those were English books as my spelling and tone were more English than American. He explained that the habit needed work, or it would drag my grades and writing down. I'm still not sure what is an active voice, and I understand the fundamentals, but I am not sure how to switch mine to be more active.

The thing about using an editor is that I am fond of using descriptive words, and this advises me against most if not all of then!

Marypage, and Larry, I had only spent a year or two without a pet when circumstances prohibited. One of the reasons I took in Farrah so soon, was that I missed having an animal around even in that short time. Pets need me, and I need them. Sarah's bill came to just under a thousand and I could have never paid it without Pet Pride there to assist me. 

I'm back but just barely.  I had the packing removed today and I'm scared to sneeze or blow.  I lost a lot of blood and I'm tired and weak so I am going to lie down when I finish this.

Thanks for all the thoughts and messages and I'll be back in better condition soon. 

Mary Ann

Mary Ann,  HUGS

I wrote a long post yesterday, hit post and I got gateway somthing. Later cound not find my post.

MaryANN, hope you will be feeling stronger very soon. I will be glad when you see your own doctor.  I know you will be, as you may find out whats going on. Prays going your way.

Larry, I have not been to a Ruby Tuesday, since we lived in charleston.  I wish we had a Red Lobster in Riverhead.  A few years ago the Town Board ask  for a vote to see what resturants the people wanted.  Thats when we started to get the big box stores.  The vote was for Cracker Barrel, Red Lobster, and Olive Garden.  We got none of them.  We got Fridays and Applebees.  I would have like Long John silver. I like there hush puppies.

We had Burger King, McDonald's, KFC, Popeyes,  Pizza Hut, and Wendy's. Now we have one small KFC and a huge MCDonald's in each quadrant, the size mainly due to play areas. There is a small  Papa Murphey's Pizza in one of the strip malls, next to a Cold Stone Creamery. Also one mediocre Denny's.

Actually, I prefer the ethnic restaurants but the kids and the military seem to prefer McDonalds. It got to be a place of noise and fighting between military youth and town teenage boys so there have been several regulations added to McDonald's restaurants here, including a necessary fence to keep them apart from the neighborhood and a noise reduction curfew, as well as the military has a curfew for using McDonalds.

I believe there is a Burger King on one of the army posts.

For a town hovering right around 100,000 in population, we need a few more cafes and mid-range eateries than more fast food. We have three or four nice fine dining establishments that are very good but also very expensive and we have Ethel's Cafe where the guys hang out for coffee and she flirts with them, (Guys over seventy and such.. )

This may be why the ethnic restaurants and food trucks do so well here.

I have 89 degrees now on my recessed balcony so perhaps we will reach the 92 predicted.

MaryAnn.,  I hope you will feel lots better tomorrow.   I can understand your apprehension about blowing your nose.     Hope that you will be able to get a little sleep.   At least you will be resting, even if sleep is slow to come.

Will look forward to hearing you had a good night.  Take care.

Joy

MaryAnn
Thank you for your post. Have been concerned by your absence.hope all goes well until you see your own Dr.

Hi everyone.  It will be another very hot day today.  Yesterday it registered 106 on our patio and the sensor for the Weather Station is in the shade but late in the afternoon we had a 5 minute shower and it cooled things down.  Today is the day for the housekeeper to come.  I think Pat and I will go out for a hearty lunch and then we can keep our kitchen nice and clean today, not that we keep it dirty.  That will give Pat a break from preparing a meal.  She is feeling better, although not completely recovered from the pain in her leg.  Yesterday she went by herself to Aldi's and to the GNC store yesterday morning.  It has been quite a few days since she felt up to driving.  We will spend the rest of the day taking things easy as it has been a busy week, at least for me.

MaryPage, we also would likely have a pet it if weren't for the work involved and now the expense involved.  It is nice that you can enjoy the pets your family has.  We wouldn't mind if Scott brought his little dog with him when he comes out each week but don't think he would do so as that would leave the cat alone. 

Patricia, do I remember correctly that in the late 60's Fairbanks would have days of over 100 degrees during July.  I do have a memory of a trip there for work in July and it was really hot. 

Mary Ann, thanks for checking in and now just take good care of yourself and recover.

deAngel, we haven't been to Red Lobster for several years. We used to go there fairly often but it seemed the the quality of the food declined with the portion size while the price kept increasing.  We do like Appleby's but haven't been there since moved. 

Patricia, interesting, but sad that McDonald's has a problem with fighting of young lads.  Only one time did I see a fight at McDonald's and that was due to a man who was drunk and I don't know about the other guy.  The police were quickly called and order restored. 

Oh Larry, I feel for you with those temps.    Some Summers we go over the 100 mark and one can hardly breath..  Take care of you and Pat in this heat wave you are having.  We are in the mid to high 80's right now and that is hot enough for me. 

Otherwise all is well here.  Dan has made up a list for the gal that will be doing my shopping while he is in Sturgis.    The gal that is going with him is excited also.  They will have a ball.

I thought I'd better check in.  I'm getting along fine but I don't have any energy.  I have had to blow my nose a couple of times and all is well.  A friend of Tom's has been doing some cooking for him so we have been eating OK and Dot brought over some food for us so we're doing OK in the eating department. 
I'm watching golf from Scotland and it is very windy there; scores are low.

I have a cat story - Tom came home from the hospital about midnight Tuesday (I was there until about 2:30 am) and let the cat out on the deck.  He forgot about Kendrick.  The deck is an upper deck.  When Tom got up Tuesday morning and turned on his bedroom light (he is in the lower level), the cat evidently jumped from the deck to below Tom's window and let Tom know he wanted in.  I didn't notice him on the deck when I got home that morning.  I'm just so glad it didn't rain.  He is nothing worse for wear but he does have a burr in his tail that I haven't been able to get off.

Thanks for thinking of me.  I've only posted here and in the Soda Shoppe because that's where I post most often.

Mary Ann

Mary Ann 

I am so glad that your nose bleeds have stopped.
That is a good sign that your blood is clotting
better now.   

Please take care of your self... Rest, rest,  eat and drink
so that you soon will get some of your energy back.   

Your kitty knows where he wants to be.   In the house
with you guys!!!      Thank goodness he didn't run
away.     

I wish you well,  and hope that you are
feeling more like your old self ... very soon. 

Sandy

Mary Ann . Good to hear that they got the bleeding stopped. Now have they said anything about giving you blood to take care of what you lost. Or even Vit. B12 shots?
I have 2 friends who take the same Med as you as a blood thinner. Just a scratch and they bleed so much. One had his teeth removed and was a mess. Took days before stop bleeding.
Just get rest. See your Regular Doctor.

MaryAnn, I am so glad to see you're slowly getting better. Slow is probably the best way to recover if you think about it. We're still here for you even if you can't always make it.

Sad about poor Kendrick's accidental lockout. I'll bet he had a lot to say to Tom!     In the summer, when it was hot, my dad would keep both outside doors open with just the screen doors. Well, he had Benny, a fat old Siamese that had been bullied as a kitten and wouldn't leave the house without "Mom and Dad," even at some twenty pounds.

My dad loved to put Benny out the front door, and before he could get situated in his recliner, not five feet from the door, Benny would be back in from the back door and wanting back in his lap! It was a favorite game that I think both enjoyed.

Larry yes, back in the time that we had winters with snow and cold, we also had summers where the middle months were hot, 100 to 106 at times. It wasn't bad as we had no humidity, it was pleasant. Of course, I was younger than and much more active. Now we are very lucky to hit mid-eighties with all the rain this year.

Farrah remains an enigma. Yesterday morning when we heard several sirens and then the train whistle blew, She got up on the table, stood up and put her upper legs on the glass and peered from side to side. Then a couple of hours later, she decided to spend the afternoon under the bed and attempted to run back to it each time I made a move in any way toward her.

Another reason is I think she tries to communicate with me, or I am beginning to recognise and correlate her sounds. I was on the couch and jokingly said WIN to her and she quickly dashed to the designated spot and said WIN back to me. I felt so bad about teasing her that I gave her a small handful of treats.

Food is different, it is WIN-Win and is more prompting. EUFH is if you pick her up, or she's frightened. She uses the same sounds for the same meanings, and if you make those sounds to her, she reacts as to her meaning

Okay, enough about the cat!

Joan, I've heard about Sturgis. It's a very exciting time and so much to see.

Maryann

So pleased you are home and hope you are on the mend.  Take it easy until you feel strong again.

Patricia, it is never enough about the cat.  I enjoy hearing about yours and Mary Ann's (Annie's) all the time.  It seems to scratch a need I have, since I no longer am owned by one myself.

I can't get over how tired I am.  I no longer feel so weak, but I do tire easily.  I take enough vitamins to stock a store and every doctor knows what I take and have not suggested any changes. 

The cat keeps pretty good track of me.  It seems every time I get up from my chair in the computer room, he is at his food which I have just outside the door.  And he knows when 10 pm comes because he comes in to tell me it is bedtime.

I guess I mentioned that Tom has gone to a multi-year class reunion at a restaurant near here so he won't be home until late.  I leave lights on for him.

Mary Ann

Cats do insist upon a most punctilious routine.

Good afternoon, on a very hot day.  I am also watching the Open, and there weather is awful, seems to be getting worse. Makes the gold interesting to watch.

Larry, glad Pat is able to get out on her awful, Just being able to do that, must make her feel better.

Patricia, Last winter our Red Hats did not have a regular lunch,planed but 12 of us went to the food court in the mall. we had a wide choise of eating places, do you believe over half went to MCD's .

Well since I started this post i have spent 3 hours in the ER.  I went out side to turn the water on, the metal bird feeder fell over hit me in the leg, and took a lot of skin off.  Being I take Plavix, I was bleeding all over the place. Tried to clean myself up. I did not know who to call to get me some meds. Rima my next door neighbor is in virg. Cathy across the street was not home, Diana did not answer her phone, so I called Don who lives down the street, I was just going to banage it, and he said no way, I was going to the ER, although I did not want to go.  They put 4 stitches in it, suppose to see my own doctor, and come back there in 10 days to have the stitches out. You never know where you are going to be in another hour,  June I kept thinking about you.

Hi everyone.  According to the forecast we should only get to around 92 degrees this afternoon with a 50% chance of rain.  It looked like we would have rain last night but we didn't get very much. 

It was so hot here yesterday that we decided not to go out to lunch as planned so spent the entire day at home.  Today may be the same but we will just have to see what transpires. 

Update on my broken window--the lady at the lumber company called me yesterday and admitted she had made an error in ordering and had ordered two of the size for the other person and now was reordering my window unit.  I thought that was nice of her to call me as she could just have ordered the new window for me and said nothing.  I asked if the other person could use the window I have that doesn't fit but she told me just to discard it, which I will do next week.

Joan, I try to stay out of the heat as much as possible without becoming a recluse.  It looks like we may get a small break in our weather.  I hope Dan has a wonderful time in Sturgis. 

Mary Ann, the loss of blood would certainly contribute to your tiredness.  Nice that Dot and Tom's friend are helping with meals.  However, I bet that Tom would see to it that you all don't starve as you are recovering as eating is essential to your regaining your strength.  Cat's have great survival strengths.

Sandy, Mary Ann's cat knows where the food bowl resides.  Hope you are doing well and still having some nice summer weather. 

JeanneP, taking blood thinners does create problems when you have to have some procedure done. 

Patricia, great story about your dad and the cat.  Unfortunately, we have a lot of humidity with the over 100 degree days.  It got back to 106 yesterday afternoon here.  It sounds like you are learning cat language. 

deAngel, you certainly added a little unwanted excitement to your life in the middle of your posting.  It sounds like you needed to have the wound treated as you sure don't want to get an infection.  I hope you are not in a lot of pain.

Gloria D, I know just how you feel about going to the ER, but in the long run, it is the best thing.  I hope  you are OK. 

A friend of Tom's is to come today to do some cleaning.  I just can't do it. 

Today is Tom's 59th birthday.  We celebrated last Sunday because his son, James, had his birthday on Monday, July 11.

Mary Ann

Larry, are you talking about a whole window, wood and all, or just about a pane of glass?  Whole windows costing hundreds of dollars in these parts, I cannot imagine her telling you to just throw it out!

Good moring, on another hot day.  We really need rain also

Larry, I am glad you are staying out of the heat.

MaryAnn, I hope you are feeling better.  I was not tired last night, did not go to sleep until about 2AM. Woke up at 6, but now I am tired. Guess I will just set here all day with the leg up, and of course watching golf.  My leg hurts to day, and I think it looks like a big deal, the bandage it from ankle to almost the knee.  AS I wrote in my other post: God bless my wonderful neighbors.

Good Morning from another rainy day,all the sunshine has fled before those ominous gray clouds! I knew it was happening when I woke up stiff and sore in my back and in hips this morning.

Gloria de. I'm again, sorry you were clipped by the bird feeder and certainly hope you are better soon! It sounds like something I would do, and you never know from one moment to the next, do you?

Farrah is still skittish this morning. She either sees ghosts or knows something I don't because I never know when these periods will occur. She is now inspecting the inside of her paper bag for any abnormalities that may have crept in since yesterday.

MaryAnn, I hope you are feeling much better and less tired. I know everyone is probably giving you their tips and advice, so I will refrain and will hope you recuperation is easy.

Larry, we have always been dry with low humidity. We even have sagebrush in the hills which is unusual for a wooded area I would think. I agree with MaryPage about the odd window, windows here do not come cheap!

Farrah is having either an episode or a vivid imagination. She was playing with her yellow duck in the paper sack when suddenly she came tearing out of it and off  to the bedroom, deeply growling all the way! Then she dashed back, checked the inside of the bag, deeply growled again, jumped onto the table, yipped and then off to race around the room again before settling back on the table.

I know that it is the common consensus among vets and cat experts, that these attacks are simply working off a build up of prey instinct for inside cats. So then she must have quite a lot to release! 

MaryAnn, I hope Tom's birthday was a nice one and Joan, I imagine Dan and his girlfriend are managing to entertain themselves in Sturgis!

Hello to all I've missed. Everyone have a great day!

Mary Ann, nor should you have to clean anymore.   I have a gal come in once a month to clean, haven't been able to for a while now.

I am feeling OK but not able to run any races!  I don't feel like I want to lie down, but I do sit a lot.  I also am trying to drink more water and cranberry juice.

Patricia, Kendrick has spells where he races up and down the stairs, then into the living area, then back to the stairs.  With him, I think he's bored.  He likes to go by the front storm door when it's open and look out.  If Tom is away and returns, the cat runs to the door and he senses Tom's arrival before I do.  I ate some ice cream yesterday and finished as much as there was.  Kendrick appeared beside me so I let him "lick the platter clean" which he did.  This morning I was eating people food which I don't give him but he was very willing in case I would. 

Mary, Tom's friend, did not come today but said she's be here tomorrow.  I'm not going to church tomorrow so I will be here.  She has a job so I don't know how available she'll be and she lives in Holland, a 45-minute drive from here, but I also don't think I need someone weekly.  Time will tell.

I'd say the 92-year-olds are coming apart at the seams.  We all seem to have our troubles at the same time.  I'm glad we all are taking it easy to recover.

Mary Ann