You think?

You should defragment this volume. You really should!

The cobbler's children have no shoes. The computer worker never cleans her hard drive. Goodness. I did a lot of cleaning this week-end but the house is still a mess. Except for the kitty litter area. That is clean. We are making progress there and Titten is behaving herself. That is, until I get the both of them (Titten and Mr. Tibbs) fixed in November. Let's see how they react to that procedure.

November will be here before I know it. I have the first week-end of October in Columbus to help my nephew with a cardiac catheterisation and the Fall Festival I go to every year and a Home Interior Party. The second week-end we will be visiting relatives in WV and touring New River Gorge (before their BIG week-end) - I am really hoping to get some great pictures of the fall foliage down there, the third is a 75th birthday party out of town and the 4th week-end is... Oh, nothing yet! Well, October looks to be one crazy, busy month!

Ugh. Deep breath. Ready, set, GO!

Saving

Time to save some folders

It has been about a month since I saved my recent photos and files to my external hard drive. I think I almost locked my system up by saving too many folders at one time. I separated them over my desktop and snagged a photo of them using the wonderful free program snagit. Well, it used to be free. When I first found it about ten years ago, it was free. I have an old copy that is limited in what it does, but it does exactly what I want it to.

The kittens received their booster shots today. I also got them their rabies shots. Since the little one (Titten) has been having some bowel problems the vet treated both of them for coccidia and we have another dose of meds to give them tomorrow. Better safe than sorry and it only cost $8 per kitten.

We do not feed the cats any milk or people food. I think they ate some crumbs from some homemade chocolate chip cookies two weeks ago and that is about the extent of it. Not that they don't want human food. They try their best. They are learning the house rules. Mr. Tibbs will eat Sable's dog food if I leave it out. Sable is learning to eat quicker these days because all food gets put away, now.

This is a rare free week-end. I was supposed to go with my sisters to an alley rally, but I said no. I have something for the next four week-ends in a row and I need this one to catch up on housework and "me" time. Once October hits it is run, run, run. I hope to get the grass mowed also. It is getting pretty thick.

We have the one little pumpkin that stopped growing and turned orange when the connecting vine was killed by me. I have to push it up and out of my yard so I can mow. We have another pumpkin growing and the vine has survived longer. It is a bit bigger than the first one. I keep looking out for others, but so far that is it. I guess I'll have to purchase the rest.

Photo Friday's challenge this week is: Comfort.

Torrent

Rustic red barn

If that is indeed a hex sign, it is a simple design. I liked the contrast of the rustic red barn against the bright green grass. This was taken today on my drive.

I went to 8 schools today. Most of them I have never been to. I believe I have been to about two of them - many years ago. I know my older sister taught at one and took me with her on the last day of school. I think it was in the early 70's.

I most certainly picked the wrong day to go. I read the paper this morning. They are on the verge of a teacher strike. I met up with some very unhappy people today. And, they didn't take to me very well. After 12 years of providing service to my area schools, I am certainly not used to people looking at me with suspect in their eyes. I called each and every school and informed them this morning that I would be stopping in today to get the serial number from our equipment. And, still I was treated like the enemy. Except for the last two. The second to the last was a Career Center and is not involved in the teacher strike. The very last one I timed my visit with a torrent of rain so forceful there was nothing but pity in their eyes for me.

It was raining so hard when I was in this tiny town I actually thought that perhaps they were getting a mini tornado. I almost skipped it. But, I had 8 schools on my notebook paper and I couldn't stand to be this close and not get the serial number of the last one on my list. I could have driven back to the school on a sunnier and much prettier day, but since Mr. Joe Taxpayer pays for my mileage and my time, I don't care to waste it. So, I got soaked to the skin.

And, I got a migraine. My daughter and I noticed a few days ago that my windshield appears to be covered with some filmy oily substance. The wipers would only smear it. I felt like I was looking through blurry glasses the entire time I drove today. Certainly a headache in the making. All is well, now. I took Imitrex around 4 p.m. and it kicked in by 5.

Moody Lake

The gray sky is reflected in the water

The lake was a bit moody today when I stopped at lunch for this photo opportunity. It was a nice day, a bit warm. The sun did come out towards the end of my shoot, but I kind of like the moody ones better.

I realized that yesterday's photo post of the trotter looks like he is wearing a witch's hat on his head. Ack. I think I have been looking at too many Halloween decorations.

Well, it's back to kitty training and my book. All very time consuming. Humph.

Trotting Number Seven

Warming up before the race

Here is a photo of one of the trotters we saw at the fair on Sunday. I admire the discipline the horses have as they trot around the field and do not break into a canter or a gallop. There were plenty that broke this year. At least one in each race.

I have had my nose stuck in a book for days. I finished "The End of The World As We Know It" and am currently absorbing "Final Analysis". Dishes, kitty litter and trash got done but that was all. Heh heh. It is a great way to pass the time while re-introducing our littlest feline to the litter box. Gently and slowly so she doesn't fear me or the box. No trauma during this important time. I shut us both in the downstairs laundry room with a fresh clean litter box after she eats until she realizes what it is she is supposed to do and where she is supposed to be doing it. She is becoming quite affectionate with me because of our bonding time together.

Miserable

Doesn't he look just miserable?

This photo was not taken at the fair. Believe it or not, I didn't get any animal photos there. Just derby shots and harness racing. My daughter is miserable with a bad cold/flu bug. Could be the one I had a month or so ago.

I sat on an aluminum stadium bleacher seat with no back from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. yesterday with about 2 ten minute bathroom breaks. I actually thought I would be more miserable than I am. I don't feel too bad other than tired. And my arm hurts from holding my camera up while I took videos of the derby heats. The vans were funny. I'll shorten the videos to just the good parts and try to post them here. They are grainy, but I think you can make out what is happening. I was a good distance away.

I can't understand why folks take small children and infants to these events. It has always bothered me that my county fair holds the demolition derby the last day of the fair (which is always a Sunday) and they start it at 7:30 p.m. The kids have school on Monday. Someone told me they do it to keep the kids away. Oh, hell. That bothers me even more.

I never took my daughter because it was a school night. This was our first year. She is sixteen years old. We left before the last "free-for-all" heat. We got home after 11 p.m. There were three tiny babies around us. For the most part they slept. There were about 8 small children (between 3 and 7). Now, how fun was it for these kids? Not very. They were cranky and tired because if you want a seat you have to get there hours before the event. They were bored. They picked on one another and got smacked many times by their parent. They annoyed everyone around them by kicking their feet on the aluminum bleachers. They stomped up and down the stairs almost falling. They kept pulling other folks' blankets off the bleachers and knocking drinks over because they were tired of sitting still.

The funny thing is if the fair was trying to deter the parents from bringing restless kids, it has kind of backfired on them. Because what kids come to the event? The ones who have parents who don't give a damn that they get enough sleep the night before school and are a tad bit on the negligent side anyway. They don't care if their kids are a nuisance to other folks around them. These are the kids who are starving for attention and if they can't get the good kind, they will act up and get negative attention. And, they do.

Last day of the fair

This ride turns them upside down

We are off today to enjoy the last day of our county fair. We are looking forward to watching harness racing and the so very popular demolition derby tonight.

I never was a fan of riding the more dangerous rides at a county fair. Do you ever "look" at the people who man those rides? Smiling parents shuffle their children onto those kidde rides and the person taking the tickets looks like a prison inmate from San Quentin. I am stereo-typing here, but I have yet to see a decent looking person controlling a small town carnival ride.

I can still remember putting my daughter on a ride and the guy taking the tickets had eight sucker bites (a.k.a. hickies or hickeys) on his neck. Well, maybe seven. I lost count because I was counting fast and trying hard to wipe the look of disgust off of my face. Ew. I think that was her last little kidde ride. She cannot stand rides, so I don't worry about their safety any longer.

I cringe when I see mobs of teens standing in line to get their thrill rides in for the evening. I just wonder who inspects the rides, if they have a hangover when they are inspecting them, how much they get paid, how much they may get paid under the table, and how often do they make an appearance.

Please accept my apologies to any carnival employees, state inspection personnel or any relative and/or friend of said so people who may be reading. The post is purely my personal opinion and is not intended for statistical value or manifestation in any way shape or form.

Shady Dirt Road and an Amish "cult"

Why did I drive around the county on back dirt roads?

I gravitate to that lush drive between school buildings. Something to take me away from technology, wires and electronics. I can see me retiring among the Amish. Until I was made aware of this story.

This is the same group that is connected to the Amish guy in the garage at my sister's place. So, maybe retiring to that community is not in my best interest. Things certainly can escalate to a tragedy here. This sheriff is well-known for his unique ways of handling the community. You could say he has made a lot of enemies. However, I do agree with some of what he is saying in this video.

Quite an interesting development. Especially the way he keeps referring to this group as a "cult".

Redneck Bus Stop

On a back road in Ohio

I took over 400 photos today and I debated and sorted and finally realized that I just had to post this one first. The others are nice. There is some beautiful scenery on the back roads in that neck of the woods, but this one is just worth a thousand words.

Below is a map of the route (in red) that I drove today. That bus stop is on a back road somewhere close to where I pasted the smiley face on the map. Starting out I travelled west on Rt. 36 past West Lafayette. Turned North to Keene, took a shortcut (?) over to Warsaw. It was along one of the Township roads that I saw the setup. I had to laugh and take a picture.

Again, it was just a gorgeous day. The sun was streaming through the trees and the air was just crisp and fresh. I did get a monster of a headache from the sun shining through the trees. Small price to pay for the beauty of it all.

The Dover Dam

Morning sun over the Dover Dam

Hey, as long as it's sunshine streaming over the dam and not water, eh? I was on my way to a school the other day and stopped to snap a photo. The water was way down and was quite ugly, so I turned the camera up instead.

My daughter went to the county fair with friends this evening and I made a much needed trip to the store that is taking over the world "Wally World". Nastradamus or some seer predicted that the anti-Christ would be born in 1962. Well guess when Wally World was founded? Hey, I'm just sayin'.

Cat and dog food and kitty litter. We are having potty-training problems with the wee one. I bought her some kitten food. I am thinking the adult cat food was a bit too strong for her. She does not seem to be growing and she has constant bathroom problems. Not the best thing to be dealing with. She started out fine for the first couple of weeks. I moved the litter box downstairs and I guess I'll have to move it back into the back bedroom and try a gentler approach with her. The little sh.. uh, varmint.

Standing out

Blue building

Today I didn't get to drive anywhere but to the office and back. This photo is from yesterday's excursion. I like the folks who dare to paint their home or garage a vivid color. One that will stand out. You could tell folks, "I live in the blue house. You can't miss it. It is blue. It is beyond blue." At the time I took the photo (a drive-by shoulder shot), I didn't realize that there was actually what appears to be a house on the one side. I thought it was an abandoned business of some sort. No vehicles were around the building. We have quite a few purple houses in our town along with a few green and yellow ones that stand out from the rest. I like that.

I went to the library at lunch today. I picked up a book that I nearly finished this evening. I forced myself to put it down and focus on other things that needed my attention. The book is "The End of the World As We Know It: Scenes of A Life: by Robert Goolrick. It is pretty good in the fact that I like to read about others' lives and how turbulent it was while they were growing up. It sounds a lot like "The Prince of Tides" by Pat Conroy. I read the book after I watched the movie. I was dismayed at the many changes the movie made. Anyway, back to "The End..." I like books like this. Why some of the children in a family remain functional in life and why some stumble along. There is a lot to birth order and how children turn out in life. As always, there are exceptions to every rule. It makes for great reading, though.

Fresh

Country

I wish you were with me today. I can show you photos and I could take a short video I suppose so you can hear the sounds. I'd have to turn the car motor off and travel into the field or woods some so that I wouldn't pick up the sound of any other automobiles. But what I can't give you is the smell or the feeling of the sunshine country fresh air. And no, I don't mean that country smell. This is the real fresh smell of September in Ohio when it cools the heat of summer off the land and the air is fresh and the sky is blue and there is pure delight when you breathe. That is what I want to share. If we can only bottle it.

There is a candle scent you can purchase called fresh cut grass. Have you taken a whiff of that one? If they can nail that scent down, I wish they could get this fresh country air that I experienced today. Pure heaven. It just took me to another place. A happy place.

I don't know if anyone has noticed but I seem to be missing a once popular topic in my blog these days. It's the "m" word. Shhh. I am not real sure why the decrease. If I happen upon a reason, I'll let you know what it is.

The county Fair - Day 1

Two girls riding the Umbrella ride (Paratrooper)

I did the right thing and disguised the two little girls. They are strangers to me. I am not sure what or who they were looking at. I used my zoom to get in closer to get the picture.

We went today (the first day of the fair) to see the Motocross racing. Some of those kids are so small it is amazing. I hate it when they get hurt. There were many wipe outs, but few injuries. My nephew raced for years. He was very good. He had the perfect build for dirt bike racing. He is somewhere in North Carolina working. He has broken so many bones he sets off metal detectors in the air ports. Just kidding. Maybe.

I was feeling good, so I ate deep fried vegetables with fair lemonade. Then, I wasn't feeling so good. Very filling. It did keep me from eating anything else, though. The kids continued with root beer floats and elephant ears while I just turned my head away from the sweet foods.

I purchased passes for four days, so we are going back on Thursday evening and over the week-end. I have to get some photos of the animals. I like watching the trotters, but I don't know if that is a good thing. Is it inhumane? I know that I don't like to watch them when it is 90 degrees out and they are running. But, it is beautiful weather this week. I am beginning to wonder about any sport that uses whips to make the horse go faster. I am torn about this.

This week-end was strange. I turn around and I feel that I missed it altogether. I didn't seem unusually busy, but I notice that I didn't post. I didn't do a lot, but I must have been preoccupied with something. I did watch Fracture. I liked it.

You can't see me!

Sable smiles.

This photo looks to me like my dog is thinking "I have my eyes closed, so you can't see me!" Or, it just may be that she is conditioned to close her eyes each time I point that little black box at her because the flash hurts her eyes. Poor overexposed puppy.

My co-worker in her infinite wisdom read an e-mail to me yesterday that she received. You may have received it, too. It is spam. I sighed to myself as she read it. You also can read it here here and here. She really believes this stuff. She was amazed by it. I quit wasting my time trying to reason with her long ago. No, in fact - I never did try to reason with her. I know an airhead when I see one.

September Sunset

Neil Diamond had his "September Morn" I figure I can have my September sunset. I stayed late after work and decided to drive to the top of the hill at our town park and get more photos of the sunset through the pine trees found there. Even though the weather was stunning and beautiful, there were very few folks out and about. I did run into someone I knew and chatted for a few minutes. By then, the moment to capture the sunset was gone. Ah, well. I have lots of this particular view, anyway.

My vacation time for October has been approved. Some family members and I are going to visit relatives in WV. We have an on-line calendar at work where we are to post our vacation and meetings. I have mine posted for vacation time. I just know my manager is going to schedule a meeting on one of the days that I am gone. I can feel it. He never checks the calendar to see who is going to be out that day. Hey, I just thought of something. Maybe he does check. And, when he sees that I am not going to be there, he schedules a meeting. I never thought of that! LOL! Well, bust my buttons. Now, I have a complex!

Morale

He was very proud of his sand castles.

He was a stranger to me. I was walking past him on a beach of Lake Erie and I asked him if I could take his picture. The girl in the background is laughing. I don't know if she is related to him or not. He was so proud of his work as he had every right to be. I hope that I boosted his morale.

We've all been there. Somebody says something that sends our morale plummeting. Down to the depths of hell. Not much can help after we have been stung like that. It happened today. Not to me. To a co-worker (friend). He had a serious heart attack around the New Year. He returned to work in April.

Blaming it on the rain

Abstract cake photo

Believe you me, this photo is much nicer than the actual cake. It was that bad! I have never had icing turn out that runny. I am blaming it on the rain!

My daughter finally got a job at class today. She was to make a collage of four famous authors for the literature class and it needed to be large enough to place onto a cedar chest. ??? Got me.

She was telling me that the teacher does not teach the students anything about copyright laws. I have always told her to respect them. She knows all the URLs that offer free photos or those for educational purposes, non-profit and other stuff like that. I reminded her that we signed an AUP and not to take any chances. We don't need that thrown in our face after all we have been through. Who knows? This sick-o teacher may be setting her up.

Do I sound paranoid? Maybe, I am. That is what life has taught me. That is what I have become. I lean on the side of caution. Don't trust them. You get burnt. Hopefully, my daughter will have better experiences and a more positive turnout.

Kittens are doing well. Soon, they won't be kittens any longer. I have had to step up the litter control considerably. Ugh! That is to be expected. I fixed the hose on my Shop Vac. I got the (lazy) bright idea to use my Shop Vac to suck up my grass clippings a week or so ago on my back yard sidewalk. Whoops. Everything was going along just fine, until I hit a big patch. A big lump lodged like solid rock in the middle of the hose. I could push it one way with the broom handle and then from the other end. Finally, I began squeezing the hose until I worked it out. It took me a while. I felt like I was pushing a rat out of a snake.

I am hoping to post a little video of the two kittens roughing each other up before they get too old to be cute. They are quickly getting tired of one another. The other cats still keep their distance. Sable stepped on the little one (Titten). Just rolled her end over end. The big galoot.

Lazy week-end

I tried to teach my daughter not to wear stripes with dots.

But, you know teenagers. She will wear the opposite of anything I advise. At the butterfly conservatory in Niagara, not only the spotted butterflies were attracted to her headband, but as you can see, the striped ones also. This is the one we had to have the worker remove. He used a soft piece of felt to lift the winged diurnal insect off.

I was very lazy this week-end. I watched a lot of movies. My favorite out of the bunch was a tie between Georgia Rule and The Contract. Both very different movies. I did not expect Georgia Rule to have that story line. And I like most anything with John Cusak and Morgan Freeman in it and when they are in the same movie, it delighted as well as entertained.

I was disappointed in The Last King of Scotland. Okay, maybe disappointed is not the correct word. I don't like detailed torture and bloody scenes. Just let our imaginations figure out what happened, they don't have to be so graphic about it. It did inspire enough curiosity in me that I researched the story line on the Web. I know more about the background and the history. Which in fact, is a good thing. If not for the movie, I would be ignorant of the situation.

And, for fun, I watched Blades of Glory with my daughter. It wasn't bad, and I have to be in that teenage/young adult mindset to go with the humor they put in the movie. We laughed out loud in a couple of places. That is a good thing.

It rained here Friday evening and all day yesterday. It is still raining. We have a cook-out later this afternoon. My daughter made a cake (from a mix and with my help). I will be showing her how to make frosting (from scratch), next. I suppose her helping curiosity has run out by now, though. I'll probably be flying solo on the icing of the cake. Until it's time to lick the bowl. Yum.

I want one!

I did NOT take this picture!

I did NOT steal their souls. My sister did. She said somebody told her they didn't mind. Uh huh. Meanwhile, I called another sister today. She had to end the call -someone was at the door. I waited about ten to fifteen and called her back. A deep baritone answered. (Huh?) "Hello?" he said. I stammered. "Hello, is (my sister's name) there?" The deep baritone, "Who?" I was convinced I had the wrong number, even though I used my cell phone's speed dial and rang her up by name. I repeated the question. Deep baritone "I'm the Amish guy in the garage."

Wow! My sister has an Amish guy in the garage. I SO want one! How does she rate? So, she has been holding out on us, huh? Sigh. Could you imagine what my garage could look like with an Amish guy in it? Oh, the brilliance of it. The organization. The MUSCLE!

She had a chance to explain later. He came to use the telephone. The one at their saw mill was not working. Still, you think the guy would have said "I'm her neighbor, I'm just here to use the phone." But no, he is and will forever be "The Amish guy in the garage."

You've got the cutest little...

Baby Face

I am back to reading and studying html.

Such as:

• Sunday


• Monday


• Tuesday


• Wednesday


• Thursday


• Friday


• Saturday

and:

    This paragraph

       ..........   and this sentence.....

will go .............

          wherever.... I tell them to go!

It's fun.

The pool cake

I didn't get to taste it, but it sure looked yummy. I thought this cake was very precious because of the time the Mom took to make it for her 2 year old boy. She said she got the idea out of Parents magazine.

With the blue icing just the perfect color for pool water, and what looks to me like miniature marshmallows to form the bumper around the edge, the cake is ready for folks to dive right in. (Pun intended). Mmm mmm.

The barrel train

All aboard!

The kids loved it. The last barrel had a flag holder attached, so I imagine the builder entered the little train in parades now and then. A couple of the children (including the birthday boy) were too timid to ride the train.

Nothing was said to my daughter about her hair today. I just want her to learn Graphic Arts so that we can plan a future for her. Come on. Let's get past this dress code issue. Others did not change their hair color and I am miffed about that. Let's just put this behind us and move on. Is it a power issue do you think? They can't control anything else in their life, so they get obsessive about students' hair color?

Glee

Little girl on a water slide

My family must be tired of each other. Nobody had a cook-out this holiday week-end. If they did, they kept it very simple. I had plans to go to a friend's cook-out. Her grandson was turning 2 and her son and his wife were up from Biloxi, MS for a few weeks and decided to have a get together.

There were kids all over the place. It makes me realize what low producers my family members are. My friend's nephew built a little train for the kids to ride on. He made it out of barrels. The barrels are laid on their side and he cut out a section for the seat, put them on wheels, locked them together and pulls it with a tractor. It is really neat. I'll post a photo of it soon.

Some of the children relished the water slide and jumped right in. Others held back. Some parents tried to force their children to go on it, which just resulted in a crying child. The event was held at a small park and there were swings, sliding boards and a merry-go-round. Now, there's a piece of playground equipment you can have. I get sick just watching that thing. Ugh!

There was so much food. I realize that with each family get together we all tend to make or bring the same stuff. When you go to a new get together you get to sample and taste all kinds of new foods. Yum! This family brings food in tubs and roasters! We left in the late afternoon when one branch of the family started shoving each other's faces into pieces of cake. There were about five cakes, but I can't see wasting food like that when somebody else took the time, money and trouble to make it. The Mom of the little birthday boy had made a "pool cake" made out of cookies and such. She got the idea and recipe out of Parents magazine. I'll post a photo of it later, too.

My daughter wasn't feeling well. I really hope she does not get that nasty cold that I had last week. Well, tomorrow we get to see what the school says about her hair. Since that school is one where I install, maintain and setup equipment in, I am scheduling a maintenance day there tomorrow. I really need to check on their router, you know? I am a little bit concerned about the CRC errors on the Fast Ethernet port out there. Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Let's see them refute that. I also need to go right about lunch time for the students so Mama Bear can cast a discerning eye over the students in the cafeteria for any offenders of the strict hair code. Damn straight. Let's play some hard ball. I'm ready.

The new red

Not sure what is going to happen when the school sees this color. It always comes out blaring at first, it will fade. We are having a hard time keeping the blond from absorbing the red color and turning a faded pink. This is a more natural shade of red. I believe it was called copper red. My daughter wanted the violet red, but saw it to be a bit too purple. The stylist said that we really shouldn't touch her hair for two months after this round. I agree.

I have come to name the gray kitten Mr. Tibbs. My daughter still calls the orange one Titten. I call her Buttercup. I've also thought of Marmalade. Both nixed by my daughter. Regardless of what their names are, the kittens are a riot. They play with everything. It is so fun to see the romping and carrying on that they do around the house. They have come close to breaking things, though. I'm not exactly thrilled about that. My two first cats (Casper and Jasper) are getting used to them. We have seen Jasper playing with Mr. Tibbs.

Poor Moose is more isolated than ever. She barely comes out of the basement at all. I will try to find the time to go down there and give her more loving. But, when I do my big baby Casper comes storming down there and it just makes him all the meaner towards Moose. Sigh. Why can't we all just get along? Sable is also all dejected from all the attention the kittens are getting.

Moose threw up again today. I am wondering if she eats too fast because she is so nervous and afraid. I hate to think of what any of them went through before their life with us. Back in 1982 my sister caught a little boy swinging a cat around by it's tail. She went off on him. I also recall some co-workers laughing and one saying they used to bury cats with just their heads above ground and run over them with the lawn mower. Or tie their tails together and hang them over a clothes line. I wish I had the mouth that I have now on me back then. I'd give them good ol' boys a piece of my mind. I can only hope they were making it all up in some sick way to get a reaction out of me.

I have a cook-out tomorrow. I've made my pineapple pudding cake to take. My daughter thinks that she is getting my bad cold I had last week. I hope not. If she does, I hope it is a very mild case of it. It is not an experience I ever want to go through again, I especially don't want my daughter to suffer.

Hey there country bumpkin

How do you like my green pumpkin?

We can all thank our lucky stars I didn't pursue writing songs, eh? I didn't plant this vine. It grew of it's own free will. I do put pumpkins on my patio in October, so a seed must have found its way to the ground and nature took its course. As nature will do. It has taken over the front of my patio and threatened to take over the side. It is currently in a war with my newly planted moon flower on the East side of my patio. The moon flower is not giving way.

A few more little pumpkins have started here and there, but they die off. Probably because I keep sweeping the vine up and out of the yard, thus crushing or twisting the vine. I am surprised this one got as far as it did. I don't see me having a great bounty for decorating with.

I missed an opportunity to go with family to Amish Charm today. From the photos my sister sent it looks like they had a lovely time. I am still hacking (coughing) pretty hard. Today I did what a lot of folks believe in. I sweat out my cold. I mowed the grass, I raked, I swept and I am exhausted. I was sweating something awful. And the good clean air that my lungs did breathe, couldn't have hurt me any, either. I took my time. It took me twice as long to mow. But, that was mostly because it hasn't been mowed in so long.

Tomorrow my daughter is getting her red part in her hair re-colored. Oh, I know. I went up and down and inside out trying to figure out what I was going to do. I even did "this". Oh, I am wicked. But in all reality, her hair looks horrible. It does not look like the picture in the above link at all. (I planned to take a recent photo of my daughter's hair and post it, instead.) Fact is, I have not gone "live" with that URL yet, anyway. Since they made the remark about her hair, she has been washing it in very hot water in an attempt to get the red to fade quickly. The end result being, it is a very faded red color.

So, we go tomorrow to see what damage control the hair stylist can come up with and a more "natural" shade of red. However, I am still amused at how the Administrator came up with the color "fuchsia" for her hair. My daughter wishes she could have fuchsia in her hair! The salon won't do those "wild" colors. They can't guarantee the color will remain. They actually call that red a natural color. Whatever, I am tired of the subject, as I am sure so are you.

The kittens are adjusting very well. They still need to learn a few fundamentals. Stay off the dining room table. Do not get under my feet when I am walking. Do not climb up my living room curtains. (Already snagged, sigh). One day, when I do not have any pets, I am going to have beautiful carpet, beautiful drapes, beautiful furniture, nice smelling house.... aw, who am I kidding? I am the cat lady.