Flowers for Gracie

Planted heather and pots of tulips (which won't bloom of course until spring).
I also have some cyclamen but it needs to be acclimatized before I can plant outside.

a picture of Daddy before the last round of sadness

Mosby Creek after two days of thaw

Here are some pictures of the Mosby after two days of thaw. Still a lot of frozen water along the edges.... I took these pictures where the old bridge used to be.

A walk in the park with a crashing end

I went for a walk today during my lunch break, down through the park, along the river, back up to Mill St, then back to the office. I did this walk the other day and it took me about 1/2 hour. Very nice, so I decided to go again today. Only a couple of blocks before reaching the office, there was a car accident right in front of me. An elderly couple either didn't stop for the stop sign or didn't see the pick up truck coming down the road. The truck couldn't stop in time and hit the passenger door. The car then got pushed into an SUV waiting on the other side of the intersection stop sign. So it was crunched on both sides. The elderly driver was at fault, their car got smashed, and the lady who was the passenger got hurt. She was bleeding fairly badly at the neck. I think it was from all of the broken glass. I was right there first. Several others were there but I was the only one with a phone. The lady was conscience and alert enough but needed medical attention so I called 911. I called into work as I thought I should wait for the police to arrive as I was the one who called. I called work to let them know I'd be late back from lunch.
The fortunate thing is that there was a CNA girl right there, an EMT was nearby too. The cops and paramedics were there with in minutes. So the injured lady had really good help really quick.
The guy in the pick up truck hurt his elbow but didn't want/need medical attention. His vehicle was badly damaged. He was a landscape guy pulling a trailer, the trailer got messed up too. And the guy was way shaken up.
I don't think I have ever witnessed an accident as a pedestrian on a residential street. It was rather scary. I talked to the police as a witness person. He took my full name, address, phone, birthday, description of what I saw, etc. After I talked with him, I had a full panic attack. I did real well talking with the elderly couple, 911, the guy in the truck, the cop, then had a panic attack. Hyperventilating, shaking. After it was all over. took me a while to calm down. I feel very sorry for the elderly couple. I would guess them to be in their mid 80s, or possibly older. For the landscape guy too, he probably needs his truck to get work.
Very sad ending to an otherwise lovely walk.
Fortunate for me though, there was some yummy pizza slices left over from the kids' lunch. I got a slice of it. Pizza! (say that like Homer Simpson, RRRR)
Food to make you feel better.
Did make my aqua aerobics class tonight so it's ok though. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

squash pictures

My large squash. These squashes were supposed
to be 3-5 lbs. They are a miniature hubbard type.
This one got to be 23.5 lbs! It was hanging from
grapes vines. The picture of me harvesting it was
in the rain, so I am a bit bedraggled but you can
compare the size that way.

pictures of Thomas & Spot

-Thomas coming around the squashes.
-Spot is lounging on the swing. (Rudy is
kind of in the picture.)

The log Walter was cutting up for Daddy

re:Vaccinations

The only problem is that when my kitties cry so much, so do I. But the vet said that bats which get sick with rabies do not fly right. The will fly very erratically, even for bats, and often fly near groung level. Thus they pose a tempting target for cats which hunt. All of my kitties except Zana Grey, who is just too old now, are excellent hunters. And they like to eat what they catch. I have always thought they needed rabies shots to protect from raccoons. But I could see how my kitties would catch a bat if they thought they could.
The two kitties now only need to get the rabies shots every 3 years. Still will need to get distemper shots every year. Specially since I know we've got it here.
Georgie and Zana will get shots in December. Rudy will get them in March. Trying to be the responsible kitty parent.
Thomas did impress the vets there yesterday with his large size. The tech called him a cougar. She said he weighs 16 lb 12 oz. I thought he was only 16 1/2 lbs. They also said he was not very fat. Just large. She said he gets even heavier the longer you carry him around. Too funny.

Vaccinations for Spot & Thomas

Took Spot and Thomas into the vet clinic today to get distemper and rabies shots. The vet tech made a mistake and gave them leukemia vaccination too. That was the most expensive but they didn't charge me for it. The little kitties were very scared and panicked on the ride up, especially my Spot. She cried most of the way there and back. I feel sorry for my babies getting 3 shots, but at least they are protected now.

Salsa

I have been busy today chopping veggies for salsa. I have not yet made any this year, this will be my first (and possibly only) batch of salsa. I grew a lot less tomatoes this year. But did grow more of different kinds of veggies, such as celery, winter squashes, and corn. Every year is different for the veggies. Just have to do what you can with what comes up.
However, the first quality control check says it is going to be a very delicious batch.
And i like the way the capsacin feels on my hands.........

The harvest

Harvested my first carrot! My fav veggie of course. I will be canning some spaghetti sauce soon too. I have been cooking it down and thickening it up. I also entered some canning in the Cottage Grove Fair this year. 3 first place, 4 second place, 1 third place and 3 that didn't place. Pretty good i think.

just a funny picture of Zana Grey

lunch from the garden

The walk ways in the back yard garden

step carefully

Comment moderation

I have just been Spammed! in comments. So I have selected comment moderation. All comments will now first be sent to me and I will allow or delete all comments before publication. Sorry about that. Love to all - Mar

today's flower pictures.

Front yard.
















Liatris
















tiger lilies.
















one of the newest lilies to my garden. i love this color.

Looking up at the sunflowers.

.

Kitties

Are you seeing spots before your eyes? Nope only one Spot and one Georgia. But they look a lot alike.

The kitties are seeking out some shade. Notice though, not my lawn. They were hanging out next to the garden on the neighbor's lawn.

Georgia.

Kitty updates

I have changed my mind about getting a kitten. I am just not going to get one right away. I still want a kitty to train to be held and carried around.
Zana Grey is doing much better. I have been treating her every week for fleas. She really loves being bathed too... NOT! but we are keeping the fleas off of her. Her appetite has returned. Since she has taken over sleeping in the blueberries all the time, the tweety birds have not been bothering them or eating them. Not that Zana can chase birds anymore, but the tweeties don't seem to want to take any chances.
Thomas, Spot, Rudy, and Georgia are all doing well. The wild bunch are getting more wild mostly since William left. I am starting all over again and again trying to tame them down.

.
Pictures:Georgia, Rudy & Spot, Thomas, Zana

this weekend's harvest

I have harvested the potatoes this weekend. I did not get a lot of potatoes per hill but the ones I did get are of a pretty large size for yukon gold potatoes. I do like those yukon golds. I am going to be grating some with peppers and onions and put it in the freezer. That way I can take them out this week for breakfast-quick and easy breakfast for a mid-week morning. I also harvested what few walla-walla onions I had grown. There are so few, I will not have to worry about using them up in 2 weeks let alone 2 months. {{sigh}} but at least I got a few. I thought I would be able to harvest a few ears of corn but it looks like it will be next weekend before I can do that. Still, very early corn. Green beans are coming along fairly well. We will be eating lots of beans this week. Zucchini is growing and producing nicely. This year I only planted 2 plants of zucchini so we are able to keep up with eating them fairly well. I am getting some cucumbers every few days but not enough to do pickles or relish. The peppers and tomatoes are just coming on Also harvested the last of the spring snow peas and the lettuce. The earliest apples are ready for eating too.
The really good news is I haven't shopped the produce section of the grocery store in weeks and doubt I will need to do so for months.
The kitties like the fact that I have dug the potatoes and harvested the last of the snow peas. I took out the dead/dying snow pea plants too. So now the little ones have fresh, cool dirt to lie around in.

iss fly by

Got to watch the international space station fly by this evening. Too way cool. Took all of 5 minutes to come over the horizon and zoom by and disappear. Tried to take a picture, but it mostly just came out darkness. Still way nice to watch it go by.
We tried hitchhiking, but perhaps they did not see us.

4th of july parade

William

For those who do not know. My William was killed last night. I have gone to the nurseries for plants for his grave. The sixth kitty to have died since last year. I am so sad. Bad things have been happening over and over again. I am not going to get me another baby. It hurts way too much losing them.

lilies and critters

The pink lilies are the ones that I will be dividing this fall for Trish and Jena Mikal. The other are critters are in the garden, and one of William waking up.

zoo animals

zoo pics