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.