I Am Oliver's Secretary Now

Okaaaaay, now I am Ollie's secretary and he is getting his own phone messages....

Home Made

Sometimes I really do make 'real' stuff. The truth is though that I do not always mostly never take the time to stop and snap a photo of it. Lately, more truth is, I have just used my phone as a camera. Otherwise, no pictures would ever get taken around here. My camera is hooked up to a very slow computer and I just do not want to get the old thing churning and belching. But hey! I did take a photo with my camera of something I made...it is not so good a picture but it is a picture at least. Oh well. We do what we can, don't we? I made a photoshop thing to go with it just for this post. I made this card for a friend's birthday. I embossed, I chalked, I punched, I glued. I made her some ear rings to go with it. I should have taken a pix of them too but hey, that might be too much for me in one day.

Birthday Card

Photoshopped Archway

I Really Don't Know Life At All

Along about this part of every summer, I get very tired. That is why my postings have slowed. Yesterday as I was leaving work, I saw some interesting clouds and they got me to thinking.

There is an old song that I admire the words to but I do not really care for the song itself. The song was sung originally in a high, breathy female voice for which I have no appreciation, however, I do appreciate the fact that other people like her sound. ( I am one of those people whose motto should be ‘live and let live’. For example, take snakes. Take them all in fact! I do not like them and personally, do not want one near me. I really do not even want to have to look at one but I am not going out to kill one either unless it starts to do harm to me first. Then, admittedly, I will have to defend myself.) I digress though. Returning to this song analysis, as I said, it pervays some interesting thoughts. The lyrics would indicate that at some point in time, the writer looked at clouds for their beauty. “Ice cream castles in the air, feather canyons everywhere” but upon closer inspection she finds the clouds to “block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone” because she has “looked at clouds from both sides now”. These words speak to me because it is a truth that I understand. Life is an illusion. It harkens back to the words from another childhood song everyone recalls about rowing a boat (life) gently down the stream “life is but a dream”. In the end just like the singer says, it is life’s illusions that I will recall.

Home is Where The Heart Is

Just when I was about to wig out because of the hot weather, it rained again! I had just about reached my limit yesterday. At one point, honestly, the thought did occur to me to drive until I reached cooler weather. That is when I began to dream. Dream of the day when I can at least have a summer home away from home and at most completely relocate to a more moderate climate. I will not be sad to say good bye. I look forward to the adventure of a new location. It is a very comforting and soothing dream that I revel in when sweat is running down my face and soaking through my freshly ironed blouse. I do not feel at home here. I never have. Is it possible to be born in a place and never feel at home there? I answer, yes. This line of thinking came about this way. See, a few years ago, I really analyzed it as I began to get older and began making plans regarding my final wishes. I thought to myself  what should I tell whomever is left to deal with my business how to handle my final resting place? This is a morbid thought, right? But still, at some point, each of us has to face it and plan for it. Morbid yet necessary. There is no doubt; no doubt, that I wish to be cremated. But then what? Should I have my ashes strewn? Should I be placed in a columbarium? All I knew for certain is that I did not wish to be here. It is an odd thing to say but at some point, I feel something went drastically awry and I never found my way to my geographical destiny. Yet, hopefully, there is still time. Maybe nothing went awry. Maybe it is only a delayed providence. This is my hope. I hope I live to be 100 that I live the second half of my life in a cool, temperate climate. What a dream!! I see myself trekking through a densely wooded, moss covered forest. I see cool rain dripping from my face rather than sweat. I see mist rising from the dense foliage rather than dust from the dry, dusty leaves of summer. I see myself sleeping with the windows thrown wide with a soft, cold breeze cooling down my searing soul. I see myself finally being home.

Maybelline, why can't you be true?

I have been up to 'cat work' again. Honestly, 'cat work' never ends. As previously posted, I have been in search of Bella. I do wish to catch Bella just to give her a child free life. During her brief time period here on this planet, she has done her share of populating it. She needs a break. I try to explain this to her in the most poignant terms yet she stares at me like 'yeah, right, lady.' She doesn't trust me. Ouch! That hurts. But in the process of catching her, guess who I caught instead?? Two of her children, Maybelline and Eugenia. These girls have been spared the constant breeding life of their mother. I have already found Maybelline a home too!!! I will find someone for Eugenia. They are very pretty girls. Okay, back out to hunt for Bella...

Eugenia

Maybelline

The Wind Blows in a Change

I am going through a yellow phase. I loved the blue but needed a change. I find blue to be very soothing, green to be very comforting, yellow seems cheerful and summery. Yeah, it is definitely time for yellow. Outside of that, I do not have much to say. I made this earlier. I used to have a pin containing blue topaz and amethyst. It was beautiful. I wore it almost daily. In fact, I wore it so much that the clasp broke and I never got it repaired. I still have it but cannot wear it. I sometimes get it out just to look at it. I love blue and purple together. I must like flowers because it sure seems like I put them in many of these creations of mine. However, if someone had asked me if I was crazy about flowers, I would have probably said no. Do we really know ourselves as well as we think we do?

Life is a Puzzle (To Me)

I am switching topics from star gazer lilies to being an actual star gazer. I love star gazer lilies but I also love star gazing. Have you ever noticed odd little puzzles in your life or what I think of as the building blocks of mystery. For example, it is not odd for a couple of people in the same family to have the same birthday. It is not odd for your phone number to be the same numbers but different order as your house number. An oddity in my own life...all of my managers have always had the same birthday...September 29...different years but the same day. Maybe I should just go on job interviews and ask the manager what their birthday is, then, I will know if it will be a good fit or not.
I love the symbol of a heart. This is why. The sun was passing through the constellation of Scorpius when I was born. Antares, a red supergiant star is the red heart of the scorpion. During the summer months, Scorpius is extremely visible. I can stand in my front yard, early in the evenings and I see Antares shining red and true. It is my touchstone. When I see my Antares, I feel comforted. I know the order of the universe is exactly as it was designed to be. Designed using the building blocks of mystery. The building blocks of mystery to me but the building blocks of complete, perfect knowledge to the Creator.

Birds, Lilies and a Sugar Plum Too

I am still wrapped up in the birds and lilies.

 Besides thinking about birds and lilies though, I have been doing my 'cat work'. What is 'cat work' you might be asking. We have ourselves a real job cut out for us. Two doors down lives Bella. To say Bella is 'wild' is to say the sun is kind of hot. The problem is Bella keeps having kittens. Bella is beautiful but look, we cannot keep having these kittens. So my neighbor who really lives two doors down and allows Bella to mostly hang out in her back yard are doing our dead level best to capture her. I am known around these parts as the 'cat whisperer'. I can chat up a cat and get it to come to me. I can even chat up Bella, get her to lay down by me and I can touch her...well, at least I could once until I tried to put her in a trap. It was almost a success too but she nailed me good with her left back claws and almost took my arm off. I had to let go of her before my helpmate could get the trap door closed. The claws do not scare me eventhough they hurt like heck but the teeth give me real pause for concern because they can inflict a nasty infection. These days, I must say Bella is somewhat leary of me. She gives me a very wide berth because she no longer trusts me. But all I want to do is help her. I keep telling her that and believe it or not, she let me touch her again tonight. Now, on the flip side of the coin, we have been capturing the males pretty easily and releasing them back out into the neighborhood. This is how it is supposed to be done. They are marked by having the left ear clipped on the tip. I know we will eventually get Bella. Oh, did I mention that her third litter is due any day? Only recently did we get the second litter all neutered and spayed. There are two males that we know of that are still 'potent'. One is my Nigel's father and one is my Ollie's father. These are old, wise, street savy males. They know exactly how far 'arms length' is and they stay just a fraction further back than that. We have set the traps for them but they are not going to fall for 'no stinkin' traps'. Nigel's father is mean. He scares me. Normally, I am not scared of a cat AT ALL. Have you ever seen those 'Alien' and 'Aliens' movies? Remember how the juvenile aliens would attach to someone's face? Somehow I get the feeling Nigel's dad would attach to your face like that by sinking his claws into your head and not ever letting go. My name for him is Battle Cat. Believe it or not, I took his picture earlier this evening. He is beat up, worn out and so very pitiful. Mean yet pitiful. My pix of late have been of somewhat poor quality. That is because I use my phone and very rarely get the camera out anymore. Just lazy, I guess. Here is Battle Cat a.k.a. Nigel's Father. You cannot really tell it here but he has some serious bites in his neck from fighting the other old male. Sugar Plum is SCARED of this cat like I am scared of a snake. As soon as Shoog gets a whif that this guy is heading our way, Shoog scrams!

Speaking of Shoog, look at the pretty boy. I got this before Battle Cat came up. Notice Patches in the background. He is from Bella's first litter. Patches is fixed now and not a problem.

I can't go without showing a pic of my Nige and Claude. I took this back when the electricity was off for 5 days back in February due to the heavy snow falling on the power lines. Those boys know how to stay warm. I noticed when I was putting this pic on here someone's head is poking up in the lower right. It is either my Ollie or Henry.

While Disecting a Screenplay, I Found a Bird

Previously on this blog, I have mentioned that at one time I had a burning desire to be a screenplay writer. That desire morphed into something else but that is a future post. Well...earlier I was watching the old 1963 Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds".  When I was young, that movie used to scare the bejeepers out of me. Then, I remember at some later point in time, I saw it and thought it seemed stupid. Oddly enough now, I am beginning to relate to it. As you know, the movie is about the birds being hacked off because mankind is abusing the planet. As with any good screenplay, book or short story, there are subplots going on at the same time. There is the relationship between the mother and the son. There is the relationship with the former girlfriend and the new girlfriend. These things serve to muddy the waters. But still, the main thing the movie is about is that the birds are angry because of planet abuse. (Man, would they be p.o.ed now!) Alfred Hitchcock must have been a forward thinker. I mean planet abuse in 1963 was not nearly as bad as it is right now. Then, at one point in the movie, a narrow minded type man runs into the cafe and yells someone should shoot all of the birds. Isn't that always someone's solution? Kill them all? Have you ever noticed that the ones yelling the loudest are often the ones who realize they cannot back up their arguments with facts? I couldn't help but laugh at something I had never noticed before in the movie even though I have seen it numerous times. The waitress was at a table with a mother and three small children when she yells to the cook "Where are those Bloody Marys?!" I guess those kids must need a drink to settle their nerves. At least they ordered Bloody Marys which would contain some amount of juice, right? It could have been worse. They could have ordered Boiler Makers.

Changing the subject, there was something in the fireplace last night that kept Nigel very busy ALL.NIGHT.LONG. I did not think he would ever give up with the hunting and this morning, instead of being a red and white kitten, he was a red and black kitten. I tried to give him a little washing but that went over like a lead balloon. I should have made something with a cat or bird to post here but I did not. You can always count on me to take the other road.

Walking on Quicksand

The mind is a complicated, snakey mess. I say snakey because a snake might jump up and bite you. All kinds of things are all jumbled up in there. I am sure someone who knows about such things would cringe at my naive description but it is churning quicksand. Tread at your own risk. A ghost often visits me in my dreams. I just wish I could remember what he says. He may be telling me to stay away from the ice cream. He may be saying stop with the cat talk. He may be telling me to stop buying handbags. On the other hand, he might be saying buy more handbags and eat more ice cream. Yeah! That is it!

Eye for the Crown

She has an eye for the crown but does she have the heart for it? Often times, both do not go hand in hand. The current queen has both but her children do not seem to have the same, most particularly their spouses do not. You can know that if I had been dealt Diana's hand, I would have played it very differently. As my mother would say "she had the world by the tail on a down hill pull" yet threw it all away. Her hand could have been a 'royal flush', no pun intended, if she had only had the wisdom to know how to play it. Perhaps given the gift of longevity in years, she would have seen the mistake in time to rectify it. Ulitmately, her poor choices cost her, her life.
You know what bothers me about this picture below? That lady is not wearing any earrings. I cannot stand not to have earrings on; I feel naked without them. I should have put some on her but didn't notice it until I had declared it complete.

The Reflecting Flower

Oh little flower, let me be your sunshine while the gentle rain softly quenches your thirst. The promise of the remembered sun glows behind the clouds but until it escapes its watery jail, please let me be your sunshine.

Yes, I talk to flowers.

The Day Is Done

This summer is WONDERFUL with its daily deluge of cool, drenching rain. What a welcome disparity from summers past! I so enjoy my nightly respites with Sugar Plum. I think we both look forward to these times. I cannot believe the green of July! Normally by this time of the year, brown is the color of the day but not this year. I took some photos yesterday to commemorate this green year. I even found a bounty of mushrooms!
 I am so thankful for this gentle summer. Last night as I spent time with Shoog, the mists rose from the hot ground to create a scene from a mystery novel as the fog softly rose around the street lamps on the street. I was reminded of a poem by  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called "The Day is Done".

The day is done, and the darkness

Falls from the wings of Night,

As a feather is wafted downward

From an eagle in his flight.

I see the lights of the village

Gleam through the rain and the mist,

And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me

That my soul cannot resist:

A feeling of sadness and longing,

That is not akin to pain,

And resembles sorrow only

As the mist resembles the rain.

Don't wish for it; work for it

I think owls are beautiful. Plus, it is a symbol often seen in libraries as an owl stands for wisdom and also for silence. I particularly love the barn owl. The barn owl sees without seeing. Hears without hearing. That is true faith, isn't it? To see without seeing. To hear without hearing.  Once when I was outside late at night, I believe I saw an owl fly very low right over me. The wingspan of that bird was huge! It cast a shadow caused by the full moon across me. Owls are my friends as long as they are not after one of my cats. Then, we might have a parting of the ways.

I have been doing some self excavation recently. I suppose I always am in some way or another. The other day, I became very iritated with myself as for some reason I suddenly felt as if I had just thrown away years of my life. From the time I was 30 until now, I should have taken a way different path than I did and now I just feel like it is time lost. However, I am not going to wallow in that because there is no good that can come out of that line of thinking. All I can do now is make up for lost time and I will. Make hay while the sun shines. I have already begun to do that. Don't wish for it; work for it. An owl would know to do that.

The Cat-Bird Encounter

"Hey there little kitty. Would you like a worm?" asked the bird. "You must be kidding." thought the kitty. That would be ridiculous. Cats do not talk to birds, don't you know.

Travel = Eating?

In the past, I wanted to visit the Taj Mahal and the Sphinx. I still do. However, I realize now that I probably never will see these. I never want to be anywhere that I am unwanted no matter how near or far. The other day, I tuned into the Travel Channel hoping to find someplace interesting to learn just to discover that channel has changed. Mostly all that is on it these days are programs about eating. What is up with that? I do not care to see some guy stuff himself with 1000 shrimp or 80 hamburgers. And I am not talking about Tony Bourdain. He is cool. I like him. There is very little on there about travel unless you count the travel that eating very uncool guy does to get to his eating locations. It just gets harder and harder to find anything I enjoy watching on tv. If it wasn't for HGTV, I suppose I would hardly watch anything. Books are much better than tv anyway, thank heavens!

More Animal Art

Remember my piggie? I made cow art that same day and forgot about her. I am thinking about re-working my craft room, printing out some of these digi art pieces and framing them. When I do that, I will be sure to post a picture of the update here. This cow art is one with I am very pleased! It has all of the elements of my style...simple, primitive and colorful.

Conservation Ramblings

The rain we are having is wonderful! It is only 75 degrees right now! Plus, my yard looks like a lush, green carpet without having to use any of the city's water supply. That is super good. I try to conserve...water, gasoline, er, umm... money. I try to recycle. So this rain means the electricity is being used less and water is being used less. Those are both awesome things. I have some household chores that are calling out to me right now so I am off to address those things. I just wanted a little diversion for a couple of minutes so I made this little patriotic picture.

They're Gonna Wash Away

I am not sure why I made this particular piece. It is just that I am not using the pattern ladies so I opted for another model. I am really attached to that world it seems. Funny what people associate with happiness, isn't it? Once I had a surgery that I was in that state called "twilight"...not really under but not out of it completely either. I remember hearing the monitor begin to race as my heart sped up. I was having a panic attack. The doctor started talking to me asking if anything was wrong. Somehow I tried to indicate that I was fine when he told me to go to a happy place. Happy place, happy place, where is that I wondered. Suddenly, I saw a model walking down a runway wearing some lovely fashion. In my mind, I pictured an entire fashion show as my surgery continued. Is that odd? Who would think a fashion show would be someone's happy place?
I watch tv while I am making these things. There are two commercials that I really like. One is funny. It is for Orkin. A giant termite tells the homeowner that just answered the door that his car is broken down and he would like to use the phone to call his brother-in-law. He asks if their dining table is oak. I love that commercial. The second one I love the most  is for Dawn dish washing liquid. Little sweet ones are being washed in Dawn while the song "Wash Away" plays in the background. "And I got troubles, oh, but not today. 'Cause they're gonna wash away. They're gonna wash away." I so love that! I wish more people loved and cared for our planet. It is so beautiful and it is the only one we have.