Short glimpses into the life of a squirrel - 6/2/24

This has been a wonderful year for red squirrels. I have a few babies that have been coming to hang out with us and it is lovely! I have a bird feeder hanging up on the tree and as the birds drop the sunflower seeds the squirrels close in.

This little guy lets me get way too close. I love it because I can see the details of his body so much better when I'm closer. Just beautiful!

Here is one of the siblings chattering at me from the clothesline. This one is a little bit more fearful of me so it is constantly chattering at me in the hopes of that I will leave.

Looking forward to all of their little furry souls coming back tomorrow for a snack and some sun.

Black Throated Blue Warbler

I have really been enjoying the bird feeder this year and here is a bird I've never seen before! She was loud and proud!

The Sound of Squirrels

There is a small family of red squirrels currently living in my shop. The little babies do not show very much fear in my presence so I've been able to get decently close. However they are more than willing to yell at me if I want to go into the shed itself. They are really adorable! I am so grateful to be able to hear the sound of squirrels chittering again. When Minion used to be able to get out of the house more often he would try to kill any squirrel he could find. For a few years I couldn't hear much chittering at all. I'm so grateful the ecosystem was able to bounce back a little bit!

Eclipse Day post 2 - after the event

The best I could do at 98% totality and just a smartphone.

Eclipse day- post 1

The sun and moon without glasses- 2:31 pm EST

Ice Storm in New England - 3/24/24

These are just a few images from my place several hours after the ice storm stopped. It was warm enough that large pieces of ice had already started falling off the trees and everything looked sooo beautiful. Several of the trees were bowed over almost to breaking point due to the ice build up so i am so glad that it melted fairly quickly! I was lucky that I was only without power for 20 hours. I am so grateful I didn't have to drive in it!

First ladybug of the year!

This made me sooo happy. I love these little guys. I guess spring is really almost here!

February Squirrels

I have been so lucky that the squirrel population has been slowing recovering after the horrible massacre a few years ago. I have been doing everything that I can do to help the population regrow including keeping the cats inside- I should have always made that a higher priority and I am glad that I finally have-and making sure that there is lots of food available. THe local squirrels have started to really pay attention to my birdfeeder and I leave food on the ground so that the squirrels can get the food without continueing to destroy the hanging feeder. There is still a small amount of snow here, but all the birds and squirrels seem to appreciate the extra help as spring starts to show its warmer and wetter "head."

Many of the grey squirrels look like they have not missed any meals, but I really want to feed them because the population has really not bounced back yet- it's still too 'quiet' during the summer.

I've seen a few red squirrels out there as well so hopefully I can hear more squirrel chatter this summer. That would be great! I would enjoy that very much.

In winter, sometimes summer friends stay to feast...

I love having chicadees and nuthatches on my feeder all year. It's really just a beautiful thing to witness. It reminds me that I am not alone in my attempts to survive the winter and we will all do our best to get through it together. That's all we can do. <3

Some of these wee birds have become aclimated to me and will let me get a little closer than they probably should. I admit that I discourage it so that they will flee/fly away from my cats if they ever get out.

Soon Christmas will be here and possibly more snow, but I am lucky enough for clear weather often enough to feed the birds.

Be safe and warm if you can friends. Hopefully spring will soon be here. :)

Gratuitious Hand Post for Examples

Roccu accurately expressing my feelings about today ....

I adore her! I needed this smile today.

Surgery Update 2

Things are going great! Here is a picture of my foot when they took off the cast.

Here it is now...

So things are doing well. I'm really grateful. :)

Salem and His Wonky Eye

Today was a little bit of a different day. Lately I spend most of my days resting to make sure that my foot and ankle are healing well from the surgery. I have an appointment to get my cast off in 2 weeks and I'm hopeful it will be healed up enough that I can do that and won't need to get another cast put on. So I spend my days resting and doing miscellaneous things that I can do while sitting with my foot up.

Today I realized fairly quickly that one of my cats was having a problem with his eye. Salem has chronic respiratory disease and so it is very easy for him to catch different infections due to it. I was able to make an emergency appointment with one of my local vets and get him in and he currently has drops to help his eyes feel better. If his eye doesn't feel better by Thursday, then I will have to take him back in.

The major problem today was getting him into the vet. I'm not allowed to put any weight on my foot and so finding a way to get to the shed to get the cat crate, then getting it back to the house and getting the cat into it, and then getting the box with Salem in it to the car was going to be a nearly impossible task. I did manage to get the case out of the shed and into the house while using my crutches. However, getting Salem into the box and to the car required full weight on my foot. The wonderful staff at the veterinary clinic took care of carrying him from the car and throughout the clinic as needed and then got him back to the car. Then I had to put the weight on my foot to get him back into the house.

I'm pretty sure I did not re-injure it and it doesn't feel nearly as bad as I thought it would. So yay for that! Salem looks like he's doing a little better and I'm glad I took him because he clearly needed it. However I thought it prudent to spend the rest of the day on my back with my foot up and I have done that. I'll make sure I baby the ankle more tomorrow to make sure that I take good care of it. I'm glad that it was healed up enough that I didn't hurt myself doing what needed to be done today. I'm hopeful that this will not have to happen again. I was able to make arrangements with a friend to help me on Thursday if he has to go back in to get a different antibiotic. Otherwise both of us are resting this evening and looking forward to tomorrow.

Happy Easter

Today is a most unusual Easter for me. Usually I'm extremely thankful to have Easter as a day off of work. Usually it is a day to rest after I've worked so hard for weeks and weeks and weeks. Today I start Easter fairly well rested because I've been able to rest since my surgery and I haven't worked for days on end. I haven't taught CPR and I haven't gone to the pharmacy. I've just rested. My body feels it and I feel rested even though I'm not sleeping well. In fact, I'm looking forward to a day with family because I feel rested enough to enjoy it and enjoy their company. I have so much to be grateful for today. I'm grateful for my Savior and his sacrifices on my behalf. I'm grateful for my family and friends and their sacrifices for me too.I am grateful for so many blessings many of which I either do not remember or do not acknowledge. There is so much to be grateful for on this day. Happy Easter to all and may all have a beautiful day no matter what you're celebrating today.

Surgery Update

Yesterday was a pretty big day for me. It was two weeks after surgery and I got to go in and get the splint off and see what was going on underneath it and get a cast. I've never had a cast before so I was quite surprised by how many different colors they had - even camouflage and a pastel mix -and I finally settled on a light blue in the hopes that it would be a little bit flattering. My toes look like they're peeking out of a beautifully color-coordinated bed... Which certainly doesn't happen in my real bed ever. 😃



The incision and suture marks look surprisingly clean and everything appears to be healing pretty well. I was able to get the sutures out and they think I might even get my cast off a little early which I'm excited about. Here are the images of the incision below.

I still have plenty of time to rest and I spent most of the rest of yesterday just listening to 90s music. Matchbox Twenty and Barenaked Ladies help keep me sort of calm and sitting when I want to move around and be twitchy. In fact, I'm pretty much doing a 90's marathon and reading today. I will confess I'm getting a little tired of being on the couch all the time and I'm looking forward to being able to be a little bit more active-it's even harder with the ADHD that makes we want to be everywhere and use the time much more productively. I think the cats are looking forward to me being a little bit more active as well. Even they are getting bored with me just hanging out.so the four-week countdown begins and hopefully I won't have to have it responded again. Let's see how things go.

The Day After Surgery

I've been laying in bed resting all day. The surgery on my ankle went pretty well and now I just have to rest and try to keep as pain free as possible. I have lots of company from the cats and my ex and Bug have been taking really good care of me. They've made me wonderful meals and they have cleaned the house.they have also done the things they've needed to do was just giving me the time to rest and just enjoy their company. I'm grateful for how well everything is going and I'm even grateful for the pain I feel now because I know that it will lessen. Hopefully this surgery will stabilize things up enough that I'll feel even less pain than I did before the surgery. That's the plan anyway.

So for the next two weeks I need to rest up in my splint and then I'll get to go for a recheck and we'll see what's going on then. I'm looking forward to it.

The Day Of Surgery

It's done, I'm home and resting. Everything is well.

Mormonism Tucked in Fiction

I'm currently wending my way through the novels of Reginald Hill with Andrew Danziel, Peter pascoe and Ellie Soper Pascoe. I love reading the adventures of the 'Fat Man' and the family of Pascoes that he interacts with. While reading through the series I noticed that he commented on Mormon culture a few times. I thought the quotes were interesting and they caused me to pause in reading. My relationship with Mormonism is complicated, but it is a part of me that I own and follow. So I am always surprised to 'meet' it in un-religious and popular texts. Here are my favorite quotes from his novels.

It was like the pope admitting some uncertainty about the position of the Mormons- Reginald Hill (Ruling Passion)

They also might have been gang leaders, astronauts, presidential aides or Mormon PR men, but they were unmistakably American. - Reginald Hill (April Shroud)

Here is one from another author I enjoy- Martha Grimes

Alert, Bass sat up. “Conditions?” Good Lord, conditions as in the inheritance is null and void if you divorce Helen, or become a Mormon, or sell this cottage, or refuse to keep Bolly on as a house boy? The list could go on and on.”- (The Way of All Fish)

NOw that I have completed the works of these authors (for the third or forth time) I am moving on to the non fiction works of Elaine Pagels. Her religious books are great and I'm ready to read some more serious stuff. I always turn to non- fiction in the spring as my thoughts move to more contemplation and my body yearns for warmth and time outside. The time change is this Sunday and the solstice happens soon after that on the 20th... so spring is coming at last. I can't wait!

Gratitude - 2/3/19

I'm currently fighting a cold. It has left the fever behind but the mucus has settled into my chest. My body feels heavy and achy but not as weak as I would have thought it would be. So I don't like being sick, but I feel like I will recover quicker than normal... which is good as I am working six days this week.

1. I am thankful for fruit. I'm on a slightly restrictive diet and being able to eat fruit feels like I am being spoiled with dessert. So I am grateful for my dessert of peaches today. It was wonderful.

2. So thankful that the weather has warmed up a trifle. Going outside at thirty degrees feels much better than three degrees. I spent a little bit of time outside today because it was warmer and I am glad to have enjoyed a little bit of sun.

3. I am grateful for books to lose myself in when I am sick and need to rest.

4. I am super grateful for on-line church. I love listening to testimonies and the experiences of other people. Even when I don't understand or can't comprehend their experience I feel so edified listening to others and being able to share my own thoughts. I really appreciate inclusive areas when all can feel like they belong. Just feeling grateful for my Sabbath today.

5. I am grateful for Bug. I am blessed to have such an amazing son! He is going through another growth spurt again so I am watching him shoot up even taller and wondering when it will end. He is going to be a very tall man. I loved reading books with him today and enjoying videos too. It was a nice day.

6. It was wonderful for have such a nice lazy day. I really needed one.

Gratitude - 1/30/19

I've got a lot going on right now and my head is overfull. So I've been counting my blessings today.

1. I am grateful that I live in America. I am not happy about what is going on with our government and the serious cultural systemic problems, but I am relatively safe. I don't live in a country where I can easily be put into labor camps or hurt in other torturous ways - like North Korea or China. For that I am grateful.

2. I am grateful for amazing co-workers. I am grateful for my amazing job. I need more hours and I am going to have to figure that out but I have no complaints about the work environment and the fine people I work with. That makes me pretty content.

3. I have an amazing friend. My best friend is so supportive and cares so much that I want to try harder to be well in my life and to do better. Everyone needs that kind of friend in their life.

4. My ex and my son are pretty amazing. I am grateful for supporting family.

5. I am grateful for warm clothes and warmth in my home, It is really cold out there right now and I am able to be warm and out of it. Not everyone has that luxury.

6. I am grateful that I have my furry companions who take such good care of my mental health. I have no idea what I would be like without them.

7. While my ankle hurts, it is holding itself together. I can't complain about that.

What are you grateful for?