Anyone?

Entertain Me

Not much going on around here today. It's another dark, gloomy, wet day. Nothing acceptable on TV, so I lie here with my music and photography.
I have found that with this new Orton toy, I can improve previous photos I wasn't that crazy about to begin with.

So, yeah.....that's my day.
A little music, a little photography, and a houseful of sleeping animals.
In a while I'll add a little pasta dinner and a beer or two :)

Scavenger Hunt : Water

Click it to Big it :)

New Toy

Found a new photo program to play with. Michael's been playing with the Orton Effect with his photos, so of course I had to try it too.

I've been playing with it most of the night :)

You can see more over at my Flickr page.

Umm..okay

And just a little funny to share with you...

I was at the post office yesterday chatting with the mail lady, discussing the recent mailbox beatings when she told me, "Oh, well it was Prom Night, it happens every year on Prom Night."

HooWee... do these kids know how to have fun or what??

Housework

I have a lot to do before my next trip to Seattle, so I'm slowly getting that done. I'll be gone for almost two weeks again, so that's alot of preparation to leave your house to someone else.

It's sunny again today (yay) so I might get out again with the camera.
Grizzly is getting better, but he seems to be doing it at a snails pace. I HOPE he's better before I leave.

The cats are loving this weather and hanging out in the outside cat room alot. So you see Trout looking at me, wondering why he can't be on the side I'm on :)

Cruisin'

Mountain Snow


Clark Fork River


Clark Fork River


Needs Washing--remind me to do that before Seattle.


Drift Yard


Driftwood


Tracks


Cows

*Click em' to Big em' :)

Trouble Jr.

Playing with the 50mm lens again.

This one is taking lessons from Trout. Just when you think you have one cute sweet one, peer pressure sets in.

See that? The suns out today :)

Shut Down

I tried to shut down last night, early.
I shut down the house, this computer, and even the TV. All before midnight, which is new for me.

I've decided that my body has just adjusted itself to 4-5 hours of sleep a night. Those 4-5 hours are good sleep, I don't toss and turn, I don't wake up several times. If I fall to sleep around 3 or 4, I wake up around 7 or 8. Sometimes even 9am.
So, for a couple of nights I had tried to go to sleep around midnight, which of course I just wake up around 5am. I decided I don't like 5am.. I'd much rather just let my body do what it wants and fall to sleep when it's ready.

Anyway, last night I did try to go to bed early. I was done with the computer, I was done with TV. Easier said than done though. My brain would not shut down.
The silence makes it worse I think. My brain just wants to think. And of course, and someone can tell me why if they want, my brain wants to find all the worries and faults. The failures. The stresses. Those are the things my brain wants to think about at night. I think it just keeps me up longer to worry about the bad things.
Don't get me wrong here, I realize I've got it good. I know I'm lucky, I'm blessed. I remind myself that everytime my brain, or heart rather, wants to be sad. But sometimes, you just can't control what your brain, or heart, wants to do. Lying in the dark with no sound and only a running brain does not help that. That is my time to worry. To rethink failures. To analyize.

Besides the sound of a couple of kittens playing in a box, that is what my brain does at night. (I am impressed though how loud two kittens can be.)
I read on an insomnia website once, that if you're laying there trying to sleep, to imagine different animals in the wrong colors.
Like..blue cat, green cow, purple dog. I tried that. It didn't work. I did eventually fall to sleep, but I was awake at 5am anyway.

I took a trip on the treadclimber, cleaned up the house some, and fed the herds. Now the sun is out and I'm going to head out and try to enjoy it with camera in hand.
And tonight, I will probably be up until 3 or 4am and I'm okay with that. I'm a night person and that is just my time.
And I will let the distractions of TV and internet keep my brain entertained until it's ready to sleep.

It's my brain food, I guess :)

The Grizz Update

His eyes are getting a little better. Before you could barely see them.
He's keeping his food down. Still warm and lethargic though.

Used the new 50mm lens here, pretty nice eh?

My Movie

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Actually more like my biography :)

That Little Voice

As some of you know, I don't check my mail on a daily basis. Our mailbox is just about a half mile from the house, so I let it build up sometimes for a couple of days and then pick it up.
I have been very lucky that my mailbox hasn't been full of mail when the mailbox hoodlums come to play.
That is until Saturday night.

On a very rainy Sunday morning we went down to check the mail to find the mailboxes destroyed and our mail all over the road. Nice.
We couldn't even find one of our neighbors mailboxes, who knew where it went.
So, anyway, we pick up our wet soggy mail. This is nothing new, just the first time it had mail in it.
So... the last two days I've been trying to remember to run down and get the mail before I go to bed.

So tonight, I had already crawled into bed and was quite comfy when I remembered the mail. It was also pretty late. So, of course, I was thinking of reasons not to go.
"Oh what are the chances they'll come again so soon?"
"It's not raining, it should be fine"
"It's just bills..who cares??" :P

But, something in me told me to get up and go get the mail.
Thank goodness I did.

Brocks ashes were in there.
The company had mailed him to me since it was too hard to go pick him up. In the box was this pretty box with his name on it and his collar :(
My heart sank thinking I may have left him in there overnight and it's possible that it could have been destroyed. Ugh.

It's one of those times you're glad you listened to that little voice.

Cupcake Art

Brain Droppings

These are my guard geese. They patrol the driveway to make sure no other geese get in. I feel so protected.
You should hear these two if any other geese decide to visit. It's just wild how loud they are. I will try to get this on video for you soon. They get very upset!
Of course other ducks are allowed, and they even let a cat walk by every now and then. But NO geese. Hmmph.

I realize I've been torturing some of you with dessert shots lately, especially if you also view my Flickr page, but it's really all that has inspired the photographer in me lately. With the yucky weather and disobedient cats, it's all I have left.
I did receive two new lenses yesterday, one wide angle lens and one 50mm lens. I'm really liking both and hopefully will get to play with them more soon. They will definitely get a workout in Seattle.

I hadn't blogged about this yet since it wasn't appropriate to do so, but one of the reasons we have been looking for a second place in Seattle is the hubs will be working in Seattle soon. The California commute has just become too much and he got a great offer in Seattle. He will most likely work the same hours, but now just a much shorter flight, and if he wants he can stay in Seattle instead of flying to Montana. I will be in Seattle more often too, so we will actually see each other more. He's very excited about the change, so I think this will be a good thing :)

Grizzly hasn't improved any, but after some discussions with an opthalmologist, I have some medications being mailed to me. Let's hope this makes him feel better. He seems to be in worse condition than the two outdoor cats.

While out filling the many bird feeders I have, I actually saw some daffodil sprouts coming through the ground. The bee balm is also coming up, which smells just awesome. The bleeding heart is also trying to come up.
I really do love when the flowers start showing up again.
But I'm sure soon enough you will hear me crying about the deer eating them.

The circle of life.

Lunch Hour

"Could I get a table away from that loud couple back there?"

E-Vents

This is Grizzly. He's my sickest patient at the moment. As I mentioned in a previous post, he has odd symptoms and we can't quite narrow down what's wrong.
He has a bit of an upper respiratory problem, but that I can treat. He's keeping only half his food down. That too I can treat. He's a bit feverish and lethargic. Treatable.
But the odd thing is his eyes.
His third eyelids stay halfway up his eyes permanently right now. (If you have pets, you'll most likely know what this is)
He's not dehydrated, his eyes aren't leaking anything. Normally you would see this in a sedated animal, which of course he's not.

I also have two outdoor cats with this same issue. It's confusing to say the least. I have several indoors and a few outdoors, why only these three?
Hubs investigated and checked around at work, but no one could really tell me anything. So, I emailed a veterinary opthalmologist we used to work with. We'll see what he says :)
I have to laugh sometimes that I live with a board certified veterinary specialist and he shrugs his shoulders at some of my animal problems :P

So.. that is mainly what I'm dealing with here. Oh and just to clarify, my pets are not sick from the tainted food. They only eat dry food and that was not affected as far as I know.

As for the weekend?
It stayed wet and grey. Snow/sleet/rain most of today and everything is still flooded.
I actually have a small lake in my front yard, where I had a pair of Mallards and a pair of Wood Ducks playing today. I tried to get photos, but with the wind and sleet, I didn't stay out too long. The geese have made house here I guess, they are here everyday now :)

I can't seem to tell lately from day to day what the weather is going to be, but I'm hoping to get out on a nice day and get some scenery shots a little more west of here.

Stay tuned :)

That Kind Of Day

It's been one of those days. It's been cold, dark and rainy all day. I've had a headache since I woke up. It wavers between painful and dull pain every couple of hours. Plus with the medications I've taken, my stomach feels like it's on a rollercoaster.
I dozed off on the couch last night, obviously in some odd position that caused my neck to really hurt, which led to the headache. I think.
The phone rang about every half hour between midnight and 4am. Hubs brothers dog was in an animal ER in Olympia, WA. Between the family calling and the doctor on duty calling, I was a receptionist last night.

There seems to be a lot of sick pets around right now. With the whole tainted food scare, three of my own pets, bro-n-laws dog, and a fellow blogger ,who lost her cat in an ER in Texas after eating the tainted food, It's kind of depressing.

I'm sure you've all read about the rat poison story. Which had me confused at first, since rat poison does not normally cause kidney failure. We saw many many many rat poison cases when I worked in the ER, I would say almost daily, and it never caused this problem. This china rat poison is some scary stuff, and I certainly feel for anyone who has had to deal with this.

My three cats, at the moment, can't be diagnosed. Hubs is still investigating the symptoms. We'll see what happens.
I know I've said this before, but I hate when my pets are sick, especially when I can't do anything for them. They can't tell you why they're sick, or what they ate, or where it hurts. Sigh.

And of course, the hubs leaves for three weeks tomorrow, so you just know (but let's pray it won't) get worse after he leaves.

So did any of you have a better day?

**Update~not a happy update though, Memphis Steve lost his sweet kitty today too :( Yucky weekend... bleah.

Weakness

Scavenger Hunt : Empty

Perfect :)

007

Just watched Casino Royale.
Not bad :)

On The Go

We drove into the big city today, which takes about an hour. I've been meaning to write a letter to someone, which I'm horrible at, so I decided to take the laptop with me and write the letter on the drive. It was great! I got the letter written and the drive didn't seem as long.



We had yummy lunch at a Mexican restaurant. We finally found one that was good. I had sauteed shrimp and mushrooms.. very yummy :)



I also went back to Starbucks and replaced the cupcake that the meddlesome dog ate!! They didn't have the exact one, but they had some pretty yummy ones, so I splurged and bought of few pastries.

So of course, stay tuned.. more photos to come :)

"You Can't Put A Price on That"

*Just thought this was interesting

Americans have begun to medicate their dogs, cats and sometimes other pets much as they medicate themselves.

They routinely treat their pets for arthritis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, allergies, dementia, and soon maybe even obesity. They pick from an expanding menu of mostly human pharmaceuticals like steroids for inflammation, antibiotics for infection, anti-clotting agents for heart ailments, Prozac or Valium for anxiety, even the impotence drug Viagra for a lung condition in dogs.

Increasingly, they buy at people pharmacies or online and sometimes pay with health insurance.

Until recent decades, American veterinarians still concentrated on care that reflected the country's agrarian roots: keeping farm animals healthy to protect the human food supply. Instead of being medicated, a very sick animal was quickly sacrificed to save the herd. Pets were typically kept outside with the cows, chickens and pigs. A dog was lucky for a dry place in a crude shelter; a cat, for a warm spot in the barn.

Read More--->

Photo Friday : Sentimental

Brock & Bustopher

Memory Lane

I recalled a memory last night while talking to my sister. She was telling me that her son talks constantly, to which I reminded her that he's just like she was when she was little.
You know the saying, "I hope you have a kid JUST.LIKE.YOU.. well she did.

But it reminded me of something funny and I thought I'd share, since you don't have enough to laugh at me about....

I did go a through small phase in my childhood where I too talked too much. I was constantly getting in trouble for talking too much and getting out of my seat. This was a time when we were in the same class all day, or at least half a day if I remember. It was even on my report card a few times about talking too much in class.

Anyway, the teacher finally came to me and told me if I got up ONE.MORE.TIME, she was going to tie me to my chair. Well, the class got a good laugh out of it, but I didn't take it too seriously.

I guess I should have.

The next time I got out of my chair to talk to my friends, the teacher grabbed a roll of yarn and she actually tied me to my chair. I sat there tied to my chair for the rest of the day. It's quite amusing now, but it wasn't funny then. I remember the boys throwing stuff at me too.

Sure, pick on the little redhaired girl :P

Sparkles

Well, if you ever thought of visiting me, do it RIGHT NOW. I have been cleaning all morning and it sparkles. I have cleaned from top to bottom and you could eat off the floors.
Well, okay, I wouldn't eat off MY floors I guess, but you get the point.
All the trash is in the bins, recyclables are in the truck, laundry is done and I even created a walkway in the horse area so I will quit sinking in the goop.

Now I just need some bonbons so I can sit on the couch and watch my stories.
**Okay that right there was funny, I don't care who ya are :)

The Cat Nap

The smallest feline is a masterpiece. ~ Leonardo da Vinci

Live Action

Ok, Ok.. if you want to see my lovely muddy-horse-poop video.. just go over HERE.
I couldn't get the video to post here.
Just remember it was windy, cold and I was being rained/snowed on.
So be nice!

Enjoy :)

**Oh..btw. I moved them to higher land today, so they aren't in this mess now.

The Sunny Spot

Cool :)

I got an email this morning, this photo was chosen over hundreds to be used in a book for a university in British Columbia.
Did I say Cool?? :)

She Took A Drive...

I took a drive into town yesterday, thought I'd show you the drive and the high water. The water is usually clear, but with the meltoff it's this lovely brown.
The sun is out this morning, so I should be able to get more shots while I'm out.

The Dam

As I mentioned before, with all the snow meltoff, our dam was having some problems. The pond is slowly thawing, so it's been extra messy lately.



We had problems with it last season also, when we had muskrats burrowing their way through the dam. As you can see, that space where the pipe is, should be covered all the way across.



The new drainage pipe and the meltoff has created our own little creek on the other side. It's wild how loud the waterflow is, you can actually hear this at the house.



A few trees have fallen over, and we have small little lakes all through our yard. I videotaped some of this and will upload later, it's the lovely video where I talk about horse poop.



I know you're on pins & needles :)

The Mud Gang

I actually made a video of this, but I realized that I actually said poop, AND I caught one of the horses pooping in the video. Isn't that lovely first thing in the morning?
I also think I sound irritated, which I'm not. Maybe it was the combo of rain, wind, and POOP. :)

My Turn