Downy

Terrible 2yr Old

I don't have children, so I've never gone through the Terrible Two's..but if there's that phase in cats, then Trout is going through it. No he's not two, but I bet in cat years he is. Plus, He's a BOY.

He has been such a handful! He has learned he can get through your legs and get outside. He's gotten past me twice where I didn't catch him. Several times I did. The two times he got past me, he got his little butt kicked by Sir Otis on the porch. I heard the squabble and saved him. I've never seen him run so fast to get to me. Obviously though, that did not instill fear.
Today I had to chase him out into the small blizzard, which I noticed didn't phase him at all.
Besides this, he's terrorizing other cats, knocking things over, eating flowers and just having his own little kitty Grand Prix. And, poor Sinclair has endured many a squabble with him. She gets her own licks in, but for the most part he wrastles her to the ground and won't let her up. She gets really upset when he attacks her during her catnaps.

I opened the fireplace today, to start a fire, but had to walk away to get a lighter. When I came back, he was IN the fireplace. He ran of course when I came back, so I had little black pawprints all.over.the.place. I barely caught him before he jumped on the bed. Sigh.

He destroyed the Coke box, a couple of paper bags, and is now working on the box my Flowerbud flowers came in.

Is it Beer-Thirty yet?

Outside Dining

13

Thirteen Things I Missed About My Laptop

1. The Keyboard. It was weird going back to the PC one.
2. Photo Programs. I have more on the laptop.
3. Wireless Mouse. It moves around so much easier.
4. Favorites. It has all my faves now, so I missed some.
5. RSS Reader. It also had my reader and updates.
6. Wireless. I could go anywhere in the house with it.
7. Itunes. It also has my new updated Itunes program.
8. Photos. Photos I've taken since I got it.
9. Screen. I truly love the 17inch screen.
10. Comfort. I moved back to my desk and chair. Not comfy.
11. Warmth. My desk sits by a window. Kinda chilly.
12. Did I say wireless?
13. Did I say photo programs? :)

I know.. I'm rotten. But you get spoiled by comfort.
The cord arrived today, so me happy :)
It snowed again today, and is supposed to tomorrow.
I have deer sleeping in the hay barn. I guess the hay is warm. It's kind of cute to see the little nests they dig out and sleep in. It's 25 degrees tonight, I don't blame em'.

The horses are slowly trying to break part of the fence. I'm praying they don't break it before Friday. I really really really don't want to fetch horses in this weather. Last time they did something like this I just pulled my truck in front of it. That might have to happen again.
I once made a wall of hay to keep them in.

Hey....when you're alone most of the time, you'll come up with some creative ideas :)

Boxed Trout

Redneck Desktop

Computer Goo

Oh.. forgot to mention...

The AC Adaptor to my laptop burned up and died on me on Monday. It's covered on warranty and it's on it's way.. but I was without laptop for these two days so far. Yeah yeah I know, boo-hoo.
But when you get used to carting your laptop all over the house, and plopping yourself on the couch, recliner, or bed, it's hard to get used to sitting at a desk again.

I did go read some forums on it, to make sure I knew what was wrong, and it seems it happens frequently. So... I ordered a backup. This won't happen to me again :)

I miss my laptop.

**And I don't want to hear anything from a certain MAC user, since I know he's had his own share of problems. So shoosh.

Hoodlums

Our mailboxes were beaten again.

I shouldn't complain too much since I think that's really the worst crime in this town I've seen.
No, this is not my mailbox in the photo. I could take a photo of mine, but then I'd have to take my camera out in the icy rain, and umm.... NO.

I know there are worse things then replacing your mailbox every few months. And if this is really exciting to the kids here (umm.. ok) then no biggie I guess.
But...
I'm really getting tired of picking up wet mail.
It blurs my letters and my magazines.
Wet PEOPLE magazine???

The horror.

Robbed

You knew I was going to dream again, didn't you? I fell asleep a little before 5am I think... and this is what I woke up to. Too weird I tell ya.

I was in Tennessee. Not sure why. Memphis or Nashville would be my guess. I was there with Hubs and he was sending me to the bank.
Walking to the bank, I had my camera and my laptop, and my wallet with the money for the bank in it.
Everytime I would get to the bank I would forget where the money was. All along, it was in my pocket in my wallet, but I couldn't remember that.

Soo... I would walk back to hubs to ask where the money is. This was a repeated process in the dream.. over and over and over again. But...
Each time as I was walking back, I would wind up having something stolen. I would freak out and retrace my steps trying to find out why or who stole my stuff. As I would walk back, I would run into a kid who would run as soon as they saw me. So naturally I would follow the kid back and get my stuff back.

What was so freaky was that I kept repeating this trip. I would get back to hubs, he would remind me that I had the money the whole time, and I would head back to the bank. Just to happen all over again.
By the end of the dream, the last time before I woke up, my laptop was stolen. I chased this little kid until I found where he had it. By this time I was in tears because of the whole "Groundhog Day" feeling. I get the laptop back, but he had taken everything out. The harddrive, the batteries, everything.

I got it all back. Then I headed back to the bank....

Geesh, glutton for punishment :)

You think I need more sleep?

Awake

When the sun is high in the afternoon sky
You can always find something to do
But from dusk till dawn as the clock ticks on
Something happens to you

In the wee small hours of the morning
While the whole wide world is fast asleep
You lie awake and think about life
And never ever think of counting sheep

~Carly Simon~In the Wee Small Hours

And Now...

For something completely different . . . .

Monday Meanderings

The robins are back. It's kind of cool to see the changing of the birds. Robins, GreyJays, and Pine Siskins have all returned.
I haven't seen the Pileated in awhile :(... guess he had enough suet.
The raccoons were here last night (as they are almost every night actually) and they made such a mess. It's a momma and her 4 babies, and they are quite messy. I can always tell they eat and wash their hands in the water bowl. Cute :)

I'm passing on the big city today. I forgot it was a holiday, so who knows how crowded it will be. I will go tomorrow.
We're also expecting 2-3 inches of snow. I know, not a biggie, but if I have the choice I don't want to take the long curvy roads to the big city.

A friend emailed me last night with several questions, so I thought I'd answer a few here, since more than one person has asked.
As it turns out, Carmel is not pregnant. Which, you know, is ok with me. With the frequent traveling I'll be doing, I'm ok with one less pet. Plus, as you know Leesa's Law, she would have had it when I was here alone. The joy.
We were offered another Bernese puppy since Brock died at such a young age, but we decided against it. Same reasoning really, just too much travel. Pet-sitting will be much easier with the cats and Taylor.
I am hoping to balance out my living time between Seattle and Montana. It's an easy 45 minute flight, or 7 hour drive. Both easily doable.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I just need to get out of the solitude. I have looked into different options on doing this, and I've also looked into schools, or even maybe volunteering/working at a wildlife facility or zoo. I'm very excited about this.
Luckily, I will have someone here in June that will basically live here and take care of the animals and house. I will probably cart the three youngest with me since they are more attached.

If you haven't read already, Marianna will go to Seattle with me this next trip. I think it will be fun, It will give me someone to run around Seattle with, and just think of the excitement John must be feeling right now!
Two princesses!!!
He'll need to stock up on the diet coke and beer again, but he'll only need ONE martini for Marianna. She'll sip on that for a few days ;)

Even though, as I can admit my social anxiety gets in the way sometimes, I really have many goals with this new adventure.

It just takes the first step right?

Single File, Please

Chick Day

It's a chick flick weekend. I've been planted on the couch, or bed, with my comforter, my flannels, my laptop, hot chocolate, Sinclair, Trout and Taylor and watching Chick Flicks. The four they've repeated a few times this weekend are :

Sleepless in Seattle
You've Got Mail
Miss. Congeniality &
While You Were Sleeping

Now I did slip in the X-Files Movie and a few sitcoms, but mainly I've been in chick-land. I'm not sure why this weekend I have watched ALL of these, but I have. I guess sometimes it's nice to slip into romance land and feel good movies.

Oh I haven't been a complete bum. The laundry is done, the floors are clean and I even cleaned out the refrigerator. The sun is out this morning, which blasts into my house and shows me all the dirty spots and dust. I hate that. Too many windows in a house shows how dirty it is.
When you live in the mountains, with winds and dirt roads (and add a few animals that go in and out) and it's hard to keep it clean.

John joked while I was sick that I probably had a hairball. After cleaning this house, I wouldn't doubt it. There's a lot of pet hair :P
You learn how to shop the right way when you have pet hair. You can't have dark rugs or comforters. Oh and you certainly can't have rugs that don't have that sticky-like rubber on the bottom, or you wind up with a cat sled. I bought the wrong kind recently, and Trout slides it all over the house. Heh.

I get to drive into the big city tomorrow and do some grocery shopping. I so hate Walmart by myself, but it has to be done. Maybe I'll slip on my Ipod while shopping so I can't hear anyone :)

Oh and I'm taking a friend with me to Seattle this next visit... just one more Princess to give John a hard time ;)
*(He thinks I'M high maintenance?? Just wait)

Ok.. I must be feeling better, because I'm rambling. I'll let you go now...

Paper Shredder

Falling Into Place

Things are slowly returning to normal. My health is definitely improving, just a few sniffles and congestion, something I can deal with.
The house still seems so quiet without Brock around.
It's snowing, again.

I have so many things to do, it feels like so much is left undone. I'll return to Seattle next month I think. This might become a regular thing. I love it here in the sticks, but I think the solitude has just become too much. I need more of a life, maybe volunteer somewhere or go to school. I am lucky that I can have the best of both worlds, and I plan on taking full advantage of it.
We'll see where this new adventure leads me. You can come along ;)

I think this will be a quiet weekend, and I'm actually looking foward to it.

Scavenger Hunt : Antique

Taken in Duvall, WA.

Caption Me

"It will be mine... Oh yes...It Will be mine"

Wanted: Peter Pan

Do you remember way back whenever... when I was getting sick after eating peanut butter?
I wasn't violently ill, but just enough to ruin a day of eating.

Well, I finally read This story after giving Marianna a hard time for having Killer-Peanut-Butter in her cupboards, and sure enough I have it too. #2111.

Go figure.

Nyquil-Land

This is my friend tonight. I really don't like taking drugs for anything, but sometimes you just need it.
It makes me loopy. I think I see or hear things when I'm on it. Not like little elves or underwear gnomes, but just noises in the house.
Of course with the small zoo I have here, there are constant noises so it might not be the drugs at all.
But, it does make me feel hungover the next day. Add that to the fact that my ears are plugged up and my equilibrium is off a tad and you have a great combo.
/mental note.. stay off ladders.

Plus, I don't like sleeping so heavy that I don't hear things.
Can ya tell this illness is making me crabby? :)

So... I'm off to Nyquil dreamland. The winds are howling like crazy and it's snowing. I hope I don't lose power :(

That will make me crabby.

Mirror, Mirror

Caption this??

Anti-Valentine?

Remember This site?
Yeah, I think it's funny :)

Endulge

Happy Valentines Day everyone.
Go have some chocolate :)

Warm Fuzzy

Some cool news :)

This photo was chosen to go on a designer mail out for valentines day with "odd couples" as the theme...it will be a postcard going to approximately 5000 homes in the Calgary area.

It will have my name and my Wildvizionz photo site on it.

Happy Dance :)

Kiss

Blah

I feel like this. I have so much to do before heading out again on Friday and I really don't want to do any of it.
I still have a slight cold. It's not a miserable cold by any means, but just enough to make you blah. I rarely rarely get sick, but I guess being out among people again after being so secluded, my immune system might not be what it should.

Nothing really new here at home, except Taylor still looks for Brock. Since she listens to me very well, I'm able to just let her go with me to feed horses, etc. without worrying about chasing her back home. But now she stops many times looking behind her for Brock. It's still so weird and quiet without him. Taylor is so much like a cat, It's almost like I don't have dogs anymore. Just weird.

That's all I got.
Loads of excitement :)

New Breed

Ok, so where do I get a couple of these?

Trouble's A-Brewin'

Look Into My Eyes

Scavenger Hunt : Broken

And... very unhappy.

A Few from the Zoo

Ed

I think he looks like an Ed. You?

Home

We just got home. It was so eerily quiet. Have you ever entered your home and it just didn't feel right? Yeah..that's how it felt.
This will take some getting used too :(

We still have a lot of snow on the ground, it was weird to see for some reason. I'm surrounded by cats right now, I guess they missed me.

We heard while we were gone that one of the neighbors heard some ruckus over here and came to check it out. Apparently cougars were chasing our horses. Oh great.

Always an adventure.

You Talkin' To Me?

His Soul

The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure
one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them,
but because he is a man of high and heroic temper.
- Aristotle

Here Kitty Kitty

Peace

I really don't even know what to say here, but I guess to just say it. I didn't even really want to blog about it, but a lot of you have know Brock as long as I have.

Our petsitter called, Brock fell ill on Sunday night and was taken into the ER.
He was diagnosed with renal failure, and there wasn't really anything that could be done.
Brock was put to sleep Monday morning :(

I can't tell you how truly heartbreaking this is to me, even moreso that he spent his last moments with strangers :(
He was always scared of the hospital, so I know he was just terrified.

I'm speechless.

I really don't know what else to say....
I'll miss the big goof :(

Taunts the Dog

Four-Gi's Hangin Out

Frosted Fungi

Just serve with milk :)

King Evil

This elusive little Kingfisher was my frustration this morning. I tried several times to photograph this beautiful bird, but he was having none of it. Guess he hates the paparazzi.

I thought of a way to capture him, but I'd need John's help. Considering all the bashing he's doing over at his blog, I think he owes me.

Don't you?