How high can I jump

We haven't laughed so hard all week. Our bed is so high I'm now looking out the window at the ground instead of the treetops. Our bed is so high I have to look over the edge for my side table. Our bed is so high I'm looking down on the light bulb in the lamp. Our bed is so high Shamu decided to sleep somewhere else. Isn't that partly why we got the bed, to share with the cats! But it was nice not to have to bend down to put the sheets on. With all the fluffy bedding it is 35" tall- that's waist high, oh my.

New bed

It has been a long time since we went bed shopping and forget about being prepared by internet research which actually just complicates your decision, not to mention the sticker shock.

This morning was the final straw! This was the day. I woke up in the middle of the night humming to the tune of (Steely Dan's '70s) "Barney to the left of me, Roadie to the right of me and I'm stuck in the middle with you." I did know I wanted a Simmons Beautyrest World Classic, no pillow top, and medium firm to kind of soft. No one store has the same label so you can't comparison shop for price and the salespeople are no better than car salespeople. I've laid on so many beds I lost at least 24 hours off my life. Anyway today we had success. And at an OOPS store. They said they were 2nds but right now the beds are mostly just 2008 overstocks. Got a great king-size bed that met all my criteria and saved about $900. Works for me. Hopefully for the brood too.

Suet Recipe

Mother nature has been so unkind this season. We had 2 winters, cold and bitterly cold.

I just left my coat hanging on the rocking chair all season for a quick pick up dashing in and out. And my vest, gloves, hat, John's coat, etc. covering most other surfaces. You see coats never make it back into the closet and shoes just gather around the doorways. We've talked about a coat rack but why bother when we have the rocking chair (kind of homey actually). That's all coming to a welcomed finale but I've been fooled before so I won't be putting that coat away just yet.

Of course the migrating birds are passing through but for my usual stick around for the winter birds, here is the suet recipe I rely on as an all weather, year round and no fail.

1 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 cups "quick cook" oats
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup lard (no substitutions)
1 cup white flour
1/3 cup sugar

Melt the lard and peanut butter, stir in the remaining ingredients. Pour this mixture into square containers about 1-1/2" thick. Allow to cool or freeze. Yummy.

I discovered something about pine cones after using them as suet receptacles. On a particularly cold morning I went to bring it in for refilling and the blades were completely closed up tightly. I never knew that. So, I placed it near the fireplace and the next day the blades were open. Dadah.

Princess 1993 - 2008 We didn't name her. Haley, the little girl next door in St. Pete, gave her the title. Princess was a neighborhood cat shared between our houses. We heard the original owners just didn't want her and so she moved to our street. She finally decided to live with us permanently and we were more than happy to give her the love she so deserved. She loved the farm and the freedom from cars and other dangers. Not that there aren't dangers here but so many great places to spend the day. When we walked into the vet's office today the girl said "a Russian Blue." I just thought of her as a gray cat. She had been really out of sorts lately and drinking water at every chance (loved pool water) so I decided a vet visit was in order. However, never did I think I would be having to say goodbye to this beloved pet. Princess was in total kidney failure and probably in much distress. Wish I had paid more attention to my gut feeling about her symptoms sooner. The decision to have her put down was the only option at this stage of kidney failure. I said my goodbyes and gave kisses through my tears and left the room. John had her resting place ready when we got home under the wax myrtle where she would spend lazy days in the tall grass that grows underneath. A nice rock marks the place. Thank you Princess for all of the wonderful years.

Anniversary

Twenty one official years. I'd like to say we had a romantic interlude off in some exotic place but not to be. Since he had been on the road since 2 am and just arrived home at 5 pm celebrating was short and sweet, munching on chicken wings and opening presents (actually early Christmas). He presented me with a beautiful hand crafted pendant and he got a Garmin GPS.

We got more laughs out of ONE of the cards I gave him and sharing our experiences of this very bizarre day to make it perfectly okay for him just to say I Love You and goodnight.

Cow Feeding

Okay, my day to feed the cows. That was my directive as John drove out of town at 2 am no less. That's another story. I was given a brief overview of the feeding stations ( yes they each have their own bowls) and they 're fed in order too. What order? Who cares? These girls are very, very pushy (literally) when it comes to eating and poor What Now is low on the totem pole. She also suffers from arthritis and needs her 25 aspirin twice a day, so of course making sure she gets her dose presents a particular challenge.

I was hoping the weather would cooperate and I could dash out between storms but oh no, wind screaming and cows hollering was more than I could gauge. First attempt was somewhat successful armed with an umbrella and bucket of grain and cup of aspirin. I only had time to thrust my entire hand into the warm, slobbery mouth of What Now (grown child of How Now). By this time the rain and wind drove me back to the house to get a raincoat and formulate a new plan for feeding the others. They were frantic by now but I remained calm and could finally say mission accomplished and dash back into the house to address the next animal crises.

Barney, our male cat, approached and I noticed a yellowish brown area on the back of his neck. I asked him what the heck he had rolled in, thinking the obvious cow patty, only to discover a huge oozing abcess. Yuck. Off to the vet tomorrow.

Sandhill Cranes

What a joy this chilly morning on my usual trek to retrieve the newspaper. As usual Mr. Roadie has followed me down the lane and to my disapproving calls ran across to the field, but before I could further protest, to my delight a flock of 20 sandhill cranes stood grazing on the leftover corn from the fall crop. They must have been on their way to Gainesville where hundreds winter at the University of Florida. In my excitement I let Roadie know he was on his own because I couldn't wait to get John and his camera and the binocs. Unfortunately, the birds were just out of range for a great picture so after a few minutes of spectating, the three of us strolled back up the lane. What a thrill these beautiful birds decided to stop by for our enjoyment.