I'm baaaaa-ack!

So long since my last post- I think I've decided this will be a late-spring/summer/early-autumn-blog. I started to write about our wonderful trip to Hawaii over Christmas, uploaded all these great pictures, was about to post them....something happened on this website and I lost everything. Lost with everything was my energy to start over. For about 4 months. Here are a few little highlights:

Hawaii. Of course!

It was so wonderful, although I think James and I both agree we don't want to be gone on actual Christmas Day again, even though we spent the day on a gorgeous beach with champagne, it just didn't "feel" like Christmas.

Fun fact about Kauai, in addition to feral cats in the middle of nowhere (seriously, I don't know how on earth they survive) there are chickens and roosters EVERYWHERE. We were there 10 days and I just couldn't get used to it, they made me happy every time we saw them and these are a fraction of the pictures I took:

We hiked about 3 miles of the Na Pali coast and there were some buddies along the way:

I often become frustrated at how it's just impossible to capture what your eyeballs are seeing in nature with a camera, I come home to show photos to people and say "ahhh. It was so much more beautiful than this" hence the reason there are very few scenic pictures in this post....

And finally I will end this highlight with my tale of sea sickness...

Ahhh, don't I look so happy? Little do I know in a few hours I will be the most miserable I've ever been in my life. So James and I wanted to see the Na Pali coast from both sides (one is only accessible by water, the other you hike; see above) so we splurged on a 1/2 day cruise on a smallish boat/catamaran thing with about 30 other peeps. We waited in the little gift shop and I noticed they sold Dramamine, and other sea-sick remedies, and I realized I had never really been out in the ocean on a boat before, wondered how I'd fare, and decided quickly I would be fine since I've never been car sick, enjoy roller coasters and love airplane turbulence. Oh Sara, you fool. It was a little chilly in the morning, and as the boat got further out in the sea, the choppier the waves became. I guess in order to lessen the impact of hitting waves head on, the Captain (so wonderfully named Kirk) would slam on the brakes-very jerky. After about 2 hours of seeing dolphins race under the boat, flying fish glittering ahead and cormorants dive from the air into the water, I began to feel a little funky. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. By the time we stopped to snorkel-the part I was the most excited about, I felt so sick to my stomach I wanted to be air lifted back to my hotel room. The captain and darling crew had been sweetly checking on me and the handful of other sickies, and suggested we get in the water because it somehow helps you feel better. "Yea right!" I thought, I was freezing, (ok, not freezing, but colder than I should have been off the coast of Kauai) and bobbing up and down in the water sounded like torture. Against my wishes to stay put, James practically dragged me off the boat into the ocean, I was cold and some of the saltiest water got into my mouth and increased my sick feeling by 47 points. He convinced me to put on the snorkel mask, I saw one fish and realized I'd soon be feeding him my breakfast off the side of the boat. I crawled out, wrapped a damp towel around me and stayed put for the next hour. There was a little girl crying about how sick she felt across from me on her mother's lap and I wished there was room for me too. After we started back to the dock, a 3 hour ride, many of my fellow sufferers were feeling better, I on the other hand continued to get sicker and lost count of how many times I threw up around 8. Then the scariest part happened, I still don't know if it was from dehydration or what, but my hands became so tingly, my wrists became numb with my fingers stuck around my little paper sack and my ankles felt like they were paralyzed; I couldn't straighten them out to walk. I started freaking out, my speech was a little slurred, I was crying to James and a crew member that I couldn't feel my feet, and I couldn't walk. This only lasted about 10 minutes, and happened briefly once more, but still. They put me in the very back of the boat, which is supposed to be the least bumpy and there I remained, panicky, numb, sick and my least favorite=cold. I soon realized least bumpy also means most splashy. The crew had given me an ice bag to put on my neck ( I guess you can numb your gag reflex back there or something..?) and I was constantly being splashed with cold ocean water, as though some horrible, wicked child was hiding with a water hose behind me, spraying my head. The captain found a little group of whales and as I listened to the crowd ohh and ahh at the sight of their fins and tails, James tried and failed to hold me up to see but I didn't care if King Triton and Ursula the Sea Witch jumped out of the water, all I wanted was to be off that damn boat. Which finally came, the crew was so darling, and caring for me, even though James considered throwing me overboard to end my misery, having them help as much as they could was so comforting. When we docked, everyone moved aside to let me off first, it was raining and we still had to take a winding road back to the hotel. There is nothing like relief from agony. 

More to come :)

sick day

After having 5 days off from work for the Thanksgiving holiday, my body decided it would get sick right before going back to work. I have been spending way too much time on my couch with five critters all around me and I'm sick of forcing myself to take more naps! I know this will eventually lead to my recovery, so I decided to break up the boredom and do a little update...


It should come as no surprise that we have in our midst another new kitten. (We recently had 2 others that were the fluffiest most adorable little puff balls you've ever seen, finding them a good home was a snap.) Our neighbors found this newbie in their back yard, were going to call the SPCA, but first asked if it was mine. I said no, but that I would be willing to take care of her and find her a nice home. She had a big cut on her little lip and was a starving dirt ball. I fed her and washed her and she has adapted so well to all the newness. Her little meow was practically non-existent and now she cries incessantly when she wants to be fed, following you all around the kitchen. Pooky and Hermes, who greeted her with soft growls and hissing, now play, eat and sleep together like they were all from the same litter. So cute! The dogs also are very sweet, of course. Jack likes to get a little bite-y and I have to watch him with her alone, but other than that they all get along great. Well, that is except for Misto. She hates all kittens and refuses to accept this little one, even though it keeps trying to be her friend. This leads to my entertainment of the day while stuck on the couch:


Jack the black dog is psychotically protective of kittens. No matter where he is in the house, when Jack hears Misto growl and hiss at the kitties, he leaps into action barking and chasing her into a corner. The growling and hissing are now directed toward Jack and the kitten sits and watches this nonsense, unaware that he/she is the cause of it all. This happens more frequently now that there is another kitty in the house,  I attempted to document this little scenario photographically for your enjoyment.

Act I: Kitten is getting a little too close...

Misto gives a warning growl and hiss! (...ok, really she was yawning, but I kept missing the actual growl..

.and she looks so evil- I had to use this picture!)

Act II:  BAM!! Jack springs into defense mode and gets between his precious kitten and the threat!

"Who you growlin at B?!!?"

"You leave my little buddy alone!! I kill you!!!"

"You OK little friend?"

Act III:  Misto: "...just wait till he goes ouside, you little bastard."

...and then there were two.



Pooky and Hermes

I'm back! First on the list is the darling kitties; they are but two now and are so big. My dear friend Walta took two of them (gray and black girls, Libby and Eloise) home with her a while ago and just this last week a young friend of her's took another (white girl). It was sad, but for the best :)

a good-bye kiss from sister

.."so long."

happy new "mom" :)

little girl sleeping

We received a video from little girl's new owners and she looks so happy! A giant gray cat (who apparently can walk on a leash) and a black one watched her intently as she hopped around on a couch. They've named her Lily and we feel good about her new home.

Also on the list is a fall garden! I got started WAY late, so all I have is lettuces, curly leaf, spinach and a colorful mesclun mix that sprouted in about 4 days! Im so excited, I hope it all does well. I had to put up tacky chicken wire to keep all the animals out, unfortunately I think the kittens are actually more interested in the area now, as you can see below...

I still have tomatoes here and there, never had one pepper develope past the flower stage and after making more zucchini bread than I could stand, I tore all those squashes out!

vine ripened tomatoes in mid-October? I love it!

We had our chimney cleaned today and Misto found her way into the guy's van. He caught me taking this picture and it was a little awkward...He also told me he frequently has cats get into his van. I wanted to ask him why in the world does he leave the doors open the entire time he's at a house?

so glad my kitty didn't get nabbed by the chimney guy...

Last and not least, sad, sad news. Our dear little porch cat who came with the house has died. I found Sunny had been hit by a car several weeks ago, we buried her in the back. I miss her and so do the other cats. She was so loving and I'm glad we got to have her around for the last two years.

poor babe :(

Sleepy time and yucks

So the other night I was so excited about this meal I had concocted from "nothing" -we had a scarce amount of food in the house and I often like the challenge of creating a good meal when it's obviously time to go grocery shopping. I was in the shower thinking about all the staples I would throw together to make a delish dish; I had frozen shrimpers, Arborio rice and lima beans (a new fav) that I would make a lovely risotto with and a few potatoes plus my abundance of zucchini shredded up to make veggie fritters! Ah! Genius. Unfortunately when I reached in the freezer to get the beans, I saw that it was actually okra I had, got my green, small foods mixed up. But I thought what the heck? Even more creative right? I realized I had never actually eaten okra before, and I remember buying the bag for another recipe that I never ended up making. So my risotto is almost done, I plop the okra in and cover the pot. A few minutes later I lift the lid for a peek and see that my dinner is now a watered down, slime covered mess! Okra is so disgusting, I don't even want to elaborate any further about how gross it all looked, so as to not cause any gagging on my end or yours. James and I ate a little anyway, and I was hoping the yuckiness of it would go unnoticed by him; it did not. I hated that I had been so excited about this meal, even taking pictures in preparation to blog the recipe for you all to enjoy. Warning: DO NOT cook okra unless you are going to bread it and fry it!!



Sleepy Time :)



what in the world?!





dah!! precious!



In other news

In our top story tonight, we bring you shocking images from the devastation that happened yesterday in the tomato garden. The main perpetrator has been caught, but it has been confirmed that he has many other partners in crime, still hard at work. As the search continues, hopes are that they will all be caught before much more damage can occur.




As you can see, entire stalks have been wiped out

 


smaller criminals were only able to take bites out of leaves,
but still left considerable damage

 

blooms that would be fruit, gone.

 

Below the convicted suspect after being caught in the act, just before being sentenced to death by tire squishing:



showing no remorse, the monster continues to take bites,
even after being convicted.



The death sentence was said to be carried out this evening, around 5pm.

In other news, the kittens continue to grow and get cuter by the minute! They are slowly starting to eat a teeny bit of solid food, are warming nicely to Pepper and Jack, and may have homes in a few weeks! We are also glad to report that there has been significant improvement in the behavior of Misto toward the kittens. She has hissed less, and has come into the room with them voluntarily and stayed for more than a few minutes-she even touched noses with one in the hall yesterday. We are hoping she will continue to stop being a "B".

you really need to be in a calendar

Jack finally calmed down

HA!

...just call me the Cat Lady

ah ha! caught him in mid-flip :) 



seriously!?!?