geese are back and it's blowing like a stinker here

seems tuesdays are the day to howl...two weeks ago on a tuesday we nearly drowned and today we are nearly blown away with 45-50 mph winds - it always astounds me how much "junk" is blown around and how it always ends up (the trash) right outside my shop front door.  made two trips to the dumpster already with paper, boxes, trash, cups, plastic bags, uggy stuff - gave up - will do it all again tomorrow - hopefully it is going to stop blowing by then.  no rain - just huge wind.

the geese have come back again to the lake by the house - silly things - i think they might be staying here this winter - i love seeing them in the morning.  the walnuts are in harvest right now - have to get at least two pounds and put them away - they are so much easier to shell when they are a year old - make wonderful little pincushions if you polish the shell on the outside - but if you try to hull them fresh - the shell just shatters and you have lots of good walnut meat but lousy pincushion shells.

mama kitty and the babes are on their 2nd giant bag of kitty chow - we opened it this morning and this is the week to catch everybody - keep the babes safe in the unit next door while mama is off for surgery overnight...have to keep the babes safe - would never forgive myself if something happened to the little ones while i took mama away to the doctor.  we have a trap here but i actually think that we can lure them into the other unit...mama brings all of them to the back door in the morning if i don't get breakfast out the door quick enough (and two seconds is way too long as far as the family is concerned).

heading out to do baby present shopping - tomorrow evening have to run an errand over at cost plus and then i have to put my head down here and not look up for at least 17 days or i will never get caught up again. 

isn't exciting - halloween is just around the corner - we get zillions of little ones - they have a big party at the church just around the corner from us - and then everybody heads out - i think we are going to have bunches this year because it's saturday night...the doggers will be crazy with the doorbell ringing...rushing to answer it...they will probably give up after about 45 minutes of it...or i can just put the gate up and keep them in the family room...  they can watch the new toyota commercial with the squeekie toy and the liver spotted hunting dog that is loose - as soon as that commercial starts "squeeking" - off they go down the front hall looking for the toy...every single time the commercial comes on...i could say something about bright crayons in the box...but i will just leave it to your imagination.  at least they smell good - spa day yesterday - it lasts about 24 hours and then it's all done until the next time.  heading - enjoy the evening and the week - have a couple of pictures to take and post...just need to find that extra 3 minutes in the day...where does the time go?  does it go faster the older we get - yep - i think i have found the answer to the age-old question.

later to all.....

rain...rain...rain...and some more rain...

it started about 3 this morning - and it has literally not stopped and is continuing.  not seen rain in modesto like this since we moved here almost 10 years ago.  am sort of used to being a duck when we lived in marin - it rained all the time there in the winter - average rainfall was somewhere around 45 inches and we moved to modesto - 12.5 inches a year.  everytime somebody warns of doom and gloom and a giant storm that is going to eat us alive - we all quietly snore and it passes right over us.  NOT THIS TIME.  we have flooded streets, it hasn't stopped - every single window and door on the south side of our shop is leaking and i mean leaking a lot and bruce has already been down with the auxilliary load of towels when we have replaced twice and taken the soggy ones home to spin in the washer and throw into the dryer.  it just keeps on coming.  thankfully we're not leaking from the roof - just all the windows and it's seeping in between the window frames and the floors...somehow i don't think anybody chalked anything in this building...certainly not the seven foot windows - why would you need to do that??? 

mama kitty and babes have taken to the high ground somewhere - we have new food dishes in the sink ready for them tomorrow morning - their dishes have blown to the north somewhere...i hope they are safe and dry - they have to be hungry.  the spay/neuter place called yesterday and as soon as retreat is over we are going to trap mama and take her in to be spayed...the babes can't go until they are about 4 months old - hopefully we'll be able to tame them and make it a little easier.  annie has a trap so mama is our main concern before she gets herself into trouble again!!

anyway - didnot is fat and sassy and warm and dry in her shop (with the leaky doors and windows) and is quite happy...but i hear a lull in the rain so maybe i'll scamper now while i can and come in early again tomorrow and clean up the mess.  we are so trying to get ready for retreat and we are having such a tough time of it...it needs to stop raining now please!!!

and where or where have i been???

if i knew the answer to that - life would be good.  i'm tired - it has been non-stop for well over two weeks now - i meet myself coming in the door and heading back out - but we're good here - just moving and shoving and covering and sweeping and dusting and putting away and filling orders and generally getting ready for our retreat next weekend - it's all good...just a tad overwhelming sometimes. 

getting ready to do an update - i think i forgot how to do that too - it's just a bugger getting old...but the alternative stinks so i'll just watch a few more gray hairs pop out and be grateful.  turned cold here - literally a 25 degree drop overnight - we are definitely having fall and it's so nice - i just love it.

mama kitty and the 3 babes are good and eating me out of house and home.  need to make a decision about catching and neuturing - scares me to death because of the california law that if they are found positive for hiv or other kitty things - they have to be put down...i need to talk to bruce about it seriously - but i just can't have mama having any more kittens or have the kittens having kittens...that isn't a responsible thing to do...especially since i'm feeding them...where do the ethics lie in a case like this???  i just don't know.  in the meantime - we are finding places to tuck all our stuff in the backroom so people don't kill themselves on it next weekend.

more later - this was just an "after lunch yap" before i pick up the broom and dustmop again...but annie and kay tell me it's definitely looking better so there is hope...i will just believe there is hope!!!
back later...

mama kitty and a good pencil

i honestly don't know where the last week has gone - if you held a gun to my head...and you all know the rest of that story.  i can't believe it's been a week today that annie and i climbed on a plane to st. louis - it seems a million years ago and i feel like i haven't checked in with anybody - just had my head in the computer or printing or pulling orders...but i've been doing some thinking back and forth and in the early and late hours of the morning and evening as i come in and head out...stupid thinking actually because i'm tired and when i get tired i think like a stupid head.

anyway - for all of you who have been following either this blog or the one that we do somewhat weekly on the web site - remember mama kitty from the old store?  well, we have a new mama kitty at this store.  she (and her current brood) live on the other side of the now defunct railroad tracks over our side fence...she is a beautiful pale gray stripe and 1 baby looks just like her and another one has longer fur and the 3rd one has a bit of siamese in the genetic woodpile.  mama is quite tame and lets us pet her...and we give her water and some of didnot's dry food in big bowls.  i just went out and checked - and there she was - so family is now enjoying their second meal of the day...and the babies are very beautiful but just a little bit bashful.

it makes it feel like a real shop again - especially since we had the black mama kitty at the other shop by the dumpster for a very long time - i always felt so bad for her - she was very hungry when she found us - and when it was all over and done - she adopted a family down the street who provided food and a warm place to sleep and so it all worked out in the end.  we almost felt that we kept her going until somebody came to offer her a forever home - we were just that little boost she needed to make it thru the rough spot.

the other thing i was thinking about is pencils - have ya ever just found the bestest pencil in the world...but you really didn't want to use it because then it would be all used up and you wouldn't have it anymore?  isn't it just weird where the brain goes.  i found a BOX of that kind of pencil...and i'm going to target to buy at least 4 more boxes of them before they go away.  there is truly nothing more satisfying than a good pencil...and i had forgotten that...i was having a love affair with embassy suite pens...brought a bunch home from market - but i also love a good pencil!!!
i'm very tired and making no sense - full moon tonight - the air is crisp at night now - fall is truly in the air...THANK HEAVENS!!!  enjoy your evening...later!!!