It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new.
But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.
There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.
Alan Cohen
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
Groucho Marx
The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Texas , Thinking of You


Hang On Tight

My computer is messed up.
I don't know what I did because it seems that I do nothing different most days. I am also not that adventurous anymore on computers and other things because there is no one around who knows what to do to fix whatever it is that I messed up.
The cats are useless.
Maybe I should get a dog.

Blogger is so easy to use, I am not sure if I can be proud of myself or ashamed, that I managed to foul things up .. it seemed so simple.

So as of right now- it seems things are ok ... If this post actually posts/publishes .. we will see.

And I will tell you about my fascinating days sitting in a beautiful condo on the edge of a forest waiting to see if a Hurricane is going to hit where I live and give me more grief .. this tends to make me quite irritable.
A cranky blogger is not a good thing.

The cats and I are working on the solution to that ... there is still hope.

Have a good , safe day  , free of all bad things.... which are everywhere... so we have to be careful and hang on to those we love.
Hang on tight ..

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Soon ....

                                                      I'll be seeing you ....

Saturday, August 26, 2017

Computers, Bah Humbug !!!!

I am not actually blaming the computer, it was just sitting here minding its own business and the lady of the house ( me-guilty) decided to delete old emails and clean out trash etc.
I  got a little overly zealous and something changed.
I cannot post on my own blog, using Chrome ... which is all I ever use ... Safari is on here because we used it before moving back to the US.
So I can use either one ... or I could. If I want to blog, I have to switch over to Safari .. not sure but I am not able to email either , on Gmail. I have to check that again.

So it is all very annoying and I have a short temper today and never was famous for being Patient.
So if you hear a big crash , that might be my computer going out the window.

Most likely you will just hear a lot of whining and grumbling.

So don't worry if everything goes silent on here ... I am fine, the computer had better watch out.


Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Too Much & Thank You

My husband died a couple of years ago. We were together every minute that we could be, since we met that day in NYC in 1970.
It has been a long and difficult time for me to adjust to the many many things that a single person who mostly feels like they are from another planet has to learn .. and do ... and manage.
Ordinary things that most people know early- I did not learn .. I learned things but the things that he was used to dealing with, he continued to deal with and I was blissfully able to Not Worry.
That was his mantra... Don't Worry, and so I tried not to and most everything was alright.

I moved to Florida .. I was glad that I would have family, my Mom to be around, to catch up on things with, to be around her and just talk .. she died a couple of weeks after I moved here.

I am feeling stronger and better able to manage on my own. Although I constantly fear I will forget something Important .. I have help sometimes with some things and I am lucky to have fantastic people who do things for me so I can't manage to ruin everything.

Last night I got an email.
My Aunt had died, suddenly. She was the baby in the family. My mom was the oldest child ..
In a couple of years, I have lost my husband, my mother and now my aunt ..
I think this is the dark side of aging .. those you love grow old too ... and they go away.
Leaving you behind with so many memories, so many good times and so many tears.

I am going to take a break .. I have always wanted to be entertaining when I blog, when I told my stories about Buenos Aires and even moving back to NY .. but lately there has not been much to talk about, unless you are fascinated with my accounts of silly cat tricks and scary weather forecasts.
Someone made a snide remark to me about wrapping myself in grief ... ok ... Yes, she intended to be hurtful, she has her own problems , but it made me think that I might not be aware of how other people feel about reading what I write, when I am sad. So this is a good time for a break.


 I will be around, I might drop a little note but right now I need to set my life into the right gear and head it in a new direction .. South has been nice .. but North might be nicer ..

Sending you all  love, thank you so much for reading my blog, for commenting, for sending me emails and generally becoming friends with this madwoman with cats ...
I cannot tell you how touched I have been by some of your notes to me and thank you so much for tips on how to manage when the world as you know it just disappeared ..
I would not have been able to be even near sane without the help of my friends .. all of you .. online, in phone calls and emails .. you were there when I needed someone.

There were people who for some reason pretended to be my friends, but those kind of people don't last .. and I have been left with You .. the sweet, kind, thoughtful people that I have never met in real life but who behave the way Real Friends should ... Thank you Thank you Thank you ..


Monday, August 14, 2017

Spam & the Cats

My Spam has gotten more interesting .. not only do I get the usual offers to hook me up with gorgeous women ... ( I have no idea) ...or offering me specials in holidays , bargain shopping and today ... I got an email about my taxes due ... in Brazil.

I never did get to go to Brazil.
We talked about it but we were having so much fun in Buenos Aires, we were so happy there, we put off trips farther away .... like Brazil... where I have never been ... or owe taxes...

I worry about money. I don't care how many times all kinds of people tell me I don't have to .. I do.
Now I have to worry about Brazil.

(not really .. I am not that nutty ... yet )

So the sky was blue and pretty, it is now solid clouds ... and there is no air, no breeze at all.
Tonight we are getting storms, winds and buckets of rain.

I would much rather be worried about how many feet of snow will fall than how much rain will fall.

So how has your Monday been ?

Light hearted ....
Minnette, the little girl, who rarely makes a sound, has learned to howl.
Yes, that little blue girl sounds like something in a 1950's Horror movie.

Honey, the triple plus size kitty, has a little baby girl meow.. totally charming.

Merlin ... purrs really loud ... makes funny ack ack noises at me if I annoy him, if I keep it up, he will smack me ... with no claws.
If I annoy Minette, she lets me have it, claws and all. . meow ..

I will keep busy this week  .. preparing for my future .. What are you doing ?

Honey takes a nap



**I have been told the Spam comes from me using online websites for shopping **


Plans To Make

                                        I had to share this, it totally gave me the giggles.

Today has been one of those "lucky" days, I guess you could call it. An ordinary Monday for me, cleaning up around the house, going to the supermarket with a list this time .. although there is enough cat food in the cupboard to last until next year .. I always worry about running out .. so I go overboard.

I went to the big supermarket and bought food, no cleaning products, no paper products, just food.
Last shopping, I came home and when it was time for dinner, there was nothing to et .. but I had enough paper towels to last a flood and cat food. I should buy stock in cat food.

I went to the market, did all my food shopping and went out to the car. The man parked next to me said something and we chatted a moment .. then I got into the car .. he said something else and I stopped to hear him .... behind me a car was pulling out of a space and another car hit her.
The man stopping me, I feel , saved me from being in a car crash in the parking lot.

I scurried home.
The skies turned blue/black .. very low and menacing. I was very glad I lived nearby and the garage is connected to the townhouse.. I walked in the house, opened the doors to the lanai, the cats ran out to nap and the skies opened up.
We all dashed back inside and now .. the blue sky is back.

So it was sort of one of those missed the bad stuff by a minute kind of days ... so far ...
I am staying in .. let it rain. ( Adele)
 I have plans to make ... plotting to do ...  information to get ... balls to start rolling ...

I was thinking about the things that have happened since my husband died. The changes are huge.
From one home to another ... from one state/part of the country to another ! Living in a totally different environment ... being more isolated than I ever was in New York ..  and Managing.
If for no other reason, I am proud of myself for managing.

Let's just hope I manage to get this next adventure well planned and accomplished..









Sunday, August 6, 2017

Out West

Taken on our drive when we moved from Florida to Portland Oregon. I think this was Utah but won't swear to it ..
My husband and I with our Standard Poodle Tate, in a BMW, flying down the highway, over hills and dales ...The weather was good the entire trip, we stayed in La Quinta Inns every night ( dogs are welcome) and listened to a lot of good music.
And there was not one day of rain, nothing bad happened, we arrived in Portland and stayed in the Hotel Monaco, a Kimpton Hotel. There are so many fabulous hotels in Portland !
We stayed at the hotel while we looked for our new home .. we rented an apartment in a building that had just been completed. It was perfect .. everything about it.

The trip was perfect too. The car was good, the company was good ( my husband was a very good driver and liked to drive fast ) .. we saw cowboys and horses and mountains and rivers and a whole lot of very nice people along the way. It was a lovely time in our lives and I am happy I remember it all.  ( although these days I can say I am happy I remember ....)

so there you have it ... Out West ...

Saturday, August 5, 2017

The Weekend

Saturday-Gloomyday

We are going to get another storm .. ho hum.
I went to the supermarket and bought enough for a family of 4. Not counting the cats.
I felt like going for a drive but not sure where and there was some disturbance in a part of the city where someone was shot and police were there and a riot or curfew or something might happen.
I am better off here behind the gates with the cats.

I had a fun shopping time in the grocery store.
I shopped as if I was 12 or 13 ... soda, brownies, rolls and fresh Southern fried chicken and all kinds of junk ... if you must be trapped in the house with bad weather, at least be able to be a piggy ..

I made a mattress/comforter lounge in here, so the cats and I can lie down and watch movies online.
It should be interesting .. Honey takes up most of the mattress.Minette will have to lie on top of me as I teeter on the edge.

Any good suggestions for rainy weekend viewing, just let me know.

Happy Weekend You All ~

Friday, August 4, 2017

Friday with the Cats

 Todays Thought is ...

I wish Life had a DELETE Button and a BLOCK Button .

You just never know when you will need one and they are so good to have .

Spam mail - Delete

An email from an idiot  - Delete & Block.

Easy peasy  ..

So onto the Fun Button of the day ...

My tooth broke ... I am not in pain but there is a dentist visit in my future.
It was grey and gloomy and relaxing and quiet ... until the tooth broke and the idiot emailed me.

Cats have been napping, seriously napping .. I should have napped more and stayed off the computer.
The weekend is here. Every day for me is sort of a weekend day ... except Sundays when things are closed, they are all the same.
Now there won't be a dentist working either .. oh joy.


Onto more cheerful stuff ...

Minette does not have a toothache.
Merlin loses teeth because he is so old but he still managed to gain weight which makes me so happy.
When I got him he was so very thin and light. Now he has heft to him .. he isn't so fragile feeling ..
And then there is Honey .. Honey has all the heft you could ask for.
She is a Big Girl. with a tiny girl meow and I still laugh when I hear her.

They have been informed ... yes, I told them to Come here and sit down, I have something to tell you.


and they looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and sat down ... Merlin lay down .. seconds later, Merlin snored.

I told them we are going to pack and go back home to New York.

Honey raised her paw ...
I said, "Yes Honey"?
She wanted to know when dinner would be ready.

Merlin got more comfortable  and snored a little.
Minette went back outside to be a Lookout for the Great Gecko  Catching Contest.
Little does she know there are no geckos within her reach .. they might be lizards but they aren't that stupid..

So that is Friday at my house ...
I know, you wonder how I manage to deal with so much excitement .. it is a secret.


A Murmuration

https://vimeo.com/31158841

I have posted this before I think but I am posting it again .
This is called a Murmuration.
This was the first time I had ever heard of such a thing or seen anything like it.
It is magical and wonderful and breathtaking.

So one afternoon in the house in New York, I heard birds outside in the trees.
Seemed like a lot of them going by the sound ...

I walked out to the edge of the property and there were the farm fields ( corn) stretched for miles up the hill and out of sight ..
And in the sky but coming from the farm fields was a cloud of Starlings ..
I got to see my own Murmuration .. and most of them settled in the trees on my property when they were finished ... finished amazing me and enchanting me and making me feel like I saw something so very special .. miraculous in its way ... just imagine standing alone, a tiny human under a huge dark cloud of birds .. magical doesn't describe it .. but close enough ..

A Murmuration ~

Nap Time

It has been grey and gloomy here with not much to do except make plans and lists. Other than that, the cats and I have been perfecting our Nap expertise ... the cats win so far but I am getting much better at it ... but then, there is always someone who is better ... even when wearing a scarf.
Living in Argentina

Living in Argentina

Blog Archive

Pages

And Don't Forget To Visit Me Here Too !

See more photos here

sunset in Buenos Aires

Powered By Blogger