Uncle and Nephew, and not who'd you think!

This is Tim, My Son and Patrick, His son, on Patrick's first Halloween, well, really his second, as he was only a week old on his first one.

 This is Patrick age 1 year and 3 weeks, with Owen, Patrick's NEPHEW, who is 2 years and 4 weeks old .

Just so you dont get confused, Patrick is wearing the mustache so you can tell he is the UNCLE!  His sister is visiting with Owen her Son, and His Sister is 20 years old.  I know gets confusing huh?  These two adorable boys will grow up as litter mates, if you will, and will grow and play as contemporaries, but they really are Uncle and nephew.  Patricks Mother has 7 children, 6 from another marriage, and The 20 year old is the oldest.  She had Owen when she was 17, almost 18.   Patricks Mother started early herself, and is only 36 right now.  She is a very brave woman.  i dont know that I could have had a baby when I was her age, much less when I was 16!  Patrick is a healthy happy well adjusted baby, and of course he is the apple of my eye!  Owen is my Great-Grandson, by marriage, even though I rarely get to see him.

I just wish i lived closer so I could see them all the time.  They are both adorable little boys!  Tim is LOVING being a daddy and a grandpa!

My sweet Patrick....

 Learning how to eat with utensils!  He has been nursed since birth and is almost a year old.

                                       THe newest American Idol contestant...dont ya think?

                                                       Not too happy with this costume thing

                                                                 Liking the rice and green beans

                      His Mommie's companion dog, and obviously she has decided that Patrick is no threat to her.

                                                            First Chocolate Cupcake!

                                                      He loves sleeping on his daddy!

                                                       Hey there!  wanna take a bath with me?

                                                  Such a messy boy

                                                          

This is Patrick in his 2nd Halloween costume!  Last year he was 1 week old, and they put him in a monster costume and he was a little doll!  He will be a whole Year old next THursday.  and he has gotten so BIG>

Gorgeous Fall!

 I just LOVE this time of the year!  The light in the afternoon is low and long, and casts a whole new look on the colors of fall.  We do not have a lot of color up here, as we are mostly conifer, but occasionally we get the uber dry fall which makes the deciduous trees all the more colorful.   We are going on to our 79th day of no rain.  This is a record breaker for us.  By now we normally have our first really strong wind storm and the rains drive us out of our gardens and inside to the fireplace.

 The pumpkins and squash and corn are abundant this year, leading everyone to come up with newer and different ways of displaying their gardens bounty.  You can eat it or display it, up to you, some even do BOTH,  Display it and then EAT it.

Looking out my bedroom window this morning, I saw my first squirrel in two years!  I was thrilled!  I went from a steady stream of chipmunks, grey squirrels and Douglas squirrels to NOTHING this year.  I was wondering where they had all gone.  Today a young juvenile was dashing back and forth from the bird feeder to the grass burying every sunflower and nut he could find!  SO either I will have quite a few visitors this winter, or a lot of sunflowers popping up in my sumer lawn next year.

I am cold, Think I will go build a fire in the fireplace.  just feels like one of those kind of days. 

Autumn in THe Pacific Northwest

Fall has hit with a slap this week.  THe trees are all losing their  Leaves, and the Garden is going nuts trying to push out veggies before the weather turns too nasty.  We have not had any measurable rain in over 2 months, so everything in this state is firecracker dry.  The alders behind the house are crackly dry, and the first real blow we have will push them over.  I HOPE!  They are now 40+ feet tall, and are taking over my back yard and the sun!

I am so tempted to go back there and cut notches in the East side of them all so when the wind DOES hit, (and it will_) they will all fall to the east and open up the forest again.  THere are a few evergreens in the forest, but this has been logged over about 40 years ago, and the weed trees took over.

TOnight and last night we have had a beautiful Harvest Moon, but I cant see it because of the trees.  I have to wait until about now for it to clear the tree tops and by then it is high in the sky and not colorful any more.  With the eastern half of the state on fire, the smoke in the air makes for Gorgeous sunsets and rises and Moon rises too.

It has been relatively warm during the day, but cold into the 40's at night.  Quilt and blanket weather, and fuzzy socks in bed too.  I do love the cooler nights!  I am looking forward to the later Fall weather.  In October and November is when our hurricane force winds hit, and it is so neat to know that you are snug and warm and ready for them to knock out the power and blow down the trees.  I am safe.  no big trees to the West of me where the winds come roaring down the strait of Juan de Fuca and smack right into my house.  My roof is good and strong, and trees out back will fall into the woods, not over the back fence.  I wish Icould afford to buy that 50 acres, and put cows and pigs back there.  That would SURELY piss off the community.  (no livestock allowed in the development)  but the 50 acres back there is not a part of the cove.  But it belongs to a conglomerate, and they wont sell for a reasonable price.  DAMN>

Rosie the female Kitty is doing great.  I found a home for Fred, so I just have the one now, and she is turning this house on its ear.  she rules the roost!  Is a bit intimidated by the resident old fogey, Schroeder, who sits under the bed and growls and hisses at her, but she is learning to just swat back.

Well by bed should be warm by now, hope this works I used a different button to get to my Blog this time.

Gypsy!

 The next show for the Whidbey Playhouse 2012-13 season is the Musical Gypsy which is based on the true story of the most famous burlesque dancer of all time.  Miss Gypsy Rose Lee.  This is also the story of ROSE her mother, who has been known as the stage mother of all stage Mothers, and her push to make her Babies famous so that she can live vicariously through them.

 Ya gotta have a Gimmick!  

 Baby June,...  My name is June, What's YOURS?

 Have an Eggroll Mr. Goldstone!

 If Momma was married....

 Together wherever we go.

The strippers....Ya gotta have a gimmick!

The show opens tonight and runs through October 21, 2012.  Tickets are on sale at the boxoffice 360-679-2237.  

Mary Lou I Need help!

 So was the voice on the other end of the phone as I answered My SIster's call.  I need to know how to feed a week old kitten.  What?  where?  How?  I asked.  She said that 2 little boys found these kittens with their eyes just barely open in the weeds behind the fence. 

THey Knew Phyllis was a sucker for stray cats, so they took them to her. She called me because she knows that I have fostered kittens before.

 I immeddiately dropped what I was doing and rushed over to her house.  I could her the babies yelling for their mom as soon as I got out of the car.  I knew that if Mom was anywhere around, she would be there licketty split.  But she wasn't.  I thought that since there was only two of them that maybe Mom was moving her litter from here to there, but No Mom showed up. 

 I took the babies home with the help of her neighbors, who had run to walmart and purchsed bottles and formula for them.    They were so SMALL!  they both fit into my hand.  Every 4 hours, they had to be fed, and cleaned!  Yep, Momma cat licks their little bottoms so they will poop and pee.  I did not know that!
I got paper towels and baby wipes and made formula and every four hours they would wake me up to be cared for.  THey were weak, so I took them to the vet, and 144.00 later, I took home two baby kittens, who were de-fleaed, de-wormed, and had eye drops in their eyes!  He weiged them and said that they may not make it, but try.  I did.

 A month later, I have two adorable 5 week old babies, full of life, full of orneryness, and full of shit!  I have them pottie trained, and I just yesterday took them off of formula, and they are now eating Kitten chow, and Fancy Feast Breakfast, twice a day.  They do not like the water dish, but they are getting used to it. 

 Every morning after they have their breakfast, I get them and bring them into my bed with me while I drink a cup of coffee and wait for the sun to leave my window and go over the house. 

 They snuggle, they play, they attack feet and fingers, and they drive theirt big sister and Brothers crazy.

 LIttle Rosie has the strangest fur.  It is about 3 inches long, but it is really curly under neath, looks like she is missing patches of fur, but she isnt! 

 She also goes really limp when I pick her up.  Almost like she has died.  SHe hasnt, just goes reallly limp like a rag doll.  (hrmmm)

 Her brother is the biggest one of them.  He is a siamese marked kitten with tons of energy!  He has helped her a lot!  He shows her where to potty and how to eat.

 Rosie is going to have green eyes, but Fred (flintstone) is going to keep he beautiful blue ones.

 A firend of mine will take him home in a week, and he will meet his brother George (Jetson) and his other brother who I dont know.

 I will keep Rosie, as Kittens are my most favorite thing in the whole world.  And after all the hours I have put into helping her live, I dont want her to go to a stranger. 

 Could you give up this darling little face?

 Please people, Spay and Neuter your cats as soon as they are old enough and for GOD's sake if you have any feelings for them at all , keep them in the house!  Do not let them out where they will catch diseases and be Coyote Lunch, or fight with Raccoons.

Take them to the Vet and have them fixed.  Rosie and Fred will not have babies, they will be fixed in about two months.  Then they will remain indoor cats and be happy until they go on across the Rainbow bridge, hopefully after a long life!

These two men are the absolute joy of my life.  My son, and His son, at Patrick's first ball game.  I love this photo of the two of them. 

Well we have auditioned for our next Season Show!  This great musical will open September 28-October 21! We held our auditions, but every school in the area was having graduation at the same time, so we did not get many prospects.  We did however get our major principles cast.  We will hold auditions for children after the July 4th holiday.  We are still looking for a Gypsy Rose Lee.  We have a few prospects, but no commitments yet.  We have time.  I am producing this one, and then I have no more shows lined up!  I am taking a much needed break from all the stress. 

I have a lot going on in the family, which causes the stress level in my life to reach the overfill level, and something had to go.  I am not sure that the family issues will ever be solved, but I am trying to be available for anytime they may need me.  (if ever).  This has really thrown me for a loop.  so stressful!

It is finally a gorgeous day out there, so I need to cut this short and get my carcass out in the garden and hpoefully get some squash planted.  This has not been the spring for gardens in the Pacific Northwest.  The weather may improve towards July, and be nice until Fall, but we never know what kind of Fall we will have, and the daylight decreases dramatically the closer we get to Sept 21st.  Plus we never know the first frost date.  Might be January, Might be late August!    gotta make hay while the sun shines!  ONWARD!