Ethel...1993-2008

Ethel died this evening. We had been holding a death watch on her all night and all day. She was stretched out in front of the wood stove, on the rug where she loved to lie, and we just left her there until we knew she qwas gone. I had made up my mind that fear or not, I was going to take her into the Vet today, but they were closed.



I knew she was going to go this weekend. She crawled up on my pillow this morning and could not even purr, her voice was so weak. I cried, and just let her lay next to me. She got up and went and lay in front of her breakfast dish, and did not eat, and that is when I knew for sure.

Ethel was almost 16 years old. I got her when she was only a week old, and her eyes were just open. The W.A.I.F. (Whidbey animal improvement foundation) called my sister and asked if she wanted to foster a kitten, and she said no, but her sister would. So they called me. I went down and they told me that it was TWO kittens...that their mother was feral and had an older litter also, but that she was killed by a car, and one of the older siblings (7 months or so) brought the two kittens to a nearby house where SHE was getting food out the back door. THe kittens were found on the deck, and the woman brought them to WAIF. I bottle fed the two babies every 4 hours, and kept them in my bathroom with only a board (actually the leaf from my table) blocking them in. When they were about two weeks old Ethel started yowling like mad. LOUD and insistent. SO I went in and she was stretched out as tall as she could get trying to get over the board. SHe sounded like Ethel Merman...such a big voice for such a little kitten. Thus her name. Her sister was called Shirley. (????) I dunno, It just came to me. Shirley would let Ethel suck on her belly fur and she did too. It was so funny to watch the two of them.

One day I went in, and they were gone. I could not find them anywhere!! I paniced. I looked under the bed, and there was a tiny hole ripped in the gauze liner of my boxsprings, and the two of them were in there. I got them out, put a bigger board in the bathroom and they stayed there maybe two minutes before they were back in my bed.

As they grew, it became apparent that they were forming a very simbiotic relationship, and were not sociallizing well with people. At 6 weeks, I took Shirley back to be adopted, and I kept Ethel. SHe got along fine withe Rudy and Mariah my Dog. She grew fat and sassy, and ruled the house. EXCEPT when a stranger came into the house, then she was back in my box springs.



She had an evil look about her, as her eyes were very golden and in that black face, they almost looked like an old owl. She had a very LOUD purr, along with her very loud voice. When she was about 6 months old, she got outside, and was freaked, that she stayed under the back porch for two weeks. I finally got her back inside and she NEVER went out again.

I was transfered to Fallon, Nevada when she was 6, so I put her in a big carrier and Rudy in the other one along with Chitters, and put them in the back of my covered truck bed. I stopped in Shasta, California at a rest stop and a guy walked by and wanted to know what kind of animals I had back there. When I told him cats, he said WILD ONES??? I Laughed, and said she is NOW. She HATED the carrier, and would literally FREAK when I got it out. Once I got to Fallon, I let them out of their carriers and she found the nearest closet and stayed there until my bed got here, and then up inside it she went. The same was true 3 years later when I got transfered back home. I swore then that I would never scare her again. She was a LOVE!! She especially liked my and liked me to rub her belly. She would straddle my arm and place her belly on my hand so all I had to do was move my fingers.

She even got to the point of crawling under my covers when I was asleep and doing the same thing, so all I had to do was move my fingers in my half sleepy state. She was always beside me. In the chair, in the bed, on the couch, and she would tell me when it was getting too cold out and would lay in front of the woodstove and yowl at me until I built a fire for her. THen out full she would stretch, and lay there until the fire died. She was also the first to find a sunbeam. Winter or Summer, she knew where the cracks in the curtains were and would lay until the sun had moved, then on to the next spot she would go.

I will miss her very much, but she is in peace now, and is no longer cold, and I am sure that there is a nice warm hand and arm that she can straddle when she wants her belly scratched. There just has to be someone up there waiting for a cat...

YAWN!

GADS!! I just have absolutely NO energy! I slept most of Sunday, got up late on Monday, went swimming, did my 45 lengths of the pool, and was pooped before the aquarobics started. I did 1/2 an hour of them and then came home, took a shower and CRASHED!! I woke up around 2 AM and turnwed off the TV, let the dog out and the cat in, and closed off the front room and the kitchen, locked the doors, checked my email, turned off the computer and crashed again! Yesterday, I had a dentist appt, got a new crown and a new filling. (MONEY!!) went to the Playhouse and took the few pictures that I had not taken for DEAR SANTA, and came home, fixed what was left of the package of thighs that I had thawing on the counter and went to bed.

Dotties cats are cupboard walkers! Mine are not. And Tyler jumped up and got the thighs off the counter ripped open the wrapper and stole a thigh. I rescued 3 of them though. Little SHIT!! He is such a sweet cat though.

The above picture is of my baby...Schroeder, who is 18 months old. He is so afraid of anything new, that everytime I pull out the camera to get a picture of him he runs! The other day he just sat there, so I took the picture just as he said "I'm so bored with this, opened his mouth, yawned and ran. so you get a great picture of his throat. He is so BIG and the vet thinks he is part Maine Coon. His Momma was a slut, so no telling what he really is. He is starting to get little tufts on his ears and on his TOES!! And he is a really mama's boy.

I had better go get the pies made, so I can get to bed early tonight. We are going to Donna's for dinner tomorrow, so I dont have to cook!! YAY!!!!

You all have a great THANKSGIVING, and for all you Canadians up there, You get to smell our turkeys cooking like we do during YOURS!!! ;) I wonder why we don't have them on the same day? Huh!

and another picture from the show...

I have not been anywhere to take pictures other than the Playhouse, so you will just have to deal with these...

I am in the process of finishing the Lobby Poster for Peter Pan, and then the wall for DEAR SANTA, THEN i CAN RELAX (oops caps on) at least for a few days...I have to bring pies to DOnna's house for Thursday, so I will those on Tuesday, and stick them in the fridge. I am also cat sitting Dotties two fur babies, so the house is kinda on edge right now until they all adjust to each other again.

I have a huge fire going in the stove, and the animals are all jockeying for the best position in front of it. Ethel has won so far. She is the oldest and the Bitch of the crew, so they all catered to her needs. I just don't know how she hangs on, she cant weigh more than 2 pounds! She sleeps a lot, but she still cuddles with me, and purrs, and eats, and meows loudly when she wants something.
I wish I could make her better but I can't. She is happy, and does not appear to be in pain, so I will just let her be for awhile.

Gotta go throw another log on the fire...

Catching up

Just another picture from the play...Tiger Lily and the Henny Penny tribe...from PETER PAN

I have finally transcribed my 19 pages of notes from the Coupeville Festival Retreat and I used Office 2007. WOW!! I LOVE it!! so many easy things to do to make your pages look good. I have to have these printed for our meeting again in Dec. This is also the meeting that we award our 30,000 dollars of Grants to those individuals and organizations that applied and we thought were worthy. We had a lot of people apply for these grants, and it was very hard to say no to some of them, but then again, there were some that we all looked at and all did a thumbs down. There are rules to follow, and those that do not follow the guidelines, get denied. They are right there on the front of the application, and they STILL get it wrong.

I am learning a lot with this organization. Next time you go to a town festival, or a craft sale, or a city bazzaar, stop and think about what all goes on BEHIND the scenes by VOLUNTEERS in order to make it happen. Amazing what all you DONT hear about!

I am just about caught up with my book work, The Play has three more weeks to run, then it will be all torn down and the next one will go forward. Three months of hard work by a very few people, and once again, they are all VOLUNTEERS.

I am working harder volunteering than I did before I retired!! amazing isnt it?

My canning is all finished.
I cleaned my house.
I did all the laundry.
Bob raked all the leaves.
I finished the retreat notes.

I still have to finish the Lobby poster for PP.
take and do the Bio's photos and pages for the Christmas play.
Get the Meeting Minutes for the CFA finished.

I am still swimming, in fact I just bought three new suits in a size smaller than before! (swimming 6 hours a week does a number on a suit! they only last about 3 months, and then they fade and the elasticity fails.)

Little Miss Sadie-Bug is in the Doghouse!!! She was given a ham bone outside last evening, and last night or rather this morning, she pooped right in the middle of the hall way! Yep...I sure did...It was dark. She got yelled at, pitched outside, while I hobbled to get some toilet paper to get it off my foot, and then up off the floor. I was NOT happy! The last time she did this was last Christmas, when I gave her the boes and excess fat off the prime rib roast. I think I will not do that again. DAMN DOG!!! >:(

I have my oldest cat, Ethel, getting rid to leave this world. She is 16 and has lost almost all of her weight! She is losing hair like mad too, black fur everywhere! She has kidney failure, and will soon just die. I should take her in to have her put down, but she freaks really bad when I haul out the carrier, so I dont want her last minutes being fearful. She still purrs, and eats, and sleeps, and cuddles, but she now weighs only about 2 or 3 pounds...So sad. I will tell her story when she goes.

We ared having a very warm November. Flooding and rain, and wind, but so far, no frost. It got close the other night, but not yet. FOg though.

Well, I need to get busy and finish a few more things. Just wanted to post so you would not think I was gone forever. I'm not. I'm here. Just was really busy!

States I have been in.

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

The end is near!

Whew!! Last dress rehearsal tonight and we open Friday for a 4 week run! My eyes are so glazed from all the detail work on the background of the pictures. I bought the whole Photoshop suite when I got my computer, and it is really really NEAT!! I had elements before, and that was good, but this has sooo much more, and I like the interface between Vista, windows picture viewer and Photoshop. You click on a picture and then click on open and VOLIA! the picture you want to edit is right there!! COOL!

I have all the portraits for the lobby wall, and Most of their Bios also, but I have to get it up tonight, so some will go up without Bios, and then they will whine and wonder why they did not have a bio on the wall, write one out and expect me to just reach into my back pocket and pull out the formatted, bio, all printed in powerpoint in the proper font and colors. Not gonna happen. I have been asking for Bios for 3 months. And as many pictures as I have taken there are still several kids that were not there in time so their portrait was not taken. This cast was just WAAAAAAY too big, with hardly any parental help.

The show will open on time, and it will all work out, but this one has been a rough birth. I had the lights all set, and then they changed the set, so now the lights dont look right. They will have to do though. As I was not given any more time to get them done. It will work! Some how the magic always comes together.

I will only be taking pictures and doing the lobby wall poster for the next show, so that will not be bad. And then Nothing until June, when we Produce NUNSENSE. That one only has five ladies in it, so it will be a snap. WHEW!

Now on to other things....

The Fantasy begins...

Well We finally have most of the main character costumes done and they look good...All except for Peter pan who looks like he is wearing a basketball uniform. OOPS!! That is being changed! amazing how one person's vision gets twisted in another person's mind! And Nana the dog is made of STRIPED fur. Ever seen a tabby DOG? Neither have we. But we will live with it...Our ostrich and our Lion are still not done yet...WAHHHHH!!! but we have a very forgiving Press up here, and since tonight is technically still an official rehearsal, we can go forward. The Press will be here and the cast families. We still have a week to go before opening night. By then everything will magically come together and no one will knoe just how hard a very few people have worked to make this happen. SOme of us are close to the breaking point, but we will all make it!!

Now to just get those tickets sold!!!!

Still Busy

Along with everything enumerated below...I have a spreadsheet to make for the Coupeville Festival Grant Meeting next Monday. I LOVE spreadsheets. and the New Office 2007 Excell is WONDERFUL!! I just have not figured out all the buttons yet.

There are over twenty five Grant applications all wanting a piece of the pie, and we have to review them all and select the most worthy. I am still VERY new to this job, so I do not not what all goes into qualifying an application. Judging from the apps though, it must be all arts and crafts and history I will know more soon.

I have 1/2 the light cues assigned to dimmers for PETER PAN and will or SHOULD finish them tonight, then I will be concentrating on the paperwork, ie: PROGRAM Finalization, Biographies for the Lobby, Photos for the Lobby etc. We open in 10 days, with Press Night on this Thursday, so we are getting close. Once the show opens, I will be on a downhill slide, and can relax and get myself ready for the Holidays.

This will be Tim's first Christmas home in YEARS and I am really looking forward to it. He is doing so GOOD, (Thank you Lord!) and calls once a week. That is such a worry off my mind. As hard as it was to say no to him for Bail money, and make him face his obligations, It was the best thing that ever happened to Him. I think He thinks so too. He is totally off drugs now, and swears he will never go back to them. (now to work on the cigarettes!)

We are having an EXCEPTIONAL Fall here this year. COOL and SUNNY. makes up for the crappy summer we had I guess. WOnder what winter will bring. I saw only one Wooley bear caterpillar, and it had a BIG orange stripe, so who knows....

This weekend will be more applesauce, and then I am done canning for awhile, unless the mighty hunter finds some other windfall fruit, or gleans more fields for veggies.

Gotta run...

Almost Halloween

It has been an absolutely beautiful month! Sunsine and chilly. The trees are really colorful right now. We have not had our usual October Storm yet either.

Bob has filled my new wood ricks so now I have 2 cords of wood dried and ready to burn, so I wont freeze. I also have been putting up apples. A make really chunky applesauce with cranberries in it and it is really good, almost like pie filling. My kids scarf it all down as soon as they know I have some made. 1 case of apples will make about 20 qts of applesauce.

I am canning pears too,and Wednesday I took a day off and stayed home to rest, and got to looking at my filthy house, and cleaned! Never even stopped, just cleaned away. I made some applesauce that night, but then started right in on thursday canning pears. I was bringing a five gallon pot of pears down to the table where I was working them and I dropped the damn thing all over my kitchen floor. boiling hot syruppy pears and syrup. Sadie ran like hell thank you Lord, and did not get burned. It plashed onto my pants and my warm suede slippers but I did not get burned either. I was so freaking mad!!! the floor had just been cleaned! SO I grapped an armfull of old towels and got it all wiped up, but then the floor was sticky, so I had to rewash the floor with hot water to get all the syrup up. I was not in the mood to finsh, so I turned everything off, and went to bed. By this time I was in sever pain. SO I hit the Ben Gay and wenbt to bed.

Today I was still in pain, but I managed to finish the case of pears. I was going to start in on the other one, but the corner store was out of wide mouth qt jars, and they didnt have any fruit fresh either so I will do some tomorrow night after I play all day with the lighting for Peter Pan, and go eat Pho.

Ever had Pho? oh yummy!! gotta try it!

I need time to breathe!!

I have been so busy!!! Friday, I had to work on the Program for Peter Pan, and then I went to Aquarobics, then rushed on to a Play reading. A group gets together and reads from the script, a play that the playday committee has chosen to submit to the membership for next season. We read CASH ON DELIVERY which was a British Farce, and FUNNY!!!! I drove home through the ground fog around 10:00, and hit the shower and crashed. I was so tired!
I went in to set the lights for the show on Saturday, and worked on them for 5 hours, until time to head home. They still aren’t done. I will get the cues set into the computer this week, and finish moving the lights next weekend. I will be so glad when this show opens. For some reason, I am really stressed out over it, More so than most. Might be the huge cast and all the kids that don’t listen. (ya THINK?)
Today I got up and processed a case of apples into applesauce. I have another case in the garage, along with two cases of pears. But those are going to have to wait. Tomorrow I have a dentist appt, then swimming, then aquarobics, then rehearsal. Tuesday I have a meeting with a member of the Coupeville Festival Board, to show me the ropes on their office computer. I will have to have the minutes ready, from the last board meeting and the spreadsheet done for the grant applications, all by November 3rd!
Thank God for vitamins! And coffee!

It's Autumn...ya THINK?

Every year in October, Coupeville has a scarecrow contest and each business tries to participate, this year's theme was COWS I guess, because most of the ones were cow related. I only took this one which is Island Transit's entry, and the cutest by far.



Our one and only grocery store, Prairie Center had their display of Pumpkins out front and it just looked really fallish, so I took it.




My Sister's friend Nancy's Husband Al puts up a different theme every year also...this year it was a big black BAT!

When traffic is not so bad, I will try to get the rest of them for you. we only have one main street, and during the day it is too busy to get good pictures, because you have to stop in the middle of the road, and the tourists get really cranky!

The weather took a drastic turn too. It got COLD last night, almost freezing, but not quite. Donna lives on the mainland, and she has already had to scrape ice off her windsheild. Yep, one week of summer and now it is Fall. I expect Winter to be right around the corner. I saw my first wooley Bear, and he had a small brown stripe and big black ones, so that means COLD IS COMING...

Passing the Turkey platter!

Beings as how I have the biggest house, and I am the oldest, I have always held Thanksgiving here. Last Year Phyllis wanted to go to the community center with her church, and ended up here.

This Year, Donna has offered to cook for Bob and I and Tim at HER house, so Phyllis and Sherry and Mike can go do their thing without feeling bad about not coming to my house this year.

Actually it works out GREAT, as I will be right in the middle of Peter Pan and will be really busy not to mention TIRED.

Donna's Husbands boss always gives them a turkey for thanksgiving, so all that she will need to do is stuff it in the oven, and cook the potatoes, and I can bring the rest! COOL!!!

I kinda feel bad about NOT having family over, but they say they wanted to go eat with the community center, so there ya go! I will still do my Killer Prime Rib Roast for Christmas dinner though. Already have it in the freezer!!

Bob brought me over 2 boxes of fuji apples and 2 boxes of anjou pears to put up, so I had better get busy huh!

for those of you that DON'T have my email it is marylouchandler46(at)gmail(Dot)com
so your comments will go there and I can post them. easy now!

I'm SOrry

I'm SOrry, But I have an anonomous commenter that is making derogatory remarks, and since I am not smart enough to remember how to delete the comments, I just turned them all off for a while. When the weather clears, I may return them, in the mean time, you know how to reach me.

I will still continue to post, just not allow comments for awhile.

Please keep checking.

Am I Missing SOMETHING?

When I was a little girl, we lived in a 2 bedroom 700 SF house, Phyllis and I shared a bedroom, we had 1 bath, a kitchen and a livingroom. We felt very secure, we were loved, and we rented because in those days Military people just did not BUY houses, because they would be transfered in two years.

When My Dad retired, and we were permanently in one place, we rented again, this time an older 3 bedroom home, that was floated in from Seattle where they were tearing down neighborhoods to build the Seattle World's Fair. AND I-5. It was bigger than anything we had lived in before, had a fireplace, a dining room, a bath and a half, and a HUGE eat in kitchen. It was probably 1200 SF a two story home and needed repair. We felt Loved and we had room to grow in. Phyllis and I shared a bedroom and Mike had his own small room, but we all shared a closet.

When I married and moved on, we lived in a 3 bedroom home around 1200 SF, with a bath and a half one story with a dining room and a kitchen, a typical rambler. We felt secure, and we were loved, and we were comfortable.

Years passed and I was single again and Tim and Donna and I all lived in a tiny TINY studio apartment with a tiny tiny bedroom big enough for a twin bed and nothing else. We had a pull out couch in the living room, a kitchen and a full bathroom. It was a mother in law apartment attached to the main house, but it worked for us, we felt secure, cramped but secure, and we were loved.

More years passed, and I was transferred to Adak, Alaska where I made more money than I could spend there, so I saved! I came home on leave one summer and bought a home. The one I live in still. It is 1400Sf with 3 small bedrooms, and 2 full baths, and a HUGE great room and a kitchen. an attached garage also. I had to put a standard despoist down on the mortgage, and also had to take out PMI (private mortgage insurance) as I was single and had never owned a home before. I was finally secure again, and alone, but I was happy with what I had.

Yes, I dreamed far above my means, and swore if I ever had the money I would build the dream home I always wanted, a log home with tall rafters, and a view of the Water. HA! That aint gonna happen. I lived within my means, sometimes not making other payments but always making my mortgage payments.

Now I am looking at the stock market crashing again, today, with banks failing in Europe and the United States, from mainly sub-prime mortgages and corupt banking practices.

People were buying homes FAR above their ability to pay, and far bigger than they ever would NEED. we are talking 4-5000 SF homes, with Master suites, 5 bedrooms many baths and a family room, living room, and a bonus room. WHY? because they were unwilling to settle for something they could afford at the time. THey were unwilling to invest in a smaller home, and then upgrade as they could afford it.
The Banks and Mortgage companies were encouraging this also. Developers were cutting down forests and building gated communities in places that were safe and secure anyway. The American Public gobbled up the lies and dove head first into a puddle that was not as deep as they thought, and now those homes are being forclosed and those people are sitting there with mud on their face wondering what the HELL happened?

Let me Tell you what happened folks. YOU GOT GREEDY!! ALL OF YOU!! You KNEW you could not afford that house, You KNEW that the bubble would someday burst and still you continued with your insane ways of doing business.

It is now going to be up to ME who I will say is still living in a 1400Sf home that I CAN afford, with a mortgage that is half way to being paid off, to bail you out! Why should I have to be taxed to Bail YOu out of your mortgage? Now I am not talking about those who really did buy within their means, a modest home with a modest mortgage. I am talking about those people with McMansions, three cars, etc. and now in foreclosure.

I am retired, and drawing Social Security and now the GOVERNMENT has just given those same banks and mortgages brokers a 700 BILLION dollar bailout. I have heard that they are also going to help YOU keep your McMansion, while I am still left struggling to pay mine off. My taxes are going to help you, and NO ONE is helping ME.

What did I Miss? Should I have bought a bigger house? should I have let my mortgage go? I dont understand.....SOmething had better CHANGE in WASHINGTON!!!

Getting set up

GADS! I forgot what all it takes to get your computer set up the way you like it. The problem I am having right now is my Bose speakers are not working!! GRRRR

I still do not have my address book imported from gmail into Outlook, but soon I hope. I also do not have every one saved in my favorites. Since I blogwalk from my FAVORITES and not my side bar, I am sorry to say that it is not up to date. If I am neglecting you, let me know!!!

I LOVE this monitor though. It is HUGE! a 24" viewing surface! I can almost open 2 pages side by side!! Great when I am working on a spreadsheet.

ARRRGHH!!

Below is the rehearsal picture I took outside of Pirates of PETER PAN.
Cute huh? Smee and Michael and Sweetness and Kangaroo.

Smee's cap

Ok, Since I am going to start putting everything I crochet on here too, I have just finished pirate SMEE's Hat. It is gonna drive him wonky though because the tassle is gonna tickle his neck. Aw well!!

new computer

ok, here we go again...I need you all to list your blogs so I can add them to my favorites, otherwise I will not be around to see you. If y ou are listed on the sidebar, I can get you that way, but if you are not, please let me know so I can get you listed, now that I have a computer that will let me do things without freezing up. AHHHHHHHH this is so nice!! Gotta get used to the keyboard though.

A RAGING HEADACHE

As I was driving into to town this evening, All of a sudden I got slammed with a head ache. It was like it was standing right there in the road in front of the San de Fuca Church just waiting for me. I drove through it and it hit. WHAM!! ANd I had to go play herder on 30 little kids all restless because they have no clue what blocking is about, so they talk. THen I have to quiet them down so Rusty can talk, and I can hear.

ARRGGHHH!!I really do like little kids, I just do not like the ones that test you,or talk back or ignore you or have no manners. NO tolerance for that, so that made the headache worse.

I came home ate a chocolate bar, took a pain pill and went to bed. Can't sleep. SIGH!! I hope I get a good nights sleep soon! I really need one.

Fall Has Fell....AGAIN!

BRRRRRRR. Our Late summer finally arrived about the end of August and lasted until Yesterday! It started raining, and is still. THe leaves are falling off the trees like snowflakes falling. My poor tomatoes are so confused! THey were very late to get growing, but once they did they went to town, and as of last weekend, They were LOADED with blossoms and little bitty green tomatoes. ANd as of last night, they are starting to turn yellow and die back. THe tomatoes are too small to do anything with, they are early girls and should be about 3 " across to use for green tomatoes. THey are still only the size of a quarter. ah well.

I have the MOTHER of all slugs in my back yard! I opened the back door when I heard him knocking, and I kid you not, He is the BIGGEST damned slug I have ever seen. a good 3 inches Across and 6-7 inches long and green and yellow spotted. the most vulgar thing to be knocking at my door! YUCK!!



I have no idea where he was hiding to get that large, but his brothers are out now too, and chomping away on anything they can find!

Ever seen one climb a glass door? OH YUCKKKKK!!!! they are so gross!

Which car are you?

I'm a Ford Mustang!

You're an American classic -- fast, strong, and bold. You're not snobby or pretentious, but you have what it takes to give anyone a run for their money.

"Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Only I want it to be a convertible!!