Is August Really Over?

I can't believe it is almost September!

Pretty quiet around here. Spent the weekend at John's house. Went to a fundraiser at Streator Unlimited last night, a quarter auction, and had a great time. Lots of fun. John won a 75 minute massage! Wow was he excited! And thank goodness he won something, because he was getting a little pissy and whiny, much to the amusement of the other people at our table.  LOL I won a really cute necklace made by one of John's clients, Mandy. Since I have not worn any jewelry since the last time I was in a wedding (sometime in the 80s) I gave my necklace to another of John's clients and it looked great on her. We also had BBQ sammies and Texas sheetcake and giggles! Yummers and fun.

Reunion was a couple of weeks go. We had a great turnout, what a crowd! Good to see everyone and NOT at a wake or funeral. I probably shouldn't say things like this, but gosh, the Mallaney's have really cute babies. You should have seen all the cute little kids running around. We are just good looking people.  John came for the first time since . . . well, I believe it was in the 80s! LOL And the meal, as usual, was spectacular. Good times.

I don't think I have any other 80s flashbacks . . .

I cat/dog/house sat for my friends while they took their son to college. It was nice being out in the country with a swimming pool. All the night sounds remind me of the farm when I was little. Miss that. White Tip even brought me a mouse! Oh boy. And I had just gotten out of the pool and saw a huge fly on the dog, so I flicked it off, and pretty soon I felt a sting on my leg and the bastard was on me biting me! A country fly! He is no longer with us.

Hera continues to look spectacular. So happy to see my buddy looking so well. She is peppy again, begging to play, and she growled at me and tried to bite me several times this weekend, hooray! She is getting back to her normal (sturdy) self.

My sweet Finn has been limping for over a week now, but he is improving. Given that I spent over $500 at the vet last month, I'm giving him a little time to heal up. So far so good.  I guess when a 20 pound cat who is getting on in years continually climbs over and jumps from the top of a six foot chain link fence, accidents will happen.

Midge is weird. She insists on sitting on top of her Amazon pantry box turned upright and placed right in the front doorway. I think she did scare away a politician though, which was nice.  If I have to get one more screen replaced because she gets all excited and claws at the tom cats who come calling and to get a nosh on the front steps . . . well . . . sigh . . . I'll get them replaced.

I joined the Y. That would be the Y M C Aaaaaaaaaa. I can get myself clean, I can do whatever I feel . . . but you might want to keep your distance, because my body sometimes feels like doing things beyond my control! I also get to see cousin Barb Ragan at the Y too, which is really nice. 

I got my right lense replaced in my glasses and it is like my cataract never happened now. 

That's all I can remember of the last month. Sorry to see that 50 degree nights are leaving, and 90 degree days are coming back. Yucko!

Kay :)

Hot

Miserably hot today! Storms tonight will cool things off. I hope they aren't too bad. Right now the weather looks great for this week. We have the reunion next Saturday. Will sure be strange without Dad, Aunt Shirley, Aunt Joan and Aunt Jean!  We must be cheerful and celebrate being together  . . . and NOT at a wake or funeral. Plus I'm going to take extra beer.   The kind with alcohol in it!    

Dad would have loved the concert on the courthouse lawn Thursday night. And he would have loved all the tomatoes the garden is producing this year. And he would have been glad the river is finally open! He sure loved the river. I feel for the boaters this year, I think the river was closed for 5-6 weeks.

The goldfinch have found my zinnias! Midge was sleeping in front of the garden bed and seemed baffled by all the little petals falling around her! Those birds can clean the petals off a zinnia in record time! They are lovely to look at, I don't mind . . . much! For a time yesterday I had two goldfinch on the zinnias and a cardinal on the fence. Beautiful! Thank goodness those zinnias are tall . . . and the kitties are getting older and lazier and fatter.   I think Finn's waist reduction plan is working! Mine is working pretty well, except for the weekends are hard! We'll buckle down tomorrow.   

John was on vacation this week, but couldn't stray too far from home because of Hera. She continues to do well, but she needs to be watched. She has to eat for her liver to have a chance at healing.  John came home yesterday and we went putzing around. Found some goodies at the thrifts, including a house for the kitties . . .

I laughed when I got home, the house was so ridiculously small for my big cats, it is really kitten sized.  . . but Finn never lets me down. I knew that $2 would not be wasted!

Finn got big eyed when the butterfly he was playing with flew off.

I won a Chili's gift card in a drawing at work, so we enjoyed Chili's for supper, burgers and tex mex.  Mom loves visits from John . . . and fajitas! And we had a chocolate zucchini sheetcake for dessert, a new recipe, and definitely a keeper. Good eats. I'm enjoying cooking with all the garden bounty, it has been a great garden year. Swiss steak tomorrow with garden tomatoes and peppers.

I've had a sensitive tooth, and the dentist's office called and had a cancellation tomorrow at 10:00. Sigh. I guess I'm glad. Will be good to have it taken care of. I've been making very strange faces while eating cold dishes.

Finn is still enjoying Chili's . . .

Have a good week!

Kay
                                                                          

  

Weekend at John's

Hera and her battle scars.

Hera played hard! 

Hera is doing very well! I was so happy to see her bright eyed and active, and begging for play. She is regaining some weight. Her coat looks better. She isn't staying in that sad, sick cat position, settled upright, with a downcast head, she is sprawled all over the place, in her ungraceful Hera fashion. Yahoo!   She even went Crazy Cat today for a while (for non-cat people, that is a good thing for a cat who has been seriously ill). Except for her battle scars (the shaved tummy and paw), you'd never know she was near euthanasia a few weeks ago. The vet even gave John her cell phone number, just in case, as it was the weekend and Hera was in grave condition. I'm very hopeful.  Good for you Hera, and for John, for being patient and getting her the care she needed. I love that kitty, she's a corker. I'd like her to be around for many years to come.

We ate very seasonally this weekend, lots of garden goodies. Garden is doing very well. Lots of peppers and the tomatoes are small, but plentiful. My zinnias are still glorious.

I had tea made from my ginger mint. It was delicious.

We tried this recipe for a Zucchini Appetizer I got out of a free kindle download. I used garden zucchini and dried my own parsley from the garden. It also had sweet onion, parmesan cheese, eggs, bisquick, oil, and seasonings. It was delicious.  The leftovers were even better, warmed in a skillet, and all the parmesan cheese browned up. Yum.

I also made bruschetta with tomatoes, basil, and parsley, all from my garden, and some Kalamata olives.

I made Lemon Balm Chicken, with lemon balm and sage from John's garden, mixed with butter and rubbed under the skin and stuffed in the cavity along with a lemon. Tasty stuff.

John made pesto in his super cool vita mix. Much nicer than cleaning that food processor. On the left is carrot top pesto. I had snipped some young carrot tops when I picked my basil, and they smelled so good! I popped one in my mouth and yum, it was good! John said take a  look on the internet for carrot top pesto? And I'll be darned, there it was! On the right is a parsley & basil pesto with the usual goodies, lemon, garlic, sesame seeds and walnuts. Good stuff.

The traditional pesto turned into this, and we had it with a beautiful salad, with some lettuce from John's garden . . .

Pesto flatbread.

The carrot top pesto went on some marked down whole wheat cheese tortellini from Kroger. It didn't photograph well, but gosh, it smelled so good, and it was sure tasty with some of the lemon balm chicken and a salad.

And for dessert, we had Paula Deen's zucchini bread. Paula knows zucchini bread! Kay needs to know more about zucchini bread. It looks so perfect  . . . how could the middle be totally raw?! John thinks I need a bundt pan, since I been having some raw middle problemos. That zucchini was huge! I can't believe I didn't spot it until it was that big. I used it in that appetizer recipe, I made zucchini bread,  I even put some in scrambled eggs. And there was still some left in John's refrigerator. I'm sure he'll use it up.

I had my own kitties to the vet. Finn is fat! He needs to lose some weight. His new special satiety diet food cost me $35! Is there a food like that for fat people I wonder? And I don't know how to keep him from eating at the neighbors a couple of houses down. I was talking to them one day about the neighborhood strays and along comes Finnegan! The neighbor said "Oh there is that big shy cat, he's here every day." I said "That is MY cat!" lol  What a hoot. Finn masquerading as a stray. And last blog post when Midge was hiding in a box, turns out she didn't feel well. I got her up on the table at the vet and we were waiting and I noticed that she looked funny, she had a strange double chin . . . unsual for her, my "little" cat. I had the vet take a look and Dr. Dave found she had a puncture wound or a sting or something on the underside of her chin. Now that I look back at the box pic her chin was big there too, poor kitty. She needed an antibiotic, and she is such a tiger (she really is!), I spent an extra $35 to get her an injection instead of cat wrestling with her 3 times a day and getting that damn pink antibiotic everywhere. And she needs her teeth cleaned. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. But they are good expensive kitties and I am quite fond of them.

Another week of eye drops for my cataract eye. I got released from the surgeon and have to go see my own eye doc this week. The bills are rolling in and wow! Thank God for good insurance is all I have to say!

The rest of the fam is doing well. No excitement (which is a very good thing!).  Reunion is coming up in a couple of weeks. I can't believe August is nearly here.  I'm so glad the miserable heat they were predicting missed us. Nice to have windows open and not be miserable.

Kay :)

Summer & Midge

Summer is here! Finally. It is hotter than hell. Needed a new fan. Love my new wind machine, but where is Midge, she has disappeared. Did the wind machine blow her away? Nope. She is in the box the fan came in out in the shed where it must be 100 degrees! She doesn't look pissy because it is hot . . . she is pissy because I finally found her and woke her up.

Midge really approves of my cleaning out some of the catnip and lemon balm that has taken over my perennial bed. There was no room for her in there before.

Mom has the air on! Bernie did not like air conditioning. Or maybe he didn't like paying for air conditioning?

I have to take the cats to the vet for shots this a.m. I won't see them again for the rest of the weekend!

Be careful of this heat!

Kay :)

Happy (Early) Birthday John!

I drove Mom and Joe to Streator today, and we had lunch to celebrate John's 49th birthday coming up on the 13th.  49!! Wow.

The Birthday Boy and Hera! I was tickled to see that the sick kitten had put on a little weight, had some spring in her step, and bright eyes! She rolled onto her back for a tummy rub when Mom greeted her too!  She seemed more active and, overall, much improved since I last saw her. Her sister, the ever elusive Isis, hid for most of the visit. I did get my hands on her a couple times though. In trying to tempt Hera's appetite there have been some dietary changes for the kitties. Instead of their grain free low carb diet, all dry food, there is an array of canned foods, treats, different varieties of dry food, all sorts of goodies. Isis sees John paying a lot of attention to Hera, trying to get her to eat, and praising her when she does eat and Isis is no dummy! She is very happy to show John she can eat! LOL  The formerly tiny cat has a little tiny tummy on her! LOL  In fact John referred to the girls today as "Hera and Porky" lolol. 

Hera. You can see her battle scars there, her hair is growing back.

The best birthday carrot cake ever! I made it of course. I'm good at many things. Dieting is NOT one of them.

Joe, John and Mom in John's kitchen, Hera in the background. Isis is in the basement, hiding.

In other happenings I got my cataract taken care of Tuesday. I'm glad that's over. It wasn't as bad as a colonoscopy. But let's face it. Anything that requires you to go to a hospital and take off your underwear is NOT good. Well . . . except for that colostomy reversal . . . that was good! lol And I got some huge, dark glasses to wear around. And I'm an expert at eyedrops now too!

This is how Midge looks at me when I wear my cataract goggles. John called me Ray today. Sigh.

My lantana. It's right by my old codger rocking chair on the patio.

My view from the patio, while sawdust wafts down from the action of the carpenter bees. I know I should do something about them, but they are really interesting. And great pollinators! I think I need to get out  more, if I think carpenter bees are entertaining . . .

This crazy cherry tomato plant is 6 feet tall!

None of my first zucchini seeds came, so I threw in a bunch more. Now I have 2 zucchini plants coming up in a space that is way to small. We'll see what they can do. I do love me some zucchini!

Finn and I are going to start working on our waistlines. Well, as soon as the carrot cake is gone. Our new saying is . . . "If thy waist offends thee . . . WORK IT OFF!"  My kitties are going to the vet for shots Saturday and I'm pretty sure Dr. Dave will have something to say about Finn's weight. LOL

We missed Bernie on the ride today. We went through Verona (he would tell Robert stories and talk about how wonderful Bev was and tell about good times he had at their home); then we went through Ransom (they used to have a good baseball team there!), and then he would tell us that Joe and Josie used to shop in Streator but Dad's folks didn't go there much. He would have loved the long train and God only knows how many times he would have exclaimed, "Look at how big that field is! You can't see the end of it!" lol And he would always say that Streator was too far, he was going to stay home next time. But on the way home he would always 'fess up that he had a really good time! Memories that make me smile and a little sad at same time.  It was a good trip today.

Mom's hand is all better, unless she overdoes it. Hopefully no more falls!

Kay :)

Summer

Awwww. Finn loves Mom. And he has a foot fetish. Mom is wearing her marathon shirt! LOL It's from a rummage sale. She giggles a lot when she wears it.

Zinnias galore!

June Sunday

Feline hepatic lipidosis is trying to take Hera! John is really good with her. If she eats, her liver might heal itself. She is terribly skinny. She has lost 4 1/2 pounds! She was at the vet again on Friday and got an antibiotic, anti-inflammatories, fluids, and anti-nausea meds. They seem to be helping. John will not subject her to a feeding tube, since there is no guarantee of good result and she has already been through a lot.  Isis (on right), fka the "little sister" is gaining weight!

John is tempting Hera's appetite with all sorts of goodies. She nibbled several times yesterday and drank water, which is good.   We are hoping for the best and are expecting the best. Hera and John are working hard on recovery. Her little sis, Isis, has stopped hissing and striking at her and will get close to her now, and licked her a few times this weekend, which made me happy. Hera is still bathing and is interested in what is going on around her. And she still loves to read (nap) on her person, John, in the basement.

We get so attached to our kitties. That is NOT my Midge, eating whipped cream on the kitchen table.

My first tomato! Ok Its a cherry tomato. It was spectacular. Nothing else even close yet.

John made chia seed cherry jelly. Wow! Delicious!

Over and out.