Good Afternoon Everybody

Outside cats are doing fine but inside cats are puddles. (?)

Hi Tatoulia
So glad you had that massage today especially after all that drama.

I want to try one of those sandwiches but this town is too small to have anything fancy like that.

Hey SubC my day ended pretty poorly yesterday too. Not as much going on but I went for dinner to see my friend of 30 years at her brother's house and it was a big disaster and I ended up getting up and walking out. Brother's wife came out crying and said she'd drive me to the train but I told her I'd rather walk. The only thing I can say is I didn't yell and I didn't swear, I just got up and left. So 30 years of friendship down the drain. But I'm good with it. I couldn't take what was going on.

My massage today was lovely. So lovely. Then I walked to work and did an hours worth of work. I picked up computer and walked home. Stopped at grocery store for mom (she needed coffee) put a quick load of delicates in the washer then met BF for a sandwich. I got the sweet potato spinach goat cheese green pepper sandwich SO DELICIOUS. I ordered BF his sandwich and mine before he got there so I got to pay! This never happens! I also got a blueberry muffin for mom and ran it up to her together with the can of coffee she needed.

I am now laying down with AC on.

How are your melty cats, Tillie?

Good Morning Everyone
"Clink!"

Hi Subclinical
That was a very rough day you had.
Even just one of those situations was upsetting enough. (((HUG)))

Tillie, I am picturing your home as a Dali landscape now.

I had a rough afternoon yesterday. I did not do pottery.

I got an email from my boss about possibly cancelling some of my classes due to low enrollment. I went ahead and okayed one, but I am struggling with my options on the other two.

I got an email from my one friend at work (I define friend pretty tightly. There are four other people at work who I enjoy working with and talking to, but if they left and were replaced by new people I enjoyed working with and talking to - never seeing them again would bother me not at all.) her dh has been transferred out of state. He is going to move in two weeks and she and her high school aged but not driving Dd will stay here for the year and then go. So she will have no time for me and then be gone. I do not have many friends.

Dh came home from work tired and very grumpy, so I couldn't really talk to him about anything, and then right at bedtime Dd called needing to talk because she is feeling very stressed out and overwhelmed about her dh and his hoarding in their house. I want to help him, and I really feel like I could, but I can't get in the middle of their marriage. HE has to want me to help.

So I couldn't sleep.

Good Evening Everyone

Watered the trees today, then the lilacs.

High temperature today was 100 degrees.
Late afternoon the sky filled with dark gray clouds and the wind was raging.
Lots of blowing dust and tumbleweeds.

I felt three tiny rain drops then the winds blew the clouds all over to the mountains.

Lots of apricots dropped from the tree.

Twinkles and Scooter looked like melted candles most of the day.

Summertime...

Cm you are a cutie pie!!!!

Welp. I have not been an instant Instagram whiz. Some of my pictures I will need to resize to their ratio so that heads don't get cut off and so on. I'll do that. Glad y'all liked what you could see of my posts so far!

Good Afternoon Everybody!!!

Hi CriticalMass
YEA!!! I loved all your photos!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you.

OK, now you will be able to make noise any time and arrange your schedule around all your activities and only "have-To" tasks are critter care.
Have a BLAST! ;D

Hi Tatoulia
Your flowers are beautiful and thriving! 😀
So happy you have those living growing blooming plants to add a little joy to your space.

Thoroughly enjoy that massage tomorrow, you need it.

WTG! getting trash & recycling & the AC box out!

Hi Subclinical
My 1st Mountain Lion encounter was a lot like your Dd's except mine had just killed a Doe and was happy to stay there as I slowly climbed back down the mountain.
Shivers...

Wonderful! So happy your workshop was such a relaxing & creative experience!

YEA! for swimming!

Your Dd has wonderful sweet memories of growing up in her family home (((HUG)))

Good luck with your chart.
As long as it doesn't make you think you should be doing too much in a day when you are busy with all the important things you have to do.
Like animal care, self care and then school.

Been keeping real busy, doing lots of piddly little things all day from morning till bedtime.
Just busy work to keep me from thinking.

I got to see CriticalMass!
😍

That quilt is gorgeous!

I want you to move next door to me. And Tillie, and Tatoulia. We will have an artists colony and you can quilt and write and I will make pots and Tillie will make rugs and do beadwork and Tatoulia will be our muse!

I made myself a chart. I am going to show dh when he gets home, because I put the stuff in my head on the chart, and I am afraid it is too much, but i also think it is the bare minimum.

I put ten things that are important on the chart so I can check every day if I did nothing, something, the minimum, or extra. The only exception is exercise, which I am just marking "structured" (swim or exercise bike) "active" (yoga, stuff like a lot of walking or significant outside work) or "none". Defining the minimum is going to be the sticking point.

Also there are no extra things on there - like errands or working on the basement. I clearly do not have time for ten things every day, but some days nothing will be fine or even qualify as the minimum - like laundry - if there is not enough laundry to bother with, i'll just check minimum - keeping up.

I want a visual of what I am accomplishing and neglecting.

I did a good job getting my outside stuff done today, but then I crashed. I have snacked a lot and am having a really hard time shifting to pottery - I kind of want to just let the rest of the afternoon go.

Hi

Happy Friday - I'm a bachelorette for a couple of days again...

Roommate just departed for her family visit. Kind of sad, they are going to pre-plan her mother's funeral. It's one of those situations where an exact time isn't known but they were advised by the hospice people to go ahead and get that done so they wouldn't have to worry later.

Tough times. Losing my parents in my 40s and having friends who get to keep theirs much longer is an incongruous experience. I'm happy for them though.

I haven't done much yet today, but I'll fix some lunch now and figure out what I will do. Just hopped by mainly to say that while I was waiting for her to get ready, since I didn't want to be gone, yet it's too distracting a time to do much, I spent the time figuring out how to upload pictures from my laptop to Instagram. My tablet is so full I can't put the app on it. And most of my pictures are on the computer or a flash drive that goes into it.

bunnyplanetqueen

Tatoulia enjoy your massage!

Yesterday when I was working in the studio, I realized I was having a yurt moment. The studio is crowded, and it is noisy, but I am comfortable with the people around me and they are all focused on their own stuff.

The yurt is more of a headspace than a place. So, what was good was that I was focused on what I was doing, I felt like I could just keep doing it at my own pace until I was done, I had everything I needed easily at hand, and I had no pressure or reminders to be doing anything else.

I love all the different things in my life, but there is always something else clamoring for attention. Right now I am sitting in the new space, and as my eyes move around, my brain shouts "flower bed!" "Ditch!" "You haven't been doing yoga!" "Dishes!" "Class prep!".... there are certainly things I can do outside - to my environment - to help with that, but a lot of it also has to happen inside.

You do so much in a day, SubC! WTG! Oh and your daughter sounds every bit as dear as you and your husband. What a nice child you raised.

Garbage out, recycling out, Giant AC box is out. Pretty good.

Going to wash my face and climb into bed

MASSAGE ON Saturday at 11!!! Pretty nice.

Tillie, that hunting experience sounds very frightening.

My Dd hiked up on a mountain lion once. She came over the ridge and it was just lying in the sun. She said her first thought was "that's a mountain lion." Her second thought was "it's not as big as I imagined it would be." Her third thought was "that's a mountain lion!" Then she backed very slowly back the trail the way she had come and chose a new route that looked down on the mountain lion from a distance.

She and her dh came out tonight for dinner and she baked cookies and left us some. (they also needed to borrow the chain saw and let her dog pee around my yard a lot.)

CM, I identified so closely with your post. Those morning hours are really important to me too. Letting them slip away is how I often end up binge watching videos instead of doing other, more important or interesting things. Tillie is right, there is tomorrow. But it sounds like you pulled off a save.

I made it to my workshop a few minutes early today. It was great! We did three different projects, and they gave us a goodie bag with a brush, a stencil, and a lot of fun consumable materials. Plus some literature that I plan to read and file or recycle.

I stayed and worked on projects for my class afterwards (I brought home three things to work on tomorrow) then I dropped off the recycling, swam, and came home to make dinner for my crew.

I have a thing I want to share - dh parents own his family home. It is a beautiful place on a river where you can fish, swim, canoe, ski... dh has many fond memories of visiting his grandparents there, and our kids have spent time there at least every summer. The family has started talking about what will happen when his parents can no longer care for it. There is no clear choice to take it on, and the upkeep is extensive. Dh as asked me to think about how I would feel about us moving there, and tonight he asked Dd how she would feel about us moving or the place being sold. She said "honestly, I would rather come here. It's more fun." I know that was hard for dh to hear in some ways, even though he appreciated the compliment, but for me it was pure good. In spite of everything, she thinks of this as a good place. She grew up in a mess, but I didn't mess up too badly.

Tatoulia how are things there?

Tillie, Stay safe!

Tomorrow is another day, CM!

I read something recently and I've tried to practice it. That if you hit the snooze alarm while waking up, that's fine. But if you hope to sleep some more during it, you're better off just getting up.

I need to water my flower boxes and get my garbage out. I'm tired. BF met me after work and we had chowder and a salad and now I'm home.

Hi Tillie

LOL - I am too stubborn to do that with the alarm and I'd probably trip on my junk! Just being honest. I have an extreme startle response, so I have to do alarms very gently or my heart will pound, yet of course not so gently that I fall back to sleep which is also my body's frequent response. And all of this without disturbing light-sleeper roommate.

It's a delicate balance, one I have achieved before, it's just that I get off track as seasons change or routines get tweaked.

I came to the library when I got to feeling too blah at home, and got some business and writing done on the computer. Good enough for now. Tomorrow is another day.

Good Afternoon Everyone

Hi CriticalMass
Here is a suggestion...
Move your alarm clock far enough away from the bed that you must get up to reach it to turn it off.
Then resist the urge to lay back down again or to even sit on the edge of the bed.

Oh well, so you slept the day away today
all is not lost
there is still tomorrow.

Just finished eating my lunch of enchiladas.
Really want to go load up my plate again but seriously, I'm stuffed. 😉

Made a lot so now I'm looking forward to dinner.

Smell smoke in the air, there is a fire burning somewhere nearby.
Hope it's just an under control, control burn.

I was so looking forward to today, not having to be anywhere, and I had some great plans as to what I was going to do - then I stayed in bed too long and now I'm all spacy, unmotivated, and
indecisive. 😢 There are too many things to decide between, with the bunny club event only a few weeks away, and my decluttering, writing, projects I want to get to such as sewing...

I think I need to change the time I have my alarm set to, so I can have my two times of hitting snooze but then I must get up. That'll put it a few minutes before roommate leaves for work, so the bathroom wait won't be long.

So, trying to pull today out of the pit. Rats.

Good Morning Everyone

Hi Tatoulia
Maybe that's a good thing that the clutter there is bothering you.
Don't let it upset you.
Use your annoyance of it to motivate you to get your home more easily maintained.
A place for everything and everything in it's place.
Easy access to items stored in cupboards, drawers and closets helps with finding a place for "keeper" items and makes putting things away easier.
When things are put away where they belong, cleaning is so much easier.
But what I saw on the hall table were item that needed to be dealt with in some way soon.
It was just a temporary dumping ground.
You have been busy with health and emotional issues.
At the time you were busy taking care of those priorities but would get back to the table items later.
That happens to ALL of us humans (((hug)))

Nope, the howling and yapping of coyotes and wolves doesn't bother me.
It's when you don't hear them that is spooky, nerve rattling.
They are very sneaky and quiet when stalking prey and you don't know where they are or even if they are around until they start yapping.
Deer hunting when I was 12/13 years old there were Mexican Gray Wolves stalking us.
I was the smallest hunter and I smelled of Mule Deer and had Deer blood on me so I was most in danger and could never leave my Dad's side.
The wolves had come within 10 feet of me one night and ate the Deer entrails of the Deer my brother and I had just cleaned.
That was terrifying!

Hi Subclinical
Maybe Mr. Kitty is showing you he's trying to eat healthier?
More leafy green veggies in his diet.

So sorry about that Raccoon problem, (((HUG)))
They are cute to look at but not very cute to live with.
Maybe you need a Raccoon skin cap?
Or a new skin for a banjo?

Been up since 4:30am
Watching the sunrise now.
Wished to sleep longer but, "Oh Well"...
Nothing really planned to do today.
Will put the hose on slow drip for the apricot tree this morning and will water some other things this evening.
Will mess up the kitchen making enchiladas then clean it up again.

Tatoulia, you should feel really proud of yourself. Just the change in your shopping habits is huge!

Also, your "before" pictures look like my "after".

Tillie, dogs have masters, cats have servants. I'm quite sure the cats have claimed you, not Steven. If a cat decides to be your cat, there is nothing you can do about it. You don't even have to like your cat, it will still choose you.

I started my morning off by hopefully resolving a raccoon problem, which is all I want to say about that, but my day has to get better.

I think mr. kitty felt bad for me, because he apparently decided we should eat breakfast together. Along with the usual mouse, he brought a large plantain leaf. (Mr kitty: "ok, fine, I don't understand it, but if you insist on eating leaves and turning up your nose at perfectly nice mice, here. This is for you.")

I think CM will read us stories.

Maybe we could all wrap up in CMs quilts while eating SubC's ice cream! So cozy!

You are wonderful to the cats. We are all so grateful to have you.

That must've been eerie, all the tapping and howling.

I'm sitting quietly and going to take my blood pressure. Thank you all for supporting me. The clutter here is getting to me. But I don't hate my house because this is easily cured.

Good Evening Everybody

Hi Subclinical
Like I said, you are a goat pro and know all about growing good ones.

YEA! swimming tomorrow!!!

WTG! for a donation drop off!
When the thrift shop doesn't have anything on my "want list" I don't buy anything either.

Great that you are catching up on the dailies!
Plus shearing DH. 😉

Hi Tatoulia
Nope, Jack's not my cat.
Neither are Twinkles and Scooter, who are Steven's cats but he doesn't take care of them and I do because I can not stand to see a neglected animal.
Marty was his cat too.

That is so wonderful that you no longer fall for the lure of the sale bin!
"They" use very strong psychology to get us to buy things we do not need.
The wording of the ads, the display set ups, colors, sounds, smells and subliminal messages.
Since the 1950s "they" have been conditioning children to be brain washed consumers.
Scary actually...

Nice that the friend commented on your style.
Business or casual you have a style.

Would be nice if we all here could get together for enchiladas.
Or at Tatoulia's for lobster rolls.
Then Subclinical's for some homemade ice cream.
What would CriticalMass serve us? 😉

Had a terrible night's sleep last night.
The coyotes kept yapping and howling and that made the dogs all bark.
Sounded like a batch of coyote puppies because adult coyotes use stealth.

Well, I did not judge the goats - I judged the goat interviews and project books - the work the kids put into the goats, what they learned, and the records they kept.

Good job everybody!

I had to go out today. I had to pick up my fair tags and I dropped stuff off at goodwill (went in but bought nothing.) and I got some feed and I tried to pay my farm sitter, but no one was home even though she said they would be.

Did some laundry and dishes and cut dh hair.

Tomorrow - teacher workshop and swimming.

So we are all clear that Jack's your cat, Tillie.

Cm thank you for the words of support. I will get there. I am dying of the heat. But I walked today!

Tillie that's a great point. I can get this together really quickly.

Quick observation: When I am shopping or in a store, I no longer look in the bargain bin. I go toward what I went into the store for and that's it. Looking at 75% off or 90% off holiday merchandise no longer serves my needs. I'm really pleased. Now if I were looking for slippers OF COURSE I go to the same area first. But I am no longer dazzled or pulled in by a sign and I no longer buy multiples of stuff I don't need.

CM I am jealous of your organizational skills and love of organizing things. I don't have that. I did do my linen closet and part of my bedroom closet has things in baskets (so useful, has really helped me immeasurably) but otherwise I'm not good at putting things together that way or thinking that way. I'm glad you are able to do that!!

I am so behind tonight. It's 9:45 and I have to put my sheets on my bed and shower and water my window boxes and I'm just so far behind.

I saw a friend from work while I was walking and she was super cute. I'm wearing a white and blue striped terrycloth skirt with a white eyelet top and she said, oh you look just like you at work, only casual. I thought that was pretty cute.

I took dinner to BF and a sandwich to Mom. And I'm tired.

We will get there on my apt. I'm just going through a rough patch.

Tillie I'd enjoy an enchilada now, if you wouldn't mind setting a place for me.

Love you all.

OH! I like those panties!
They look pretty, comfortable and like they will last. 🙂

Good Afternoon Everybody

Hi Subclinical
You are an expert judge of goats.
Hope you got to stay home all day today.

Hi Tatoulia
Settle down girl (((hug)))
You have had the place all neat and tidy in the recent past and it will be so much easier straightening up this time.

That's what I like best about my place.
Even if I am sick for a week and the place goes all to heck it doesn't take all that long to straighten things out again.

But right now your main priority is to focus on your health.
Healthy eating, walking and getting MORE rest.
So, go take a nap.

3 dollars! WOOHOO go you!!!
And they are the kind you know you really like.

Hi CriticalMass
We all enjoy hearing about your donating successes. 😀

YEA! for getting to quilting!
Better late than never.

Keep up the writing
It seems to be doing you a lot of good emotionally, writing out your story.

Went to town this morning.
Dropped off donations and then went inside the thrift shop.
Bought a new, never used, still rolled up in the label, cat litter mat.
It's 47' X 33' cost 5.00
Worried the cats would not like the feel under their feet but I have it laid out in the livingroom and they have been walking, sitting and laying on it.
Hope it really catches 82% of the litter off their feet to keep it from being tracked around.

Got food...
Bought the fixins to make cheese/ green chile/ onion/ black olive enchiladas.
To be served on a bed of fresh greens.
And bought a bunch of fresh fruit, passed on the apricots there.

Bought a variety case of cat canned food.
With Twinkle's having mouth issues right now we are going through a lot of it.
Can't give Twinkles canned food throughout the day and not Scooter and Jack too.
They would be furious with me.

You got this, Tatoulia!

Don't forget you've been making many changes, which takes more energy than remaining in inertia. I know that from years of experience! 😉 And you've had health challenges along the way. So these slowdowns are to be expected but they will pass.

I slept well and woke up without pain, as opposed to yesterday morning when neither was the case. Both days I've gone to quilting even if late. Today I was almost on time.

Printed out my revised novel pages last night. Lots of scenes flitting around in my head like butterflies. Writer's block not an issue. Plotting will be the challenge, it always is for me. Writing, and quite a few creative things I enjoy, each draw on several skill sets some of which come more smoothly and naturally to me than others.

So, when I think about it, does decluttering. For instance, I looove 💖 picking out containers, planning storage systems...back in the day when files were only cardboard entities, I loved color coding with labels. I am intellectually intrigued with studying theories about hoarding, or more recently and more of a cheerful topic, building a vision of a sustainable minimalist aesthetic and lifestyle tailored to my personality.

What I don't enjoy quite as much, haha, is grubbing in the storage unit, making decisions, and so on. But even those things I'm doing better at than I did when I first started. And there is the immediate satisfaction of finishing, hauling stuff to donate, going home and cleaning up and looking back on a work session with a feeling of accomplishment.

And sharing it here! 😁

Hello hello! Yes I know the homicidal feeling. I am generally known for my tolerance and understanding right up until I'm not.

Yay for car hosed off! Yay for getting on the vitamin regimen! Yay for 4H!!!

My house is so cluttered and messy that I can't even have the cleaners in today. I knew yesterday that I just wanted some peace and quiet in my home after being on the go so much. I'm grateful to be here. I'm defending my hallway table. It's about all I can do right now.

Exhausted, tired, need more exercise, need more home cooked good, need more exercise. (Yes that gets two mentions).

I stripped my bed, and sheets are in the dryer. I'm doing a load of towels then will do one load of something that can be hung. I have a pile of dark delicates or I could wash a jean dress and a Jean skirt (I cannot mix those with my dark delicates as I am picky about keeping fabric types together. I worked on my underpants some more today and added more to the pile. Great find, Tillie, of the Victoria's Secret underpants!

I have a new type of underpant that I like. Down a size and I like the fabric. So I ordered three more pair and guess what? I had some sort of coupon and they were only $3 total. Not per pair; total. There is no reason to keep extras around if I'm not going to wear them.

I posted something in Instagram that asks, if I were to lose it, would I buy it again. I am grateful for that. It will help me as I make a box To Go.

Terrible about how cluttered it is. Together we will change this and yes I am taking painful before pictures.

Good morning all!

Tillie, I judged the goat projects.

CM, I am glad things are going well on your novel.

Today I think I will stay home, but I might have to run an errand.

Good Evening Everybody

Hi CriticalMass
So very happy you weren't arrested for assault! 😀
Many times I just stare blankly at people thinking
I could kill you...
But then I don't because they just aren't worth it.
LOL ;P

YEA!!! for writing!!!

That's nice that you are doing what you can do instead of having a pity party because of the road blocks in your way (((HUG)))

Remember to take your vitamins and keep doing what makes you happy.

Hosed off the car this evening.
It was such a big mess, dust and little blobs of apricot all over it and bird poop.
Spiders and wasps had also taken up residence.
Now it's decent enough to drive.

Hi

At library. Did a little work on the novel! It's grabbing me pretty well.

SubC, I think that idea of doing creative and productive work in a few hours is probably the best thing. Life has been forcing me to be intentional about that, simply by not allotting me those big stretches of solitude I fantasize about.

It's been use the smaller times or nothing. And though I don't do the ambitious NaNoWriMo tradition of writing 50,000 words in 30 days (or 31 this month), I AM WRITING. Which is more than I do when I sit on my fanny and feel sorry for myself because I don't have my own place, a newer computer, etc.

Same with decluttering. I pluck a catalog and take it to the recycling bin. I stop by the storage unit and grab a few items to donate.

I'm getting the ball rolling.

And I forgot my vitamins for about 3 days - I think Fri/Sat/Sun - but yesterday I made a point to get them going again. My brain thanks me. Society would be thanking me too if it knew how much those little babies keep me from being a public grouch menace.

Case in point - earlier, at the computer across from me, was a Chatty Cathy - I've seen her at this branch location before. She seems to be a narcissist with no sense of public courtesy - she was aware people were annoyed with her and she thought it was a great laugh. I thought of a T-shirt I once saw in a catalog: "Do they ever SHUT UP on your planet?" But she would've just chirped "Nope!" and jawed on.

I did not shut her trap for her. So I don't need bail money tonight. Yay, vitamins! LOL LOL LOL