The Good, The Bad, And....

The Good:
We  signed up to take part in a senior flu shot study. It was a pleasant surprise to get a card telling us that for everyone that was taking part in the study, a child in a poor country would receive a life-saving vaccine in our honor.

The Bad: 
Somehow my keyless car entry came loose and fell off in the garage where it was promptly run over. The cost to replace it...just let me say OUCH. Gone are the days of getting a spare car key made for a buck or two.

Furniture Protection from Pets:
Do you ever have problems with the cats scratching your furniture? My cats are usually pretty good about using their scratching pads, but Frank figured out that scratching the couch was a great way to push my buttons. Was he doing it on purpose? Oh definitely. He'd scratch, look at me and wait for my reaction. I saw this cover on Amazon and was skeptical but decided to try it. Surprisingly, it works. This is our secondary couch. It basically gets used when we have company, at which time we take off the cover. I'm not sure I'd want it on a piece of furniture I used daily. If you are interested, you can find it on Amazon or better yet Smile Amazon where they donate to the charity of your choice.

AND....
A shoutout to my ninety year old aunt who faithfully reads this blog. Have a great day, Norma:)

AND.....

Raindrops on roses...and mums.

AND....
What's wrong with this picture?
The only way I get my overweight cat to exercise is to throw treats for her to chase.

AND....

EMS Kitty Cat

Thanks, Rye.

Weekend Wishes

Fall Gardening and Promised Pictures

My gardening shopping genes went into hibernation for the hot months of summer then fall rolled around and I made my annual pilgrimage to the Growers' Outlet  in Pineville and those shopping genes, which used to be much more focused on shoes, have kicked back in and I'm binging on mums. For me they make fall worthwhile.

My shopping cart (buggy). Do you recognize what's in it?

Another picture of my white mum that I planted last year. Looks like two there, but only one. Someone with four paws, who shall remain nameless but not blameless, walked through it. 

A little bit of gardening trivia: Mums supposedly have a better chance of survival if planted in the spring instead of the fall. I ask you, can you even buy mums in the spring?

AND....
The baby hydrangea is trying to bloom. Do you think he'll make it before it frosts?

AND.....

Pictures, as promised, of the lovely and talented Diane Wolfe.

Purr-fectly Delightful Gifts

I take in goodie bags for the kids whenever I see them. This time they had one waiting for me. Yum.

The HH surprised me with a Halloween dishtowel. Purr-fect right?

Looky! Looky! I've been on the prowl for a Mrs. Claus's Workshop sign for two years to hang over the door of the spare bedroom where I keep my Christmas secrets and do my wrapping every December. I mentioned it to the delightful and talented CJ and look what I got! I'm very calm and sedate on the outside but doing the Happy Dance on the inside. Thank you, CJ!
AND...

Nothing that CJ sends would be complete without a picture of INK on the envelope.

Weekend Wishes

AND.....
Happy Birthday, John Le Carre.

Today Is....

AND....

A special someone's birthday.

A Wild and Crazy Week

Yes, it was.
Michael smacked us. We were VERY lucky that a smack was all it was considering the havoc he wrought in Florida. Our county and town had downed power lines, dozens of downed trees, roads washed away and one death. Except for the death, which was grievous, it could have been so much worse.
On the uptick I got to meet the beautiful and talented Diane Wolfe. I have a couple of pictures I will post at a later date. I'd post them today, but my phone and I are on the outs. Since the power was off, the little demon went roaming. We are ignoring each other till my plan rolls over.
Diane was holding a Publishing 101 Workshop at the Wilkes CC. What I caught of it was extremely helpful, with lots of interesting factoids. I left before it was over since night driving and I don't get along much better than my roaming phone and I.
If you are looking for a publishing house, you might want to consider Dancing Lemurs. Diane does more advertising for her authors than any small press I've dealt with.
AND....
The butterfly bush was filled with four-winged moths that I'd never seen before. They resembled small Monarch butterflies with flat wings beneath the flutter wings. I would have taken a picture, but again, my phone and I are not on speaking terms.
When I lived in IL, I had a ho-hum attitude about moths. Maybe even a little enmity because they occasionally chewed on my clothes. But in North Carolina I've seen beautiful ones that rival butterflies.
So what about you? What were you doing last week? Did Michael affect you? I sincerely hope not.
AND...
FYI. If I seem a little slow at responding to blogs, I'm still very much engaged, I'm just trying to get some writing done. And--blush, blush--we've been binging on Once Upon A Time in the evenings.

Weekend Wishes

It's The Weekend and Happy Birthday

AND...…

The Butterfly Whisperer:)

IWSG Wednesday

The first Wednesday of every month is officially IWSG day. Members post about their doubts and fears, discuss struggles and triumphs, and offer words of encouragement to others who are struggling.

FYI: The IWSG monthly question can be found under the IWSG Sign-up tab on the IWSG Blog.

This month's co-hosts:
Dolorah
Christopher D. Votey
Tanya Miranda
Chemist Ken
Thank you.

The October 3 question - How do major life events affect your writing? Has writing ever helped you through something?

Most of the time life changing events put my writing on the backburner. The exception was when a cat I was particularly attached to passed. That cat was my constant. My son once asked me why I showered so much attention on the cat when I got home from work.  I told him, he was the only one that always waited at the door to greet me. The next day my son was waiting at the door when I got home. When my cat passed I channeled my loss into my writing and wrote The Cats of Catarau Series: An afterlife for cats where there is no sickness or aging, no mistreatment or pain and where they can use one of their nine lives and recycle back to earth if they choose. Creating that fantasy world helped me work through losing him.

What about you? Has life altering events affected your writing or whatever creative outlet you use?
AND...
I switched out some covers. What do you think?
Old: 

Well only a few months:)

New:

The Raceway

It look likes a privacy fence. But as I mentioned once before we hold dog races here. 

Greyhounds on a race course? Nope. Penny Cox on the inside track racing the neighbor's dog on the outside for several laps. 

Who usually wins? Who knows. 

Why am I mentioning this again, you might ask. Because there's been a new entrant into the race. Franky has decided he wants a piece of the action and has started racing the neighbor's dog as well. Silly kitty.

Penny and room mates.

Frank, the short distance sprinter.