Cats for Christmas Cheer

My daughter and her husband and baby have moved back in with her in-laws. It's a long story, but they worked a rent free deal since both Kate and Jon are full time students again. Kate had two cats, Jade and Beetle, and Jordan just loves the cats, especially Jade. Jade has been very tolerant of Jordan's rough handling, and in fact, there is a lot of mutual love and affection between the two. Check out this picture, taken back in the summer, that I titled "Loving Jade". At any rate, Jon's father is deathly allergic to cats, so to keep the kitties happy, and to make sure Jordan doesn't lose Jade prematurely, I now have two cats.

At first they were both outside, then they were both inside,and now Beetle is outside(by his own choice) and Jade is inside. I'm allergic to cats, too, but my allergies present as nasal congestion and general itchiness. It has been a week, and while I've had some symptoms, it is far less than what I would have expected, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that we can continue to keep Jade in the house. Beetle is a little Romeo, very affectionate and playful. You can tell that he is a younger cat. He's very pretty for a tomcat. I took a picture of them in the cat carrier the night they arrived, just before we let them out. Of course, I also took some pictures today as Jordan got to play with Jade for the first time in over a week-since they moved. She was so happy to see her "Dade"! Seeing that smile makes any allergy worries melt away. It may have been the best present she got-and it is one that money had nothing to do with. By the way, that's my son in law, Jon, who I think misses Jade almost as much as Jordan does.

We are trying to rename Beetle, and have been calling him Tiger, Tigger, and the mutant moniker of Tiger Beetle. He is apparently living under the house, again, by his choice. He ran through my legs two nights ago and bolted out of the door. He will let you catch him and pet him, but the minute you head for the house, he's down and gone in a flash. I actually think it will be good to have both an indoor cat and and outdoor cat. Not only are they good for killing mice, but I hear cats are great against scorpions and snakes, too. I just hope that Beetle will be able to outrun Hobo, the cat killing German Shepherd across the road.

Future Shock or Just Getting Old

Alvin Toffler, in Future Shock, predicted this would happen, but he didn't tell me that I would feel old and worry about having early onset Alzheimers. You see, I'm having trouble keeping up with technology. I know I am not alone, but I feel alone. At some point in life, I must have decided to turn my back on it and I just haven't kept up with things. For example, I have no clue what Blue Ray is, or what 3G or 4G means. I don't suppose I'll ever own a cell phone, um, Blackberry or iPhone. I've never texted anything, never received a text. I've never surfed the internet on anything but my desktop computer, never had a laptop even. Never had a Mac or an Apple...brother in law partitioned a drive for me and I had Linux at one time, but there just weren't any apps for it back then, so I went back to Windows. It takes more than 7 minutes for my Facebook home page to load, and I can't chat from it. Point is, even my experience on popular sites like Facebook is not what others experience. I can't watch video - no YouTube. I don't have a web cam for Skype. I'm really not even sure how that works, or if it would even work, connecting as slow as I do. No iPod, no Mp3 music or podcasts, never done it because of my connection speed. It is getting to the point where I almost can't get updates for the programs I have. These companies forget that dialup users have a hard time downloading a 15 meg update. I just got a Windows update. Even leaving the computer online all night long, it took all day yesterday and last night and this morning...24 hours..I have no idea of how large the update was, but whatever. 18 kbps download speed....Woohoo!

Long ago, I stopped looking at vehicles. I couldn't tell the difference between a Honda or Chevy. All the cars kind of look the same to me. People say, "I saw you on such and such road and waved-didn't you see me?" Of course, I don't look at other cars, just the road, so I never see anyone. I'm really nearsighted, which also plays a part in not noticing friends or family in oncoming cars. If I do make them out in passing, it is too late to wave, so people think I'm snobby or angry.

I'm out of it in more ways, too. Just for kicks, I googled the Billboard top 100 and top 50 singles. Out of 150 entries, I recognized 28 artists(some duplicated like the Black Eyed Peas) and two songs (Boom Boom Pow, Kiss A Girl). This poor showing from someone who used to know even the most obscure group on the top 100. When and how did this happen? I swore to myself when I was 15 that I would NEVER ignore pop music-that if nothing else, I would at least know the most popular artists and songs, the top 40, etc.

At my last job, I worked with this boy genius kid who knew more about Excel and spreadsheets in general than anyone I've ever known. Today's 20 something kids have been taught about these useful programs and software apps in school, whereas, my generation was forced to learn on our own. It is no wonder that people my age can't find a job. We are dinosaurs. I'm a chemist, but even the periodic table is different now than it was when I was in school. Experimental physics and polymer chemistry has changed everything in industry and manufacturing. When I was in school, polymer chemistry was a chapter or two in your Organic Chemistry class. Now, you can major in polymer chemistry.

I kept my granddaughter on a recent Saturday. I used to think that I would have a lot to offer her in the way of knowledge and wisdom. I did graduate college with a 3.94/4.0 GPA. I consider myself intelligent, and yet, I wonder if my knowledge will be relevant by the time Jordan is old enough to understand things. Will she appreciate Nature, or will she become a city girl who would rather be shopping at the local mall? Will she care about what I think if, in her eyes, I am old and irrelevant and not 'with it'? Already, my advice to my daughter concerning finances doesn't make sense as I write checks and keep paper records and she banks and pays bills electronically. Will Jordan even want to visit me here, where there are bugs and mosquitoes? What do I have to offer? Will she be so bored she hates the place when she can't get her Tweets or Texts?

In a homesteading, subsistence lifestyle, one doesn't have a need to watch anything on Blue Ray. One doesn't really even need television. It is optional. My field peas don't need a podcast, and I can hear the rooster at 4 in the morning just fine without 4G. Still, I wonder.

Future Shock was written in 1970, I believe, but it is very relevant today. It is worth reading if you have never read it, and worth a reread if it has been a while since you did. If you are like me, you have forgotten a lot.

Grandma's Little Angel

I love Jordan!

Family fun

Today was a great family day. My folks came over to visit and they brought these really cool springy lawn chairs that will be great for sky watching, satellite hunting, and meteor showers. When you lay back in them, they bounce a bit and it feels like you are floating. My daughter and granddaughter also came over and we went to a local recreational area known as The Pocket. It is(DUH)a pocket gap on Horn Mountain, just over the ridge to the north of my house. It is located about 10 miles away by road, yet only a bit over a mile as the crow flies. The Forest service has created a campground and a day use picnic park around the creek and springs area. The creek is cold and the spring water is freezing. At any rate, I'm sure that this rec area was created by the CCC back in the 1930's as the rock work has that CCC character to it. The creek has been artificially widened to about 15 feet, and there is a mortared stone wall as the bank wall. There are steps down into the creeks at various places, and in no area is the water deeper than one foot. The water is clear and cold, the creek bed is small pebbles. All of this makes for a wonderful playground for kids, and adults can sit on the side and soak their achy feet in the ice cold water or even sit down in the creek if the day is hot enough. A lot of hikers come through this area, and the creek is a popular place for them, too. Older kids run around with nets looking for chub and minnows, the younger ones just splash around. It is a cool and relaxing place to be in summer. I just did a websearch looking for pictures, and I found this page, with one picture of the creek where we sat and played; it seems my CCC assumption was correct.

http://www.forestcamping.com/dow/suzi/articles/notable/pocket.htm

Jordan had a good time, I think, although at first I think she was a bit unsure of the icy spring water. After a few minutes, I realized that the creek was a lot warmer than the spring, and after we moved over to the creek to play, she relaxed and started jabbering with the other kids. Later, after we returned home, I took more than a few pictures of her in her new pajamas playing on the new deck chairs.

To top off the night, after everyone left, my son called. I had not heard from him in a couple of months, so it was really good to hear his voice.

All in all, today was one of those days that will stand out in my memory.

Horsing Around with Jordan

I kept my granddaughter last night and today. My daughter is on vacation she and her husband were exploring various museums and historical sites locally, sites that would not interest Jordan, so it was my privilege to spoil and love my special grandbaby. She is like the world's best drug in that no matter how you truly feel, physically, she can erase pain and bring smiles and light into your life.
We are experiencing what is called Blackberry Winter here in Northwest Georgia, it is the last attempt by Old Man Winter to have his way. It is usually in May, like now, when the blackberry bushes are in full bloom. They say the cold snap makes the berries sweeter, too. At any rate, it was in the 40's here, and very windy, not the best day for exploring on the farm, but I have made a pact with myself that I will do something special with her on every visit, something she can't do with her parents or other grandparents due to their location. I could show her my garden, take a long nature walk, or let her express her love for horses. Today, it was the latter. After breakfast, Jordan stood at the kitchen window calling to the horses in the pasture. She stood transfixed for over 5 minutes, only distracted by a chipmunk that ran across the deck right in front of her. So in the afternoon, when it was warmer, my best friend Ava came down and the three of us went out to the pasture to let Jordan love on the horses-and Jack, the donkey. She gets a little horse time whenever she comes, and has never shown fear of them. She loves animals, large and small.(She's going to the Atlanta Zoo tomorrow!) Right now, Jordan looks very much like my son-in-law, Jon, but she has Katie's independent personality, physical prowess, and love for animals.
Ava's horses love Jordan, too. They are all great horses with gentle and loving personalities. I could not ask for better pasture tenants. Joe is the dark colored horse. He is normally a gentle sweetheart, but today he was playful and kept wanting to taste her jeans. Jordan of course just laughed with delight, so he is still a sweetheart in her eyes, . Dallas is the light colored horse, a beautiful boy who is normally mischievous, almost bratty, but today expressed the more mature, gentle and little-girl-loving side of his personality. Jack was Jack, fairly non-expressive, but he never misses out on a chance for a bit of rubbing. There is something about Jack that people love...he so unassuming and sweet. The other horse, Rebel, didn't interact much with Jordan today. Maybe next time.
Usually, we hold her when we are in close quarters with the boys, but she wanted down to explore on her own and the boys were being very good. I've titled these shots, from top to bottom, Jordan loves Jack, Jack come Back, Dallas kisses, Horsey Love x 2, and my favorite, Horse Whispering... Jordan is now 18 months old.

Life is a Salad

Pardon my absence from this space-it is a busy time of year, and we've had some real life interruptions that have taken us away from normal doings. I couldn't decide what image to display so of course I take that as an excuse to be a grandmother and brag about how wonderful my Jordan is by displaying a pictures. I titled this first picture "I love you this much", the second one is "Bear kisses", the third one is "Luvin' Jade"

Saturday, we spent the morning butchering chickens and cleaning up around the farm, mowing grass, etc., and then Saturday evening we had a NWGAA star party. It was a good meet-up, with two new members and their families visiting the field. The clouds dampened the viewing, but the company was good. I now have about 50 pounds of chicken in the freezer and about 38 birds left, 17 in the main coop and 21 in the old coop. I still have a few roosters to dispatch when they mature a bit, and I'll probably sell some more hens, but I envision a flock of about 25 birds or so when all is said and done. Today, I got 11 eggs, several were pullet eggs, which always amaze me. Soon, I will be awash in eggs. I hope I can sell them. On the way to town last week I saw a sign that read "Fresh Eggs $5 dozen" I hope *that* price holds! I usually sell mine for $2 dozen.



Sunday, we visited our daughter and granddaughter, and from her house, headed south to visit my father in law in the hospital, down to the Atlanta area. He had his cancer surgery and is recovering as expected. I've also had two doctor's appointments since I last blogged, saw my PCP today and my rheumatologist last week. I got some refills for our epi-pens, an appointment with a podiatrist, and of course a general checkup. I'll be waiting on my lab results, but the good news is that I am losing weight. The dietary changes I've made are working! I'm hopeful that as we ride our bikes more, even more pounds will come off. Since life has been a bit stressful, my RA has been flaring more than usual, but at least my allergies are not as distracting as last year. I'm trying to stay positive about things as I am finally believing, I mean truly believing, that attitude affects health. I suppose I've always believed that, but have never actively made a conscious effort to NOT be negative or to not worry about things. With no immune system to speak of, I could worry about all sorts of things, like catching a cold from being at the hospital, a re-emergence of MRSA in my body, or catching swine flu, but I'm making the decision to focus on all the positive things I am doing-eating healthier, losing weight, getting the right mix of vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants, and exercising.

Last week, while Skyguy was in a waiting room reading a newspaper, he saw an ad for a local breeder of shelties. After a brief discussion, it appears that we may have a new sheltie baby before 2010 rolls around. I contacted the breeder and we will be headed over the mountain to meet with her and see her dogs tomorrow evening. We will also need to discuss pricing so we can start saving money to buy the pup, etc. She will be breeding two of her bitches in the late summer and fall, so we are hopeful that between the two litters, the right puppy for us will be born. Take a few minutes to Ooh and Aah over the Shelties:

http://hornmtnshelties.com/

The remaining block of time has been spent gardening, planting flowers, watering in the seeds I've already sown, weeding, harvesting, etc. The Michihili cabbage is no more as I either ate it, froze it, or gifted it. I needed the space in the bed for peppers. It never did head up properly, but the quality was good nonetheless. I've eaten about a third of the Pak choy, taking two heads to my daughter. It looks like flea beetles are starting to attack it, so I need to cut the rest of it and bring it in. I love the stuff, so I will definitely plant more for the fall garden. I really wish I could freeze it and have it retain it's texture after being frozen. We are eating salad every day, mixing all the lettuces and spinach and greens. I throw in a few violet leaves, and soon I'll be adding nasturtiums and other flowers. To round off the salad I add asparagus shoots, broccoli florets, radishes, carrots, alfalfa sprouts, black olives, and we split a boiled egg. I'd love cheese and meat in it, too, but I'm staying away from that. I do, however, have some leftover grilled chicken, and since that is a healthy meat, I'm tempted to slice it and add that to tomorrow's dinner salad.

I got distracted there and started talking about food instead of gardening, but it is hard to grow food without talking about how good it is to eat! At any rate, I do have some sweet corn coming up, as well as about half of the pole beans. My tire stack is 4 tires tall and the potatoes are growing like mad. I sure hope they produce well. It is nice to be able to water the garden. With the old well, we barely had enough water for household use, but since we got the new well 16 months ago, the supply is more than I could have dreamed. I still don't waste water. I water by hand and only in the planted areas, not the paths, and I try to reduce the evaporative loss. I watch the weather and I won't water if there is a chance of rain. I have a rainwater catchment tank that I used to water from-it's a 330 gallon tank that catches water from the barn roof-but right now I need a new hose for it. I need to come up with a way to poke holes in a hose that will allow gravity fed water to seep from the hose. I think using some kind of metal straw to puncture the hose would work, but I have no idea of what I would use for that or practically how to accomplish what I envision.

We are going on a short vacation soon, and I have to get the rest of my tomatoes and peppers and squash in the ground and the pole beans strung before we leave. I started running string this evening, and tomorrow my friend is coming over to help with that. Maybe she will take some Pak Choi as payment. In a garden, there is always some task to do, and my vacation clock is ticking away. Last night, we spent time weeding Bermuda grass from the herb bed. While we were out and about this past weekend, Skyguy bought me a very nice lemon verbena plant. I'd been wanting another one since I stupidly killed the first one I had 20 years ago. That happened when I was first getting into herb gardening-a friend gave me a 3 foot tall shrub and I did not realize that it was a *deciduous* plant/tree and tossed it mid-winter thinking it was dead-DOH! This one is small, only about a foot tall, but it definitely has that heavenly lemon scent. We also bought salad burnett, summer savory(to go with all the beans), tricolor sage, purple sage, chocolate peppermint, horehound and anise hyssop. The herb bed is starting to come together. Seeds have sprouted and the seedlings are growing. The seedlings are small, two inch tall chives and basil, for example, but they will mature quickly.

Version 2.0

This past weekend I kept my wonderful granddaughter, Jordan. I've been calling her JRose for anonymity, but really now, how much anonymity does a one year old need? Her name is Jordan Rose, and we call her Jordan, or Princess Jordan. She is one special kid-a gift. This post, however, is about her mother, my daughter Kate-my original 'Gift', because I sometimes worry that Kate questions her place in my heart. I now shower so much attention on Jordan-I just want Kate to know that I love her, too, more than ever in fact. My daughter is so special to me and so close to my heart that I often have trouble expressing how I feel about her, even though I talk to her almost every day and see her at least once a month.

I was adopted, and until Kate was born, I had no blood relatives. When the doctor laid her on my stomach, I broke down in tears, because there before me, was a part of me, my own blood relative. As I looked at her, checking her hands, feet, eyes, skin, nose, etc., I saw myself and I knew it was not a dream. Even though I now have quite a few blood relatives, my Katie was the first known to me, and the emotion that evokes, even today, almost 24 years later, is magical.

As a baby, she was difficult, not because she was bad or unhealthy, but because she was independent and intelligent. I'm pretty smart, but this kid sent me to the library for advice on what I needed to do-how I needed to parent. I had no clue as to how to react to a child that seemingly did not want my help or nurturing-a 7 month old that walked, a one year old that spoke in complete sentences, usually, "I want that" or "I can do it". I learned that I was misinterpreting her, and it wasn't a rejection of me at all. It took me years to develop independence and self confidence, yet my daughter was born with it. I finally understood that her 'difficult' nature was really a gift, and that it would serve her well as an adult, and that I should take a supporting role and not a controlling role. That was easier said than done, but somehow she made out of diapers without suffering from Shaken Baby Syndrome.

As she grew into a little girl, she simply became smarter and even more independent. It took me less than a week to completely potty train her. She learned to read on her own. She wanted to fix her own lunches. She was a little spitfire and as her personality emerged, I could see that she was just like me. She was stubborn, she was determined, she was energetic, and she was curious. She was a sponge that absorbed life and every ounce of knowledge it provided. In school, she was a teacher's dream; they loved her. She behaved well, she participated in class, she tested well. She learned to play the game. Of course I supplemented her curiosity at home, teaching her everything I could think of, but really, things just came naturally to Kate. She excelled at everything she tried, whether it was playing the saxophone, softball, or painting and sculpting. She was a straight A student who only got in any kind of trouble once, and then even her teachers stood up for her turning the incident into a warning and a learning experience. She learned how to turn something negative into something positive.

Since she left home for college and then marriage, she has continued to grow and mature into a wonderful human being. She has worked since she was 15, first as a restaurant server while in school, and now she is veterinary technician at a upscale animal hospital in a nearby town. She's always loved animals and the biological sciences, so veterinary medicine is a natural fit. She's followed her passion, and she has a promising career ahead. She's always reading about some bizarre zoonotic disease or parasite, always going to conferences and seminars to further her education, and most importantly, she has a great work ethic and truly cares about both the animals she treats as well as the clients.

There are so many great things about Kate. She is beautiful, as you can see, but she is beautiful on the inside, too. She can do minor household repairs. She's not afraid of getting dirty. She is a loyal friend. She gives to her community. She's funny and has a great sense of humor. She's a good mother. She has integrity, is honest, and she's a lot more mature at 23 than I was. She has stood up to me, her husband, and her family on more than one occasion when we were out of line or when she knew she was right. She is her own person. The best part is that my daughter, Kate the Great, is also my friend. We used to butt heads a lot because we've always been very much alike in the way we think, and that often caused problems. Neither of us would give an inch. But now, things are different because she is no longer my responsibility, I don't have to win an argument or be right all the time, so I can finally enjoy her and watch the seeds of all those 'difficult' traits bloom and fruit. For better or for worse, the apple did not fall far from the tree. She is just a later, more improved, version of me. I love you Katie.

This little Princess stole my heart

Yeah, it's corny and sappy, but whatever.
I become a blubbering idiot around her.
Here's a poem I cranked out a few minutes ago:

My Little JRose

With her smiles and giggles and angelic blue eyes
She spreads light and happiness from her half pint size
To all those around her, she is honey-a rose bud
A golden sweet treasure to savor and love.

She's our little thrill-seeker, she loves to be scared,
She likes watching Nature, and no creature is spared.
Animals amaze her, and the fish are her friends,
She talks to them, feeds them, the fun never ends.

Tears rarely befall her, she's a stranger to none
She's is a life-giving drug, she shines like the sun.
We call her our princess, she rules all our hearts
She takes my soul with her, when we are apart

She's the best thing that's happened to me in a while
When I think of my JRose, I could never not smile.

It would be wrong not to mention my daughter and son,
They created this wonder, this sweet honey bun.
My son in law Jon is a father with heart,
The primary caregiver, she gets a great head start.

My daughter works hard, sometimes 6 days a week,
but she makes time for JRose, which is no small feat.
Both parents are wonderful, a balance is made,
And JRose is now poised to take the world's stage.
She has the world at her fingertips,
She breaks walls with her smile,
The future is wide open for this wonderful child.
And maybe just maybe, her grandma's there too,
To spoil her and teach her to swim and canoe,
To garden and sing for the joy of the song,
To dance like the wind when there's no one else home.
So Katie and Jon have a magical child,
A princess for fairy tales, for adventures gone wild.

My girls

We spent the afternoon and evening babysitting JRose, who changes so much in the span of a couple of weeks. She's eating with a fork now, a real, adult sized fork, and I got a great video of her eating a cut up hot dog with that fork. She is too cute for words. I'm really proud of the parenting job that my daughter and son in law are performing. JRose is so happy, so smart, and so outgoing. She's 14 months old now, and gives kisses and high fives. I had the honor of reading Goodnight Moon to her at bedtime. That classic bedtime story was her mother's favorite, and I used to read it to her as well, 23 years ago. It seems like yesterday. Twenty four years ago, my life was changed when my daughter was born. Since I was adopted, she was my first blood relative, and I cannot explain the emotion I felt when she was laid on my stomach after her birth....when I held her that first time, and saw that she had my nose, my hands, and my eyes. She rocked my world. Now, her daughter has rocked my world in the same way. JRose is the light of my life.

Revitalization

I've decided to revive my long abandoned blog. I hope you find it interesting, a peek into someone else's life and thinking. You will be subjected to raw emotion, crazy rants, and a general diary of my daily activities.
A lot has happened since I started this blog in 2005. There was a near divorce, a reconsiliation, my adoptive parents moved only 18 miles away instead of 80 miles away, and my birthfather died in January of 2006. In 2005, my daughter got married, and in December of 2007, she gave birth to the light of my life, Miss JRose. To make sure I see JRose grow up, I quit smoking in January of 2008 and have been able to overcome my 29 year habit. She's only 13 months old, and has been on a horse several times now. She loves them. Now, my focus is getting healthy. I went back to work for a short period of time-as an adhesives chemist-but now I am happy to be at home on the farm, playing in the dirt and absorbing the natural world.