Sunday Random Roundup

Hello, friends!  Last week was largely spent learning how to use various digital platforms for distance learning as well as the ever-popular and-never ending grading.  I cooked a little -- the highlight was chicken fried chicken livers -- and vacuumed a lot. We had a few wildlife adventures (shared below) and a few walks and dog park visits.  We are looking forward to my mom, BB, and her boyfriend HB coming to visit for Easter.  BB and HB are hunkered down in Baton Rouge finishing up their semesters online in the prescribed seclusion.  They have been whipping up meals in their Instant Pot to avoid going out.  HB is a a good cook!  My mom has been busy making us rolls and biscuits.  She is also making us King Ranch Chicken which I am super excited about.  Mom and I also bought air fryers and I have no idea what to do with mine -- going to purchase a cookbook for it. 

I'm so happy to hear from the Poupounette and Oceanside Animals!  Indefatigable bloggers, both!  You've both been friends for a long time and I look forward to keeping up with you.  I've had trouble commenting on Oceanside Animals (I created a wordpress account years ago that I never used and I think that is what is messing things up).  I will keep working on sorting that out. 

Here's a round up of the week's happenings: 

During the winter, we moved the chaise lounge cushion under the porch roof to keep it from getting constantly soaked and it became Jack's base of operation and chewy repository.  We just moved the cushion back to its proper place last week. 

Last Monday, Jack discovered what I thought was a dead baby possum in the backyard.  On Sunday morning, we had successfully shooed away a mom possum and babies that had overnighted in an old birdhouse that is missing half its roof.  I went off to find something to remove the poor thing, and by the time I had returned, the baby was up on its feet, wobbling around!  It had been "playing possum!" So I stuck it in the birdhouse to keep it safe till I could find someone to take it.  Several hours and many phone calls later, we were off to the home of a wildlife rehabber to drop it off.  The consensus was that the dogs had scared mom off and baby got left behind.  Apparently, mom possums can carry up to 13 babies in their pouches and do not return to look for lost babies.  

In the Birdhouse: 

Off to the rehabber!

He was about 5-6  inches long from nose to tail tip.

We also discovered a dove nesting on our porch: 

Here's everyone -- except Wadjet, she disappeared -- waiting to get a bacon treat this morning!  

Wheezil LOVES bacon the most of ANYONE!

Here's Annie being pretty polite:

Jack couldn't be bothered to get off the sofa, so had to have his bacon treats delivered!

Happy Sunday!

Some Ruminations about My Blog and Spring in Pea Ridge

My Blog

I've been thinking about my blog a lot lately & really missing it.  I started this blog over 10 years ago while I was home writing my dissertation as a way to take a break from and connect with people since I felt so isolated.  Also, writing a dissertation is really hard.  I needed something fun.  The few years after graduation was a strange transition time.  BB started middle school & I was trying to decide what to do with myself.  I had reached my goal of a PhD and was out of a project and a long-term goal.  And no job in sight.  There were lots of challenges and difficulties: my dad got really sick, we lost our sweetest Alice, middle school was a black hole.  Everything kept changing and shifting in distressing ways.  As I tried to steer my ship through all the many storms, I couldn't figure out how to continue my blog.  I've noticed that blog friends come and go -- I think everyone struggles with the problem of maintaining a blog persona as their life shifts.  I began teaching full time 5 years ago, so along with home responsibilities, my days are very full -- too full sometimes.  The blog has further languished.

Last summer, we moved from our home of 22 years to a newer, smaller house.  To say that this was an upheaval and massively overwhelming is an understatement.  We had so much packed into that house, and it was unbelievably hard to manage the sorting, culling, packing, and all the logistics that go into moving.  I became ruthless in the end trying to decide what to keep and what to let go of. Some of my decisions were good, but some were not.  My eye twitched a lot and my eczema got worse.  Although I was ready to leave my old house and neighborhood, the process was traumatic.  We are mostly settled in our new home, which is lovely.  There are still a few things I miss about my old house, but I very much like my new one.  It is also beginning to feel like my home.  I had not expected it to take so long for me to feel that way.  Things feel more settled in general & everyone is doing well.  While there is still some lingering sadness and worries, I don't feel as though the sand is continually shifting below my feet. I can breathe.  As for the current pandemic, we are only affected by inconvenience.

One of the things I've always loved about blogging is that it makes everyday occurrences seem special.  I think that is what I want my blog to be about: everyday adventures.  I want to begin cataloging that again.

Springtime in Pea Ridge

Over my Spring Break in mid March, Annie and I visited my mom in Pea Ridge, which remains much the same as ever.  The trees were blossoming and pollen was everywhere!  It is beautiful there and I love it.  So does Annie!

More to Remember

Dear Blog Friends,  I did not resume blogging as I indicated I planned to in my last post from two years ago.  Much has happened and changed since then.  We have lost several beloved pets: Scooby from Pea Ridge (2016); Sammy (October 2017); and Winston (2018).  Scooby and Winnie  left us from old age, Sammy from advanced kidney disease.  We have added some new pets: Daisy from Pea Ridge,  Cecil (more commonly known as Whezil), Wadjet, and Jack.

Most recently, we lost my dad, Daddy Bill.  Since 1982, DB lived in Pea Ridge and devoted himself to the community there including the canine community.  DB rescued and made provision for countless stray dogs abandoned in the country.  Nana and DB took BB and I on a trip every summer and we had so much fun together.  DB really loved spending time with BB on those trips.  We miss him. 

More changes are coming: BB is off to college in August, headed to LSU.

Here are some of our new additions as well as some photos remembering our much-loved family members.

Cecil (Whezil) and Wadjet enjoy a summer snooze.  Cecil was rescued from a local animal services shelter by our handyman who couldn't keep him, so we took him in July 2015.  Wadjet was literally born in a barn & was adopted from our horse barn in December 2016.

Here is our beautiful Sammy.  He became ill in the summer of 2016 and was diagnosed with kidney disease.  A special diet kept him going and feeling good right till the end.  He was only 8, but he had a wonderful life with us and he was the center of our household.  Sammy came from the SPCA of TX.

Sammy and Annie loved playing "Chewy Wars"!

Sammy a-snooze on his special "time out beddy."

On alert for treats with Annie!

Some backyard fun.  Sammy was obsessed with retrieving tennis balls, but they had to be squeaky balls & he was very choosy about which ball he wanted to play with.

Here's a Wadjet baby picture.

Like all cats I've every known, both these kitties love boxes.

Scooby AKA "Goober" on patrol.  Scooby was rescued by Nana and DB as a puppy.  They found him on their property and he was nearly starved.  Scooby had a great life in Pea Ridge where he was in charge.  Scooby slept on DB's bed every night but he liked to lounge on Nana's bed during the day.  He was very particular about his feet, and he never grabbed food out of your hand.

Scooby with Annie at Pea Ridge.  Scooby was very kind to Annie when we would visit there -- he looked after her in the woods and always waited for her to catch up.

This is Daisy working on a chewy.  She was adopted by Nana and Daddy Bill from 4 Paws of Ruston in 2017.  Daisy is energetic and a little bit greedy.  Her favorite activities are chewing rawhides and chicken chasing (she isn't allowed to do that any more!) and she likes to spend time outside with Hankie in her backyard.

Winston (better known as Winnie) had a great run of it.  He came here in January 2014 an old starving cat & we didn't think he would make it, but he rallied and lived another four happy years.  Winnie loved to sit in my lap and he also loved chicken.

Winnie liked to help.

When Sammy left us, we were devastated.   There was a hole in the house without him, so we quickly adopted another big hound that we named Jack.  Jack is 92 pounds and full of energy.  We spend lots of time at the dog park.

Annie & Jack with chewys.  

DB and BB on our trip to South Louisiana in 2014.  

DB was very amused by Whezil, who he called Harry Jr., because he looks and acts so much like their late beloved Harry Kitty.  We were glad we got to spend time with DB last Christmas.  

BB at orientation early this summer.  

Remembering Tiger and Gold Kitty

Hello dear friends!  We've been absent from our blog for a couple of years as Miss Lizzy has launched a teaching career while BB has been busy with high school.  Since our last post, we have lost two of our original Rose Jugglers, Tiger and Gold Kitty.  While Gold Kitty lived to an advanced age of almost 18 and his passing wasn't wholly unexpected, Tiger developed an inoperable tumor at age 10.  As we being blogging again, we would like to pay tribute to our sweet departed kitties:

Tiger, June 2004-May 2014 
At age 4, BB wanted a black cat so we adopted Tiger from a local cat rescue organization:
 

Tiger was an excellent study buddy -- He was indispensable to my dissertation work: 

Tiger  loved to be in his backyard: 

 

  

Our black panther:

Tiger just loved hanging out with his family -- helping to drink morning coffee:

 Gold Kitty, June 1997- March 2015
Gold Kitty came to us at 6 months old from a friend who had rescued a momma cat and litter of kittens.  He was the sweetest little soul who ever lived.  He took care of his hero Monger in his old age:

His favorite activities included eating and napping: 

Some favorite Gold Kitty pictures:

Gold Kitty's 17th birthday party -- he was super excited about his cake!

 

We miss you Tiger and GK!  You will always be remembered.  

Happy Easter! Plus some News about Scooby in Pea Ridge

Happy Easter everyone!  We had friends over after church for Easter lunch, which forced me to clean my house and get out my Easter decorations.  BB and her friend dyed Easter eggs yesterday, which the Easter Bunny hid before leaving candy.  (BB and her friend will still be doing this in college, we think!)  Susan brought chicken salad, fruit salad, and hot cross buns.  I made ham, baked beans, deviled eggs, dinner rolls, and pineapple cake.  So we had lots of good food.  I ironed a new-to-me white table cloth purchased from e-bay; it is hard to find oval table cloths. 

These eggs are not dyed -- it is their real color!  We usually buy our eggs from Jeannie, and she has now has some ameraucana chickens that lay colored eggs.  I only had two, so I filled in the egg cups with vintage wooden eggs.

For dinner, I filled the compote on the table with deviled eggs.  Here are some other of my decorations:

BB and her friend in their church finery:

Annie checks out the Easter eggs (she would probably love to eat one of these; she did manage to steal a stick of butter off the table.  We have nicknamed her "Annie Goat" because she is such a scavenger and nothing seems to make her sick.  Knock on wood.)

One last bit of news: Scooby had a terrible accident last Saturday.  He was hit by a car and broke his leg.  We are very thankful that he was not hurt worse, but Scooby will be in a splint for at least 8 weeks.  So far he is doing well, and Daddy Bill reports that he is able to get up and down the house stairs okay and can go outside on a leash.  He is almost finished with his pain meds and antibiotics.  Daddy Bill is taking Scooby to the vet tomorrow or Tuesday, so hopefully we will have an update.  Please send healing thoughts to Pea Ridge for Scooby -- everyone there is anxious for Scooby to heal quickly!  Here is Scooby about a month ago --