A Squirrel Visit

Hi All!

Happily, my eye infection is on the decline. The blood is all gone - a wonderful sign! However, my eye still hurts -back behind my eyeball. This happens mostly when I am tired - have been using my eyes a lot. For example - when I am communicating in sign language which is all visual, my eye starts to hurt after a while (a couple hours).

Maybe I should call the doctor and ask if this is "normal" for an eye infection. What do you think?

In other news, we have been having daily visits from a friendly male squirrel. I am positive that the visits have NOTHING to do with the food that is out (including some less than edible berries. Edible to humans that is!) and more with the fact that he LIKES US! Yeah, right!
Here is our friend trying very hard to get into our bird feeder. So far, he hasn't managed to figure out how to get the seed but, maybe he will someday!
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Then we will need to buy another, more squirrel-proof feeder to continue the "game."

You might ask how we are sure that Mr. Squirrel is a Mr. and not a Mrs. or a Ms. Well, let's just say that there are times when he really "lets it all hang out." If you look very carefully at this picture, you will see what I mean. I apologize for the darkness of the picture but it is taken through tinted windows and from the shadows.

After munching on our fruit offerings (which are more for the birds than for Mr. Squirrel but they are willing to share!), Mr. Squirrel sometimes likes to take a nap on the fence. I have been trying to capture this particular pose for quite a while but, normally, he scurries away while I get my camera ready and I miss the shot.

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Doesn't he look comfortable?

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Skor has really been enjoying Mr. Squirrel's visits. Sitting on the kitchen windowsill (the feeder is right outside the kitchen window), Skor "chats" to the squirrel the entire length of his visit and then looks quite forlorn when Mr. Squirrel flits off to visit another family or feeder. Sometimes, Skor remains at the window waiting in vain for his little friend to return.

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Hubby and I are just happy that our plan for a "kitty entertainment center" has worked out so well. Between the feeder, the plants, the bird bath, and the fruit offerings, Skor has a lot to watch during the day. This keeps him busy and keeps his mind off of other, possibly more destructive, ventures.

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Now, if we could just keep Miss Cleo from opening all of the closets when she is bored . . .

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Trisha

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Voice Update: Still doing really well. My throat is a bit "crunchier" than usual but I am starting to really work on that. I need to get out the "thumper" to help me in the process.

The Fair Dublin City

Hi All!

For some reason, I am feeling a bit cranky today so I will keep the "chit-chat" to a minimum.

My cold/cough is still improving. Now I really only cough a bit unless I exert myself and then I have a nice coughing attack. I determined that after grocery shopping and getting all the food into the house only to have to sit for a minute to recover from a serious bout of coughing. Not good!

This morning I spent an hour out amongst my flowers in the front bed. I think I told you that a couple of my shrubs are really struggling with the summer heat (and from me not being home for two weeks!). Today I gave them a good trim hoping that getting rid of the dead wood will encourage what is still alive to grow.

In addition, I cut back my two sage plants (one white and one purple) so that they are more the size I want them instead of the gargantuans I came home from vacation to find in my flowerbed! Hopefully, I can keep them trimmed and in control or I will have to replace them for something slower growing.

Okay - chit-chat done. Time for pictures of Dublin, Ireland.

Trisha

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Voice update: Since the cold is receding, my voice is slowly improving again. Yesterday I listened to some stories I recorded for classes a couple of semesters ago. I was shocked to hear hesitations and words I couldn't say correctly. I guess time does make a difference!

Back to "Old Faithful!"

Hi All!

Well, I got out my "purse" camera again today and took some shots of my gardens - mostly for my mom but . . . I thought I would share with everyone!

It has been a lazy week for me - yesterday was my birthday so I slept in and then this morning it was only 57 so I slept in again. But - I am so proud - I did walk in the evening yesterday and will do so again!

Now to get the mornings going and the swimming! I can hardly wait!


I love little green tomatoes - they hold such promise of good things to come!
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I have already had FOUR tomatoes from this plant and they were very delicious!




My Hostas are growing. They get a bit bigger each year!

Since I fenced in my Coneflowers they are doing really, really well. This is the second bloom this year.

And another is hot on it's heels!

This is a new addition to my garden this year. I keep picking off the dead flowers and it keeps blooming. I don't know that it likes the sun too much though. It is in a place that doesn't get too much and still the leaves are a bit crispy!

Sorry about the blurriness - Hubby took this last night to show me how the kitties were curled up for the night. I think they like each other!
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Skor was sick last night. He kept walking backwards and then vomiting up greenish yellow liquid. He wanted to play with his toy but when I got it out he just chased it one time and then laid there watching it. Poor little boy!

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Luckily, he seems to be better this morning!

Here is the beautiful cake that Hubby picked out for my birthday! He said that the woman who took the order was impressed because he knew exactly what he wanted and most men don't!

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To celebrate my birthday, we had cake and ice cream for dinner! Not very healthy but fun, fun, fun!
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Trisha
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Voice Update: My voice is still doing really well but I continue to have problems saying the word "two" in certain situations. That is frustrating - my voice sounds perfectly normal until I get to that darn word and then . . . trouble! Oh well! I guess only having one word which is giving me trouble isn't too bad, is it?

What a Day!

Hi All!

Today I am attempting to add some pictures to my post even though that means more work for me - trying to get the html code correct so everything shows up right.

What a pain in the neck!

Before I get to the pictures . . . yesterday was quite a day! It started off with a trip to my general physician for a check up. At that appointment I talked to Doc about my depression/anxiety meds and how I didn't feel that they were working well enough. That led to a gleam in Doc's eye and an "experiment."

Don't worry. There isn't anything radical going on!

The experiment is simply to see which is the more "overpowering" force - the depression or the anxiety. So - we really put a handle on one and see if the other is "livable." Doesn't that sound like lots of fun???

I am not too thrilled but . . . if it helps in the long run!

After visiting the Doc, I headed to the pharmacy to pick up the new meds. That wasn't too bad since I got to wait and read my book while I waited! These days I don't get too much time during the day to read so that was a bit of a treat!

Back home from the pharmacy I decided to check in with my "stalker" to see how her research paper was going.

Wow!

It turns out that writing a research paper is a major stressor for her! It took me a while to talk her down and convince her to take a break. Then we agreed to meet before class so that we could talk about the organization of her paper - which is what was hanging her up.

I will admit that after that phone call I took a nap. Just an hour but I needed to recharge!

After the nap I got up, got some lunch, and headed to school. Now, I am not too crazy about the class I have on Tuesdays and Thursdays - as you may have figured out from a previous post! So - I wasn't too eager about going to school. Anyway - I got there and logged in almost three hours of lab time! I met with my "stalker" and we worked on her paper so that she felt better about the organization - now all she has to do is the actual writing. Fun, fun (am I saying that a lot this post??).

After class I headed home (it was still light since class ended early!!!!!!) and had some "down time" with Hubby and the cats. That was nice.

Today all I have to do is finish my research paper, meet with the insurance adjuster about the roof damage, and have my hair cut. Then I will worry about the video I need to have for tomorrow's class!

Now for the pictures.

My cactus is blooming. It is really blooming even more than shown in the picture but I haven't had time to get out and get new pictures.

I love the way the delicate flowers look along the nasty looking spines on the cactus!

This is the Sweet William blooming in our front flowerbed. Small but lovely!

Here is the "cage" I had to build to protect my Balloon Plant and Black-eyed Susans from the bunnies. I may need to get more fencing as the plants grow taller!

I hope I get through this week!

Trisha

Voice Update: Still doing boringly well!

Monday Musings

Hi All!

Happy Monday!

If only I felt as happy as I would like you to feel!

Well, actually, I don't feel too bad at the moment. There was a nice rainstorm last night (and I LOVE rain) and my morning walk was beautiful. I was greeted by this wonderful sunrise when I left my house.
Hopefully, I have gotten the spacing down on the blog for today - I am dabbling in HTML code . . . However, I still am not sure what I am doing with the pictures.

If this text is in the correct spot, it should be after the picture of my neighbor's tulips. I should have taken the picture yesterday because the rain got to some of the blooms!

Okay - this picture should be of one of the "lovely" ant hills which pop up right after the rain. Don't step in them!

I "helped" this frog get up on the curb to the grass before a car smooshed him. He didn't look too thankful.

Hubby and I finally go the last of the old shrubs out of the flowerbed (okay - only one half of it) and planted our remaining shrub. Now to get more mulch to finish the job!

In other news, I have been sufferring from some weird gunk. At first I thought it was just drainage from allergies but this morning my throat is sore when I cough (to try to clear the gunk - which is not good for my voice, I know!) and my voice sounds like it has gone down about four octaves.

I am supposed to have a night observation again tonight but I am wondering if I should cancel due to illness. Of course, am I really sick or is it just drainage? How do you know?

Did I tell you that our air conditioner picked yesterday to start blowing hot air instead of cold air? No? Of course, it had to be a day when the temps were hovering around 90 degrees!

Such are the troubles of living in Texas!

I do wonder just what is going on since the AC guys were out in February to check everything out and said everything was fine. I guess we will find out, won't we?

Trisha

Voice Update: This morning it sounds like I have dropped a few octaves and that I am losing my voice. Again - is this due to "gunk" or is it due to illness? Who knows???

The Corner Garden

Hi All! sf gjfsj It has been a while. sfjfsj Has anyone noticed?? sfjsfj Okay - I am done feeling needy for the moment. sfjfsj Last week . . . . well, it was a week. I had stuff for class to do and stuff for life to do and then I wasn't feeling very well so it just sort of flew by without me blogging. Or walking (not good, I know!). Or doing much of anything! sfjfsj That isn't true. I did stuff but nothing too memorable. During the weekend I went out and set to work in my corner garden.

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First, I dug out another foot or so.

That was SOOOOOO much fun! The ground was hard as a rock since we haven't had too much rain here lately. dghdghk ***With that said, I should note that it rained/stormed last night and today the ground is much softer! After getting new soil mixed in and the border up I struggled with this fencing - in an effort to keep the bunnies from munching on my cone flowers. I am still not too happy with the fence and think I am going to put posts in at the corners. Eventually! I added two and a half bags of mulch - doesn't it look pretty and fresh? Some plants were rearranged.

And now the corner garden is ready for another summer of fun!

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Hubby isn't too sure why I put so much work into the garden. He doesn't see much use in it.

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Of course, he does like looking at the blooming flowers during the summer!

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Speaking of flowers. I haven't decided if I am going to plant Moon Flowers this year or not. It might be nice to have a year off. Then again - they are lovely things.

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Such decisions!

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Here is to another busy week! At least I started off on the right foot with a walk in the VERY WINDY weather. We will see if I will be able to walk for more than one day this week!

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Trisha

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Voice Update: Last Monday I went to see Susan. She was very pleased with my voice - no skips or breaks or anything when I walked in. That is a bit of a feat, I must say! Susan was happy with the work I have been doing at home but did have to work on my neck a bit to get the "crunchy" out. Can you say sore neck for the next three days? Now to keep up with it!

Gardening . . . .And Stuff

Hi All! xsfjsfj Is it just me or has it been forever since I last posted?? dghkdgk Lately, it seems like I have been running around like a crazy woman so posting has been a bit "out of the question." I have thought about you all though. I have WANTED to check blogs and to post but . . . that is hard to do when you aren't home or when you are sound asleep! fhjkfjk Anyway - I am doing really well on my practicum hours but not so well on my sleeping hours. I am sure it will all work itself out soon! ghklgkl In the meantime . . . the front flowerbeds have continued their transformation. Hubby has been steadily working on removing shrubs (basically one or two a day) and we actually planted shrubs yesterday. Take a look. fgjkfg This is what the bed looks like now (remember, we are only this far along on one side of the front!). MUCH smaller plants and the rock (yes, I had to buy a rock since they are rarely seen roaming wild around this area!). fhj Another view of the bed. I can't wait to get mulch on the ground and maybe a few more perennials thrown into the mix. Oh - and the last three "old" shrubs out of the picture! dghk The rock is being kept company by perennials - including black eyed Susan's, bee balm, butterfly bush, pincushion plant, and balloon flower. The new plants are so much smaller . . . They need to grow some but not TOO much!

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Trisha

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Voice Update: My neck is a tiny bit "crunchy." I have an appointment with Susan today so I am sure it will be hurting tonight and tomorrow!