It’s much too hot to even think about doing beads today, so I’m updating my blog with cute photos instead.

Right now, it’s 91°. Oh, yuck!! I turned on the air last night, but turned if off this morning. The compressor needs to be replaced, and overnight it cooled the house from 84° down to 82°. What a waste of electricity! I don’t want to replace it right now because I’m trying to save up money for our trip out west.

I had a mockingbird hanging around this morning. They sing such a wonderful variety of songs. Here’s a sample, http://ibc.lynxeds.com/sound/northern-mockingbird-mimus-polyglottos/adult-singing-tree-branch-un-adulto-vocalizando-desde-l

The boys were up yesterday and cleaned out the RV so I can go through it all and see what I need to put back in there. This is a photo of my great-grandnephew using Chester for a pillow,

And here’s photos of the new calf. I decided to call her Daisy May, since she’s a May baby,

And here’s Mama and Daddy checking her out,

Now, as I said, it’s quite warm today, and has been for several days now. My poor babies have been sleeping just sprawled out,

Gosh, don’t you wish you could stretch out like that?

Now, this is Peaches and B.B. (Bad Boy). Peaches has gotten nailed before by B.B. So what does she do when he comes cozying up to her? Just lays there, thinking, ‘OK, he’s going to scratch my ear.’

Let’s get a little closer, she’s not moving...

Still not moving, let’s grab that ear!!

Hah, got her!

And not letting go!

At least until Peaches started yowling and Pip came and busted it up.

We have a new baby calf, another heifer. Sally’s mother, Suzy, was a very nice cow, she threw bulls calves every year except for her last one, Sally. Well, this is Sally’s 2nd calf, and 2nd heifer calf. Which is inconvenient, because I don’t want another cow, I want a bull calf! Rats! Oh, well, I’ll have to get photos tomorrow.

I do have some photos. I cleaned and photo’d a batch of beads, and here’s my favorites:

Oh my goodness! Got a red grosbeak at my feeder!!

There are days when I just shouldn’t even get out of bed.

Today was one of them, starting at 3:30 a.m. when I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. And S.C., one of our cats, didn’t help. Over the next couple of hours, she thought since I was awake, it was time to play in my bedroom, batting something around on the floor, which drove Pip nuts, and she had to jump up and try to chase her out of the bedroom. Several times. More than several times. Until 6 a.m when I gave up and got up and made some coffee.

Did I say this was going to be a short story? Ha, not my life! I’m the drama queen!

My back has been out the last couple of weeks, and I’ve been spending a lot of time on my massage/heat pad when I lay down. I have 3 massage/heat pads, one for the RV, one chair size, and one full length. I got the chair size out to put on my chair in my studio, thinking maybe if I spend more time on one, it’ll help. Couldn’t find the adapter. Found the adapter for the one out in the RV, but it’s raining and I’m not going out there to try to find the pad. So I got the adapter for the big pad. Doesn’t work on the chair pad. OK, I gave up and went and got the big one and was trying to put it on the chair, when it hit my coffee cup.

Coffee on my computer desk, on the heating pad, and on the floor. Don’t dare use the heating pad because it’s all wet from the coffee and the cleaner I sprayed on it. And now I’ll probably have 3 wired ferrets who tried their best to help clean up the spilled coffee. Yup, ferrets on caffeine and chocolate... just what I need.

Christian took Lukas to the dentist. I have the house to myself!! I am going to go play the piano, and I am going to crank the volume up until the walls shake!

YIPPEEEEE!!!! I have 2 orioles at my hummingbird feeder. Got to get some oranges and grape jelly out for them!

Oh my gosh! Just had a pileated woodpecker come to my feeder. He was HUGE!!!

OK, I admit it, I’m a pearl junkie. I love pearls!

I’ve really been getting the urge to get back into making jewelry. Here’s some things I’ve made:

So anyway, I made the mistake one evening last week of looking on ebay at pearls. BIG MISTAKE!!!

These are some that came today:

And here I am, trying to simplify my life... sigh.

I saw my first hummingbird the day before yesterday. Poor thing, there was snow on the ground this morning. I had to turn the furnace back on. :( I also saw several crows chasing a bald eagle. That was really neat to watch.

I just finished doing a batch of photos for listing, and just have to show off some of my favorites:

May 1st, cold and windy. But at least there’s no snow!!!

The boys were up today, they got the first coat of paint on my family room wall,
and I LIKE it!

Before:

After:

In my dreams, the ceiling is going to be white with wallpaper borders
on the ceiling and the walls, along with stained woodwork.

Pet photo, Togetherness:

Flower photo, Amaryllis and Orchids:

Have you noticed yet, I love pets and flowers?

I saw a new bird today, a Brown Thrasher. Goodness, I felt like I have a rather pathetic life that I should get so excited over hearing and seeing a new kind of bird, but what the heck, it’s my life.

Brown Thrasher song.mp3

Spent the last hour figuring out doctor bills, and who to pay this month. I’ve got most of the smaller bills from David paid, but the bigger ones I’m putting off for another time. I need to do some beads. Well, not need, but want.

I have been struggling the last several weeks, getting weepier and weepier, with stomaches and overwhelming fatigue. The stomach aches and fatigue are nothing new (my afternoon nap is my best friend), and had thought about going to the doctor (again) about it, but with the cost of a doctor’s visit being what it is, I just kept putting it off. Ironically, with David gone, our financial situation has improved, so last Friday I went in. I was also seeing a different doctor, which helped my frame of mind. The last time I saw my old doctor, complaining about the stomach aches and fatigue, he prescribed anti-depressants and told me I was having panic attacks, and patted me on the back and told me I was a strong woman and would get through it all. That was a lot of help.

They did an EKG because my heart has been leaping (came back normal) and blood tests to rule out any physical cause (came back normal), so it’s back to depression. He upped my medication and prescribed medicine for my stomach and gave me a referral to talk to a counselor.

This is the first time in a couple of years that I haven’t had a stomachache, and I have to say, it sure does feel good. I haven’t been in to see a counselor yet, just waiting for the referral to go through. If it helps, I will do whatever I have to. I do not like living like this, and it’s not fair to my boys to have to put up with this.

In the meantime, I’ve been trying to get out and soak up some sun and get some vitamin D. I’m expanding my front flower bed and have been hauling manure from the barn and dumping it in there. Between that and Roundup, that should kill off the quackgrass. My lilies are coming up, and I have daffodils and tulips blooming. This is absolutely the best time of the year, before the hot weather and mosquitoes and black gnats start.

I have photos to show off. Here’s a gorgeous amaryllis blooming:

If you don’t like funny pet photos, skip this next batch.

How can that cat sleep like that?!?

OK, my ferrets like to sleep in a small pet carrier, all jammed in. What the heck? An orange tail?

Ah, hah! Peaches again.

My ferrets make me laugh. They are just a joy to have and to watch.

Another what the heck?! and run and grab the camera,

Goofy little babies!

And now some favorite beads I’ve made the past month,

Lukas had a horrible seizure last night.

I do not like being a widow, and I do not like being alone. Even though I’m not alone, I am.

What next?!? I went down to the basement, and the septic system is backing up into the basement. We just had it pumped out last fall. I really don’t need this right now.

I’ve been missing David this past week, and when I was driving home today, I realized that his birthday would have been Friday. I miss the good times we had.

My sister has been nagging me to update my blog. I had to go down to Roseville today to take my computer in. It was having a brain spasm and wouldn’t start. They think it was a software update that didn’t properly install, so they reinstalled the system. Fortunately, I back up all of my data, and Apple has this really neat feature of offering to pull in user data from your backup hard drive, so I didn’t have to re-install any programs or serial numbers. VERY nice!!

I love flowers! These are in my studio, orchids, tulips and fushia.

Now on to the pets. Here’s Buddy sleeping. Oh, how I wish I could sleep like them. They just pass out!

And here is Baby, sleeping in the kitchen garden window, just soaking up the sun.

Flowers and pets, how do people do without them?

I’ve got tears in my eyes from laughing. My babies are sooooooo funny!

Ferrets are not very graceful little creatures (but then again, I’ve seen my cats do some pretty klutzy things). Chunk is a jumper; he spreads his feet out wide and jumps and grabs. This little chunky boy, arms spread wide, goes flying through the air (all 12 inches of it) and splat, flat on his fat little tummy. Right back up, chattering, ready for another attack on Buddy, one of the cats, my foot, anything that moves. Ferrets do what is humorously referred to as the ‘war dance.’ They hump up their backs and jump up and down on all four feet, chattering. They bounce around trying to get something to play with them, and often as not, bong into something because they’re not looking at where they’re going. Yup, live entertainment at its best.

Here’s Chunk jumping up trying to get Christian to play with him.

Did you know that ferrets sleep 14-18 hours a day? They are a lot like toddlers, they play and play and play, and then they crash. Here’s Buddy sleeping. Gosh, I wish I could bend like that.

Totally off topic here, I was getting eggs the other day, and found not one, but TWO pullet eggs. I had to laugh at how tiny they were compared to a regular egg.

It’s been 8 weeks since David died. Why does it seem like years instead of weeks? He has just been fading away in my memory, and I think less and less of him. That bothers me.