Stuff and Such

I woke up this morning in a state of panic.  I sat up on the edge of the bed and my hands were shaking--it felt like my whole body was trembling.  My mind was so fuzzy.  Weird.

My Buddy is so long and large that for almost a year, he can't fit in the litter box.  He would back in, then leave his hindquarters inside and put the upper half of his body outside, resting his paws on the floor.  I had the biggest, tallest litter box, known to man.  It wasn't affecting him, but I wanted more comfort for my big boy, so off to Wally World I went--on a mission to find a better bathroom for The Bud.

I got one of those plastic storage boxes that fits under a bed.  It has wheels on it.  I can roll it out to clean it and then, roll it back under the counter in the computer room.  He loves it!!  He walks into it, turns around facing forward, does his thing, covers it up and off he goes--spreading litter along the path from computer room to living room, with those big feet of his.

This morning as I was cleaning out this huge area, it reminded me raking out and smoothing a sand trap on the golf course.  Yeah--I know, I'm weird. 

Meanwhile, back in the bedroom---

Little Maggie, watching birds in the bushes.  

A Robin is building a nest in that bush.  

I think Maggie likes her new litter box too.  She romps around in it at times--flinging litter hither and yon..  Buddy is very neat.  Maggie is a very free-spirited girl. 

Then, I went into the living room and looked out the window.  A little red squirrel was down on the ground.  Knowing that Maggie loves to watch them, I yelled, "Squirrel--squirrel!" and she came running out and right up to the window.  I have never thought cats were all that intelligent--with a dog, you say "outside" or "ride" and they run to the door.  You say that to a cat and they look at you.

Maggie sure understands what Squirrel means.  Buddy was laying on the living room floor and he just looked up at me and yawned.  I have come to the conclusion--these cats are like kids.  Some are intelligent, some are more laid back and easy going and some...just don't give a rat's patootie.

I can't believe my spring flowers--the tulips and daffodils and grape hyacinth.  For the last couple of years, I have had very few blooms--even though five years ago, I planted almost 250 bulbs.  I knew they were under ground, but had come to believe that the moles had burrowed down and ate them.  AH ha--we had a "normal" winter--nice and cold, lots of snow coverage and a very wet April.  That's all we needed.  Weather conditions of the last two warm winters kept my spring bulbs at bay.  I think my Lilac bushes are going to be decadent this year--can't wait to see them bloom.

Someone needs to fill up her bird feeders.  (Lilac's to the left.)

I got the lawn mowed today--or rather my lawn mower guy came and did it.  He has charged me $15.00 a mow for years and years--well, the last five when I couldn't do it.  This year, I told him I am giving him a raise to $20.00--what with gas prices raising and all that.  Besides that, he not only mows, but trims and then goes around with the leaf blower and cleans off the porches, walkways and driveway.  AND, this morning, he got my trowel and dug up four white violets that had somehow escaped from my woodland garden and were growing gloriously in the yard--where they would have been mowed down.

I haven't seen this guy in four years--he is apricot colored.

See that little yellow flower off on the left--I have some of those in my long-neglected

gardens.  The will be dispatched before long, LOL. The bear stick is where another

daffodil or tulip will be planted this fall.

On my parent's farm, our driveway was quite long.  We had a long, wide swatch of lawn from the house to the road.  My mother loved when that area turned all yellow with Dandelions.  She thought it was beautiful--and it was.  Farm people don't really get into the whole "weed-n'-weed" thingie.  We are more natural about things.  That's kind of the way I still am--you can tell by my gardens--not too precise, sort of like the flowers just blew in on the wind and settled there to grow.

The little garden by my front porch.  Rose of Sharon bush will come alive in August.  

After the spring flowers die away, a whole lot of lilies will emerge--all the lily plants 

Fred gave me over the years.

You can't see it real well--may have to click to enlarge--over at the base of the maple tree

between it and the barren Rose of Sharon bush, are many varieties of wild flowers that I dug

up from the woods I use to live near and brought here.  (Yes, digging up wildflowers is against the

law here in Michigan--if a DNR officer had seen me, I would have been in trouble because I didn't own the property anymore.)

The May Apples have grown about 2 inches a day since Monday.  The violets are coming, as are the little pink wildflowers.  I also have Trilliums in bloom and a couple of Jack In The Pulpit which haven't

emerged as yet and some Adder's Tongue--yellow flower.  I love that area so much.

This is the west side of my porch.

This is Pearl's spring garden--I have never seen it so full of daffodils and hyacinth and tulips.  

I also made an appointment for next Wednesday for the guy to come out and power wash my unit.  I have a lot of green mold on the skirting and also the back porch.  Now that I am out more--I want everything to look gorgeous!!!  I am also going to have him power wash the cement between my unit and my garden in front.  $75.00--sigh, but......

Tomorrow I go up to the cemetery and meet with the sexton to see if I can get my grave site in the spot I want it.  Fred's won't be too difficult as we will only be burying cremains.  I, however, want the traditional burial and nowadays, the vaults that hold the caskets are larger and take up more room--because, nowadays, caskets are larger, because, nowadays, people are larger.    I want to be buried next to my Mother--hoping that is possible.  I will be the fifth generation of my family buried there.

I have ordered the grave markers, it takes 8-10 weeks for them to be ready to be laid on the slab.  

The way things have been lately, I hope the markers arrive before I do!!!