Friday, November 18, 2011

One last kiss


Freckles 2001 - 11/18/2011

I had Freckles put to sleep this afternoon. I'd watched her fade and struggle for the last year or so... ten and a half years take their toll on a bunny even though she was always very healthy. She'd been unable to move around very much and in the last two weeks had begun to lose her balance and not be able to get herself upright once she tumbled over. She had a couple seizures, too, which was just too much for me to bear. A local vet suspected E. cuniculi based on her symptoms, so we treated her for that for a while, but there wasn't any improvement.

Anyway...

It's so hard to make that decision, but it was easy for her. She had an incredibly long life for a bunny and she knew nothing but love. She was the kissiest bunny I've ever known and was kissing me still this morning as we shared a couple last moments of love and comfort. This is my favorite photo of her from many moons ago.

 As pet owners, we are so fortunate, I think, to have the option of that final kindness for our pets.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

1/365


New coffee pot, new camera, new life... why not a new photo project, too?!?

I'm trying out the 365 Days Project to take a photo a day for the next year. Sounds pretty easy for someone as camera addicted as me, right? I figure it'll be a sweet way to chronicle this first year in a new place. I also have a new camera - the new iPhone 4S - and it combined with Hipstamatic is the perfect toy!

I'm not sure how often I'll share pics from the project here, but considering the difficulty I'm having with writing regular posts to this blog, if nothing else, a photo a day will at least give me something to blog about. The truth is, I have plenty to blog about, but the difficulty lies in how much to share and what to keep close to my heart. I imagine I'll work that out with time and practice. For now it still feels like too much, as if too many people are reading over my shoulder...

Anyway, about the new coffee pot...

; )

The cheapo Mr. Coffee died yesterday when I was just desperate for a cup...

Coffee this way reminds me of my dad and of camping. I love the smell of it cooking on the stove. It's especially yummy this way, I think, but it takes forever to be ready. So today I snapped a pic while I waited.

Anyone else out there prefer perked coffee over drip-brewed? Any hints for getting the basket contraption out of the pot without burning my fingers or should I go to the garage for that camping tool?

: )

Monday, November 14, 2011

Right brain (fridge) poetry



















I don't know the language, but that shouldn't stop me from playing, right?

; )

I'm sure one of the French grammarians around here will correct me...

I'm feeling inspired by this article... thanks for sending along the link Endment!

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Mid-week cat fix


Everyone else is doing cat-blogging, so why can't I join in the silliness? 

; )

This is Belle. She's a pretty cat. She runs to sit in my lap at every opportunity. She kneads my soft belly with her claws. She looks at my bunnies like they're dangerous and might infect her with some terrible cuteness. Her breath smells like fish, usually.

How do cat people stand that?

I'm such a dog person by nature and by choice. I had cats as a kid and as an adult had taken to saying that cats were okay so long as they were other people's cats.

; )

There's a dog park down the street and I'm sort of haunting it in my pining for Luka and some doggy-love. I steal kisses from strange dogs I meet when out hiking. I'm developing a friendship with a lady who has four, hoping she'll let me borrow one from time to time. I carry biscuits in my pockets and am considering a career change to professional dog-walker.

Honestly, don't you think dog and cat people are wired differently, somehow?

Is there some book I can consult to help me understand the strange mincing about on tippy-toes they like to do first thing in the morning? Why the black one chooses to sleep curled up on the dark steps where I can easily trip on her? Why they invite me to pet their furry bellies and then attack my hand with teeth and claws? Why Belle stops mid-step and glares at me from across the room? Why they prowl around in the dark, yowling?

Monday, November 07, 2011

Parting glances


Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park is ~the~ place to see confusing fall warblers... the trees are young and small so, in theory, you can see the birds easily, down low.

I've had parts of 14 species of warblers there in the last couple weeks:

Most all of this young Common Yellowthroat...

The water-tossed mantle of the Black-Throated Green in last week's post...

The pale supercilliums of many Tennessee Warblers...

The briefest of looks at the yellowish wing bars of a Chestnut-Sided Warbler...

The white "handkerchiefs" on a handsome Black-Throated Blue...

The indistinct dull olive of a young Blackpoll...

(You get the idea!)

Are warblers still passing thru where you are or is it winter already?