On line I saw an article about guessing when you will die. Since Lise made me promise I’d live another decade or so, I checked it out. I put in my gender and current age, then saw a lively display with falling balls. A few balls hit near me, but most went out a bit further. I could get to 90 or above! The statement said, “The life expectancy for the average woman in the United States is 81 years and 2 months.”
I’m already six months past my expiration date!! I’ve lived longer than my mother did, but not as long as both my grandmothers. I’m free! I’ve put the numbers behind me and will no longer worry about living as long as expected. I can take each day the Lord gives me and pray to use the time to declare his glory. How exhilarating! The pressure is off! The extra time is here!
Golly Pete! That’s what I say when I’m surprised and annoyed. Golly Pete is what I exclaimed as I looked at the morning glory plants near the front steps. Shawn had shared her seeds with me, and rather late in the season I planted them there, and under a trellis on the back of the house. I had already checked the back ones when I took Kacey out. There were no blooms, but the plants looked healthy. They should. I’ve been watering them twice a day. When I came back from the morning walk, I checked the two pots near the stairs. THERE WERE NO PLANTS IN THE POTS! There were no stems climbing up the posts. All green living matter had disappeared. The dirt had not been disturbed at all, leading me to believe the plants were eaten, not uprooted and taken away.
Neighbor Joyce has been battling squirrels that climb her lovely sunflowers and ride them down to the ground. I can imagine some sneaky squirrel selling tickets for the thrill of a lifetime at the sunflower carnival. Other critters have eyed and tasted her vegetables. She also has a few peppers that have begun to self-destruct from the inside out. Growing things is not for the faint-hearted.
The only plan of action I have is not to plant morning glory seeds near the steps. Here is the only photo I took of one at the front. I hope it was tasty and nutritionally good for the creature that ate it. Judging by the color of the bloom, the plant was in the pink of health.
Some months after John died, I was small enough to wear his t-shirts. There were two themes – church and trains. Most didn’t appear to have been worn. I enjoyed wearing them and always turned them inside out before washing them, wanting to protect the words and pictures. Fairly soon I was annoyed with turning them right side out again. The routine was to take the clothes from the dryer to the bed. That was fine for folding sheets and towels, but hanging up those t-shirts made my mouth turn down. Did it matter? It did to me!
It took a few weeks to find a solution. I turned the shirts as I took them out of the dryer and tossed them on the pony wall in the laundry room. When everything else was in the laundry basket, I put the shirts on top, and there they were, ready to hang up with no hassle! It was such a simple thing, and yet it brings me joy. The next time I ask myself if something matters, I hope to pay attention and do something to make the situation better.
Wicked Wisteria Wins a big thank you from me! I have complained endlessly about the invasive vine that has threatened me for ten years. Today I said thank you. That plant averted a great disaster. I was pulling weeds in the garden when Kacey suddenly ran through the evergreen trees with the wire lead and stake bumping along behind her. She desperately wanted to chase neighbor Joyce’s yard man on a riding mower. In my mind I saw her running at the man and having her legs chopped off. Oh! How awful that would have been! I was shouting at the dog to come back and then saw her facing me instead of running away. Several long tentacles of the wisteria had caught the stake and held it tightly. This was quite a distance away from the main vine on the pergola. They ran underground, past three huge evergreen trees, and up again, aiming for Joyce’s house, I presume. It took a full minute or two for me to untangle it. Kacey was docile as she walked back home, seeming to realize she had gone too far this time.
I woke before the alarm, thinking I was ready to deal with whatever the cell phone did. Since not being able to stop the alarm was highly unusual, I didn’t change anything. Surely it would not repeat the 10-minute ringing from the day before. Nothing prepared me for what happened. Here was the peaceful scene of Echo Blue Dot sitting near the deck door across from my bed.
KODAK Digital Still Camera
I had my phone in my hand. When the alarm sounded, I said, “Alexa, stop.” Nothing happened! NOTHING! The alarm kept ringing. Holding the phone to my ear, I found it was not making a sound. The noise came from across the room.
I said to myself, “I’ll take care of you Alexa. I’ll turn you off!”
In low light, I couldn’t see the buttons and jabbed at each one on the device. The ringing kept on and on. I pulled the plug. The alarm continued!! I held the blue globe to my ear, convinced it was somehow continuing without power. How could it? I didn’t think it had any batteries. Wait! The sound wasn’t louder close to my ear! Alexa was truly off.
Here is a closer shot. Do you see my old phone upside down on the left?
KODAK Digital Still Camera
It was the OLD PHONE that was ringing, not the Echo and not the new phone in my hand! I figured out what had happened. On Saturday I charged it to play games with it and assumed it would be unresponsive while face down. Nothing else would have worked, but I now realized the alarm would work. However, the alarm was not set for Sunday, so it dutifully went off on Monday. It quit ringing after 10 minutes, as programmed. Whew! I was so happy to know how this happened two days in a row. Without hearing aids in my ears, I couldn’t tell exactly where the sound was coming from and assumed it was the new phone. The old phone is now truly turned off and had better not haunt me any more.
In all my born days, I’ve never had such a rude awakening! The cell phone sounded its usual alarm, although I thought I had dismissed it a few minutes ahead of time. Absolutely nothing would make it stop. I pressed the usual places on the screen, then I madly jabbed at them. I tried to turn the phone off, but it refused to die. I’ve had it only a few weeks, so I did not consider drowning it. The ruckus woke Kacey, who jumped on the bed with me and looked quizzically toward the monster sound. Closing the app did nothing. I probably should have tried deleting it. I’ve had Motorola phones for years and never had anything like that happen before. I saw it was possible to snooze the alarm for ten minutes, but it CLANGED for those agonizing ten minutes. I noticed the time was 7:10, and that’s how I know exactly how long it screamed at me. I might try having Alexa wake me tomorrow. If I don’t touch her, surely she will obey my voice. If not, I’ll have a triumphant win as I unplug her.
One of the nicest results of daughter Lise’s delayed departure was that she got to see grandson Nathaniel, his fiancee Sarah, and her sister Katie. Their afternoon visit had been planned for several weeks, but Lise would not have been here.
The first thing they did was to include Katie in the mirror ritual. Nathaniel always raises the mirror in the hall when he first gets here and lowers it when he leaves. I liked the photo because it showed the girls’ faces.
Nathaniel, Lise, Sarah, and Katie
While we were sitting on the back porch, Nathaniel rummaged in the tool area, took hand clippers, and trimmed the Wicked Wisteria in just a few minutes. It was amazing how quickly he could do it without the use of a long-handled tool and ladder. I’ve enjoyed the view much more, knowing that wicked vine wouldn’t be reaching for my neck when I’m out there gardening.
Although the light was not good, I thought you might enjoy the last moments of their visit. Everyone rallied behind Nate as he lowered the mirror. The dog joined them.
I took one more shot and was amused later to see how everyone relaxed when not posing for the camera.
Mirror ritual completed
They were soon off to Tennessee where they had reservations at a lovely restaurant and would be at Dollywood for several days.
The next day neighbor Shawn drove us to the airport. where we dropped Lise off and waited in the area to see if the plane to Philadelphia was going to make it this time. It didn’t make it four days before before because of Hurricane Debby. It seemed to be OK, so we left because Shawn was having a big family dinner at her house. After we got home, Lise said the plane was delayed, so they got her on a flight to Charlotte. She was booked to fly to London, Helsinki, and Copenhagen that evening. The flight was cancelled while she was in the air. The airline put her up in a hotel that night, and she was booked on the 4:10 p.m. flight to Madrid, then Copenhagen the next day. She was originally supposed to be home Monday morning, but she actually got there Saturday morning. Amazingly, she is planning to come back in November, but NOT with American Airlines.
Neighbor Logan and daughter Lise were busy while she was staying here, but we were able to have bubble tea together two days before her departure date. I loved the taste of my drink. I had a very hard time getting the bubbles to come up through the straw. Lise tried mine and was successful. I drank the liquid and took the cup home to fish out the bubbles with a spoon. I felt like a child who just couldn’t get the hang of an easy skill.
Logan and Lise with bubble tea
Neighbor Holly said she was happy to take Lise to the airport, since the flight was on the weekend. An hour before we were leaving, the airline called and said the flight was cancelled. We soon found out Hurricane Debby was the reason. Hundreds of people were then calling for new reservations, flooding the system. Lise had been on hold for four hours when the airline disconnected the call. She held on another three hours to get an agent. The usual on-line bookings were not available. It felt odd, since we didn’t get any hurricane-type weather in the mountains. Lise’s new reservations were FOUR DAYS later.
We were delighted to have more time together without any strings attached. The first thing I did was prepare deviled eggs, a favorite that she had asked for. Lise took a photo of me with the eggs, but I have a new problem rotating pictures. I laughed at the shot I had of the eggs. There is always one in a crowd that won’t cooperate.
Anne with the deviled eggs
Logan was available to walk with us one of those extra mornings. His sharp eyes spotted a mushroom with a red stem, something I had never seen before.
Something I couldn’t photograph were the times we got tickled at something that was said and ended up laughing uncontrollably. We tend to do this every time we are together, but we don’t have a score card.
Daughter Lise and I have been filling the days with things we wanted to do before she goes home. We went to one of our favorite Italian places where she ordered a calzone, and I had a small pizza, both yielding two meals for us.
Lise with her calzone
Lise ordered a big barrel, and it arrived in time for friend Toke to drill holes in it. After Toke left, we set it up in the area of the old burn pile. You can tell from our victorious smiles that we felt successful. Our first fire was not a good one, but I will keep trying to burn garden clippings in it.
Neighbor Logan had been very patient, and finally we called him to come play Boggle. He had improved greatly after Lise was here last time. He played the game with me, honing his skill. Lise said she was getting nervous when I told her how he routinely trounced me. The photo shows her biting her nails. Logan looks confident. Both played very well, with the best of two out of three games going to Lise this time.
Linda, whose blog is Nutstrok, has a post named Texas Chili Cookoff. I began reading it after Lise went to bed. It was so funny that I struggled not to make a sound, because I knew I might wake her up. It’s a wonder I didn’t explode with all the laughter pent up inside! The next day I asked permission to take her photograph while she read it.
Surprised laughter
Laughing uncontrollably
I can almost guarantee you will laugh if you read this. The link should take you to it.
We hoped for wonderful weather when we ate high on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Daughter Lise and friend Toke admired the view at Pisgah Inn before we went inside for lunch. The clouds were already rolling in.
Lise and Toke
Enveloped in a cloud
We were socked in while eating.
We had entertainment, though, as the waitress de-boned Toke’s trout before us. She did as good a job as the person who performed the same service when friend Gerhard ordered fish there several years ago. I wouldn’t mind trying that, but not with an audience!
Pot roast sandwiches
On the way to the airport, we ate at our usual place, Culver’s. All three of us had the pot roast sandwich followed by a Concrete mixer – soft-serve chocolate custard with two additions each. I concentrated on chocolate, adding Dove bits and crumbled Brownie to chocolate custard. Lise added peanut butter and Toke blueberries and nuts.
Toke wore all his luggage in the airport elevator, making it look easy. Lise stayed with him and worked her magic when the long line at security would have made him miss his flight. She asked people along the line if they could go ahead of them, and a family of three tagged along. One snotty woman toward the beginning of the line refused to let them go first, even though her flight had not started to board. Toke made his flight, but others were not so lucky. We heard repeated announcements for passengers who missed their planes to go back to the lobby to re-book. A number of times Lise had seen airport personnel go through a long line like that, pulling people to go ahead. Asheville workers were not willing to do that.
Toke wearing his luggage
Though we missed Toke the next morning, Lise exercised as Kacey tried to keep her attention. I had already taken my turn on the floor. Lise is working this week, starting at 4 in the morning, then pausing to walk with me. We plan to make the most of the time we have left.
A blog about life challenges in mostly fictional writing based on some fact. I am trying this Blog thing out because I need a creative outlet and am amazed at everything my iPad can do to help me along the way. So why not, right ?
My name is Suki, my human is a writer, and this is about my world. The world according to Suki The Cat. My humans smell funny, look weird, and I can't understand a thing they say, but they feed me, so hey, what are you gonna do?
Mehrling Muse 