I Ate It All

Well, I ate almost all of it. I did save one little cookie for Little J. This was High Tea at Jacqueline’s in Petaluma. Next time I’ll go for something a bit more reasonable. Oops, there was a scone too, with all the trimmings, which is a must have at this tea place. That disappeared before we brought out the camera.

Do Not Enter

A couple of days ago when I wandered down the driveway for the morning newspaper our little raccoon friend decided it would be a good opportunity to raid the kitty bowls. The only problem was, he was not going to let me go back in the back door. Even a gentle prodding with a industrial sized broomstick didn’t encourage him to budge. I tried the bear trick, making myself appear bigger by wildly waving arms in an erratic frenzy. I threw in a few shrieks for good measure. No luck.  Finally I headed to the front door and peaked in the window to see if the ruckus had aroused the rest of the family. It seems Little J thought we might be under attack… he met me at the front door with his bright green laser beam machine. This morning the feisty little critter greeted me with this fierce pose. I’m fixin to get me a raccoon skin hat.

School’s Out

Little J brought home a treasure chest full of artwork in celebration of his successful completion of 1st grade. Elimination of clutter is a high priority for some of us so digital scrapbooking is the way to go. Now if only someone could show me how to organize my hard drive... it’s almost as out of control as a kid on the first day of summer vacation. 

 

  But wait… Now that I have studied this picture for a bit I’m wondering… at first I thought it was a flower but could there be a lady hidden in there?  And if this is a rather svelte young lady , who might it be?  Maybe I should save this one.

Uninvited Guests

I returned home after a weekend escape to find uninvited guests of the less than desirable sort. It's not as if I didn't know they might show up. There had been some signs that they might be on the way. Just before I left on my weekend adventure, I saw evidence of their eminent arrival but I chose to set those thoughts aside in hopes of enjoying what may be one of my last getaways for quite some time. I knew the visit was going to cost me... plenty. These are the kind of guests that show up bent on creating a massive nuisance with their determination suck every morsel of your existence into little piles of dung...

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I discovered a few tiny little black specks on the ceramic tile in my bathroom. I simply cleaned them up and doused the cats with a toxic flea killing substance thinking the problem was resolved.

A week later I discovered a little mound of mud in the corner of my bathroom. My first thought was, what a talented cat I have. Further sniffling research however indicated there was no odiferous scent and the root cause of it was coming from the walls.

You probably guessed by now that I found a pile of wings in the corner by the time I got home from the weekend. That and plenty of little wingless ants encircling my toilet. UGH.

OK, so now we deal with it and here is where it helps to keep a sense of humor. Little J heard my screams of intolerance at these guests and rushed in to see the cause of the disturbance. "What are those things Grandma?" he asked as he closely observed the squirmy little pests.

Trying to keep it light I suggested that we maybe have some new little pets to take care of. As a typical seven year old who wants to save every living thing that comes his way, he asks, "what do they eat?"

I told him they have a big appetite for wood and judging from the number of them, my bathroom was likely to fall off the side of the house (ok so that's not keeping it light but I was starting to feel desperation). Little J told me to wait right there because he knew just how to help. A few moments later he returned with a piece of his wooden train tracks... "it's ok grandma, I don't need these tracks anymore, they can eat them instead of the house."

If only life could be so simple. Yes, I have called the hit men.

Minnie Begs For a Bath

 

The Return of Wanda

Followers of my blog might remember a couple of years ago when we were adopted by Wanda. Her antics frequently embellished this blog along with a tally as to how many of her nine lives remained. Maybe you thought she used them all up and we quietly eliminated the problem. We wouldn’t do that, really, I promise. Instead we live with her continuous assaults on the home front. We encourage her to spend more time on the hillside behind the house but once in a while she sneaks in through the broken screen door. She might have succeeded in hiding out in Little J’s top drawer with her stuffed companions if it weren’t for the mews, news, muse.

 

Groundhog... It's a Bummer

Bummer... see Groundhog for details

I Want To Say The Cruise Was Perfect

BUT... we had crabs in our room...

We sailed past Catalina even if this picture does suggest that we were there..

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We sailed past Ensenada but had a beautiful sunny day in Cabo San Lucas...

And in the end we felt like a worn out...

No, it isn't the fault of the cruise line that things didn't go according to plan. The Captain did try to make the best of a bad situation during the torrential Southern California storms. We did the best we could with what we got.

Best Christmas Greetings

This is the best Christmas gift this year! Little J loves to hear great Uncle Don reading the story to him. In fact, we all enjoy hearing this personalized edition of the book. Thank you Big Brother.

Christmas Greetings

Little J’s work is a masterpiece of perfection from a child’s viewpoint and perhaps a reminder that Happy Holidays are possible even when all things are a bit out of kilter.