FOTO FRIDAY: YOU GOTTA HAVE FRIENDS

FOTO FRIDAY this week is marked by surrounding oneself with friends on a difficult day. Who better than the gals I see at least twice a week and sometimes more, many for the last 16 years? My Jazzerbuddies.

Time for our annual summer get together and marking my 40th year of Jazzercise. BTW I started at a very early age. This was Romeo's last party but he got extra loving and even resting his head on a couple of very compassionate feet during our salad luncheon. He even photo bombed our group photo.

Thanks to all for your kind words and goodbye to Romeo... 

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY:THE SKY'S THE LIMIT

DIFFICULT DECISION MAKING

There are difficult decisions for which one can never be prepared. Perhaps if you have owned a pet you'll understand the dilemma of when it's time to let go. We have to ask ourselves for whom are we  prolonging the pet's life? 

For our household signs have been manifesting for a while now with our 15 year old ever companionable dog Romeo. Romeo is a lab chow mix adopted thirteen years ago from the Humane Society when he was about 2. He has been a great companion and farm dog as he patrolled and protected our homestead more from 4 legged predators than human guests.  

As I have mentioned in previous posts his sight and hearing are limited and it's probably his sense of smell that is about the only sense in good working order. His labored breathing can be heard throughout the house but at 105 dog years whose shortness of breath wouldn't be, right?

 His hip arthritis is even visual as his hips appear concave as the deterioration has continued with increasing pain being lightened a bit by daily meds. Now the mere getting up and down is more than a chore and sometimes not possible. He even is squatting rather than lifting his leg due to the pain and balance. He has always been very private about relieving himself, now he just goes on the road. Old age... 

On his last walk down the road with Natureman, he lagged behind. Assuming he was onto a scent Natureman didn't think much of it until he heard Romeo's distressed barking. When found, Romeo was on his back struggling in some brambles unable to right himself. 

Last summer during his physical when xrayed a large sized tumor was discovered. So we knew our time together was limited and really didn't expect him to make it through winter. Living in the Midwest Natureman had actually dug a hole for Romeo's burial before the ground was frozen. We laugh because we think Romeo saw that hole and said "Hell no, I'm not ready to go yet. " 

So here we are midway through summer and Romeo made it through winter, an enormous feat but his quality of life is not good. He suffers from dementia as he paces unknowing what he wants to do.  He can be heard wandering in the house at night and whimpering as he lowers himself to lie down. He barks more frequently when he needs help up/ is stuck between a bed/ chair. 
After tapping to be let back in the house and the door is opened, he leaves 3/4x before  really coming in. 

Natureman and I discussed bringing him in to the vet but since our vet also makes house calls we'd like him to come to us to give Romeo a shot to take away all of his pain.  It'll will be a bit more dignified for all of us to let him go at home, on his turf.  Thursday is mobile vet day. Thursday, it is...  I think you'll understand why I won't be writing anything that day... 

Romeo has lived up to his namesake for being a lover and also loving to roam... We will miss him.

ANOTHER GEM FOUND

I don't share much about my son as he prefers to stay below the radar but he has a very unique talent, an uncanny knack of finding jewels on city sidewalks. No kidding. 

In fact, he actually bought a gadget which determines if a stone is a real diamond and not cubic zirconium/crystal. He really has a ziploc bag of found items. Some gems he has made into gifts.

Well, let it be know this past weekend his Mom found quite a gem herself. You see after making sure the working cats had food, water and privacy, I was off to the town of Viroqua where supposedly 2 days of sidewalk sale days were underway.

Truth be told colored helium filled balloons dotted Main Street's pavement  but unfortunately the vendors for the most part weren't into it. Apparently Saturday would be a bigger day than Friday with the Farmer's Market, music and more vendor participants.

Gifts enclosed...

I couldn't just leave empty handed after making the 40 minute drive. I did find a couple of sale items. BUT the real gifts were found in the artist cooperative VIVA GALLERY, no sale, but locally made art AND included with my purchases was a lead for where to eat lunch. 

I had asked about Kickapoo Coffee situated caddy corner across Main Street now housed in the old 1940's Mobile gas station. The artist told me their Hearty Market Salad is her favorite and it's so much food, she usually gets the smaller version.

I had gone to exercise class without breakfast. Okay, just a handful of almonds and it was well past one. Time to eat but as I walked up to this Kickapoo Coffee's counter and asked to see a menu, I was informed the kitchen closed at two. It was 2:07.  Perhaps, the cashier offered since I just wanted a salad, the kitchen could possibly make me one, he would ask.  If I had just visited a little less in the gallery. Well, luck was on my side as it could be made. In the yummy pastry case next to me was a powdered sugar topped chocolate brownie looking cookie calling me to take it home for Natureman so I added that to my fare. 

After grabbing a cup of some bubbly water and a couple minutes of people watching and taking in the warm environs especially the beautifully hand crafted wooden tables and chairs, my Hearty Market Salad arrived. If presentation is key this salad blew it out of the park as it was colorful, fresh and after the first pungent bite, I was in heaven.  There was nothing not to like.  Crisp cucumber pieces, variety of textured greens, mandolin sliced watermelon radish and carrot strip, fermented veggies like ginger, onion and peppers, aged cheese, boiled egg and not too much but just the right amount of delicious dressing. In my opinion, a locally grown salad orgy on a plate. No leftovers as the entire salad was polished off by me.  Dee-lish.

If I'm to be honest the chocolate cookie didn't make it home either.  About 20 minutes in on the return trip that chocolate cookie in my purse beckoned me to try a nibble. If my memory serves me correctly it was called 'Crunch' but honestly it should be called  Crack as it disappeared well before reaching Chaseburg. I fessed up to Natureman that I had meant to bring him home a treat, but we'll have to go back.

Yep, I found us a gem right on Main Street Viroqua called Kickapoo Coffee... 

CAGED TEMPORARILY...

Wouldn't you agree holiday weekends can be really tiring? This past one was super full with some planned and unplanned events.

Friday was a very special day as we adopted 2 very different personalities.  Yes, 2 more beings are now live in the End of the Rainbow Valley. It's actually the result of a new program from the Coulee Region Humane Society called Working Cats. Working cats are just that they have lived and had outside jobs and are not 'house' cats.  

Since our 14 yr old barn cat, Fluffy, had passed this past year and Scaredy Cat, a sleek feral black cat, had left soon thereafter in addition to our dog Romeo's 15 years slowness/ slacking on patrolling and vermin control, we needed re-inforcements.

Luckily for us the Humane Society had two cats, a  2 and 1 year old from the same farm needing a new home. Both would be spayed and ready to be adopted.

Sometimes privacy helps
 aliviate stess...

Friday mid morning we met them, were given instructions and supplies and back home in 2 hours, installing them in their cages in the barn. Yep, you read that right, cages. We were given 3'X 4' cages where each cat would spend their first two weeks acclimating to their new barn home. After the initial 2 weeks we are to leave the cage door open for another 2 weeks as they continue their acclimation month.

By the time the litter box was in place along with food and water bowls, a towel and blanket not a whole lot of space was left. Yes,  caging 'anything' is difficult for me to do. But apparently with this system only one cat in some 200 working cats has ever run off.  Would you believe the Cat's got my tongue on this one...

Bebe

Blanca

Meet Blanca and Bebe. FYI, you'd assume these matches were meant to be as our head goat is Leche. The only issue for this retired Spanish 'Profe' is Blanca is really negra as you can see and Bebe is actually the elder by a year. 
Oh well, someone either didn't excel in their Spanish class/ has a wry sense of humor.

It turns out Bebe is not acclimating as quicky as Blanca. Maybe you can help me with this. After her first night the litter box was found toppled with her blanket inside and she remained huddled in the back corner so I moved her litter box to the front.  But she's still not really eating. Suggestions regarding placement of objects? 


As you can see Blanca and Leche are hitting it off as Leche approached Bebe for a nuzzle through the cage. Bebe might just have her name for being the meeker of the two. Hmmm. 

We shall see.






Life is never dull here in the End of the Rainbow Valley ...

FOTO FRIDAY: THE SKY'S THE LIMIT

FOTO FRIDAY involves two facts- One being I take a lot of photos of the sky and the second is I tend to make greeting cards out of my photography. For my own usage some times I'll hand write a saying inside. Just recently with it being graduation month the saying "The sky is the limit"was used a lot... 

Here's what I discovered about the meaning and history of the saying. 

 Meaning is simple enough as there is no apparent limit.

One source accredits Cervantes for its origin. It was a translation from Cervantes's  Don Quixote so it isn't really that old.

 It became popular during a time of hope and optimism in this country right before WWI. The earliest it was found in a newspaper was in August1899 referring to a card game. 

"When the papers were arranged, the players got a new deck of cards, and there was not a word passed while the cards were being shuffled. The sky was to be the limit until the $50,000 was reached."

And its real popularity rose with the invention of the aeroplane and used at a later date as a title in a Fred Astaire/Joan Leslie film in the middle of WWII - 1943.

Well, you certainly still hear it being used.

Okay, back to the photo of the week. Here's that recent sky shot of optimism.

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY: RED NOSED
I can't believe nobody took me up on sending photos with red nosed folks. Hmmmm.

TBT: HOLIDAY DINNER TALK

When one thinks of July 4th images of parades, flags, cookouts, water fun and sunburns come to mind. We definitely had the heat this July 4th and in addition to that heat two separate thunderstorms blew through our region late afternoon, dampening many afternoon July 4th picnics/ outdoor get togethers. Thank goodness that rainfall also helped eliminate some of that  oppressive heat some 20 degrees.  The second storm ended about 5pm just before we needed to leave for our holiday dinner plans at another couple's home. 

It was a pleasant surprise to discover we were the only guests. The day's heat had truly zapped me. Our celebration was a more relaxed, calmer one still with all the traditional fare of chicken baked on the grill, corn on the cob, veggies and of course, red, white and blue dessert. 

When nightfall arrived we could even view the neighbors's fireworks display from their deck...

As some of you may remember Natureman has a holiday custom of using the holiday dinner table to actually talk about the holiday and related topics. Imagine that. Over the years I have witnessed rolled eyes / heard not so patient comments to change the conversation. I, myself, am probably the worst culprit of trying to kabash a discussion to allow us to eat dinner before it gets cold.  This being said, Natureman and I had exchanged a couple words about the fact we would be at someone else's table. 

Well, Natureman had nothing to worry about as our host shared story after story of past enlightening cultural experiences with Native Americans through his work and personal interest. The holiday was definitely complete and one to remember. I didn't miss the crowds/ chaos one little bit... Do you think this is a sign of getting older?

FIRECRACKER POUND CAKE TIME BUT MUCH MORE...

On this  Independence Day 2018  it is important to remember what we are celebrating besides a great day for my firecracker pound cake, picnic, fireworks, family/friend get togethers and for many a day off work. Many fought to give us many types of freedom. Change did not happen quickly but after sacrifices.

The passage below encapsulates the freedom of privilege...

Let us all remember the freedom of privilege this July 4th.