Blackie for Halloween

 "Lynn, did you see Blackie out there eating my wacky weed?"

I thought I would show you what Blackie normally looks

like when not at the door in the dark.

He lives not far from our house and is mostly outside. 

However, his owners do take good care of him. He gets brushed

regularly and in the summer his very long tummy fur gets 

a cut off. He does always smell of human perfume, which

I find offensive any time on any one, personally.  But he

seems happy enough.

He is quite friendly to humans even if he is not so

with Precious.  I don't like that he lies in the road and 

puts himself where vehicles could squash him flat.

But he's managed to jump and run out of the way for

about 6 years. Hope his luck continues, though I'm

not for letting cats just roam outside.  I am too much

of a nature lover, and I know what happens to all the

nesting and wintering birds with cats loose.

"Well, Lynn, I'll do some of my own brushing and please

do not put stinky perfume on me. I don't want to go outside

and get my furs all dirty. But I'm a girl, and we are more

particular than those boys."

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It is much appreciated.

Doctor visit

"Lynn, I'm going to leave home."

Precious has been on a long journey with her weight. 

She's going on 10 and she only ever gets 1/2 cup of

food a day from the beginning with us in 2013.  But she

has steadily gained weight until she reached 17.2 lbs (7.8 k)

in Oct. 2019.

She has been on a canned food diet and she does not like

canned food and it does not like her.  We had to wash bloomers

2 times a day for 6 months. And she gained weight.

Then I switched her to 1/4 cup dry and 1 tiny can of wet food.

Better for the tummy but she gained weight.

Then 3 years in a row she had 3 different Prescrption dry

cat foods that she liked, but she gained weight.  

Finally in January 2020 I spent unhappy hours comparing

nutrition values of all kinds of dry food. I finally settled

on Purina One Indoor Maintenance because it was the one

dry food that had meat listed first, fair in protein and only 9%

fat content.  And she likes it.

October 2019   17.2 pounds

October 2020  16.8 pounds

April 2021   16.3 pounds 

However, on her annual vet visit a couple weeks ago,

the result in weight was not so good.

October 2022   16.6 pounds     

The doctor, who is very nice and friendly, suggested I 

CUT BACK her 1/2 cup a day of food!  I simply can not

do that to Precious.  He also suggested I place her  food in

8 to 10 different hiding places upstairs and in the basement

to make her get more exercise.  I'm thinking on that. 

"I am never coming out of here.  They took me back to the torture chamber.

First a vampire grabbed me by the throat and sucked out almost all my

blood through the jugular.  Then they speared my hind leg with a 

Moby Dick size harpoon and said that was for rabies.  I don't want rabies!

And then they humiliated me by laying me on my back and shearing

me like a sheep, jabbing a Frankinstein size hypodermic needle into my

wee bladder.  If they would have told me they wanted my pee, I'd have

peed all over their white frock coats at the start."

I'm whispering now, Precious has to get her teeth cleaned and

claws cut November 3.  Don't tell her though.

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It is much appreciated.

Train Ride instead of Bike Ride

 "Lynn, you left me for a whole day, I'm not happy."

I know Precious, I do not like leaving the house for

an entire day actually.  However, I had the opportunity to

ride the rails in Cuyahoga National Recreation Area in northern

Ohio.

"Lynn, what a shot of you at the train station. No one

can tell what you look like, like me in the bag."

The scenic train runs the full 30 mile length of the park.

You can stay on, or jump off at one of 5 stops and walk about

until the train heads back your way. Hop back on and head

to the parking lot.

I chose to get off in the middle, about 15 miles up at this

stop and walk on the tow path.

The tow path for the 1800's Erie canal is now part of the

Rail Trail from Ohio River to Lake Erie. The canal in places

still holds water and has short barge rides pulled by horses.

The tow path is not paved, it is well groomed pea gravel,

but I have biked miles of it over time, and it is not difficult.

The train can not turn around therefore, there are identical

engines at each end of 12 cars, one direction they pull and push,

and then the other direction they reverse their pull and push.

There are several coach cars, very comfortable seating. One dining car,

not actually used for it's original purpose, but you can ride seated at the 

tables. One luxury car and then the observation car with the dome roof.

I packed a picnic and enjoyed it by the Cuyahoga River that runs north to

Lake Erie.  It is odd to see the water flow north, as where I live in north

central Ohio, the water flows south to the Ohio River.  It was a sunny

and cool day for a fun trip.  We did have to wear masks on the train

as they follow TSA regulations.  Fine by me, but there were not too many

people in my car anyway.

But I am always anxious to head home to Precious and just the

quiet.  

"Well, at least you got home in time for my supper!"

Precious was definitely hungry by 4 PM.  And I got her

supper started plus her 5 pm hair brushing.

On another note, I got my annual influenza shot and my

Pzier covid booster shot this past Saturday.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit and a comment.

It is much appreciated.

Believe me, she already ate

 "Lynn, it is a good thing my food does not need to be cooked

first.  I'd starve waiting."

Precious does not normally sit on the counter when I am eating.

However, we had a morning at home alone and I cooked myself

eggs and hot cakes and she came to investigate.

She actually has no interest in human food at all, which

is a very good thing for her. I'd have to deny her of most

of it anyway. 

It was a wonder I even had the phone handy to capture her

on the camera. Naturally, the second I tried taking the photo,

she was immediately on the move to leave.

"Enough of this yucky looking stuff. Bring on the chickie

crunchies.  I'm ready for a brunch.  It's been at least an

hour since I ate."

Here's a couple fall flower pictures. The first one is

Wild Snakeroot.  We have clouds of this white flower

in late summer along with the golden rod.  However,

this plant is a native poisonous one. Neither fly nor

moth, bee nor butterfly pollinate this.  And deer do not eat.

This next one is a favorite of mine, as I like anything

of the blue shades.  This one is a Wood Aster. They

thrive in the shadows of trees in fertile soil. Sorry the

photo looks so washed out.  It is a lovely shade of

blueish lavender.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit and a comment.

It is much appreciated.

Vacuum

 "Lynn, don't tell folks I sprinkle furs all over the house."

Well folks, the first day of Fall, Sept. 22, was a cold wet

wash out.  Therefore, no exercise of any kind outside.  We needed

the rain and glad to get it, but for 3 days straight, and very cold

weather, one day it was only 52 F for a high.

So what to do besides read and cook and be bored?

I decided to start my fall house cleaning.  Oh, I do all

the regular stuff like bathroom, and dusting and vinyl

flooring regularly.

But there is the vacuum. I hate doing it and Precious definitely

hates the sound. So I am very very lax about this chore.

 I get disgusted myself, but not to the point I jump up

and plug the dreaded monster in and use it.

But I did the whole house that first wet day.  Glad to have it 

finished and now enjoy the thought of furless and dirtless

carpet.

Then there is the matter of all Precious' 5 high altitude bedding. 

Oh my, when I took the mini ladder into the clothes closet,

climbed up and looked, I thought I had discovered some kind

of very flat grey animal.  I took down the towels and put

them in the dryer first to remove most of the fur before washing

 and then back in the dryer.  Then the Carhart Insulated overalls. 

Good gravy, it was no longer brown, just dark grey.  I used wet hands

to try to get off giant gobs of fur.

I had enough fur to knit a sock when I finished with her 5 beds

and emptied the lint trap in the dryer. But she'll go up there soon

as she recovers from the disturbance and put it all back the way

she likes, furry.  But I always am glad the fur is not in her

tummy to spit up later.  That's another mess to clean.

"Quiet on the set, Lynn. This actress is trying to 

learn her lines and the vacuum is ruining the 

atmosphere."

Actually, she is under the bed when I do the living area, and

I do the bedroom when she is in the living area.  Have to 

alternate door closings to cut the sound.

I just read a disturbing article put out by the Better

Business Bureau, about leasing a pet! I can not imagine

the poor pet being borrowed for a couple years at a huge

price tag and then returned as an adult. To what life then?

Sometimes, I just do not like humans, sorry if I offend.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit and a comment.

It is much appreciated.