Saturday-1pm--52 Stories #2

Goodness sakes!  
There is just too much going on around here lately.  Well, I had wanted to blog more often again this coming year.  Be careful what you ask for, eh?  LOL!

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First of all--some good news.  

Chester is alive and well!

 I saw him eating at the patio, but as I was getting my cell phone to take a picture this bag blew in and scared him off a ways.

There is occasionally trash--especially plastic bags--that fly around and around in huge circles outside here.  Karma thinks they are alive and watches them intently.

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Anyways, I saw Chester on Thursday--tada!

(As usual, I will progress chronologically.)

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Thursday was the day the ladies had said would be the get-together day at around 1:30pm, right?  And they planned to do some coloring.  So, I had searched out my 15 year old adult coloring books, some colored pencils I don't like (Memories--too hard)...

...and sorted through the old zendala forms I had printed off when I was in that online group years ago.  The lady had large and small versions but I never did do the small ones and finally quit printing those off. 

Some of you may remember the zendalas.  They are fun to doodle on.  I prefered to do my own doodles and not use the official zentangles (can find those online, too). 

Anyways, I had it all packed up.  Wanted to donate the coloring books, colored pencils, and the stack of zendala forms I won't use.  (I kept the large ones I hadn't done yet.)  But...the Community Room was dark and no one was there.  I waited around for about 20 minutes and went home.  ??

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If they meant to start next week why didn't they say so?  I had mentioned I couldn't stay long this week because of the frig repairman coming.  Oh well.  I saw a notepad and pen on the table (was supposed to be for ordering in a booklet left on the table)--wrote "Thursday--no one showed up--Rita".

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 This coming week the odds are not good that I will be able to make it as I have the eye doctor appointment on Wednesday and am usually shot for a day or two after any appointments.  We'll see, but it is highly unlikely.

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Anyways, the repairman came early (they had asked me if that was okay and I had told them it was).  Needed to order a part and will probably be back next week.  They'll call.  Really nice young man.  He was concerned about the temperature--freezer not freezing all the way and frig not cooling very well.  So we are ordering in for Christmas dinner tomorrow.  ;)

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The Girls are around and come in to eat...as fast as they can now that the big jackrabbits have discovered the food supply--LOL!  They sometimes wait around nearby, as you can see, till the rabbits take off.

On Friday Chester was back again! 

 I know you can't tell from this side, but it is Chester.

I am always extra glad to see him.  :) 

When the rabbits took off...The Girls came in.  Works out okay because the rabbits go for the black oil sunflower seeds first and chew them up whole...but The Girls prefer the small seed. 

Getting closer to dusk...Chester came back again!!  I got a video.

And as long as I was sitting there watching the rabbits...
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Here's 52 Stories #2...all about where you were born and grew up.

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Then the bad news...
Yesterday afternoon Karma was suddenly crying and howling and shaking her head!  Here the skin of her ear was filling up with fluid!  I calmed her down a bit...started to get ready to make a trip to the vets (truth--wasn't even dressed yet) but she retreated under the bed and was quiet.  ??
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So I hit the web and searched for swollen cat ears.  Immediately found information and pictures.  Apparently this is not uncommon in cats and dogs, but I have never heard of it before...not even in all my years working pet shops.  Karma has an Aural Hematoma.  Could be from scratching too hard but more likely from shaking her head and hitting her ear on something hard.

Karma's always been a head shaker.  She rubs her head against--well, everything!  And then shakes her head really hard.  You can hear her ears smack against furniture or the frig or a door frame...wherever.  Seems like I am always asking her--"Doesn't that hurt!!"  

Well, she must have hit it just right.  They said it happens really fast--and it did!  And it must have hurt like hell at the time.  Her ear is all swollen full of fluid and from what I could find online it will heal on its own but it takes a long time--possibly a month--and Miss Karma will have a cauliflower ear like a boxer.  Deformed and crumply.  It probably won't stand up anymore, so she'll have one ear up and one crinkly ear down.
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If the animal is in pain, they can do surgery to drain it--but then you deal with drainage, scars, and infections.  Plus, they can get these again.  Otherwise, you can let them heal on their own.  The body will absorb the blood and fluid in the ear over time.
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  Karma's been okay since the initial shock.  

I wish she'd stop shaking her head though. 

It has to feel weird and lopsided.  She isn't doing it too much, though, because it has to hurt some.  Well--she's not scratching her ears, at least, eh?  LOL!  Karma's been wanting extra attention and cuddles here and there.  Some reassurance that everything is okay.
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How she managed to NOT do this to herself in her lifetime is an amazing thing to me now that I know about it.  I think of all the ear smacking I have heard over the years--ouch!  I had no idea she could actually break a blood vessel in her ear.  Goodness gracious!
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So that's what's happening up here in Fargo.  Tomorrow afternoon McFamily will arrive and I promise I am going to try to get video of Ian opening presents this time!!  :):)  Probably see you soon!  
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"Just because you are happy it does not mean that the day is perfect but that you have looked beyond its imperfections."
Bob Marley

Thursday-11am

Good Morning!

Quick post.

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Before I forget...I can read YouTube comments but haven't been able to respond to any at all recently.  I'll keep trying, but please know that I read and appreciate every one.

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We had Library Day here on Tuesday.  (I was able to renew the two audio books I never touched the previous two weeks--LOL!)  When I arrived there were several ladies spread out around a table coloring on adult coloring book pages.  The roads were bad so Kirsten was late.  I sat at the table with the ladies but didn't really feel like coloring.  Great idea for a group activity, though.

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A frozen Kirsten arrived.  People waited in line and looked through all the selections she brought with this time.  I was asked if I wanted to stay and color, but I decided to go home.  When I got home I thought--well, I would like to work on some more card fronts, though.  I thought of my New Year's Eve card for the year about the power of love and being more open...
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  So I packed up the tape and papers, grabbed my red coffee thermos, and went back down.  Through the conversation it was decided that an informal (not on the calendar) afternoon group would be nice.  People could bring whatever they wanted to work on or just come by to chat.  (Sounds like the idea Leah and I had at the same time when I first moved in, right?)  Thursdays at around 1:30pm was picked.   

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So, I will go down for a while this afternoon.  BUT--I actually have a repairman coming to look at my frig between 3-4pm (and the lady said he might come earlier even if he's running ahead of schedule).  Shock!  I had called Nazar Monday--left a message to tell him the frig is making a loud racket and isn't freezing things solid in the freezer anymore.  He never returned my call but a lady called me late that afternoon to set up an appointment to check the frig.  I was shocked--LOL!  Maybe things are looking up, eh?

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Monday I saw this rabbit eating on the patio...broke my heart.

I haven't seen Chester since then, though.  I'm keeping an eye out.  (Those of you who remember Gunsmoke will know why I call him Chester.)  Poor thing!  I sure hope it's okay.  Was getting around and eating, so maybe there's a chance.  I'll let you know if I ever see Chester again.
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When Leah was here Monday for crafts we played with the new toy.  Fancied up a set of 12 winter cards--had put together previously.  (We get the basic paper on and then can add whatever we want on the top.)

We used the new Stick It double sided paper on the card stock before we cut the sentiments.  Awesome!  Instead of burnishing them down on the front of the card with a bone folder you can just run them through the die cut machine again and that's it!  Whoohoo!  
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Seven of these are already in the mail today and five more are set to start.  Could have used a few more--LOL!  Well, gives me a good reason to make more cards, eh?  
I shall.  I shall.  
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Well, this is a quick post for me.  
Just wanted to pop in.
Wind chill warnings again the last couple days.  
22 to 24 below at night...
and that's the regular temperature.  
Brrr!
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We are having our McFamily Christmas on Sunday!  I haven't seen Mr. Ian since before Christmas so Gramma is excited.  He'll get to open his toys!  I really need to remember to take pictures...or a video!  (Videos seem to possibly be my thing this year so I hope you like them.)    
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Bye for now!  :) :)
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"Be humble for you are made of Earth.
Be noble for you are made of stars."
Serbian Proverb

Saturday-2:45pm-52 Stories vlog #1

Good Afternoon!

I did my burning bowl ceremony on New Year's Eve...

...and picked my angel card for the year.

Power!

Now that's a card I've never gotten before.

All about the power of love.

A great reminder for me for this coming year. 
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I had been sick all week--from Monday night till last night.  Leah was home sick-ish, too, and Ian threw up.  No craft night last week.  Dagan had to cancel his heart-pacemaker appointment in Minneapolis because of sickness and winter storms.  We had two of them in two days.  This was the first one.  You can see the critters were digging for seed.

The snow was light and fluffy.  I went out and shoveled and swept snow away from center of the patio...

...so I could put out some seed for The Girls.

I was taking pictures of the snow plow...

...clearing off the parking lot next door...

...for all my readers who are unfamiliar with snow life...

...when I thought...

...how dumb!  

You could take a video!

The guys came to clear off the sidewalks, too.

All this snow had come down lightly on to glare ice from the Christmas ice storm...

...so these guys were not lifting their feet as they shuffled along over the ice.

Since the snow was light and fluffy...

...the storm and wind the following day created beautiful, sparkly drifts on my patio! 

You may notice it was so cold and windy even the critters hadn't been by yet.

I do love snow drifts...well, and sand drifting, too.  
Nature's artwork.

But it didn't remain pristine for long--LOL!  By the next morning you could tell we'd had a lot of visitors.

It was too cold to shovel again.  Miss Karma was remembering the porch at the old aprtment, I think.  She cried at the door until...

...I got her some snow to eat.  

Some of you may remember how Karma loved to go out on the snowy porch for just a minute, race back in, turn around and eat her white footprints on the rug--LOL!
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The Girls...

...now have competition!

One jackrabbit in particular hangs about someplace during the day and likes to scare away The Girls when they come to eat.

Quite a snoopy character.

Not very afraid of me and less so of Miss Karma, to her chagrin.

I took a video the second day Miss Karma had noticed (been awake) to see the jackrabbits.

The first night she saw them I took lots of pictures...

...but didn't think of a video.

She sat and cried like she wanted me to give her one of them--LOL!

She kept trying to lunge at them...

...but even with her face glued to the window they came right back, sat and ate inches from her nose.

They were more interested in keeping an eye on each other.

They chased each other all over the place.
Rabbit games!!

Karma couldn't believe her eyes.

Talk about nature shows...

...on her CatTV.

They learned to ignore her lunging, pawing at the glass, and crying...

...in about 15-20 minutes.

So Karma has mostly watched them from a comfortable prone position since then.

I was hoping to get video of the rabbit games, but that didn't happen.  Just like when you're trying to get a child to do something for other people and they give you that blank what-on-earth-are-you-talking-about look--LOL!
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But since I had the cell phone out...
I decided to start the 52 stories I plan to do this year since I remembered the first question about how did you get your name?  So I have episode one...while you watch jackrabbits.
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And before I forget...those of you who haven't had comments from me for a while...for some reason I am unable to comment on over half my blogspot bloggers, none of the wordpress bloggers, and over half of the youtube videos I can't comment on, either.  Blogger had already quit sending me notification emails for some of my commenters and now I haven't been getting emails telling me when people comment on my blog on facebook, either.  I don't know what is going on with google.  I can read everything, of course...and I do.  But at this rate pretty soon this is going to turn into a one-way conversation.  :(  So I am especially grateful to those of you who email me and/or write letters!!  :)
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Oh, and don't worry about The Girls.  They still manage to make it over to gobble seed a few times a day.  Rabbits apparently don't make the best sentrys--LOL!
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Hope you enjoy the videos!  
You should hear from me at least once a week this year with a new story (or old to some of you who have known me for years--LOL!).
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We're supposed to make it into the low teens for a few days now starting tomorrow.  Man!  It's just stayed cold-cold-cold.  Stay safe--warm or cool, as the case may be.  Till next time.  :) :)
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"Live in the present.  Do the things that need to be done.  Do all the good you can each day.  The future will unfold."
Peace Pilgrim