June 9, 2025 Monday--5am

Long time no see!  I finally do have some good news to share and feel halfway human (only halfway, mind you)...so here I am--lol!

Well, it turned out the cold, allergies, or smoke from Canada (take your pick) reaction got worse.  Still stuffed up right now and have had several nights I couldn't breathe to sleep well or at all a couple of nights.  All my fibro and IBS stuff got much worse.  Let's just say it's been a long several weeks.  The first good news is I think I might finally be on the mend.  (Knock on wood!!)  I really hope so.  

Second good news, I got a call last Tuesday that they have a couple of temporary dermatologists again and this lady surgeon could do my surgery on Monday at 10am.  Today.  (I am writing this blog post as I usually do on Sunday.)  Good thing I started to feel better last week!  Fingers crossed my body is up to it--lol!  I will be soooo glad to have this thing off my face and be back home with that all done and dusted.  Leah is bringing me and said she'd stay with me.  :)

Third good news is they had an IKEA party on Sunday, June 1st.  (Pictures below.)  The only piece of IKEA furniture that's left is the new kitchen table...but Leah has never thought it would fit.  So when I am feeling better they want me to come over to make final decisions as to exact furniture placement because (1) they want to attach all the tall stuff to the walls, and (2) they want to measure once everything is in position to see if there will actually be enough room for that table before they take it out of the box.  It's 7.5 inches longer and 6 inches wider than the one I have now--so I think it will fit.  I'm fully expecting it to be cramped.  Well...we shall see, eh?

Anyways, closer and closer.  Still have a wall shelf unit, a chair/stool, and shower bench to put together...and a variety of other odds and ends...but it is possible I may be giving notice end of the month.  We shall see.

Oh, and Leah switched the bigger boxes for me for my caving end table of boxes one day when she was over dropping off some groceries.  Nice!  

Meanwhile--mostly lots of pictures for you.  Not great ones, but I managed to take a few.  :)

Red-winged black bird.  Rarely seen at the Critter Cafe.

Also a rarity--seeing a robin come up to eat seed off my patio.  They are usually hunting worms in the grass. 

The odd pair of partridges were regular visitors...usually late in the day...

...but sometimes mornings.

And I thought I had OCD tendencies!  LOL!  Lined up her toys?

Allie snoozing...

...watching for the baby bunnies.

Did a lot of sky watching.

Changed the shower curtain after Keanna was here.  These are all very cheap ones, BTW.  I think they are permanently creased from packaging--lol!  But I still love them and enjoy the switching!

I have had this big hunk of memory foam from my bed topper.  I finally cut the hunk we had brought in from the garage to put inside this giant red throw pillowcase.  Surprise!  If I put the one flat blanket throw on top of it that Allie likes (or tolerates) she will even sit on it.

The throw pillowcase is still a bit too big...but I have some more hunks of the memory foam mattress pad out in the garage.  Might have a bigger piece...or two.  (The covers came in a set of two.)  I actually wanted it for when I move and to have another something one of the boys could sit on (cement floor over there) since I only have the two lift chairs and they are too big to both sit in one at the same time anymore if the three of us want to watch something on TV.  I figured that if Allie would sleep on it, too...that would be a bonus.  TaDa!  :)

More sky watching...

...and critter watching.

Then came the last day for the Critter Cafe.  Last of the seed went out.  The noisy grackles were here first, of course.

But the next day after all the seed was gone...only one partridge came...alone.  That made me so sad.  I wonder what happened to its constant companion?  I saw it alone a couple more times but then haven't seen it since there's no food here anymore. :(

I don't see anyone come by on the patio anymore, of course.  Robins and bunnies in the grass occasionally, but that is it.  If I had my shallow water dish the robins would come to bathe every day...but I donated it.  Could still be in the garage buried in the donation pile, but it doesn't matter.

I've been in the mood to move Allie's cat beds around.  She's been bored since I'm not feeding the birds anymore--lol!

She usually gets in some morning sunbathing, though.

And enjoys beating up her toys.

Some excitement!  I bought an inexpensive set of small stacking bins.  Took a chance.

They're not super sturdy, but sturdy enough to hold my sorted shower curtains.  Spring/summer, Fall/Winter, and just wildly colorful.

They even have a front door!  Much easier to put the last one used under the bottom of the pile.  You know I rotate everything--lol! ;)

Restless Allie even finally wanted to be up at the table in the bedroom when I was folding laundry.  She hasn't been in there for months and months.  I had moved her bed away that she had on the table quite a while ago because she wasn't using it.  So I just grabbed a couple of the extra throw pillow covers and she was happy.  Guess I'll have to move a bed up there again if she comes back.  Since winter she has wanted to sleep in her carrier in the studio.  Told you--she's bored and restless without her live CatTV--lol!

And finally!!!  

Pictures of the last IKEA party.  :)

They got the four small dressers put together.  Two under the window.

Two between the taller 12-drawer dressers.

And the last hutch for the studio back wall.

I know some of you even asked after me and that was so nice.  It's been rough for some time and I really, truly appreciate that you care.  I've read every blog post but haven't been commenting...only because generally miserable, to be honest.  No letters, either!!  I hope to get back on track soon.

Shouldn't be much recovery to this surgery other than it is right above my mouth and it will probably be tough to eat for a little while.  I imagine there will be stitches to have taken out later.  Once I get past the dreaded shots to numb me...all should be easy.  I need to get to feeling better so I can get over to the house and arrange some furniture--lol!  Soon, I hope.

I do promise I will let you know about the surgery.  Till then...thank you so very much, my blog family!!  :) :)