"Hello. I love you.
"Is there any kibble down?"
Out. In. And repeat.
Showing posts with label cats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cats. Show all posts
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
What's Going On Right Now
1. I am up late as usual, enjoying a blog or two!
6. Scott is taking a million photos of the beautiful New Hampshire slice of earth and working on his permanent portfolio online. Selling prints already, but there will be a beautiful online gallery to peruse soon. Stay tuned!
2. It has been raining incessantly in New Hampshire...until about two days ago when this big yellow ball appeared in the sky, and the air got hot. We don't know exactly what's going on. But someone said something about "sunshine"? I will have to google that to find out what it means.
3. I am trying to find some pet sitting gigs in our condo complex for extra money.
4. Am reading "The Time Traveler's Wife" and enjoying the mind bending aspect of thinking in time travel mode. Best question the girl always asks the man, "When are you from?"
5. We are hooked on watching Battlestar Galactica, or as I like to call it, Battlestar LaGeektica. We are in Season 2.5 right now and deep in the thick of man's fight against the Cylons to keep from going extinct! Plus a whole lot of other General Hospital*-type drama. [*If you're too young to know that show, think the great slutty parts of Grey's Anatomy.]
6. Scott is taking a million photos of the beautiful New Hampshire slice of earth and working on his permanent portfolio online. Selling prints already, but there will be a beautiful online gallery to peruse soon. Stay tuned!
7. Coming up to Dad's DDay anniversary. Must find some other term for it than "Death Day." Not looking forward to the passing of this milestone. The summer has been rough all the way around, stupid with milestones.
8. We are getting ready to go camping on Grape Island in Maine next weekend. Mom will watch our cat babies.
9. Still working on the pregnancy project. Am now off reading pregnancy books b/c they always make me think I am pregnant (which is only fun until the darn stick reads "negative" AGAIN). Am now reading novels and autobiographies about women who struggled to get pregnant. Whoa, those books are an emotional roller coaster, but so good and not quite as threatening.
10. Working part-time at the bankruptcy law office and still greatly enjoying that work. Continuing to look for full-time work in this dismal economy. My unemployment has been recalculated (since I have been on it a whole year! Ack!!) and now it's worth even less, if that's possible! So I am hitting the pavement with renewed vigor, looking for full-time work. Or freelance. Doing some editing and that's highly enjoyable.
And how are you?
~Ally
And how are you?
~Ally
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Poems for Today
When You Come
by Maya Angelou
When you come to me, unbidden,
Beckoning me
To long-ago rooms,
Where memories lie.
Offering me, as to a child, an attic,
Gatherings of days too few.
Baubles of stolen kisses.
Trinkets of borrowed loves.
Trunks of secret words,
I CRY.
The Cat's Song
by Marge Piercy
When you come to me, unbidden,
Beckoning me
To long-ago rooms,
Where memories lie.
Offering me, as to a child, an attic,
Gatherings of days too few.
Baubles of stolen kisses.
Trinkets of borrowed loves.
Trunks of secret words,
I CRY.
The Cat's Song
by Marge Piercy
Mine, says the cat, putting out his paw of darkness.
My lover, my friend, my slave, my toy, says
the cat making on your chest his gesture of drawing
milk from his mother's forgotten breasts.
Let us walk in the woods, says the cat.
I'll teach you to read the tabloid of scents,
to fade into shadow, wait like a trap, to hunt.
Now I lay this plump warm mouse on your mat.
You feed me, I try to feed you, we are friends,
says the cat, although I am more equal than you.
Can you leap twenty times the height of your body?
Can you run up and down trees? Jump between roofs?
Let us rub our bodies together and talk of touch.
My emotions are pure as salt crystals and as hard.
My lusts glow like my eyes. I sing to you in the mornings
walking round and round your bed and into your face.
Come I will teach you to dance as naturally
as falling asleep and waking and stretching long, long.
I speak greed with my paws and fear with my whiskers.
Envy lashes my tail. Love speaks me entire, a word
of fur. I will teach you to be still as an egg
and to slip like the ghost of wind through the grass.
One Year
by Sharon Olds
My lover, my friend, my slave, my toy, says
the cat making on your chest his gesture of drawing
milk from his mother's forgotten breasts.
Let us walk in the woods, says the cat.
I'll teach you to read the tabloid of scents,
to fade into shadow, wait like a trap, to hunt.
Now I lay this plump warm mouse on your mat.
You feed me, I try to feed you, we are friends,
says the cat, although I am more equal than you.
Can you leap twenty times the height of your body?
Can you run up and down trees? Jump between roofs?
Let us rub our bodies together and talk of touch.
My emotions are pure as salt crystals and as hard.
My lusts glow like my eyes. I sing to you in the mornings
walking round and round your bed and into your face.
Come I will teach you to dance as naturally
as falling asleep and waking and stretching long, long.
I speak greed with my paws and fear with my whiskers.
Envy lashes my tail. Love speaks me entire, a word
of fur. I will teach you to be still as an egg
and to slip like the ghost of wind through the grass.
One Year
by Sharon Olds
When I got to his marker, I sat on it,
like sitting on the edge of someone's bed
and I rubbed the smooth, speckled granite.
I took some tears from my jaw and neck
and started to wash a corner of his stone.
Then a black and amber ant
ran out onto the granite, and off it,
and another ant hauled a dead
ant onto the stone, leaving it, and not coming back.
Ants ran down into the grooves of his name
and dates, down into the oval track of the
first name's O, middle name's O,
the short O of his last name,
and down into the hyphen between
his birth and death--little trough of his life.
Soft bugs appeared on my shoes,
like grains of pollen, I let them move on me,
I rinsed a dark fleck of mica,
and down inside the engraved letters
the first dots of lichen were appearing
like stars in early evening.
I saw the speedwell on the ground with its horns,
the coiled ferns, copper-beech blossoms, each
petal like that disc of matter which
swayed, on the last day, on his tongue.
Tamarack, Western hemlock,
manzanita, water birch
with its scored bark,
I put my arms around a trunk and squeezed it,
then I lay down on my father's grave.
The sun shone down on me, the powerful
ants walked on me. When I woke,
my cheek was crumbly, yellowish
with a mustard plaster of earth. Only
at the last minute did I think of his body
actually under me, the can of
bone, ash, soft as a goosedown
pillow that bursts in bed with the lovers.
When I kissed his stone it was not enough,
when I licked it my tongue went dry a moment, I
ate his dust, I tasted my dirt host.
Anonymous submission.
Distressed Haiku
by Donald Hall
like sitting on the edge of someone's bed
and I rubbed the smooth, speckled granite.
I took some tears from my jaw and neck
and started to wash a corner of his stone.
Then a black and amber ant
ran out onto the granite, and off it,
and another ant hauled a dead
ant onto the stone, leaving it, and not coming back.
Ants ran down into the grooves of his name
and dates, down into the oval track of the
first name's O, middle name's O,
the short O of his last name,
and down into the hyphen between
his birth and death--little trough of his life.
Soft bugs appeared on my shoes,
like grains of pollen, I let them move on me,
I rinsed a dark fleck of mica,
and down inside the engraved letters
the first dots of lichen were appearing
like stars in early evening.
I saw the speedwell on the ground with its horns,
the coiled ferns, copper-beech blossoms, each
petal like that disc of matter which
swayed, on the last day, on his tongue.
Tamarack, Western hemlock,
manzanita, water birch
with its scored bark,
I put my arms around a trunk and squeezed it,
then I lay down on my father's grave.
The sun shone down on me, the powerful
ants walked on me. When I woke,
my cheek was crumbly, yellowish
with a mustard plaster of earth. Only
at the last minute did I think of his body
actually under me, the can of
bone, ash, soft as a goosedown
pillow that bursts in bed with the lovers.
When I kissed his stone it was not enough,
when I licked it my tongue went dry a moment, I
ate his dust, I tasted my dirt host.
Anonymous submission.
Distressed Haiku
by Donald Hall
In a week or ten days
the snow and ice
will melt from Cemetery Road.
I'm coming! Don't move!
Once again it is April.
Today is the day
we would have been married
twenty-six years.
I finished with April
halfway through March.
You think that their
dying is the worst
thing that could happen.
Then they stay dead.
Will Hall ever write
lines that do anything
but whine and complain?
In April the blue
mountain revises
from white to green.
The Boston Red Sox win
a hundred straight games.
The mouse rips
the throat of the lion
and the dead return.
the snow and ice
will melt from Cemetery Road.
I'm coming! Don't move!
Once again it is April.
Today is the day
we would have been married
twenty-six years.
I finished with April
halfway through March.
You think that their
dying is the worst
thing that could happen.
Then they stay dead.
Will Hall ever write
lines that do anything
but whine and complain?
In April the blue
mountain revises
from white to green.
The Boston Red Sox win
a hundred straight games.
The mouse rips
the throat of the lion
and the dead return.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Our Little Darlings (framed with flowers)
These are the two special kitties who found us last September when we needed them most. They were living in the woods, and appeared to be starving. Here, the day we got them, they are quickly settling in to the luxe life. Judy is in front, O'Reilly curled up behind.
O'Reilly on the left, the son of Judy on the right - they enjoy this two meals a day thing.
We loved watching their ears bob up and down as they wolfed down their kibbles. At the time, Tip was with us, and he loved eating cat food. Reilly in turn liked eating the dog's kibble.
Here O'Reilly has relaxed nicely into his new life. This picture was taken later in the fall.
And just a few days ago, I came home to one of my favorite sights - my kitties asleep together (which doesn't always happen), one showing his length as he likes to stretch out, and mama showing her curled in a ball, roly poly look. She's no starving kitty any more!
We love them so. Hours of entertainment.
~Ally
Monday, June 8, 2009
Relaxxxxxxx
Looking for some good old R & R...
A cat relaxes in the morning sun on a terrace near Kiel, northern Germany, as temperatures reach 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 Fahrenheit) on Monday morning, June 1, 2009.
(AP Photo/Heribert Proepper)Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Finally, my garden begins
Tonight, at long last, I planted my gardens. Well, some of them. Here is a very promising flower garden. (And behind it, a small sunflower plant from Ben and Jerry's!)
In my flower garden, I hope, you will begin to see these: Strawflowers, Marigolds, and Zinnias.
In pots, I planted Hens and Chicks (I loooooove them) and Lemon Symphony.
Scott and O'Reilly look on.
We got a beautiful hanging basket from a WONDERFUL greenhouse in nearby Penacook, Murray Farms. And that beautiful blue macrame (yes, macrame!) plant hanger is from my favorite, Concord's Osbornes Agway.
I am also working on a forest project in the shady section of the patio. A few ferns - uprooted from the forest at Riley's Trails, and maybe some kind of fir tree. Hmm, we'll see if they survive. I hope so! I put some moss on the topsoil to make them feel at home, and I am keeping them moist.
This little darling was one of my pre-vacation purchases, and I can't for the life of me remember what it is. So I didn't plant it in the flower or the herb garden* tonight. Whatever blooms it had before we went to AL/TN have fallen off, and your guess is as good as mine. 
These were the mini yellow daffodils. I took Mom's expert advice and waited all the way until their strands were dried out, then cut them back, and now wait for next Spring. I hope the bulbs revive themselves. They were delightful in their prime.
Next up, a pot of green beans and another pot of lettuce. A pot, you say? Yes, a pot. This is my first garden and I don't want to overdo it. Mom says it is perfectly respectable to grow one head of lettuce in a pot. A ha ha. Well, we'll see who's laughing when Ally's enjoying her homegrown salad. All one of them. Hmpfh. :)
Soon to come, with help from my new friend Sarge, I will be digging a small flower bed by the patio post, to host Echinacea (Purple Coneflower) and Mexican Sunflowers, in honor of Lauren and Co. A few sprightly little marigolds will hold the spot while we wait for these beauties to come up. Stay tuned!
*Photos of the herb garden I planted tonight will follow. Ooh, it smells so good!~Ally
Thursday, May 14, 2009
A friend emailed me this today
with the question: How bad is the economy?
(photo from Web)
heh heh
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Signs of Spring
1. Judy and O'Reilly want to go outside a million times a day.
2. The wind is blowing.
3. Dust flies in the windy streets.
4. My allergies are acting up.
5. I want to take walks.
6. The sun is shining!!
7. Townspeople choose to walk, rather than drive, to their destinations.
8. Flower buds are popping up through the ground.
9. Easter baskets have replaced Christmas wreaths.
10. New Englanders are griping about rain instead of snow.
Yay for Spring!
~Ally
2. The wind is blowing.
3. Dust flies in the windy streets.
4. My allergies are acting up.
5. I want to take walks.
6. The sun is shining!!
7. Townspeople choose to walk, rather than drive, to their destinations.
8. Flower buds are popping up through the ground.
9. Easter baskets have replaced Christmas wreaths.
10. New Englanders are griping about rain instead of snow.
Yay for Spring!
~Ally
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Good Things
1. There is a beautiful cemetery nearby where I hope we can have Dad's ashes placed, in a family plot, so I have somewhere to visit him. I went there the other night to talk with him, even though his remains are not there yet. The place feels right and it is comforting.
2. My grief group has been so encouraging and I really appreciate getting to know those people.
3. Facebook has been fun for reconnecting with old friends and finding out what they're up to.
4. Hillary and baby are doing well and we are glad baby is still in the "oven" for the time being. Though an uncomfortable Hillary might disagree.
5. The crazy cat, O'Reilly, tried hard to burn his tail but putting it right over a burning candle - for about 20 seconds! - but his tail, despite singed hair, is no worse for the wear. Silly kitty!
6. Scott and I are doing well on the baby-making plans, and enjoying the, uh, process. ;)
7. I have a part-time job now and though it's not a lot of money, it gives me a schedule and regular time in an office to keep my skills up. It also gives me a chance for social interactions, which are very helpful to me.
8. Mom is taking me to visit Grandma Dorothy in about a week and I am very much looking forward to visiting her. It's been way too long and I've missed her. I will also get a chance to visit our old neighbors and go to Mom's writing group in Fargo.
9. Scott has found a beautiful dog for us and it's the kind I have been hoping for: an English Setter!
10. Chocolate. Brownies. 'Nuff said.
11. We are working on a trip to include visiting Hillary once her baby arrives, and seeing Scott's Mom and Dad in Alabama. Spring is for visiting Snyders this year.
12. Lauren and Benjamin bought the house they have been wanting for years! They are well into renovation projects already.
13. My women's group starts on Saturday and I am very excited!
14. Judy the Cat has become my snuggly bunny and she just loves her mama. Meow.
How are you?
~Ally
2. My grief group has been so encouraging and I really appreciate getting to know those people.
3. Facebook has been fun for reconnecting with old friends and finding out what they're up to.
4. Hillary and baby are doing well and we are glad baby is still in the "oven" for the time being. Though an uncomfortable Hillary might disagree.
5. The crazy cat, O'Reilly, tried hard to burn his tail but putting it right over a burning candle - for about 20 seconds! - but his tail, despite singed hair, is no worse for the wear. Silly kitty!
6. Scott and I are doing well on the baby-making plans, and enjoying the, uh, process. ;)
7. I have a part-time job now and though it's not a lot of money, it gives me a schedule and regular time in an office to keep my skills up. It also gives me a chance for social interactions, which are very helpful to me.
8. Mom is taking me to visit Grandma Dorothy in about a week and I am very much looking forward to visiting her. It's been way too long and I've missed her. I will also get a chance to visit our old neighbors and go to Mom's writing group in Fargo.
9. Scott has found a beautiful dog for us and it's the kind I have been hoping for: an English Setter!
10. Chocolate. Brownies. 'Nuff said.
11. We are working on a trip to include visiting Hillary once her baby arrives, and seeing Scott's Mom and Dad in Alabama. Spring is for visiting Snyders this year.
12. Lauren and Benjamin bought the house they have been wanting for years! They are well into renovation projects already.
13. My women's group starts on Saturday and I am very excited!
14. Judy the Cat has become my snuggly bunny and she just loves her mama. Meow.
How are you?
~Ally
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Stoneham Zoo
On Presidents' Day, Scott and I went to the Stone Zoo, a delightful family zoo in nearby Stoneham, Massachusetts. As it was the dead of winter, we were pleased to see the animals and exhibits were very much alive at the zoo, and at least half of the regular features were available for viewing.
Scott took some beautiful pictures; mine did not come out very well, and of course all were shot through plastic or wire barriers. But if you love animals like I do, I think you will enjoy these pictures just the same. This is a brief sampling of some of the wonders to behold at Stone Zoo. You really must visit! It's a good size for taking children, and they have coupons on the website. There is an indoor learning center if you get chilly.
First we saw a habitat with two beautiful bears. I could have stayed and watched them all day.
Umm, sticks are delicious!
Here's Billy, some kind of mountain goat, hanging out on the edge.
Gorgeous cougar.
And a trying-to-nap coyote.
Flamingos, who are absolutely fascinating and silly and wicked smelly!
And there is Humanus Artistus - you never thought about it, did you? Somebody has to paint all those murals!
Lynx-y, before he got up and amused me with some beautiful yoga postures.
Though this picture does an injustice to the majestic set of antlers on this lovely Reindeer, I just loved the peaceful expression on his face. [I am reading Life of Pi right now and Pi would chastise me for anthropomorphizing animals. Maybe I should say looking at him makes me feel peaceful.]
Thought you might be interested in these fun facts about our national emblem, the eagle.
And one more beautiful bear. The bear is my totem animal, and I feel much love for them.
Hope you enjoyed your visit to the zoo!
~Ally
Scott took some beautiful pictures; mine did not come out very well, and of course all were shot through plastic or wire barriers. But if you love animals like I do, I think you will enjoy these pictures just the same. This is a brief sampling of some of the wonders to behold at Stone Zoo. You really must visit! It's a good size for taking children, and they have coupons on the website. There is an indoor learning center if you get chilly.
First we saw a habitat with two beautiful bears. I could have stayed and watched them all day.
Umm, sticks are delicious!
Here's Billy, some kind of mountain goat, hanging out on the edge.
Gorgeous cougar.
And a trying-to-nap coyote.
Flamingos, who are absolutely fascinating and silly and wicked smelly!
And there is Humanus Artistus - you never thought about it, did you? Somebody has to paint all those murals!
Lynx-y, before he got up and amused me with some beautiful yoga postures.
Though this picture does an injustice to the majestic set of antlers on this lovely Reindeer, I just loved the peaceful expression on his face. [I am reading Life of Pi right now and Pi would chastise me for anthropomorphizing animals. Maybe I should say looking at him makes me feel peaceful.]
Thought you might be interested in these fun facts about our national emblem, the eagle.
And one more beautiful bear. The bear is my totem animal, and I feel much love for them.
Hope you enjoyed your visit to the zoo!~Ally
Monday, October 20, 2008
for Marie
You will be glad to hear the bird feeders (a.k.a. peanut butter and birdseed pinecones) have disappeared. Scott thinks the squirrels carried them off. They are nowhere to be found. Nor are the birds. So the fine feathered friends are safe* for another day.
*from my little hunters, that is.
That said, there was a dead mouse, entrails hanging out, in front of the stoop today. Hara-kiri? I think not. Well, the circle of life...
~Ally
*from my little hunters, that is.
That said, there was a dead mouse, entrails hanging out, in front of the stoop today. Hara-kiri? I think not. Well, the circle of life...
~Ally
Words
There are some of mine at Rock, Water and Light today.
;'[[./;
Those words are from Judy the Cat, who stepped lightly across the keys.
And from Rumi, today's teacher:
BIRDWINGS
Your grief for what you've lost lifts a mirror
up to where you're bravely working.
Expecting the worst, you look, and instead,
here's the joyful face you've been wanting to see.
Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes.
If it were always a fist or always stretched open,
you would be paralyzed.
Your deepest presence is in every small contracting
and expanding,
the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated
as birdwings.
***
~Ally
;'[[./;
Those words are from Judy the Cat, who stepped lightly across the keys.
And from Rumi, today's teacher:
BIRDWINGS
Your grief for what you've lost lifts a mirror
up to where you're bravely working.
Expecting the worst, you look, and instead,
here's the joyful face you've been wanting to see.
Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes.
If it were always a fist or always stretched open,
you would be paralyzed.
Your deepest presence is in every small contracting
and expanding,
the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated
as birdwings.
***
~Ally
Friday, September 19, 2008
Tidbits
Did I tell you we got two kitties? They are both black, one the mama (Judy) and the other, her son (O'Reilly). Both are quite young and they are v sweet. They both have terrible cabin fever today though. Their spay/neutering was on Monday and they are supposed to be resting, but instead, they are running wildly all over the house, batting things off the tables, swinging at feet that pass by, thinking of terrorizing the dog, and generally, going nuts. They are big-time stir crazy. But the vet says 5 more days before they can go outside and burn this energy off. So it should be a loooooong weekend. ;)
Am going to lunch with Laurel today, to celebrate my birthday. I am finally up for a brief outing. This grief is so weird. I had no idea how many things it could affect - like my energy level and desire to socialize, to name a few. And it goes up and down rapidly - one moment I am ready to talk, make calls, see friends, and the next moment, the mere thought of answering the phone is overwhelming. So if you've called lately, please understand if I don't call you back for a while.
I did manage to use yesterday's energy to get a few job applications out. And to deal with some of Dad's estate paperwork. And to bring my plants in so they didn't freeze in the season's first frost.
It is fall here, and that makes me happy. Yesterday my birthday was a cool, slightly blustery fall day, like the day Rebecca and Molly and Lisa and I went down to the river to celebrate my birthday with a picnic, a million years ago. Coming into my favorite season will help me with the grief. I am both looking forward to and dreading the holidays. Should be hard, but also comforting in some strange way.
Remind me to tell you about the banquet we went to the other night to receive an award for Dad.
~Ally
Am going to lunch with Laurel today, to celebrate my birthday. I am finally up for a brief outing. This grief is so weird. I had no idea how many things it could affect - like my energy level and desire to socialize, to name a few. And it goes up and down rapidly - one moment I am ready to talk, make calls, see friends, and the next moment, the mere thought of answering the phone is overwhelming. So if you've called lately, please understand if I don't call you back for a while.
I did manage to use yesterday's energy to get a few job applications out. And to deal with some of Dad's estate paperwork. And to bring my plants in so they didn't freeze in the season's first frost.
It is fall here, and that makes me happy. Yesterday my birthday was a cool, slightly blustery fall day, like the day Rebecca and Molly and Lisa and I went down to the river to celebrate my birthday with a picnic, a million years ago. Coming into my favorite season will help me with the grief. I am both looking forward to and dreading the holidays. Should be hard, but also comforting in some strange way.
Remind me to tell you about the banquet we went to the other night to receive an award for Dad.
~Ally
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)