9/1/06

new logo! This one was created by the lovely and talented Bonnie, who RAWKS. Thanks, Bonnie!

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I realized something yesterday when I was at the surgeon’s office, though I didn’t think of asking the surgeon about it. That is, my temperature seems to run a little low. It’s almost always right around 97.3 instead of the more accepted 98.6. As I said to Fred last night, if my temperature was 1.3 degrees over 98.6, they’d consider that a low-grade fever, but no one seems phased by the fact that it’s always 1.3 degrees lower. (Then he pointed out that 99.9 would only be considered a low-grade fever if my temperature was usually the normal 98.6.) Then he told me that his temperature tends to run a little higher than normal, usually in the 99s. So we have me, whose temperature runs a little low, and I’m always cold. Then we have him, whose temperature runs a little high, and he’s always hot. Coincidence?
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You guys, thanks for your comments on yesterday’s entry. Some of your comments cracked me the hell up. I still don’t know whether we’re going to put animals back in the back 40 or not, but if we do it’ll be something we do a few years in the future rather than right away. And I can’t believe no one called me on my bullshit belief that I’d have no problems killing chickens. Fred sent me a couple of links today, and after seeing pictures and movies of people (humanely) killing chickens, I’ve gotta say – no fucking way I could EVER kill a chicken. Good god, I have a hard time killing SPIDERS sometimes (though not always – like I’ve said, if they keep their webs neat I’ll let them stay, but if they let their webs get dusty and filled with bug body pieces, I’ll suck those fuckers up with the vacuum before they know what’s happening), you think I could possibly kill Miss Hennypecker, even if she DID peck me on the leg because I wasn’t fast enough with the food? I don’t think so. I think egg farming, rather than chicken farming, is in our future. I don’t know, though – Fred seems to believe that he could kill a chicken, so I guess we’ll see about that. A couple of you suggested/ asked about tractors and riding lawnmowers. The truth is, Fred has been excitedly pricing tractors every minute of every day since our offer on the house was accepted. We’re not only getting a tractor with a mowing attachment for the back part of the property, we’re also getting a riding lawnmower for around the house. There’s no way on god’s green earth we were ever considering mowing 4 1/2 acres with a push lawnmower, trust me.
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Lately, we’ve been watching The Job, the sitcom Denis Leary had on TV a few years ago, that only lasted a season. It aired in 2000 – 2001, and I know we watched at least the first few episodes of it, but never watched more than the first few. (Oh, wait. Apparently it was on for two seasons – a few episodes in 2001, and the rest in the 2001 – 2002 season.) Anyway, apparently Denis Leary and Peter Tolan have their favorite actors, because some of the actors in The Job – Diane Farr, Lenny Clarke, to name a couple – also showed up in Rescue Me. Even Jimmy showed up in a bit part in The Job, which we thought was very cool. Anyway, as we were watching the season finale of Rescue Me (Niki, episodes 9 – 13 will be on the way to you in the next few days!), I said to Fred, “Do you think Jimmy is Peter Tolan?” Because Peter Tolan’s name is all over Rescue Me, and I thought it would be neat, after all this time of wondering just who Peter Tolan is (yet being too lazy to look him up on Internet Movie Database), if we were to find out that Jimmy is Peter Tolan. So Fred went to his computer and looked and said “No, Jimmy’s name is James Something.” And then, at the end of the episode, as we were cursing Peter Tolan and Denis Leary and their goddamned cliffhanger season finales (and bitching about how we were going to have to wait nine months for new episodes, ASSUMING the series is extended for another year), we saw that Peter Tolan had been in the season finale in a bit role. What are the chances?
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Currently reading: Lost and Found, by Carolyn Parkhurst. So far it’s interesting, though I’m getting a little confused about who’s who. I always am at the beginning of books that have more than one character’s perspective. Recently finished: Revenge of the Kudzu Debutantes. I enjoyed it, but it seemed kind of all-surface no-substance. I would have liked it to be a little longer, and delve into the minds of the women a little more. It was good, though, and a very fast read. Also recently finished: This is Chick-Lit, which was sent to me free. I like chick lit, and I like many of the authors who wrote stories for the book. I don’t always like books of short stories, because I tend to get bored with the format after a while, but this book was actually the exception. I enjoyed all the stories (some more than others, of course), right up to the end. I recommend it. Finished before that: Mask Market, by Andrew Vachss. Oh, how I adore that damn Burke. I wish they’d start making the Vachss books into movies. I don’t know who I’d like to see as Burke, but if Andrew Vachss had anything to say about the casting, I bet it’d be kick-ass.
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We have a somewhat busy weekend planned. Saturday we’re meeting Fred’s mother and stepfather out at the new house so they can see it (since they’ve expressed interest in seeing the inside of it), then we’re attending the family reunion at a BBQ restaurant for Fred’s father’s family, then we might do a little antique shopping. Sunday, we’re going to a Trade Days in a faraway town (sorry, stalkers!). I don’t know what we’re doing Monday, but I’m going to try to drag Fred to a flea market. I’m really looking forward to the Trade Days. I hope y’all have a good weekend planned; see you on the flip side!
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DSC00881 Snoozin’ Sugs. DSC00907 Tommy goes for the jugular. Sugarbutt doesn’t seem to mind. DSC00885 The sunset from our back yard. DSC00918 Spanky, snoozin’ RIGHT where the Daddy’s legs go. But as long as Spanky’s comfortable…
All of today’s uploaded pictures are hither.
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Previously 2005: Ahhhhh, smell that fresh, crisp autumn air! Why, it’s down to 90 degrees today. I almost need a sweater. 2004: She turned 86 last Thursday. She’s the only grandparent I’ve ever really known. 2003: (and you KNOW he insisted on it, was all temper tantrumy, screaming and beating his fists on the floor, wailing “ACTOR AND NOVELIST! ACTOR AND NOVELIST!”) 2002: No entry. 2001: No entry. 2000: No entry.]]>

25 thoughts on “9/1/06”

  1. LOVE the new logo!! Bonnie is the coolest!!
    What’s up with the clear Soft Paws? I know you talked a couple days ago about switching from the colored ones, so I may have missed the “why” part of the discussion. Sugarbutt & Tommy are adorable without the colored nails, but looking at that first picture of Sugarbutt, I realize how much I have to expect him to be He-of-Many-Colored-Nails.

  2. We live on 4 acres and trust me you will need a tractor. Even with the mack daddy set-up it still takes 3 – 4 hours depending on how much rain we had that week. The best thing about the tractor is the wagon you can attach to it. We use that constantly to move trash, plant trees, etc.

  4. Bwah! Love the new logo.
    Robyn, killing chickens must be pretty bad because my dad (whose job is was to kill the chickens on the farm when he was growing up), to this day, hates to eat chicken. Flashbacks, I guess? On the other hand, my mom adores chicken, and she had to kill plenty of ’em as a kid, so uh, yeah. That tells you something about my mom, I guess!
    Did you know Diane Farr wrote a book? I’m too lazy to look it up on Amazon now, but I think it’s a nonfiction book about preteen girls. I loved her on “The Job” and “Numbers,” so I thought that was interesting.

  5. Miss Hennypecker?!!!! That made me snort and laugh outloud.
    Spanky looks soooo content. Thanks for sharing!

  7. Shelly: It was just a matter of trying out something new. Fred decided we should give the clear covers a try, but once we’re out of those, we’re definitely going back to the colored covers. I miss seeing blue and pink nails!

  9. That new logo is absolutely great, great job Bonnie.
    I love how cats twist themselves all up to sleep. If the light’s too bright mine will cover their eyes with their tail. Looking at Sugarbutt makes me happy, my orange tabby of 16 years passed away in June, so it’s nice to see Sugarbutt.

  10. We just closed yesterday on 5.6 acres of land and will break ground on our dream house in a few weeks. My hubby wants chickens, too, but I hear they attract snakes. Chickens are good, snakes…..mmmm not so good. The first time I reached into a nest and touched a snake would be the last time I ever set foot out of the house. (That is if I survived the heart failure!!!)

  12. Suddenly found I have the theme from Gilligan’s Island stuck in my head. Damn earworm … thanks.

  13. Thanks Robyn!! I know I’ve said it before but it bears repeating ‘You’re Awesome’
    Oh and again if anyone out there would like me to forward these disc on to you when we’re done just let me know.

  14. I just started watching Rescue Me halfway through this season…and what a show. I’ve always been a Leary fan and very happy for his success.
    (I definitely have to catch up on the last seasons.)
    So, do you think Tommy goes to the great ladder in the sky and makes his presense as a ghost next season? There is a next season, btw, starts filming in Jan. ’07.

  16. We’ve had two chickens for about 5 years now, and have never seen one snake. Snakes are attracted to mice and rats though, and the mice and rats are attracted to the chicken feed, so I guess it could happen. (My cat Petey brought us a baby rat last night. Twice.)
    Also, the cats are completely uninterested in the chickens. We kept the chicks protected when they were small, but a cat won’t mess with a grown chicken.
    I’ve never been fond of eating chicken since we got them and I don’t think I could ever kill one. Except at 6:00 a.m. on the weekends when they start making noise because the neighbor’s sprinklers turn on.
    My temp is normally 97.whatever too, AND I also am hypothyroid. I think 98.6 is just an average, and a few degrees higher or lower is still normal. You just have to know that a 99 deg temp for you is a significant fever.
    Sorry for being so chatty! I’m usually a lurker…

  18. I agree with Mary a small tractor or a large riding mower with a wagon is great and you can purchase them separately if you decide you might need one later.
    Did ya know that some of the larger riding mowers have a place for an umbrella which would keep Fred from getting a farmers neck. (wrinkles on back of the neck) Yes, I know that sounds dorky but my neighbor has one and he loves it. He burns easily so that was an excellent option for him. Just sayin…
    I’m glad you are feeling so much better. Have a safe & happy Labor Day week-end!

  20. I helped kill a chicken once. I didn’t think I would be able to and I was grossed out the entire time, but it wasn’t that bad. I held it while someone else used the ax on its neck. After its head was removed, it started clawing me. I dropped it and watched it run around for a minute or two before it finally killed over. I don’t think I’d ever want to do it again. Not to mention, plucking it was a real pain in the ass. And I’m sure you’ve heard the story about “Mike the Headless Chicken”. Easier to buy one at the store, in my opinion.

  21. We had chickens when I was a kid. My mom would kill them (cut off their heads on top of the dog house, I bet that drove the poor dog mad, smelling the blood but not being able to get to it!) but I had to help clean them and I will never EVER kill my own chicken for that reason alone. A chicken’s hot guts smell worse than anything you have ever smelled in your life. (Possibly even worse than the leaking bodybag we had to take back to shore when divers brought up a week-old body when I lived in San Francisco) It was cool watching them run around with no head though. Then when they stopped she would hang them by their feet from the clothesline to drain the blood.

  23. Okay, about killing chickens — my paternal grandmother could wring their necks like snapping her fingers. My mother worked (after my father died) in a poultry processing plant (nice euphemism for chicken plant) and hacked carcasses to pieces. She never could eat a bite of chicken though. My grandmother had no trouble eating the ones she killed. But back in those days, one had to survive however possible; my grandmother lived through the Great Depression of the 30s.
    I, on the other hand, do not eat meat. I did, when younger, but as I aged, it just became impossible. Once we had a chicken at our house in town; it had apparently escaped a truck carting it to market. The chicken had SO much personality; it would make a swirling nest in the dirt, then occasionally try to get into our house at night by flying up onto a table beneath our back window. Somehow, realizing that a “chicken” had a “personality” cured me of my love for eating chicken. And we all know “cows” have personality.
    I don’t know…you will have to find your own way (both you and Fred) but I am betting that when you realize that even farm animals have “personalities” you won’t be able to slaughter a single one! 🙂

  24. Robin, I know you said your birth control and Thyroid medicine are the only things you are taking but aren’t you using gels on your face for your rosacea?
    I use those gels for mine. And one of the side effects was possible liver damage. I know most people don’t think of something they put on their skin as a drug. But it is absorbed through your skin. Maybe that is what is causing your liver damage. If you are using some of the ones I use.

  25. Aw ha! Peggy and Robyn,get off that gel and oral medication!
    Rosacea disks work awesomely!
    I have been using them for five years with DRAMATIC results.
    I first read about them with success stories on a rosacea message board five years ago,
    http://www.rosacea-ltd.com/ is the seller’s website. The disks SEEM expensive at first,but they last years as long as you dry them off before you put them away.
    http://www.internationalrosaceafoundation.org/nonprescription.php4 highly recommends them too.
    The disks heal the symptoms of rosacea and keeps flare ups at bay. The best part for me was that it thinned down the skin on my nose(I was starting to get the WC Fields-like symptoms on my nose)and minimized pore size.
    My skin felt dry when I first starting using it,but then the skin adapts and you can also use jojoba oil for mosturizing.

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