Screaming Pussy

We were violently snatched around 0530 from our peaceful slumber by the crashing and scratching and screaming of a 15 lb cat who was either pushed or stupidly fell through the trap door that separates our bedroom from the rest of our house, and tumbled down the ladder. [I'll insert a picture here when MY laptop recovers from it's Hard Drive meltdown.] I'm sorry, but when you're woke up that startled, it's hard to be rational. I turned on a light first.... all the time a cat somewhere nearby was screaming like it was dying. Finally I spied her crouched on the mantle... eyes wide with terror and some unatural sound coming from within her trembling body. Now for those unaware.... we have 6 cats..... several of which look alike in dim light. Now two of those cats are capable of coming and going up and down the ladder. I'm not sure why these two are the only ones, but trust me... I'm happy it's just two that feel the need to sharpen their claws on me while I sleep. So, I attempt to calm this terrified kitty by petting her and at the same time checking for broken bones or worse...... blood. Finally I got her to let me pick her up only to have her insert every razor sharp claw directly in my arm and chest. Dropping her on the bed at this point... she scampers off and under the bed. Now I love all my critters, but lets be honest..... I Ain't Awake Yet..... Now I'm having difficulty telling if the cat is bleeding or if it's me. By this time I'm starting to question my loyalty to her health and well being. Truthfully, if it weren't for her eardrum shattering screaming... I'd have gotten back in bed.... which btw is where Steve STILL IS!!! So I turn on a few more lights, scold Dash to his bed, (he was either concerned or wanted her dead... not sure), got down to coax her out from her dark cave when I realized the cat under the bed wasn't the one I thought it was. Under our bed was none other than the skin shredding Scotty (who we now call Bette) She NEVER comes down the ladder, so her evil little ass must have been pushed by the other cats. Still, I had to see if she was injured. Finally, some help from the sleeping Steve and we had her out. She apparently did fall through the trap door by accident and didn't hurt herself at all. She was terrified.... that was it. Once I had her calm I carefully carried her up the ladder and freed her to the rest of the house. Well, now it was 0600 on a freakin Sat. So much for sleeping in. I swear it must be the moon.... I burned the brussel sprouts last night and ruined a pan..... Then I turned the rice off too soon, so it wasn't cooked right..... then this morning Steve and I walked Dash all the way up that freaking hill to the post office.... we got back home just long enough for me to realize I had lost my cell phone..... back out the door and up that damn hill. We found my phone almost at the top of Washington St. so we took the ridge rd and came home through the graveyard and down by Jefferson Rock. [I'll insert a picture here when MY laptop recovers from it's Hard Drive meltdown.] Let me insert here that we had sleet last night, so every dangerously perilous step we took could have been the one to take us down. We managed though. Even with Dash pulling me at all the wrong times.... I never fell. To make the day better... Steve took me out to lunch!!! We ate at blahbada blahbadas... some new mexican joint in the same location as the japanese joint was. I'll try to remember the name when it's been there for a yr. The food was great though and the staff friendly. There were however, two fat cows a couple tables away that kept looking and laughing at Steves braided beard. I asked them if they wanted a picture... fat-ass jefferson county Cows. Good for breeding but thats it and like we need more ignorant children in this world. I TOTALLY believe that homosexuality is just one way the Gods keep the truly gifted.... unburdened. Of course I say that having three kids myself. I've lived a full life.. what more can I say!!! :) [I'll insert a picture here when MY laptop recovers from it's Hard Drive meltdown.] I had a Great nap this afternoon..... tired from our TWO walks.... full from lunch and groceries put away.... all I had to do was lay down and I was out. We're expecting my daughter Cathy this evening or tomorrow... not sure. She's leaving JR our 3.5 yr old grandson with us for a week.... WOOHOO!!!! I'm positive... by day two I'll want to leave him at a mall somewhere, but then he'll give in and I'll let up and we'll all live happily everafter!! I really should save this for a blog all it's own, but I really don't want to give them THAT much air time. The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. The mutaween Ever heard of them? They're Saudi Arabia's strict Islamic Religious Police. Apparently they arrested 57 men for flirting at a mall and wearing improper clothing (t-shirts with english words on them) They also go around and arrest women with make-up.... they're pretty much everything I despise, and not far from what I think about our current administration. I bet the Baptist Church can't wait for their own.... If you have some time.... google them. I figured a blog post titled SCREAMING PUSSY (check it out) was the perfect place to add them. Oh.... Bette's fine. She's been a lot more friendly to us this afternoon. I guess her attempt at ladder diving this morning shook her up some. Peace!!

Erector Set Fun... HAHA, I said erect

Last weekend was one of those lazy by the fireside weekends. Steve was still congested with his cold and MAJORLY grumpy to boot!! Not so grumpy or sick for that matter, that he couldn't tinker away with his toys. Here's some sort of circuit board that he made about three years ago. It's got these little LEDs and it's programmable. It's suppose to be attached to a wheel of some sort and when it spins you get this cool display. This particular display was a bio-hazzard symbol. Now.... 2-3 yrs after he built the circuit board he's fianlly getting around to making it work. Here he's putting together a Ferris Wheel Erector Set with the circuit board attached. We counter-weighted it with large magnets. It worked great, but my photo sucked. I promise I'll take a better one. Poor Dash stood by looking very concerned. Two of our cats however couldn't be bothered. Remember that fire I was telling you about? Well here's the pyro at work. This is an old picture, but it's pretty much what our recent snow fall looked like. Not too much, just enough!!

Winter Ice

Our first Ice Storm of 2008. We woke up this morning to an ice covered Harpers Ferry. Dash and I headed out the door at 0630 (dark still) and WHAM.... Dash completely wiped out when his paws hit the street. Being only a year old I don't guess he remembers last winter. Anyhow, he made it up the steps.... barely. It took me almost 15 minutes to manuever my way to the top. Later, once daylight arrived, I ventured out to snap this....... part of our patio layered in Ice. Frozen Redbud.... One of MANY icicles hanging from Everywhere!! and finally back inside to spend the day by this wonderful fire. Winter doesn't seem so bad after all!! Well, we didn't spend the WHOLE day inside... Eventually we had to walk Dash and clear the steps so Steve could make his morning commute. I took the camera just in case.... and snapped these.... Our Nandina in front of the house. A poor little Pansy. He Really wants spring to get here. This is part of the neighbors hill facing our steps. It might have made it to 40 degrees today, but the ice never left! Tonights suppose to hit 19, so I'm sure tomorrow morning will be shimmering!! ..... and I can't wait!!!

No Freaking Way

I WILL NOT be WALKING TODAY...... I just finished carrying HALF of this.....

Up THESE steps. Now we're ready for some serious snow! If you're looking for a reliable man with wood...... look no further than Brad Chandler..... Your man for Firewood, Tree Removal & Recycled Lumber. Ask me for his number or just look him up in the book. Now..... back to our regularly scheduled broadcast........

Still Walkin' and it's COLD

Speaking of "Cold", Steve's home with one. Not just your normal cold but the whole added chest congestion too. He's become a permanent fixture on the couch which places him halfway between the warm fireplace and the kitchen.... his two favorite places. He's been trying to work from home like the dedicated scientist he is, but I manage to keep him pretty sedated, and smelling like "giant menthol man". I fixed him Parsnip/Onion Soup for lunch...... it did the trick!! Trying to sleep... heating pad in place. At the other end of the couch is Dash keeping Steves' feet warm. Who could NOT want their feet warmed by this cutey? So we had our breakfast, and after I had Steve all warmed drugged and the fire blazing, I went out to collect firewood from the back yard. I reckon I should have consolidated it a little earlier in the year!! The temp today was suppose to reach all of 30-something, so having a warm fire was nice. A few hours into the day I interpreted smoke signals from our neighbors Chris and Miriam...... already Miriam was trying to squirrel out of our arranged outing with the dogs. Sure enough, I checked my e-mail and there it was..... "can we do Yoga instead?" Well this next picture tells what my answer was. Here's the well insulated Miami girl waving HER hello from what Steve calls the Hello Kitty Gloves Off we went into the woods where I learned what it must take to be a GREAT photographer.... and that would be...... no fear of being run over by speeding dogs, just to get the picture.

Here's Miriam crouched in the face of dangerously speeding K-9s with her camera ready.

Here's Miriam trying to squeeze into a hollow tree. Unfortunately she started out this hike resembling Ralphys' little brother in "A Christmas Story" Arms permanently extended because of too much layering. There's no way she'll get into this tree till spring!!

Near the end of our hike we came across one of Harpers Ferrys' local Wild Dogs.

Nice Doggy!! (Photo by Miriam)

Dashs' favorite thing to do.... swim in freezing cold water. BRRRRR!!!!

Dash and Cane..... I'm glad they know each other!!

Miriam and I could only stand for so long watching the two dogs swim before we realized we had started going numb, so with Dash and Cane racing in circles around us we headed back home.

These two pups are gonna sleep good tonight. Here you can see some really great photos of todays walk.

Miriams Blog!

It's been a year!

The first week of Feb 2007 I was sick as a dog, and the reason I remember this is because that was also when I quit smoking.

Now a year later, I'm determined to lose the extra person thats wrapped around my gut and my ass, and hanging from my face. Easily I gained 100 lbs.... I know this and it's depressing.

So, this morning Dash and I took our first walk. We crossed the river and climbed MD heights.

With IPOD and water we dissapeared into the morning fog. The wind was whipping along pretty good and the temp seemed to drop by the minute even though we both had begun to sweat. Down the tow path, across the canal and up onto the train tracks.

The train tunnel looking towards Harpers Ferry

Through the opposit end you can see the Harpers Ferry Train Station.

Climbing up the backside of the mountain is steeper, but faster to the top. Basically it's straight up and just when I was looking forward to Dash pulling on his leash, he descided it was time to play "well behaved Puppy", and Heel.

Dashs first time on Md Heights and he loved it. I was a nervous parent however watching him run around sometimes WAY to close to the cliffs edge. He didn't seem to care.

Dash sitting at the edge of the cliff just enjoying the view. Our house is far in the distance

Here you can see our house sitting between Dashs ears.

He had parked himself on a rock ledge. Something had captured his attention.

"What? I ain't ready to go."

We took the swithback trail to the fireroad and meandered our way around and down the mountain only running into 4 other early morning hikers. A stop at the rivers edge and we were soon back home where dash promptly cleared the room of kitty cats and is now taking a nap. Sleep well boy, you've earned it.

This afternoon his play buddy Cane arrived for an overnighter.

After a 4 hr walk earlier today that involved climbing a mountain, Dash just didn't have the energy to keep up with Cane.

Poor cane lost his bed to one of the cats. It was temporary... trust me!!

I'm still trying to figure out how this particular blog plays into my "life story". I'll let ya know when I stop passing out everytime I stand up!! :) Wow that was some hike!!