This week was annual screen dome maintenance. After months of rain the pebble tech screen dome floor had "science projects" growing on it. Ewww! Cleaning the huge deck requires lots of effort and ambition. We dread it, as it literally takes all day. We are too old for this to be sure. But Jim refuses to hire people to do what we can do, even if it's just barely what we can do.
I have to say though the screen floor looks great! So clean and sanitized. No more science projects and it "should be" good for another year. I hope so!
Here at the dome we are always thinking of new ways to make the building and immediate area less industrial looking. Yes my house looks like a space station but could at least be a "pretty" space station. Jim has recently started another beautification project which I will photo when it's done. The front yard barrier was ugly concrete cinder blocks. Jim is cord wooding and using decorative paving stones to cover the blocks and make the front more inviting. We also have walkway Foo Dog guardians on the end pieces.
The next thing to tackle is painting the domes. I would really like a tri-color. Currently it is pale green, all of it. Who paints their entire house all one color with no accents at all, who does that? The previous owners- who had no imagination at all. I'm shocked they even built a dome! We would like to paint the very tops white then use two shades of slate gray and make them look like mountain peaks. But we haven't really decided what to do. That is a spring project!
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
My visit to the Rainbow Bridge
I believe I may have visited the Rainbow bridge in my dream... There was a beautiful immaculate cabin in the woods. Surrounding it was a forest with a creek and a waterfall. Even the forest was immaculate with not a leaf nor twig on the ground. Old people were walking out of the cabin with animals. One woman with a huge smile on her face told me her cat was 15. I thought if this was a type of animal shelter why would someone adopt a 15 year old cat? So I walked inside and another smiling person said to me " Miss Kitty is all ready for you"! They handed me Miss Kitty! I could smell her ( the aroma of perfume) and could feel her weight. She was purring and I said to her " I had forgotten how soft your fur was". Outside we admired the gorgeous surroundings, I told her I never wanted to leave, then I woke up.
My daughter Tara and a friend of mine-Joan- both said the same thing, that she wanted me to know she was okay and being looked after. Earlier that day Jim had cleaned out the garage and inside the trash can was her old litter box. I spent most of that day sad, thinking about how I missed her! I believe she knew I needed to see her and was only too happy to help. I believe there are pets in heaven and I can't wait to be reunited!
Like the late great Will Rogers said; " If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." Ditto to that!
There is a famous Hospice story, a woman was in her final weeks of life. She was a career woman, had no friends to speak of, no family except for a cat who was her constant companion over many years. She would slip in and out of deep sleep and every time she would awaken she would say that she saw her cat at the end of a long tunnel. The next time she was asleep he was closer, next time closer still. Finally she went into a coma for which she did not return. She made a horizontal motion with her hand. One nurse said, "oh look she's waving goodbye". The other nurse said, "no she's not, she's petting her cat". Right after the woman passed. She did have family who would be at her side forever, her cat.
Miss Kitty was a rescue cat but sometimes I wonder who rescued who. She was a little odd at first and didn't warm to us right away. After a few days she finally came out of the room and rubbed against me and I cried! Finally she would find it in her heart to love me.
For the first several years she would never lay on us. She would lay near us, next to us, but not on us. Then one day I got extremely emotional during the movie " Sweet Home Alabama" when they showed the pet cemetery scene and the woman was crying over the grave of her dog. I lost it and started crying too thinking of my beloved dog Axl who had died a few years prior. Miss Kitty ran into the room, jumped on my lap and did her paw massage while looking sadly into my eyes! It was the first time she EVER did that and usually she would run and hide if I got emotional. But not this time.
What was different? I think Axl came to her and told her I needed her help and she wasn't gonna run and hide this time! Ever since that day she was much more loving, like she knew what her position was in the household, therapy cat and affectionate friend.
My daughter Tara and a friend of mine-Joan- both said the same thing, that she wanted me to know she was okay and being looked after. Earlier that day Jim had cleaned out the garage and inside the trash can was her old litter box. I spent most of that day sad, thinking about how I missed her! I believe she knew I needed to see her and was only too happy to help. I believe there are pets in heaven and I can't wait to be reunited!
Like the late great Will Rogers said; " If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." Ditto to that!
There is a famous Hospice story, a woman was in her final weeks of life. She was a career woman, had no friends to speak of, no family except for a cat who was her constant companion over many years. She would slip in and out of deep sleep and every time she would awaken she would say that she saw her cat at the end of a long tunnel. The next time she was asleep he was closer, next time closer still. Finally she went into a coma for which she did not return. She made a horizontal motion with her hand. One nurse said, "oh look she's waving goodbye". The other nurse said, "no she's not, she's petting her cat". Right after the woman passed. She did have family who would be at her side forever, her cat.
Miss Kitty was a rescue cat but sometimes I wonder who rescued who. She was a little odd at first and didn't warm to us right away. After a few days she finally came out of the room and rubbed against me and I cried! Finally she would find it in her heart to love me.
For the first several years she would never lay on us. She would lay near us, next to us, but not on us. Then one day I got extremely emotional during the movie " Sweet Home Alabama" when they showed the pet cemetery scene and the woman was crying over the grave of her dog. I lost it and started crying too thinking of my beloved dog Axl who had died a few years prior. Miss Kitty ran into the room, jumped on my lap and did her paw massage while looking sadly into my eyes! It was the first time she EVER did that and usually she would run and hide if I got emotional. But not this time.
What was different? I think Axl came to her and told her I needed her help and she wasn't gonna run and hide this time! Ever since that day she was much more loving, like she knew what her position was in the household, therapy cat and affectionate friend.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
The most magical time of the year
No not election season! Had more than enough of that already! Yuck, can't end soon enough!
But Autumn with it's gorgeous landscapes and cool crisp air. At least what I can remember of it. Fall in Rhode Island was always my favorite time but living in Florida I miss Autumn big time. Oh sure we have a change of seasons like when it goes from 110 to 90. And the green trees and grass go to murky brown with nothing in between. Yeah, to say it loses something in the translation is the understatement of the year!
My favorite holiday is this month as well-Halloween! Always loved that most of all the holidays including Christmas! It was the perfect kid holiday, who didn't liked being someone else for the day and getting bags of free candy?! I loved the art of it and the fun! It is no shock to me that it is second only to Christmas in money spent! Christmas is in comparison a big heaping pile of stress! The ONLY thing that saves it is the fun of decorating, that's it! I agree with Sheldon of "Big Bang", a gift isn't a gift it's an obligation! You have to use the same amount of thought and money to reciprocate! STRESS! I always felt uncomfortable with gift receiving, in fact my mother wrote that in my baby book: that I had no interest what so ever in what I was getting and was delighted with what my sister got! But getting back to Halloween, another favorite is the picking out of costumes ceremony. In past years I have even made costumes like Kaity as my Harajuku girl and Bri as a Steampunk scientist! This year they have a nod to Oz, Kaity as Dorothy complete with politically correct "silver slippers", Bri as a sexy witch and Missy their Golden as the most adorable Cowardly Lion ever!
And here it is still hurricane season until the end of November. RI used to get hurricanes as well but Florida is king in that department. In fact one we have one climbing up our collective butt right now! Matthew which is a category 4! My favorite Florida town-St. Augustine-is supposed to get nailed but they may be lucky. I hope so for their sake.
Our domes should be able to handle it but our yard is full of huge trees and two large screened areas, the screen dome and the screened pool! All we can do is wait it out and pray it doesn't transport our domes to OZ!
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