Every time I make a salad, here comes Beeky. It won't do for me to give her a piece of lettuce. Oh no. She must help herself to the piece of her choosing, off my plate. A few nibbles and she's done, I can have the rest. At least she's neat, doesn't nose around in the whole thing trying to choose, she's fast to pick one piece at the edge and sticks with that. Some folks at those food bars in eating establishments could take a few cues from her!
my old friend is in the hospital, has been now since the end of February. Well there was an almost two week stint in the Skilled Nursing Facility of said hospital but.. pretty much seems all the same to me. She is so dear to me. This is a hard time for both of us in very different ways. Since she went in to the hospital my good friend's mom and one relative have died. It's been a tough spring. It doesn't seem like it has been nearly 24 years since I met this old lady. She has been more a part of my life than I realized prior to her illness. Hospital staff wonder at my being there, at taking the part I do and can't seem to understand how close you can grow to someone who is not family. She was there for me when my husband died. I was there for her when her husband died. There's never a week that has passed that if I am not on vacation, I wasn't at her house at least twice and maybe five times. It is an odd thing in life, how you make a casual aquaintance (I bought a goat from her) and somehow it develops into a lasting relationship that deeply impacts both lives. You never know it seems, who it will be or why. I would not have thought this lady would be such a part of my life 20 something years ago. Such an age difference, and we did not really do anything together past the goats. Just sat, drank coffee, talked. And that was enough.
Don't you just know though that the guys who put this sign up laughed and laughed? 
We went caching in the San Angelo State Park New Year's weekend. Suza loved the hike but it wore her out (me too!) so once home she curled up in her chair and snoozed soundly.
right at 32 dollars. The design appeared easy enough to copy. I picked up an 18 gal storage container and some outdoor carpeting. Cut a hole in the top and glued on the carpet (to help catch litter). Voila! A new box! Large and deep, the cats took right to it. While there is some litter on the floor still, it is a tiny amount indeed. This is so successful and economical that I'm changing over all the boxes to this design. Here is Fela (the tabby stray who was unnamed yet in her last photo) checking out the new box.
Misty dog was put to sleep today. She was 12 years old and failing, but at the last something else came along. It was fast, just in the last couple of days I noticed her stomach was getting rather large, then she did not eat last night. Without an autopsy we don't really know exactly what the problem was but the vet was certain he felt a mass and she definitely had internal bleeding. So a peaceful good bye was the best gift we could give her. We will miss her. Misty was a good dog.
Here is James, sitting at the base of the Lighthouse. Sandstone and shale layers give rise to these formations after years (eons?) of erosion. 
The size of these things is hard to imagine from photos. But here you can see my daughter walking along between the two "hoodoos" and get some idea as to the size. I didn't have the nerve to go up there.
Location: Palo Duro Canyon, Texas.
Ain't he cute? she, whatever.. maybe you don't like snakes but we do!
Mom and kittens in the boy's bathroom. She looks up at me with such intensity.. keeps doing this from the time I found them in the cactus. As if she's trying to memorize me. Like she can't believe it, oh please please help me.. or wondering if this is real. Poor cat. A trusting pet and so desperate. She is very thin.
I took Misty for a walk to the river. Having my camera along and seeing some cactus blossoms I decided to attempt a picture (they were partway down a slope to the river). All of a sudden small animals came out of the cactus! For one second I was startled as there can be any sort of wildlife there but it probably did not take a heartbeat for me to identify these small animals. Four kittens. Then came the mom! All crying for food, obviously dumped off pets. I ran (Okay, I walked fast) with Misty to get food and a carrier then returned by car.
