Greetings from a snowy day in Nova Scotia. It's not a Friday. It's certainly not March anymore. I wanted to have lots of artwork to share with you, but I've been distracted by other things.

Near the end of March, Wally was feeling well enough to tackle the studio closet

 which we want to incorporate into the bedroom closet.

I kept a piece of the old wallpaper, most of which was too fine to peel off the paperboard

 

You can see how small the original closet is on the far left,

and how wide Wally will expand it- almost up to the light switches.

 

A few days later, the weather was so mild

that I decided to go for a walk 

Our front lawn is covered in crocuses (which are under snow today)

They are not nearly this blue, more of a red violet that my camera cannot capture.

 

there are SO many robins about this year

 

Here is one of the unusual houses I saw on my walk

and a house I've shown you in years past that I love for its orange door,

an inspired palette altogether

 

This is what we woke up to this morning

 

So many plants are in bud. You would never know that this is our wonderful Honeysuckle

 (with a young maple growing out of it)

The backyard blanketed.

 

Muji finds the sunlight too harsh

and can barely open his eyes

though he tries

but it is midmorning by now and he goes off to sleep soon after 

 

The intense snowlight doesn't seem to bother Babu as much

 

his pupils narrowed to fine slits, he demonstrates the mop of dust he is on his black coat 

as he looks for some action outside

Kitty Squeeze Toy stays out of the way

 

This is the only "artwork" I've done in a long while,

a doodle on a 60+ year old piece of note paper I found in the attic of this house.

 

Thank you for dropping by for a visit. It shouldn't surprise me that I've slowed down on creative work this time of year.  Wally is finally over a nasty cold that lingered too long. Added to work, he became very tired; he is looking forward to some time off to work some more on the house.

 

Muji is mostly better. I've decided since my last post that the black stuff on his muzzle is a form of feline acne caused from bacteria that forms from licking his chops after he eats. It's not a problem for him as it seems to come and go, just an eyesore.  I'm happy to be of service to my sickies over the last 6 weeks, and particularly thrilled to have resolved Muji's most serious issues which started with alkaline crystals a year ago. Being a purebred Flamepoint Siamese makes him susceptible to digestive disorders. Add to that the abuse he had suffered and we've been able to piece together the "why's" that make him more vulnerable than hearty Babu.  Babu, in the meantime benefits from a lesser version of Muji's regimen just as Wally and I do from accommodating each other's diets. Refining the information has been good for all of us.

 

In the Serenity Prayer, there is the line:  "the courage to change the things I can".  It has been the theme of my life over the last year. It has set me on a course of no return.   It always makes me think of the title of Thomas Wolfe's book, "You Can't Go Home Again". Things change. Life is change. Learning to adapt to change changes us. We cannot go back to who we once were.  Hearing one's own voice starts the ball rolling.  This is not something to be afraid of, though heaven knows I was afraid to go against the veterinarian's order a year ago. I know in my heart that I did the right thing. This sets me apart from the status quo. The road opens up in ways I never imagined. 

 

 

Courage my love

 



 

Friday progress report

 

Well now that's just weird; it's Friday again.

Wally has turned the corner on that awful cold that has been going around and is feeling like himself again.

 

Muji has definitely taken well to his new regimen of probiotics, psyllium fibre, magnesium citrate and slippery elm powder added to his cooked ground beef.  I tried to switch him over to raw ground beef, but he wasn't having any of it. I had to refreeze it and give it to Babu for supper that night.

 

You may notice that the black business on Muji's muzzle for the last several months has mostly cleared and moved to the top of his nose which is also not as large a spot, waning even more over the last week. I am pretty sure it is a fungal thing misnamed ringworm, which gave me a start when I first read that name. I thought the healing might have been the antiseptic effect of the coconut oil he's been getting, but this morning I read about the positive effects of the probiotic on such things. All very exciting all things considered.

 

It's nice to see him doing better with more energy, a pink nose, bright eyes and an even coat.

I don't know why closing off the bedroom yesterday until their towel for the bed was washed

but both Muji, who generally sleeps on Wally's office chair under the soothing heat from the heat pump, and Babu who can sleep anywhere were suddenly very active, and in Muji's case, needy.

Did he think the cat in the hat was beckoning him?

 

Babu who had been napping on the chair beside me, regardless of the washing machine running,

got very playful and began to twist and turn, playing with his feet.

You can see Muji has a completely different style of entertaining himself. Sheesh!

As Babu scrambled around on his chair with that wild eyed look playing cats get,

Muji got fed up and left

It snowed all day but very little stuck.

 

Eventually the laundry was done and Muji joined me as I folded when suddenly

he began to look very intensely out the window. 

He pulls this every now and then, usually looking over my shoulder at-

"What?"

 Nothing.

This behaviour used to creep me out, and I began to say hello to Marion, the original owner of this house, (though it could be Percy or John, one or the other of her two husbands, all now deceased).

 

But it was a real something this time. My camera is so slow that while I took the picture of the crow cawing in the tree, it saw me and flew away, wily bird. So this is a lucky shot.

 

I do so hope I'll have something creative to share with you next time, and that it will come earlier than next Friday.  I do feel satisfied with the creative progress I've made with Muji. Creativity comes in so many forms.

 

wishing you a peaceful slip into Spring,

the Spring Equinox arriving in this hemisphere this Sunday

 

keeping a full and loving heart

 

 

 

 

Muji is doing better

It's Friday again.

It snowed.

the trees across the field

 

Babu spent a good chunk of time ducking me;

then, for some unknown reason, he became friendly again.

and began following me all over the house.

Here he is considering his weight, which he thinks is altogether too low and I should feed him hourly.

Muji has been my problem child this last month 

but seems to be substantially better

directly in proportion to how well I've educated myself on Constipation in Cats

 

Muji gets needy and goes to Babu for attention who is happy to give him love baths

though he is easily distracted

If Muji should move, Babu takes him is a love/death grip

 

But Muji can give as good as he gets

 

As I uploaded these pictures I had to get out my camera again to show the incessant

"kitty mind control"  Muji was practising on me

 

If he only stared at me like this I might have been able to handle it 

but his staring became more intense as he kept climbing up on my arm

 and rubbing his face against mine

 

I mean, really Muji...

 

In the end, I figured it was because Babu had taken his favourite chair, so Muji got lots of face cuddles as I tried to keep uploading.

 

Let's try to be a little flexible... and use our imagination.

(Muji has finally made it to the carpet by the front door)

 

have a lovely, healthy weekend



spring is a-comin' in

We slipped off to the Gaspereau farm to get some free range eggs...

Apparently we weren't the only ones with this idea, which must have given the donkey more courage

as he (she?) came out from hiding- unlike the last time

The brown hen in this photo also felt quite sociable

coming over for a closer look

 

Then the Shetland Pony joined the donkey

 

As the Sheland Pony approached the donkey became less shy 

while the Shetland Pony came right up for a pat (and a non-existent treat)

 

the pregnant curly horned ewe seemed to be the only sheep that hadn't given birth yet

 

There were many babies born, including these twins

the sun was going down

 

so we headed home

 

I hope life is kind to you and that you are kind to you as well.