I need to take a break now. I don't always have all of the energy I once had, and sometimes I also have to take a break either to relieve the strain on my back or to give my aging laptop a rest, as it seems to run a bit hot these days. I will be back and will get around to answering all of the questions and responding to comments. (It's been a while since I've been on a site this active, but I love it!)

Poor Kitty cat...maybe you have a pesky poltergiesr that is relying on "Blame the cat"

Just seeing this

We're so glad you're HERE

LOL, MissingRosie,

No, I saw Ms Kitty toss the spindle off the upstairs balcony. Bunny kicks. I don't think she meant to do it. She was playing. But she does throw the decorative pillows off the furniture on purpose. She doesn't like the pillows for some reason, so she tosses them on the floor faster than I can pick them up again. That doesn't bother me as much as some of the other stuff. When I take fresh laundry out of the dryer, if I don't put it away right then, she climbs on it, throws some on the floor, and covers the rest in cat hair. She is a [grey] brown tabby that sheds heavily, and that dark grey hair makes everything look positively filthy. She leaves puddles of that dark grey hair on everything, on all the upholstered furniture and on the white carpet, anywhere she sleeps for any period of time.

I have hardwood in the great room, foyer, LR, and dining room, but I have white carpet on the stairs, upstairs balcony, and in bedrooms. My furniture is mostly white or near white plus some red toile, all choices I made when I was young and healthy and had no plans to obtain indoor cats. Those puddles of dark grey hair make everything look bad. Then, probably due to licking herself and ingesting fur, she barfs all over the furniture. It wouldn't be SO bad, except that I now have some serious disabilities. I've been on pain meds 24/7 for years now for a back injury (car accident), and still I have so much pain that I can barely stand up long enough to cook a single dish, not a meal but a single dish. By then my back is screaming so loudly that I have to go lie down for a while to recuperate.

It has taken me years to be able to admit to myself that I have a disability but I do, and I just don't have the ability to clean up all of the messes Ms Kitty creates. I hate it, but it's true. Regrettably, I still need to get to some messes she made months ago. To make matters even worse, Ms Kitty is not at all sociable. She hides out in the house, and refuses to come to me. I can only catch her at feeding time. Otherwise, she won't come to me. I might let her back in eventually, but for now I think I need a time out to get caught up on the messes.

It would help if I could block off some parts of the house to limit the area she can access, but, unfortunately, my house has a very open floor plan which does not allow for such things. Whole walls are missing, and the upstairs is open to and visible from the downstairs. The upstairs bedrooms are closed off, but the rest of the house is open. This is a pretty large house, too much for someone with my disabilities to clean. With just me alone, I can avoid messing things up, but I just haven't been able to keep pace with Ms Kitty's messes since she has had the run of the house. I tried keeping her in one room, a room with food, litter box, and an open window. I tried putting her outside on nice days and keeping her inside in 'her' room at night and in inclement weather, but she hated that, so I finally gave up and let her stay outside for now.

Both Ms Kitty & Cocoa, her son, were strays that I adopted some 4-5yrs ago, so they are quite capable of living outside. Plus the weather here is very nice and has been for months now. Nights are in the 50s-60s and days are in the 70's. Today reached 80F, so they are not out in cold or inclement weather. Ms Kitty had been living on the streets alone for years when I took her in. That's why she is sort of semi-feral.

Cocoa was an older kitten when I took them in, but as he had been raised in the wild it took a whole lot of work and love to earn his trust. He is only comfortable coming inside for short visits, but prefers to stay outdoors most of the time. He has no desire to live indoors. He comes in for a little while as long as I will hold him and pet him, but as soon as I start doing something else, he demands to go out again. He is terrified of all people except me. I can't even hold him and carry him near other people; he goes berserk, being absolutely certain humans are predators who will make a meal out of him if they get close enough. I've not been able to dissuade him of this.

With all of his problems, my dog Widget is quite a handful these days for someone like me with limited ability. Just trying to juggle things to get us all through it all.

Dream

Kill that Krazy Kat!! Just kidding..please don't send me hate mail!

Well, I don't own a cat...my spouse is AFRAID of them...convinced that cats go berserk for no reason..bite and won't let go... So...... Our son has always been allergic and so I did not push the issue. Now I am too old to want to take one on ...plus after having pups..I know what those vet bills can be like. When I was barely into my teens I snuck a cat into our home .. A big no no for my parents. I hid it in my bedroom closet...I can tell you first hand...cats don't like to be confined! 😇😊

I am sorry pain causes you to be so limited. I enjoy cooking so much, I can't imagine having to parse it out. Is that a correct use of PARSE???? Well, I am going to leave it..

I find as I age...my sharp eye is not so ...sharp.... This helps with critical evaluation of the housework needs.

I will end saying that you are very, very, very, VERY courageous....white carpeting. We have hardwoods everywhere and STILL it wears me out. Carpeting is very hard on the muscles and joints ( the vacuuming ) and so I surely empathize with you. Living in beautiful Charleston I hope takes the edge off for you. The night sounds must put you right to sleep.

Thank you for the compliment about my articles, Dreamofspring!

Well deserved, Hetty.

You are very welcome, Dutchlady1,

But all I did was call them as I see them. I read and enjoyed many of your excellent articles over the years.

Oh, and, Sharon,

I've certainly read many of your wonderful articles, as well, some more than once. I hope you held out for a royalties contract, because they are still running your articles fairly often. I know, because every time I would see one I would rush to check the date, always hoping maybe you were back.

Ha! Royalties contract. They wouldn't know the meaning of the word, Dream. But thank you!

Lin,

Thank you very much for the big welcome! I remember you from 'that other site', btw. Oh, and I have no doubt that admin here at ATP is helpful and responsive, because that's how they were when they were running 'that other site'. And nothing over there has been remotely the same since the day they left.

I'm so glad that most people kept their screen names. It's like walking into a room where you already recognize most of the people. Unfortunately, I changed my screen name about the time of the 1st big exodus. I hated to do it, realizing the new name would confuse many people, but the decision was prompted by a very poor choice of screen names the 1st time around.

Thanks again!

Edited to add: I love your comment about garden therapy!

Sharon said:I think you'll find that you are coming home, Dream. We've been missing you.

Sharon, Thank You! How very nice. In many ways this really does feel like coming home, but I have all of you to thank for that!

Sharon,

Before I forget, I want to clarify that the bird you remember, the one that was on top of my head in those photos, was actually Mr T. The story I started telling about Mr T earlier, the story where he used to show up every single morning at sunrise and sit at the same window pecking feverishly at the screen all day long until sundown, just cutting around the edge of the screen like a can opener, seemingly trying to take my house apart one screen at a time, that was just the beginning of the story which months later culminated in Mr T landing on my head (several different times, even), apparently, with the intent of pulling a few strands of my [then] strawberry blonde hair for his nest (or to please his sweetie).

Yesterday I started that post about T with the intent of tying the two events together at the end, thus leaving myself an opening to come back later to add photos and further embellish the story about how Mr T came to be on my head. Unfortunately, last night I got tired before I was able to get to the point of tying the 2 events together. I got very tired and just stopped the post cold at the next period without bothering to work out a proper ending, so I totally understand how I probably confused some people and maybe even left you wondering if I had the right bird story. But that was T, both destroying the window & later walking around on my head looking for just the right hair to pull for his sweetie. I will try to find those photos soon and post that story.

Thanks! I wasn't sure of the timeline but I thought surely it must be the same bird. You are a critter magnet for sure.

Thank you Sharon.

Dream,
I got tired just reading all of that. I'm sorry you slowed down so much.Prayers going out.
I agree with leaving the cats out. Ferals never want to be indoors too long. Yours survived owl and coyote attacks and will be fine.
Cat barf and fur piles. Yep, nuff said, lol!

Rosie,
Oh my, I got big laugh out of the cat in the closet!

Yes Sharon,
They are really enjoying their treasure trove of articles...

Song,
I can't wait to start reading what you write again. Welcome!

Thank you very much, Vic!

Thank you for that huge welcome! As always, I'm running way behind on my replies. Hopefully, I will stay better caught up now.

Ugh, It is really getting toasty here now. Mid 80's today and with high humidity. Sticky. Icky. It's not supposed to be this hot this early. Argh! How is the weather these days where you are?

Here in the Piedmont of NC, it has been breezy ( a whopper of a gully washer yesterday ) and mid 70's to 80 (<once) not sticky tho. Sunny next few days 70's. I think clouds coming towards weeks end.

Guess you better get out the mosquito spray!

The weather has been alternating between really cold and unusually mild. The foot of snow that fell on March 1 & 2 has since melted, and the ground has thawed. Snowdrops and crocuses are starting to bloom, earlier than usual. Here in the north, we are in favor of Global Warming!