Beginning of November

 I went for a walk today and it is pleasantly not too cold. I like my walks, it is my thinking time, my talking in my head time. Other people listen to books or podcasts or music while walking. I prefer the quiet. 

We just returned from helping our dear friends for three days to set up their huge booth (more like a giant store) in Toronto at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. It is a big deal and goes for ten days I believe. We were only there during the designated set up days, so we did not have a chance to see the shows or exhibits or tour through all the many vendors and eating areas. People come from all across our big country bring the best of their best livestock, anything from beef cattle to dairy cattle to pigs, sheep, chickens, rabbits, alpacas, you name it. I hope our friends have fantastic success with their tack business this coming week.

I'm just throwing this out there, as when I shared about my breast cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment, many of you had your own stories to share, which made me feel very good indeed. Now I am experiencing a side effect of taking the A.I. (which prohibits estrogen from being produced), that being significant hair thinning. Nobody warns you about this one. It is distressing, as I have always enjoyed caring for and styling my hair over the years. I did a bit of research and found out that manoxidil (the ingredient in Rogaine which is often used by men who are experiencing hair loss) can possibly help. This is not a result of chemo, as I did not have to have chemo. This is a result of the prescription that I am to be on for ten years (I may decide to not do the full ten years, but as of now, I am on it). So, any relatable tales or suggestions would be welcomed.

On a different note, I gave the girls a treat today. I had three pumpkins on my porch for decoration through October and today I brought one back to the chicken run and cut it apart with a shovel. 

Cautious exploration at first.

Definite interest now.

Not to be forgotten, here is a picture of Murphy in all of his glory. Son was making his work sandwich the night before and playfully tossed a wrapped piece of cheese on Murph's ample belly. He didn't care at all and would have casually laid there, cheese in place, for as long as was necessary.

Murphy isn't the only one with a penchant for lying on his back, underbelly exposed. Here is Scooter.

He is so fluffy it is hard to distinguish where his head is, but you can see one ear. The difference between the two cats is Scooter will adore a belly rub, whereas Murph will only tolerate it for a moment. 

I have a busy two weeks ahead, as I picked up seven consecutive teaching days at my old school, all in the same class. The lovely part about it, other than being in a familiar setting, is the teacher who will be away is the one to plan everything. I just have to execute the plan. Nice. 

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend, everybody!

Saturday, the sun is shining

 This is going to be a "nothing" post. Which is a good thing! Today is finally sunny and I will take a walk around the little village in a bit. 

I took Scooter-the-cat-with-no-tail to the vet the other week. He has had an issue with his chin, looking "dusty, dirty" first, and then scabby and then loss of hair. We looked it up and thought 'feline acne' and tried some home treatment but it didn't seem to work so off to the vet he went. The vet's office is STILL saying we can't come into the building and you literally have to speak to someone through a crank out window on the sidewalk. Personally, I find this overkill, but I'm sure there are others who are still fine with it. A hundred and something dollars later I left with a cat in a cage and a small bottle of Prednisone (nasty-ass medication for humans, but hopefully not too bad for him in these small doses), a bottle of anti-bacterial soap (not likely to happen) and a bottom end injected with a long-dose antibiotic. (his bottom end, not mine). 

We've been putting his pill into a little softened up chunk of cheese so he will take it. I'm not a good pill popper of cats and Scooter is not a good patient. He is incredibly squirmy and strong when he wants to be. He's not a violent cat, in that he won't hiss at us, or try to deliberately hurt us, but he's impossible to deal with. With no tail, he's the shape of a furry football and he squirms like a larva. So cheese pills it has been. He seems fine now with the pills all done, he's eating and acting normally but his chin still looks like a bald, pink, lumpy mess with a few billy goat-like hairs coming through. 

Over Christmas, we had a decorative bunch of bells hanging from the doorknob to the porch on a fake leather strap. I suppose it's to make a jaunty sound when someone enters your home. Husband thought it would be fun to teach Murphy (the other cat, now fat, and stripey) to ring the bell to be let out. It worked, remarkably well and quickly. So much so, that like a fool, I bought another set of bells (dollar store) to hang on the doorknob to the other porch. Well, let me say I deeply regret all of it. We are slaves to the bells and he is abusing his bell power. Yes, I've removed the bells when it just is too much, but it's also such a cool thing that his cat has learned to ring the bell, that we always end up putting them back on the doorknobs. 

Abuse of power lies in the fact that he rings the bells to the back porch and when I get up to let him out, he veers instead toward the kitchen to show me his food bowl. I've been removing his bowl through the day, as his girth is now such that I refer to him as "Wide Load". Or even if there is food there, he needs me to jiggle the bowl to even out the 'dent' in the middle. Smart and manipulative.

I've been trying to cut back greatly on grocery buying, working my way through things in the pantry and deep freeze. We've had shepherd's pie, chili, a pseudo sweet and sour chicken stir fry with rice, canned soup and toast... Now that lettuce doesn't require a second mortgage to purchase, I'm including some salads with our meals, too. 

I had brought out my bread maker which I had not used in ages, thinking I should make my own bread (well, have the machine make my own bread) in order to save a bit on the ridiculous cost of bread. It was working well, but now a bit too well, as bread is something husband can't resist, so I think I may tuck it away again for a bit. 

Have you ever had issues with tiny little moths in your kitchen? I discovered in horror about a year ago, that the bird seed I had been storing in the mudroom was hatching out these little beasties and then they were flying around in the house. They eat wheat products. I then discovered that they'd gotten into the kitchen drawer where I keep my flour, sugar, and other baking supplies. I did a drastic clean out and put things into jars and sealed bags after that. I thought I had nipped the problem in the bud, but I've seen the little buggers again lately. I run after them like a manic, trying to clap my hands on them mid-flight. But I have yet to find the source. It makes me feel like an icky house keeper. I'm paranoid about sealing up things. I fold over the inner cereal bag and clamp it shut whenever I use cereal. I even cleaned out the toaster, thinking maybe the crumbs from the many pieces of toast were a food source. Ughhhh!! I do not, by the way, store bird seed in the house anymore. (and for those mystery solvers out there, I've cleaned the bread maker and always wipe the counters of crumbs).

Two days ago I did my first supply teaching day in a VERY long time. It was in a kindergarten class that I used to supply in last year, so I knew some of the kids, as they were in junior kindergarten last year, and are now in senior kindergarten (It was a JK / SK class). I also knew the ECE (early childhood education) person in that class. It was so nice to be back at it! It was a bus cancellation day due to fog, freezing rain that never quite transpired, so it wasn't the full class of 28 students, but instead only 15, which made it nice as well. I have booked myself 2 and a half supply days this coming week as well and I'm very pleased. It feels great to do what's comfortable and familiar and normal.

That's all I have. Hope everyone has a productive /restful / enjoyable / healthy weekend - whatever you require. 

Whisker Wednesday?

Just popping in for a quick post on a Wednesday. Just got back from getting propane for the barbecue, arranging to have my rings resized at the jewelers, buying necessary ingredients to make a key lime pie (I've been having a hankering - I'll let you know how it goes), and putting gas in my vehicle which hardly ever gets driven by me (hmmmmm, children...).

Here are some whiskery pictures of Samson (son did not want his face in my blog) and a sleepy Scooter cooling off on a leather couch.