Christmas is here!

At "its a small world" at Walt Disney World at least. And the new and improved version at Disneyland opens this Saturday!! We were there in January 08 and the ride had been kept in all its Christmas splendor since it was closing on the 21st or so.

It's that time of the year again..msg

it's October!! My favorite month. The weather begins to soften, we don't have to run the AC all the time.

Here is a fun online test

You get to find out what color you really are VBG and the explanation for that color. It's based on the HTML colors btw. Link to the test is in my results:

you are orchid #DA70D6

Your dominant hues are red and blue. You're confident and like showing people new ideas. You play well with others and can be very influential if you want to be. Your saturation level is lower than average - You don't stress out over things and don't understand people who do. Finishing projects may sometimes be a challenge, but you schedule time as you see fit and the important things all happen in the end, even if not everyone sees your grand master plan. Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything. the spacefem.com html color quiz

the spacefem.com html color quiz

No more streaming for the lion cubs

Alas, they've taking down the live stream for Sera and her cubs. I miss them already and had looked forwarded to watching the cubs play. Saw them last, a week ago Sunday, and as of yesterday there's a notice up that its over.

I wish them a long and healthy joyous life.

Note: click on comments and the links to comment. A very nice person found updated video links to the lion cubs going outside for the first time - too funny! and to meeting their father...big upset for the lion Moms.

You can also view them at the old streaming page: Original Streaming Page for the cubs, updated Oct 9.

A little late but I've been watching since ...

the start:

Sera is the lioness to give birth to the first lion cubs in Norway. At the Kristiansand Dyrepark, Sera is the proud mother of four lion cubs: Nala, Lea, Kiara and Akira. They were born in the morning of May 31st, the event being fully covered and broadcasted online. More than four weeks have passed and people are constantly watching Sera and her cubs: they’re either playing, being pampered by their mother or sleeping.

The live cam has been down a couple of days: Live Baby Cam so I hope it comes back up!

The Cracked Pot

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.

At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.

'I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.'

The old woman smiled, 'Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?'

'That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.'

'For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.

Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.'

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

A salute to the intrepid Snake Fighter - Gilly who has left us for the Bridge to the sound of pipes-

Gilly Gorgonzola has departed planet Earth and is on her way to The Rainbow Bridge if not already there. Preparation for departure was stressful in the early hours of morning, but the actual leave taking was very calm and heavy with feelings of love, from us, and from all of you.

Later, at the store, suddenly the sound of Scottish Bag Pipes, and Amazing Grace filled the air, in fact it played at least five times. Gilly telling us she had arrived and it is as wonderful as we had described to her. Her beloved adopted mom, Pancake, must have been waiting to greet her and clean her head and face, as was Tikky and Jimi Pam, Tia Dalma and Merry, all the kittens...Sydney...so many Angels.

We found her outside of our home 17 1/2 years ago. She slept almost every night of her life with my husband and me. There will be a huge lonely space in the bed between us now.

Irish Words Of Wisdom

from the gang at statecounter.com who are based in Ireland:


Some Irish words of wisdom:

Is maith an t-anlann an t-ocras.
Hunger is a good sauce.

Moladh luath agus cáineadh mall.
Be quick to praise and slow to criticise.

Tús maith leath na hoibre.
A good start is half the work.

Má bhíonn tú ar lorg cara gan locht, beidh tú gan chara go deo.
If you seek a friend without fault, you will be without one forever.

Cuir síoda ar ghabhar ach is gabhar i gcónaí é.
Dress a goat in silk and it’s still a goat.

Is fearr an sláinte ná an táinte.
Health is better than wealth.

And from this day on may you always have these blessings…
A soft breeze when summer comes, a warm fireside in winter, and the comfort of a true friend.

Sleep Dash!

Sheep dash!
Tiredness can affect your reaction times. See how alert you are with this game and test the impact of a cup of tea or coffee on your performance.

A nice movie from Smilebox

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

The Original "Smell Moment" entry

I realize now that the original "Smell Moment" entry hadn't been moved to this blog, so...>

October 3rd, 2006

This morning, in the kitchen, as I poured my first cup of coffee, I noticed the nice smell of bananas. We went by Tigermart Farms last evening to buy a few organically grown fruits and some buffalo meat. We gave up on “store bought” bananas, they are always so hard and there’s not much taste. But these are Good.

As I stood at the counter this morning, the banana smell took me back to a distance memory. That smell always does. It takes me back to…kindergarten! I went to a private kindergarten cause in the late 50’s in AZ there were no public school K grades. My Mom always packed my lunch as she couldn’t pick me up till the middle of the afternoon. And it seems now that my lunch box always had in it:

A small thermos of milk
Some sort of sandwich
A banana

I never ever smell bananas I don’t remember those rooms and my teacher, who’s name was Teddy Bear (really the owners name was Bear and Teddy was their daughter, my Mom reminded me of that when I was older). We called her Miss Bear.

Which leads to two more kindergarten memories:

Graduation! We actually had a graduation ceremony. And we girls were taught how to cancan so on graduation night danced, sang “Buffalo Girls Won’t You Come Out Tonight” and I was the lead singer, probably cause I was the Loudest. I was always the Loudest. My Mom and sister and I always sang while riding in the car so maybe I was the only one who could really carry a tune? Naw, I was the Loudest.

And second, I hated being in school. I wanted to be outside. I carried this little problem with me through 12 years of public school and on to college.

Haiku Written By Cats

Our vet, and client, in Houston sent me these :0)

Haiku Written by Cats

The food in my bowl is old,
and more to the point
contains no tuna.

There's no dignity
in being sick - which is why
I don't tell you where.

Tiny can, dumped in
a plastic bowl.
Presentation: one star;
Service: none.

Am I in your way?
You seem to have it backwards:
This pillow is taken.

Your mouth is moving;
up and down, emitting noise.
I've lost interest.

My brain: walnut-sized.
Yours: largest among primates.
Yet, who leaves for work?

Cats can't steal the breath
of children. But if my tail's
pulled again, I'm going to learn how.

I don't mind being
teased, any more than you mind
a skin graft or two.

So you call this thing
your "cat carrier." I call
these my "blades of death."

Toy mice, dancing yarn,
meowing sounds. I'm convinced:
You're an idiot.

I had another "Smell" moment this morning...

One of my first blog entries was about the smell of bananas, and how I will forever associate it with kindergarden. This morning I had another "way back" memory. My husband was lighting a block of pinion pine incense which I had gotten years ago in Gallop, NM. I love the smell, and as I don't know when I'll ever get another bag of them, I've been loath to burn them all up.

But life goes on and so it's time to use them and I do love the smell. He lit one this morning and within a couple of minutes the kitchen and living room had that incredible smell of a mountain morning in Arizona where I grew up - I could hear Mom making breakfast: bacon and bacon gravey, biscuits, scrambled eggs, coffee. I could hear Daddy talking about the horses. There was wind in the pines outside the open windows. And the faint smell of pinion pine from the fireplace from the evening past. It was the best of memories, and one I hold dear.

Merry plays with the shooting stars

Wednesday, March 12. Merry Andre Five Angels decides it is time to leave us. He departed quietly and is now romping and rolling with him mom, Tia Dalma, and his five Angel brothers and sisters.

You brought eleven months of joy and laughter to us Merry, it was an honor.

Tia Dalma's kitten - Merry Five Angels

And this evil Feline Leukemia is hitting Merry the past few days in a way. With a weaken immune system these kitties are susceptible to secondary infections. Merry has one we're treating - inflamed salivary glands. They are so swollen you can see the ducts. Our Vet, bless her, tries so hard. Merry had to be bumped up to Baytril injections as the Clavamox made him so sick. We're doing fluids too. Today he did want food, so we didn't have to syringe feed him.

He's such a joy and every day is a blessing with him, we just want him to feel good again.

Merry Five Angels