The Great Squirrel Mystery

There are in our yard an oak tree, a pecan tree, and several pine trees. These trees provide gourmet dining for many squirrels.

I realize that squirrels are rodents, and I have an aversion to most rodents—a BIG aversion. For some reason, however, I find squirrels cute. They make messes throwing the cores of pines cones that have stripped all over the yard, they dig holes to hide the pecans, and they leave their acorn shells on the railing of the deck, but they amuse me.

They are cheeky little devils, sitting up appearing to be issuing challenges to you. They have boundless energy it seems. They scamper up the trees in figure 8’s, and leap from limb to limb, tree to tree, with the bravery and agility of super heroes. They also let you know in no uncertain terms when they are perturbed with their tsking.

They are a bright spot when I am breakfasting on the deck. For the last two or three days, they have disappeared. I see maybe one or two a day. Where have they gone? Was it something I said? Did they not approve when I put walnuts out for them instead of pecans? (Maybe they haven’t noticed the price of pecans lately.)

I hope they are simply on vacation (Is there a Myrtle Beach for squirrels?) and will return soon. I need every little bit of fun I can get these days.

Small-town South Carolina

While I don’t find this area of the country a pleasant place to live , I try to find things to like about it. The town has been improved esthetically since we moved here.

We have one of the prettiest recycling centers I’ve ever seen. The town, and the users, keep it neat and clean.

The last photo is blurry; I couldn’t see the image with the sunlight on my camera. I was flying blind you might say. You get the idea though.

Click on pictures for detail.

Life, Lemons, and Lemonade

Mr. Fixit developed a bit of a tummy in the last few years as some men of a certain age do. He went to a bigger waist size when buying pants and was contemplating moving up another size for comfort’s sake when his medical condition changed around the first of the year.

The kidney was removed through an incision made just above his belly button. After the surgery, there was quite a bit of swelling so that made his paunch seem even worse.

Having been on the cancer meds for some months now and having several problems with side effects, he has lost about 20 pounds. His paunch is almost gone, and he is back into his smaller pants that he had “outgrown.”

Today we were in the frozen food section of the grocery. I noticed him looking at his reflection in the glass doors of the freezer units, patting his belt buckle, and hiking up his jeans.

I asked, “Did I just see you admiring yourself in the reflection in the freezer case?”

“No, no,” he replied. “I was just pulling up my jeans a little.”

“Yeah, right,” I commented.

He smiled his guilty little smile, and said, “You don’t miss a thing, do you?”

At last, a silver lining found for those side effects!

My Fifth Grade Teacher Would Be So Disappointed in Me

I sent the following text with a photo of his cat to Jason today. (We are checking on the cat, Potter, while they are away on vacation.):

“Do u c potter? He copped a cattitude today. wouldnt come down. Stayed at top of steps.”

If I had been sending an email, I would have written:

“Do you see Potter? He copped a “cat-titude” today. He wouldn’t come down. He stayed at the top of the steps.”

The text version leaves me feeling a tad uncomfortable. After having grammar, punctuation, and spelling taught to me for 12 years, it’s difficult to disregard the rules.

Why do people use no punctuation and spell phonetically when sending text messages? Is there a limit to the number of strokes or words like there is on Twitter? I’ll have to look into it. In the meantime, ttfn, lol.

Unspoken Words

This morning I was on the deck having my breakfast. Mr. Fixit was still in bed. I received a text from him: “I’m up.” Just to show him how tech savvy I am, I replied, “Good 4 u.”

A little while ago I was at the computer when he came upstairs and almost reached the door to the computer room. Before entering, he turned around without saying a word. A bit later, another text: “Did you throw out the spaghetti?”

I think I may have created a monster when I suggested making changes in our phone service. I have a feeling that until the “new” wears off, texting (I hate that word) will be our main method of communication.

I’m a Little Texter, Short and Stout

Yesterday I had had enough. We were having a problem with a prescription, the doctor’s office and the insurance company,  and Ben, Jason, and I were communicating via email. They were in their offices, and I really don’t like to bother them during working hours. I would send an email to both explaining what was going on, and then I would have to wait until they had time to reply. I decided if I had texting set up on my phone, it wouldn’t be as intrusive as email. (That’s what they keep telling me anyway.)

My phone was a very basic Verizon phone. We had the texting blocked because it was so expensive. It had no camera or any of the fun stuff. I bought it because the keys and the screen featured large letters. The phone has always given me problems though.

So off we go to the Verizon store. I explained to the associate that I didn’t want a smart phone or anything else that would force me to choose between paying my phone bill and eating. I started to tell him I would settle for a not so smart one if the price were right. He presented a plan to us and a new phone that offers texting and a few little amenities for the same cost as our old plan. And my phone is a very nice shade of blue. Mr. Fixit opted to keep his old flip phone because he thinks he’s going to have a problem texting in English. So while I can’t surf the web, I can text.

I received a text from Noah today. “I heard you came into the 21st century and you can text now.” I replied with my own text. It only took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to text and to type the message. I was so proud of myself when I was finally clicked on “Send.” I showed Mr. Fixit my accomplishment and noticed a typo in my short reply. Noah probably thinks I need a little more work in the 21st century technology.

Frustration

I am so p.o.ed at Blogger/Google. All I want to do is show a link on this blog to my other blog. I have tried so many times and get the same error message. Maybe if they would offer a solution to the error instead of just saying there is an error, it would help. It would also help if they wrote their error messages in PLAIN ENGLISH that we mere technically disadvantaged mortals can understand.

Pet Sitting

Ben and his family are in Myrtle Beach this week so I am keeping the cat, Sitty-sat. I call her Itty-bitty Sitty-kitty committee (only one member). She is almost totally black. I’ve only seen a couple of white hairs on her chest. She is black, black, black.

The first day and a half she hid under the couch, only coming out to eat. She eats a lot. I don’t how she keeps her girlish figure. She is becoming a more friendly. She will sit on our laps and wander around the house a little, but she still won’t come into the computer room.

Bella has been calling almost every day to check on her. I sent pictures last night to reassure her.

I think Sitty thinks we are boring. She’s accustomed to having two dog friends, and the five human members of her family. The quiet alone must be unusual for her. She will probably be glad when they come home.

Check out the extended claws. Maybe she’s not crazy about having her picture taken.

My Morning View

Most mornings I have my breakfast on the deck unless it is too hot, cold, or wet. This morning it was cloudy and extremely humid. The temperature was about 74 degrees, but the humidity made it a bit uncomfortable for me. However, it did make for a nice view.