The Sacrifice I Make For My Cats

I don't know why the area I live in is different from the rest of the nation but it obviously is. I had a conversation online with someone in Texas who was informing me about the kinds of goofy people who shop at her local Walmart. What she describes to me are the kind of folks featured in the People Of Walmart website. I feel somewhat deprived since I can shop at our Walmart Supercenter and never see anything except normal people.

A couple of years ago there was a plethora of male Duck Dynasty wannabees with their gray hair in long pony tales down their backs, sporting beards while wearing Tshirts and plaid flannels, Not exactly the most attractive fellows since they were old enough to know better, but... Whatever floats their boat and all that. I just haven't ever seen the kind of weirdos that other people claim to see when they shop at their local Walmart.

I mention this because I have to make a trip there today and I am dreading it. Not because of the people I might see but they're remodeling the store while staying open and I can't find a single thing I need without a great deal of hunting. Every single department has been moved and in cases where the new location isn't fully ready, stuff is in a temporary spot which changes all the time.

They have signs up that state that we can ask an associate if we can't find what we're looking for but when you do ask, the associate doesn't know either. At the moment the Craft department is located in the annex which used to house Lawn and Garden. I haven't located Lawn and Garden yet. The TV's and other electronics are where the Crafts used to be. The Jewelry counter and the Bakery counter are gone. Cakes and stuff like that are out in the coolers where the berries used to be and I haven't seen the berries. That doesn't matter so much since I have a freezer full of local grown but where are they hiding stuff? Who even knows if these new locations are permanent?

Last week when I went there they had started ripping up the food sections. Apparently that's going elsewhere. Today I have to get cat food which is now in the back of the store next to electronics, instead of in the middle next to kitchen appliances. I haven't seen kitchen ware in my travels through there so I don't know where that went. I need grapes if I can find them and facial tissues.

I have a list of other things which may not get filled because it's likely to take me a long time just to find the stuff I've already mentioned. I'm not looking forward to this at all. I view all this as a nightmare shopping trip and have been told by women decades younger than I am that it's not that bad.

Oh yes it is!

If it weren't for the cats starving to death I wouldn't go there at all until after the remodeling is finished. Unfortunately Walmart is the cheapest source for the canned cat food and the ONLY store in my area that carries a variety of flavors in the original consistency they call pate. My options are braving the remodeling process and hunting for what I need or taking a 50 mile round trip to Target. Just for cat food and then having to go shop for the other things I need elsewhere.

Maybe I'll feel braver after a second cup of coffee?

When Men Go Shopping

I am more than willing to purchase underwear for my husband but for some reason he chose to do it for himself. We now know he shouldn't ever do that again. He is the proud possesser of 6 pairs of briefs one size too large for him, 6 pairs of knee socks and a cat toy.

Also, one jealous cat. 

Precious was having entirely too much fun and Butterscotch would not allow that. It got a little tense when Butterscotch decided to assert himself by cuffing the offending kitty upside the head. The thing that is annoying is that Precious was having so much fun and Butterscotch isn't interested in playing with it. He just wants to stop Precious from playing with it. 

Once we have moved and we then have rooms to separate them into, we are going to try to keep Precious in the house all the time. He's getting older and I'm thinking that if we can keep him safe from Butterscotch and provide him with enough things to interest him we might manage it. Where we might have a problem is getting him to use a litter box. He never has and I'm not sure how that's going to go. If I decide that will be an issue that I'm not going to like the outcome of, I am planning an enclosure that he can access. I know enough people who are handy with a hammer so that should not be a problem. 

The enclosure may be a better idea, I won't know until we move. 

I Need An Energizer Bunny

It's been  a highly stressful week. Things kind of popped open and we now have everything we need to get the property to the point where we can move. I'd like it to happen before Christmas but we did find we have to change a utility pole. The home dealer says we need to get hold of National Grid this week because they take forever to do their part. They have to mark the spot where the new pole will go and then hook it into the power grid. This may delay the move until Spring.

I don't care. It's a reality now. We have the land, the mobile home with a custom designed kitchen, the permits to begin work. All paid for and with enough left over to pay for the new pole.

I have to start sorting and packing and I'm goofing off right now to energize myself for the ordeal.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Honest.

Would I lie?

I'm going to miss my neighbor the beef farmer. 

And the wide open spaces across the road from me. 

But, I'm going to love living without any monthly rental except for the taxes. And the upkeep. Since I own my own home except it's on someone else's land and my new home is in far newer condition I'm thinking the upkeep will be mostly things I want to improve on instead of fix. Money saved by getting rid of the landline that was costing us this much money every month can be saved for improvements. We're now officially a cell phone only family but we still say no to smart phones. 

I suppose I'd better get to work. *sigh*

Life With Cat

When you live in an older 12 X 65 mobile home with 3 bedrooms you find the rooms are rather small. When we decided to add a wood stove to the home in order to stay warm without breaking the bank buying kerosene. We removed a wall between living room and the first bedroom which was a whopping 6 X 8. That left us with a second closet in the living room so we built shelves in it and used it for storage. One can never have too much storage since no matter how much we have, it's never enough. In this closet I put cases of paper towels and other things like hubby's tools and past years of his business book work.

I needed a roll of paper towels out of the closet and once I had one in hand decided I needed to go up the hall to the bathroom. I put the roll on the seat of my computer chair and when I came back into the living room, it wasn't there. I was hearing this rather strange popping noise so I followed it and discovered Butterscotch lying on the floor on the other side of the coffee table hugging the paper towel roll and driving both hind paws into it with claws extended.

There was tiny bits of paper floating through the air and sliding across the floor. Some of them had made it the remaining 4 or so feet to the dining room floor. My darling cat is a paper shredder. He thinks it's his reason for living. He'll shred books, business receipts, newspapers, magazines, toilet tissue, paper bags, heavy cardboard box one bite at a time and paper towels. My newly opened roll of paper towels looked like this.

I wish I could say the cat was hanging his head in shame in this next picture but I doubt it. I actually think he was probably laughing at me. Now that I've looked at this picture again, I realize that's one of my husband's business receipts under his nose. Maybe he was planning some new mayhem?

Since I have a 4 legged fur bearing paper shredder in the house, I am so grateful we no longer have carpeting. I can't imagine the damage to the carpet, possibly the vacuum cleaner and definitely my nerves that having carpet would create. Just one more reason to count my blessings.

Farmers Market Day

This particular market is a producer only market. If you don't make it with your own hands or grow it yourself, you don't get to sell it at this market. Some of the other area farm markets allow the farmer to buy produce and resell it until their own comes in. Not at this market.

Many of the farmers are Amish and do not allow pictures so I had to stand in the middle and shoot the lane which doesn't give any idea of what's for sale. The only exception is Heather's booth of hand made soaps. When I took pictures there, she bent over and tied her shoes.

Available products today were all the types of veggies and fruits you'd find growing this time of year. There's pillows and jams, breads, berries and cookies. One booth is hand made wooden cutting boards, There's an alpaca farm booth where I bought some alpaca socks for my husband. One person sells pies and one person sells fresh garlic only. Oh, and the wine maker.

I bought my half bushel of green beans for the freezer and a couple of acorn squash. Tomorrow it's clean, snip, blanch and package it up for the freezer. I'm already tired.

The Trouble With Trying To Change One's Lifestyle

I have been making lifestyle changes, one at a time to acquire new and better habits. I'm chuckling at myself because the changes, while beneficial, have been small and easy ones. I still haven't tackled the big ones I need to address but they too are in my future.

This morning I really need to go clean my kitchen. I am suffering from inertia and a tendency this morning to watch the clock looking for the magic lunch hour numbers. After a year plus of retirement I finally figured out I can buy things I want to eat that Hubby won't eat and have them for my lunches on days when he is out. So, yesterday I purchased 3 cans of Progressive soups. Granted I prefer home made split pea soup, but without anyone else eating it a large pot of soup would languish in my freezer until it deteriorated to the point where I wouldn't enjoy the consumption of it.

Anyways, I purchased a can of Split Pea, a can of Lentil and one of Italian Wedding soup. Got to get into that one last night when hubby wanted a supper I won't eat. The remainder of that oh so good soup is sitting in my refrigerator waiting the noon hour for further consumption. Maybe I should have had it for breakfast?

I had plans for today which included a morning walk and having the kitchen clean by now. All I can say in defense of myself is I'm LAZY! And I really need to stop being that way. It's after 10 and I'm not even dressed yet. I should be ashamed of myself but I'm not.

I am aware that this type of thing isn't being kind to myself. Learning to be kind to myself is kind of a process achieved by trial and error. It requires movement. I feel like Goldilocks with the too much, not enough and just right categories. Too much movement increases pain. Too little movement increases pain and I haven't found the just right movement amount yet. Have faith in myself that I'll get there...eventually. I do consider that maybe eventually needs to come a little sooner since nothing is ever guaranteed, but I like living dangerously once in awhile.

Since today is going to be one of sunshine and moderate temperatures I will manage that walk after supper. I'm thinking about taking my camera and see what I can find worth capturing. Right now I better do more than think about capturing a clean kitchen.