Hot Diggity Dog

  The phone woke me; it was the surgeon's office reminding me that I have an appointment tomorrow for my pre-op. It was storming and the rain beat down so loud on the roof it dulled the sound of anything else. I went back to bed and slept until 11am. That is unheard of for me. I reminded The Man about the trip to Gainesville tomorrow and he left to get the oil changed. I was left with a quandary. Should I head to Wits End and continue my quest to organize, or should I get a casserole put together and ready for the oven and then go to Wits End? Wait, another option presented in my brain ..... should I stay and mop the floor, too? None of the above happened. I was being very industrious as I cleaned the kitchen and got all the ingredients to the counter. I noted that 1/2 cabbage in the crisper and thought I should throw together some slaw to go with our dinner/supper tonight. As you all know by now, I have precious little counter space in my tiny kitchen and am forced to keep small a...

  As my appointment for surgery draws near, my hand reminds me with shooting pains that this thing has to go! Despite that, I have been playing every day in my shed. I have both ends built in with work surfaces and now the fun begins as I begin to unpack all the stuff that has accumulated in there. I have discovered things lost and forgotten. I found the foot pedal for my favorite sewing machine (I now have 4 in various states of repair). One end of the room will be dedicated to sewing. All my thread is on the peg wall. Ribbons are on dowels waiting to be mounted on the ceiling above the work surface.  On the ceiling, you say? There is a 5' loft above each end. That means that I can touch the ceiling will little effort, so why not use it? There is 6' in the middle that will have my cutting table affixed. I am stingy about my space and will use every square inch! Under the cutting table will be the big clear plastic totes with fabric. I should be able to go three high with stac...

  The cat that has been here consistently for the longest time is Lucy. She showed up with her black mama cat and two other kittens. Her brother, Lucifer, scratched me with wild abandon when he came onto the porch and then tried to get away from my dogs. I was only trying to help him! He left and never came back. The other female I tentatively named Ethyl disappeared one day, never to be seen again. That left Lucy and her mama cat, Mousey Tongue. A pretty sleek black cat. MT was the wildest of all the cats we have encountered thus far. She would be with the other cats who all ran to greet me when I went outside, but always hanging back and ready to flee.  She didn't show up one day, leaving Lucy here. Lucy was still a kitten. I thought she might warm up to us when her mama left. This is about the time that Gray Lady was first to the dinner tray and her belly was growing. Lucy never left our yard but was still not going to get too close to us. Gray Lady birthed her babies, ate ...

  Another beautiful day and I was anxious to get outside and do some planting. I was heading around the house to turn the water on and begin the endless watering and suddenly Lucy was right beside me meowing loudly. She is not usually vocal when she follows me. I looked down and saw her big belly was gone! I stopped and looked around, wondering where she had put her babies. The back side of the house does not get a lot of sun. She chose wisely. She was under the pressure washer that was behind a roll of fencing. I had not raked all the leaves from last fall out and could barely make out an orange baby and then a black baby and another baby that looked like Marco, Polo's (now Kevin) lost brother. No, I did not touch them, wanting to gain her trust so that she will let me touch them. I still have some replacement formula from my adventure with the kittens I could not save. I stirred the powder in the warm water and tore some bread in to give it substance. I fed it to Kevin's cat ...

  I actually saw the hand surgeon!! We did arrive an hour early, as I had predicted. I saw the surgeon for a good 5 minutes of the appointment. The surgery is scheduled for May 5th. The hospital will call with my time the night before. But here is the crazy part. I have to see the surgeon for my pre-op visit April 29. That was a little annoying since I live so far away .... and no, 8am will not work for me. But the hospital has to see me for a pre-op and plan to do a full cardiac work-up before the surgery. I have a cardiologist and just had an extensive work-up and do not see the necessity of this. When I had my oral surgery, my cardiologist approved it and that was fine with that surgeon. Can't be because it is in a different state, all my doctors are in Georgia. My oral surgeon is in Tennessee .... I am quite certain that Medicare will be charged for each visit. With the oral surgeon he included all the office visits in the cost of the surgery. I had to pay for that one myself. ...

  The big day is here. I will be seeing the hand surgeon today. As great as that is, it is only a consultation. The internet keeps playing with my emotions and when I finally get a chance to read posts or write one, it will go in and out and I lose part and keep part and then just close my laptop in frustration. We went to Chattanooga last Friday to meet up with some favorite people. We went to a restaurant and had brunch. Oh, my goodness, this place, Milk and Honey, was so good! The Man ordered his favorite sausage and biscuits. No adventure with him! I had chicken and waffles and could not eat it all. There is a bakery in house, and we left with a box of goodies and my leftovers. Pistachio White Chocolate scones and some cruffins. The pasties melted in my mouth. I toyed with thoughts of hiding them from The Man and telling him he had eaten his share. That would be mean, though. A nice fantasy. It was in the downtown part of Chattanooga and parking was an issue, but the drive over...