Sunshine is Back

Yes, there is no rain falling from the skies over Maine today. I have just come in from sitting on the porch in the sunshine, working on my tan. Riley was working his way around the yard--rolling in the grass. I think the temps are in the 70's.

Yesterday, G & I devoted ourselves (in the pouring, cold rain) to getting the Ohio car titled in Maine. I have new license plates, excise tax stickers but no inspection tag yet. So the Ohio plates are still on the car. I meant to Google to find a place here in town that will inspect my car before writing this post.

The bastards at the "Annuity" wrote me a letter saying I needed to return $24,000 to them because "someone" took a check for that amount AFTER my dad died in September of 2007. I very calmly explained that in September of 2007, my dad was ALIVE and perfectly able to take the interest money out of his OWN annuity. They checked. Wow! He WAS ALIVE. Am I getting the money? Nope. I'm to expect a "letter" in two or three weeks. My dad and his attorney were never able to get money out of these bastards. I don't expect to get any out of them without a lawsuit of my own. And these BANK BASTARDS got my dad to put the money in the annuity in a CLASSIC case of Elder Fraud. He didn't understand what he was buying. They just told him to "sign here" for 6% interest on his bank accounts. Next thing he knew the bank accounts were empty and he was the "proud" owner of an annuity that made it's FIRST payout in ten years. My dad was 84 and in poor health. My dad spent the last two years of his life depressed, fearful and angry. Trying to get his hard earned money back.

Okay, enough of that. I refuse to go down the same road my dad followed.

I picked up books from the library today. Two for G and two for me. Whenever I order books on line, they come in bunches. Usually more than we can read in three weeks. But there's nothing to watch on television this summer, so we are reading.

I made a wonderful iced coffee to drink while sitting in the sun and wish there was more cold coffee to make another. I could drive out and buy one. Or just have some cold water. I ate a really big lunch of 6 boneless BBQ wings, celery, carrots and hummus. But I'm thirsty now. I think I'll make something to drink, put on a load of laundry and go sit in the cool living room and read. I work tomorrow. I should enjoy today as much as possible.

We had another cat bunking down in our garage last night. Methinks my husband is forgetting to close the garage door. He denies it. So the cats must be teleporting through the doors into the garage. I think I should give one of those grocery papers a call.

Missing Cat

What a story I have for you today. I was all ready to go for my walk with N this morning (and Riley) but had a few minutes so I went up into the attic to look for the cute little metal table I bought last July. I had it next to my outside chair to hold my beverage.

The attic is a complete "man made" mess. Piles of crap. I couldn't even get to the pile of outdoor chairs and when I climbed over to it, no table.

But------ the tiniest little meow. From behind the workshop door.

I ran down the stairs and up into the workshop part of the garage and there was a tiny cat looking down at me. Riley barked and the cat scrambled back up into the workshop. No time to try and find it--time for our walk. So when I got to N's house I mentioned the cat in the attic.

We walked. Talked. Laughed. Riley sniffed, peed and pooped.

Got back to N's house and her husband comes over to say there's a missing cat in the neighborhood, my next door neighbor's cat, and N's husband had called to tell them it was in my garage.

The neighbor came over, we climbed up into the attic, over insulation batts, sawdust, styrofoam, wood and machines but no cat. Neighbor left. I was so sad. And worried. Had the kitty gotten out when I opened the garage doors? He was an indoors only cat so had no street smarts. Only one year old. And there is a lot of danger in our woods.

I went back upstairs and sat on the step, worried and there he was, in the most inaccessable part of the attic. I would have needed a ladder (very tall) balanced on the stairs to even reach where he was hiding. I could just see his ears. I called the neighbor to say the cat was safe.

I spooned some fragrant Mexican casserole on a plate. When trying to gain the attention of a lost animal, stinky food works best to bait the trap. And once the neighbor arrived to catch the cat if he ran past me, I began to dig my way through boxes, batts and debris to the cat. The long way around. I placed the Mexican food where the cat could smell it. He's been somewhere and possibly in my attic, since July 4th. He approached the food.

And then I grabbed his collar and it was the snap off kind. So I had to make a really calm grab for him and he wasn't liking it at all. His claws were grabbing at every thing we passed as I crawled backwards out the narrow opening I had made.

He was safely returned to his owner (and to three year old Hazel) and will probably not open the window screen and escape ever again. Or if he does, I hope he comes back here to my garage and stays away from the fisher. And the coyotes. And the porcupines. And the raccoons. And the deer.

Going into the woods isn't something little cats with bells on their collars should do.

Misfit

A bit of art content since this blog is on the Art Ring. A collage of fabric scraps not usually found in a quilt. Corduroy, selvedge, wax crayon batik (home made) and some daisies from trim I found in a box of junk. I finally had a moment to sit at the machine and zigzag this down. Now to find an additional half hour or so to add binding. The color is true.

Some old silver plate spoons I found at Goodwill. Well used as the silver plate is worn thin at the spoon tip. I love the color shift in the silver plate patina. I may mount them on a linen covered board and frame the lot and hang them in the kitchen or dining room.

Just finished the book I was reading: Serena by Ron Rash. I wish I belonged to a book club that was reading this book as there are elements of the story I would like to discuss with someone (anyone). Which is why this post is labeled "misfit".

I just feel so out of step with the regular world. So alone. Not lonely. Solitary. Not ordinary but also not extraordinary. I wonder if this is the specific DNA for my family? My parents were happier living separate lives. My children live alone. I live inside my head.

My early report cards suggested I was not social and didn't "play well with others". I never had "best friends" in school. All my secrets stayed inside and were never shared. I never "fit".

I can spend long periods of time alone, not speaking to anyone (though I am addicted to blog communication right now, perhaps because it is silent). I am annoyed by the dog and his social needs. He interrupts constantly. I like to look. Process my environment. Sort through the things I see, hear, notice or read. My brain likes to sort.

My work environment at the greenhouse is interesting because we (employees) are all misfits. We discovered this by accident. Wondering why certain people get hired and others do not. A long time employee asked "haven't you noticed, yet, that he hires misfits?" Not that there is anything wrong with any of us. We are just original. Is that a polite way to say it? And. We all like each other. Eventually. I look forward to work and my co workers. One misfit among the many. And, as far as misfits go, we are all exceptionally good at customer service. I may be the grumpiest one of the lot, but usually it's just my "thinking face" and it isn't really an indication of grumpy-ness.

The fact that I am very good at customer service and am such a solitary person is so contradictory. Perhaps it works well because I can retreat back inside my head when I get home or do repetitious work in the greenhouse or perennial yard.

When I don't have time to spend, inside my head, sorting, I get very irritable. Ask G. He is usually the innocent bystander to my irritable outbursts. When the children lived with us, I would tend to scream at them, also. My son reminded me of this on the long car ride from Ohio. Delightful.

I am feeling particularly misfitted these days. Like a snake needing to shed it's too tight skin. I'm not sure what, exactly, is too tight and needs shedding. But it's there, pinching and irritating me. Making me less than pleasant company. Could be the lack of sun has made matters worse. I need sun to charge my batteries.

G is spraying mosquito killer on the woods so we don't get chewed to death by the blood sucking vipers. I am eying trees that I want removed to allow more wind to flow across the yard. The neighbors are up in arms about the deer eating our roses and hydrangea. They have eaten the whole side off my new plum tree (up next to the house). The deer have plenty to eat in the woods. So we have decided to challenge the covenants and build fences. The dog across the street has gone blind from diabetes. So much chaos. Not much zen.

I think I want to go shopping for a large glass container for dog food, a large French coffee press and perhaps a coffee grinder. (Target?) And the dining room table is getting a makeover. No more craft materials. It's all going back into the workroom. And I am going to draft a pattern for king size pillow cases to use some of the lovely printed fabric in the fabric closet. I love pillow cases. I especially love mixing several with an assortment of sheets. My bed always looks so "interesting". Wish I had more beds to play house with.

Playing House. That was my all time favorite "play". In Kindergarten, I had a wooden house, child size, with furniture and dishes. This is the reason I "didn't play well with others" as I wanted the house to myself, all day, every day. Later, Santa brought me my own little table and chairs, china dishes and crib for my doll. I even had a tiny stove and fridge. I'm still "Playing House".

July First

Still cold and rainy. But, my favorite flowers are blooming. Rose Campion. Very difficult to find as a plant or in seed form. I saved seeds for years and when I began working at the greenhouse last spring so many people asked for it---- and I packaged seeds and gave them all away. I hoped, with fingers crossed, that some of my plants would return. They are biennial. Meaning they produce flowers every other year and make little rosettes of leaves in between. If you have enough seeds scattered around, you get some rosettes and some flowers every year.

I usually scout around my yard looking for rosettes and I dig them up and transplant them to one spot so I have a large grouping of Rose Campion to enjoy. This year, with the major digging and weeding of the perennial beds here at my house, I finally have the little beauties right next to the back porch and near my chair. Tall silvery stems with flat open magenta flowers right on the tippy top.

My friend P brought those veggie burgers over yesterday along with some wonderful bread and pickled green tomatoes. We had a lovely dinner together with some organic wine (a bit thin) and then went to Art club together. Only five of us. But we enjoyed each other's company and I stitched two circles.

I was describing Riley's behaviour yesterday with the car to my husband this morning, and I finally realized what the dog had noticed immediately (and I had failed to see). I was asking him to jump out of the car WAY too close to the invisible fence line. Smart dog.

G is vacuuming the floors. I am washing clothes. Riley is resting up for his walk in the woods. The skies are overcast. The grass needs cutting. We are going out for lunch. Which probably means no dinner needs to be cooked. All that food I bought on Monday!!!

Who cares? I'm just going to go with my whims today. Do what feels good. Pretend I'm on vacation. A vacation where you do laundry. Which, actually, is what I do on vacation. The first place I visit in any hotel is the laundry to see what they have available. I also iron in my room. I don't overpack so I need to wash clothes even when we are only gone a week.

I looked into the garden yesterday while taking Riley out and noticed that I have small yellow squash growing. Cute. And the cucumber plants are finally sending out those curling tendrils and grabbing hold of the trellis. And the roses are blooming. And the leaf lettuce is ready to pick, wash and eat with salt, olive oil and Balsamic vinegar.

Those stacked (neatly) bodies out on the balcony with all their luggage? Could those be all the things I have put aside "for later" like painting, travel and art? Or were they just dead bodies?