The Bradford Pear and robot fighting time

It’s springtime in Cleveland and it’s beautiful except for the daily rain. Chester is fine except he won’t go outside in the morning, begs for treats constantly after his dinner is eaten, and has developed a love/hate, mostly hate relationship with the outside animals especially this racoon that comes around around dusk.

Chester being Chester

There are beautiful blooming trees all over. This is OK with me because I don’t have allergies but some people are sneezing and waiting it out. At least the rain makes it better on them. Here is a picture of some beautiful white trees.

These are Bradford (not Bartlett) pear trees. They grow quickly and look lovely. Businesses planted them all along their driveways and parking lots. New home builders planted them in literally all of their treelawns. They were the next big thing.

The problem is that they smell like rotting fish, urine and other not so flattering released bodily odors. They are also highly invasive and have a short life span. They fall easily because of softish wood. In fact they are banned in Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. And they are all over. Oops!

I find this hilarious. Not sure why, but I’m tempted to plant one just to congratulate the Bradford Pear Tree on its stealthy takeover of Ohio neighborhoods by utilizing our desire to discover the new awe inspiring, look what I have in my yard, keep up with the Jones’ attitude. but even if I were to plant one (you can get seeds from Amazon of course) I would plant it away from my house because they tend to fall over.

Other than my chuckling at the situation of the fishy tree, we had a good time when we went to our grandson’s robot fighting tournament. They built the robot and each team fought the other schools and other teams from their school. It was a good time. The robots fought in a cage. The funniest part was watching the floor sweeper try to bend over and sweep at the same time. I’m glad the kids had this experience of building one, learning the driving strategies, and just the overall camaraderie. What an awesome challenge. “Thunder,” their bot, won two battles.

I hope you are enjoying your spring! Decibells is working toward our spring concert, May 16th, so if you are in the area, come on over to Harvey HS at 4:00 to hear us! We are playing Mr. Blue Sky, and hopefully soon we will see one! Take care.

Decibells Handbell Choir

Fortune Cookie strikes again

Back in January I opened a fortune cookie that told me to pick up after my dog. While good advice, it was not the hopeful, inspirational message I expected. I had not had a fortune cookie since then, but a friend and I stopped at the Ohio turnpike rest area for lunch. I know it sounds awful but it really isn’t. I jumped (well hopped maybe since it is almost Easter) at the chance to get Panda express. The food was surprisingly tasty, and I mindlessly opened my fortune cookie.

What was I supposed to do with that? My friend and I thought of all the words that might apply: beautiful, bad, bright, boring, bedazzling (that was not the top choice), basic, brainless, beautiful (we said that twice proving that brainless was the correct word). I clearly was not going to sleep unless I knew what my dang fortune was! How could I function without the guide of the ancient Pandas? I dug through the bag and considered asking the sketchy looking person at the counter what the answer was or if I could have another one. But, I am not one to turn down a fortune cookie so I ate it. At least most of it. I discovered a tiny slip of paper that revealed the answer. My fortune is bright! I can smile again! Thank you Panda Express!

They have been installing fiber optic cable in our neighborhood. This entails about seven hundred orange cones. Chester is much intrigued and it would seem that the dogs in the neighborhood are too. They think the cones were left for them if Chester is any example. This photo is the precursor to the inevitable marking of the cone. Or leaving a note for the next dog. It probably says “My cone, no peeing here” Obviously they don’t listen to each other.

In the case of life imitating art, the Artemis II had an issue with their toilet. The astronauts could do #2 but not #1. Of course a woman found this out; my sympathies, I know how she must feel. Anyway, my husband and I watch The Big Bang Theory, and if you do, you know where I’m going with this! The Howard Wolowitz Zero-Gravity Waste Disposal System is just what they needed. I truly hope this episode will be aired again soon.

Do you have a March Madness bracket? Here are our standings. I am Grandma. Not my finest endeavor. There has to be an error there.

I’m throwing in this picture of our car in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. It was windy as all get out and my little hat kept blowing off. But we had a lot of fun! Our car is a 1930 Model A. Even then I fell behind and the Model A just kept tooling along while I stopped to talk to people about our upcoming bell concert (May 16th at Harvey High School, 4:00 and free if you are in the Cleveland area!).

Have a nice Easter if you celebrate. I remember a new dress, new shoes, and fancy hair. Gloves even! The church ladies made these huge, decorated fudge eggs and we each got one plus a chocolate rabbit. There were billions of lilies in the church and the scent was so fresh. I know that these are not the real reason for Easter but try telling that to a little girl. I still crave a chocolate rabbit. Have a good weekend!

I was the taller grumpy looking one.

Biscuits in the mail and spring in the air

Happy March! It snowed last night. Ah well, in like a lion and out like…well in Cleveland it is out like a lion too. We can’t count on no snow until the end of April, and even that is optimistic. Anyway, the sun is out and while cold, it’s a good day to walk Chester. We went to Lake Erie Bluffs recently and this is what the lake looks like. The white spots are chunks of ice. Mini-icebergs if you like.

I saw someone in shorts yesterday. It was above 30 degrees. That is a midwestern thing. The grandkids were wearing crocs; a little muddy but that’s natural consequences. we went to the Maple Sugar weekend and made maple stirs. You take hot maple syrup and stir it until it becomes thick like fudge. Here’s a before and after.

Chester got some mail yesterday.

To explain, I had donated to a foundation against the explicit instructions of the founder. The reason I ignored the direction is twofold. First, the founder donated to my non-profit handbell choir, Decibells, when we were first starting up. It was a leap of faith, and I really appreciated the facebook friends, relatives, and others that trusted us to make it work. As an update, we are over three years old and going strong.

The second reason is this; the foundation donates stuffed Maltese doggies to people in hospice. The Christmas before last, one of our cats passed away. I don’t want to make you sad, but this was the kitty who would lie on my arm until I fell asleep.

He would at some point move to the foot of the bed (probably when I started snoring). When he passed, it hit me hard. I missed him terribly (still do) and couldn’t fall asleep. So I grabbed “Lucky,” a stuffed cat we got from Petsmart for donating five dollars.

I put him on my arm and while not exactly the same, it was what I needed. Sometimes people think that stuffies are just for kids but who cares what people think. They aren’t. If the foundation can bring comfort to even one person it is worth it. So I happily donated. Plus I do have trouble following directions.

Anyway, this came in the mail:

It was addressed to “Mr. Chester.” Two bags of biscuits! This is what he looks like when he hears the bag (which is way too often I think but my husband doesn’t follow directions either):

There is an imbalance here. First of all, Mr. Chester did not pay a dime to the foundation yet he got the credit. Say what? OK, so he is the best dog in the world and barks when he sees, hears, or dreams of a noise. Even on tv. He also chases the smaller animals out of the yard and brings the muddy yard back in with him. Here is a picture of the miracle paw washer I mentioned last week:

Mr. Chester hit the jackpot. He is very appreciative! Unfortunately…this is the mail we get.

We don’t get biscuits or gifts. We get junk. I admit we aren’t getting as much as we used to. We used to get more catalogs but now we mostly get local advertisements. Except for Cosmopolitan magazine which is addressed to our son who hasn’t lived here for years. Somehow he got on the list.

You can’t see my social media accounts, mom

So I suspect this is a case of dog conspiracy since it appeared to come from a little doggie named Reiko. Chester does have several girlfriends in the neighborhood but he could handle one more. Especially a long distance one who sends him biscuits!  

Have a lovely spring day! Maybe saying it will make it so!

Fat Tuesday Paczkis

Today is Fat Tuesday. I personally take offense to that, although if I am being honest, it’s kind of nice to have a holiday honoring the everyday person. Kidding not kidding, we are supposed to eat a lot then starve ourselves for Lent. I observe part of this.

In Cleveland, and probably many places, the paczki rules Fat Tuesday. It’s a flaky donut type pastry with jelly or jam or something sweet in it and is usually larger, making the donut look anemic. Growing up we pronounced it “paunchky” which was somewhat appropriate given the paunch part. I don’t know how it’s supposed to be pronounced. There are multiple pronunciations. All are vigorously defended. According to “Chef’s Resource,”

The correct pronunciation of  paczki is closer to “poonch-kee” rather than “pun-chkey” or “pah-zuh-kee,” although variations exist depending on regional Polish dialects. 

As for me and mine, our “paunchky” pronunciation is the bomb. Just like a paczki hitting your stomach. Apparently there was a paczki eating contest in Michigan and the winner ate 6 in 3 minutes. Sorry, but I think I could do better. I just choose not to. That’s willpower folks.

To be honest, I will eat a paczki but I’m not a diehard fan. I mean yeah, it’s sweet and close to a donut so far be it from me to disparage the paczki. But I prefer chocolate. A chocolate paczki would be tasty. Chocolate anything would be tasty. I found a small 4-piece Valentines Day candy box and look forward to sharing that later. I must have gotten an extra by mistake. But any pastry that defines Fat Tuesday is OK by me.

Chester is a happy happy dog. The weather has moved up into the 40s and 50s. Our birds are at the Birdfy feeder. The back yard is moving from snow to mud.

Usually it’s just his feet that are muddy but his belly sinks somewhat close to the ground so if he runs, it’s all over. I dread when he sees or hears some animal in the waybackyard and decides he has to catch it. I hear the thwap thwap thwap of his paws as he charges through the mud. He stays out there for awhile which gives me time to get the paw washer and a couple beach towels, one for him to stand on and one to rub him down. He still tracks paw prints all over the house. It’s worth it for the warmer weather.  They should make carpet with a paw print.

I’m not yawning I’m scaring the critters with my teeth
I’m so tired after protecting the back yard mud pit from squirrels and bunnies.

Tonight is our grandson’s band concert. I love band concerts. It’s so great to hear them doing their best. My heart melts to see the kids working hard at making music. It is still fun and sincere for them. I hope the joy of music sticks with them throughout their lives.

Have a great week and try to get a paczki!

Groundhog Day…

This was written back in 2019. It was 2014 when we hurried through Gobbler’s Knob to see Phil. Since then it remains one of my favorite mini-adventures so I post it annually.

When I was two years and 19 days old my sister was born. From that day on it was my job to torment her. When we were teens, we fought over clothing, the phone, and everything else. I realized recently that the problem wasn’t that I didn’t like my sister, it’s that I wished I was more like her. She had all the traits in high school that I envied. She had friends that laughed, partied, and probably a lot more that I wouldn’t know about. She had cool clothes and long, curly hair. In college, when I talked her into going through sorority rush, she had the Pi Phis attention. The Pi Phis wouldn’t look at me. I was quieter, and not as confident. But we all grow and change. Somewhere in our metamorphosis into decent adults, the idea of Bucket List Adventures was born.

It all began a few years back, I think at Christmas, when my sister said she wanted to go to Groundhog Day in Punxsuatawney, PA. She said it was on her bucket list. I’m not sure why, but I wanted to go too.  We set the hotel alarm for 12:30am and drove to Punxsuatawney. That is quite a drive in the middle of the night, hilly, winding, and dark. We sat in the Walmart parking lot until the bus to Gobbler’s Knob came at 2:50am. We put on our groundhog hats, hopped on, and were right up front by 3:00.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Keep in mind that Phil doesn’t come out and give his prediction until 7:20 or so.  We nailed a spot right next to the camera stand; with a perfect view of the dj and people dressed up like groundhogs giving high fives. For four hours and twenty minutes we stood in slight drizzle and listened to the band, cheered on the high school dance team, and groaned at bad jokes. We jumped up and down to “Wake Me Up” and yelled “Winner, winner chicken dinner” with the crowd. When at about 6am they started throwing around beach balls, the balls became covered in mud. We didn’t want to get muddy, so whenever a mudball would come at us we would stuff it under the camera stand. We put three or four out of commission that way.  We reached a feverish pitch when the fireworks exploded. Finally, with about 14,000 people behind us, it was time.  Phil emerged, with the assistance of a man who didn’t even seem to mind that he got bit.  Phil was lifted to the fireworks-hazy sky as a king. Right when he was about to make his prediction some stupid lady behind us fainted. People were calling for the medics and to stop the show. Ha! Silly people, nothing stops the groundhog. She should have toughed it out like we did. What a wimp. No matter. The top hat clad men of the inner circle put two scrolls on a surface about two feet apart, and Phil waddled to one of them, sniffing it. That’s how he made his prediction.

One of the inner circle that keeps top hats in business

It was then that my sister lost it. She is a naturalist and thought there was more scientific process behind the Phil pick. There was no sunlight to see his shadow; it was still dark, and with the firework haze nothing could shine through anyway. She was crushed and appalled that it was so random. We and the crowd of 14,000 walked through the mud that would take us to the buses that would take us back down the hill to the town. We walked our muddy selves to the Walmart parking lot and drove away looking for coffee. Keep in mind that we had not had coffee that morning because we wouldn’t be able to go to the bathroom and it was raining. We were cold and wet. My sister was still peeved about the lack of reputable weather skill exhibited by the great Phil. I was just tired. We needed coffee. By the way, he predicted 6 more weeks of winter which is actually a no-brainer around here. I could have predicted that and I’m not even a groundhog.

We arrived at some Denny’s like restaurant and were seated, then ignored. I noticed that table after table got coffee and we didn’t. Finally our waitress made the rounds. She stopped at the table next to us and made a comment about “these groundhog people” making it slow. Now I was both tired and peeved. When she came to us, I loudly told her that we ARE those groundhog people, and if she didn’t want us there we would leave. I even started to stand up. Of course she backpedaled, apologized and got us the coffee. Damn right. My sister stared at me like I grew three heads. What she doesn’t know is that I will always stand up for her. Nobody is going to deny my sister coffee just because she is a groundhog person. She is my little sister after all, and I love her. I can torment her the rest of the year.

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Yak Cheese and winter          

Every time John goes to the store he buys things for Chester. I am eternally grateful he goes because I despise grocery shopping. Something about all the food in all the crowded rows and my mind just shuts down. But I digress.

John buys things for Chester. I do put Milk Bones on the list but Chester has become persnickety about his treats; I guess his palate has become more refined.

Another digression: when our grandson Victor was about 2 years old he went to a wonderful day care. They would have snacks in the afternoon, supplied by mom and dad. Our son and daughter in law are conscientious parents and tried to mix up his snacks to ensure healthiness and a broad appreciation of different flavors. One day, they got a note home in his lunch bag. It said, “Victor prefers Ritz.” I don’t know why but that struck me as incredibly funny. It still does.

He still prefers Ritz!

Anyway, Chester prefers something disgusting, preferably with unknown animal parts that stink. John knows this and comes home with a variety of icky treats. This is what he found recently:

Yes, Yak Cheese. Now because I never heard of Yak Cheese and the treat manufacturers try to make them sound more appealing to people, I looked up what Yak Cheese was. I mean it could have been just about anything. But no, it actually is cheese made of Yak milk. I never. The twist is that if you break it apart and microwave it, it becomes a Yak cheese puff.

This is not as satisfying if your hound is looking for a chewing experience, but apparently it is still tasty. I wouldn’t know because although Chester will eat both variations he just isn’t as voracious as I have seen before. I guess Chester prefers Snausages.  

Anybody remember this guy? If you open him up he says “Snausages”

It has been cold and colder here, with finally some sun today but not enough to melt the snow. Schools were closed Monday for snow, then Tuesday for cold. Unfortunately for the schools it was equally cold Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Oops. What to do? They had no idea because some were closed Wednesday, then open again Thursday, or open Wednesday then closed Thursday. A couple are still closed. What a conundrum. If it’s too cold on Tuesday, and the same temperature on Wednesday, what is a Superintendent to do? Maybe check the forecast before calling school off for cold? It’s not like we weren’t warned…the weather people have been forecasting the blizzard of the century for days. Sheesh.  

You’re retired anyway mom.

Because of the cold, I decided to try on the sweater I bought for Chester a year ago or so.

He looks happy, but I think he gained some weight. The truth is, he seems fine in the snow. He goes outside and buries his face in it. Then he rolls around. He goes out when I start cooking dinner and won’t come in until I’m done. I set off the fire alarm one time and it scared him. It’s not my cooking. He loves his walks and we wimp out before he does. Yesterday I took him to a park. We were the only ones in the whole park. He kept it short though because of the pup cup promise. Yes, he got one and I got an iced coffee. All in all a good walk.

Me and Kim hanging out at Gobbler’s Knob

I see Groundhog Day is approaching and I will be posting my annual tale of Groundhog Day Debauchery experienced by my sister and me. It still ranks near the top of all of our adventures. Have a good weekend and stay warm! Don’t rub your face in the snow unless you have Chester fur!

The Fortune Cookie

Right after the new year, we ordered take out Chinese food. As usual, we received two fortune cookies. I anticipated a message that reflected the hope and promise of a new year. My husband opened his first, reading an encouraging, insightful saying as expected. I opened mine.

Seriously? Is this what 2026 will look like? Now it’s true that picking up dog poo is a routine part of my day, or at least every other day. Today is my day to walk the beast and we are in the middle of a blizzard. I don’t know if I’ll be able to find the poo in the snow. This is what our poor bushes look like.

Chester loves the snow and could walk forever. I, on the other hand, usually have to cut him off because I am cold. I will say that I love my YakTrax, chains that go over my boots. Chester plays a game where he tries to pull me into the icy part of the street or into deep snowdrifts. I think he wants me to imitate the Olympic ice skaters on a bad day. I dig in my chains and hang on.

I am making peace with 2026. Our final cat, Zeus, crossed the rainbow bridge the day after New Years Day. He was 16 and a half and had kidney disease. Kidney disease is fairly common in cats, and tough. He got to visit his favorite people (our kids) over Christmas, then took a turn for the worse. There just comes a point where you realize that it’s time. So, for the first time in about 30 years, we are catless. It’s really weird. Chester keeps looking around for something to chase. I have a daily urge to clean a litter box. Not really. But I do feel like I do in the dreams where you enter a class and realize it’s the end of the year and you haven’t been there at all, and it’s exam day. I feel like there has to be a big pile of litter that I forgot about somewhere. I truly hope there isn’t.

Zeus was determined to walk across the keyboard in younger days! He had cattitude!

Chester still has Bunny and now added Bear to the family. He tore Bear’s heart out but carries Bear around. Here’s the quiz for the day…a music quiz. I predict Midwest Mark will get it first, but who knows! The lyric is “you ain’t ever gonna burn my heart out.” What is the song? And Artist? No looking it up!

Well, I will try to write at least a little drivel more often. We are fine and I enjoy reading your blogs, I just haven’t felt the urge to write. But that fortune cookie spurred a WTF feeling again, so maybe that was just what I needed! Take care and stay warm!

Chester vs The Cone

About three weeks ago, Chester went to the vet for dental cleaning and to have some small lumps removed. Easy-peasy right?

What’s that you say?

When I picked him up, he was loopy. The tech helped me get him into the car. This was no small feat since he had a large blue cone Elizabethan Collar. He was supposed to wear it for two weeks. When I got home, I had to get him out myself. Keep in mind he weighs 80 pounds and the cone kept catching on the door. It was one of my prouder strong man moments. He couldn’t go up or down the stairs at first, so he just slept. Poor guy, I felt sorry for him.

He had stitches in about five surgical lump removal spots. The dental was nothing. But the lumps caused the battle of the century: Chester vs the cone.

Once he was fully awake, he decided to remove the cone in spite of our wishes. We watched him carefully, but he is smart and determined, not a good thing. At one point he got the cone in his teeth, pulled it off and flung it across the room. We managed to keep it on until overnight when somehow, he got it off (quietly) and pulled out his stitches from one of the wounds.

probably inappropriate but his attempt to remove the cone

When I noticed, I didn’t panic, but it wasn’t pretty. We took him back to the vet and she stitched him up again. This time he got a hard plastic cone.

He couldn’t get it off but it was too long and he couldn’t eat or drink or go up and down stairs. He looked so miserable that my husband, the softy, waited until I left the house and took it off, replacing it with the blue cone. The concerned mom (me) bought an inflatable collar that looked like a donut with overnight delivery from Amazon.

The husband thought he looked uncomfortable when he was laying down so he put the kibosh on that one too. Back to the blue collar.

When I walk through the door I can fold it back!

This sufficed for a few days, but the stitches in half of a wound pulled apart. Fed up with the whole thing, I thought back to when my kids were little. I dealt with multiple scrapes, scratches and other assorted oopsies so I did what any mom would do. I put ointment and a band-aid on it.

This was followed with the dumping of the toys

I replaced the band-aid twice or three times daily for days and guess what? It’s almost healed! He is still going after one on his paw, so I slapped a band-aid on that one too. His appointment is Tuesday to get the stitches removed. Sheesh.

Two good things though, the lumps were all benign, and bunny made him feel better. He’s back to throwing bunny around instead of the collar.

At least Bunny loves me.

This has occupied my mind for several weeks. When I come home I check it. Before I leave I make sure he has his cone on. He seems depressed so we have been giving him lots of treats and hugs.

I think I need another Milk Bone

Happy Thanksgiving to all in the USA! I host it, and Chester will get some turkey. Turkey for a turkey!  

Happy Halloween

Chester has to deal with our silliness one day out of the year, unless you count deer antlers at Christmas. He didn’t mind too much and a couple of kids said “He’s Scooby Doo” who is a particular role model and hero of Chesters, so he felt honored. It was pretty cold so I think he was OK with having something over him. Plus he got lots of pets. We had a wonderful Halloween! The rain cooperated, we had our annual fire pit with our awesome neighbors, and we only ate one bag of candy before the big day. Below is what my son puts out for decoration in their neighborhood.

In our neighborhood, we get this…

Now let us backtrack a little through the week. My husband’s birthday is on Halloween and I make him a cake. Our grandson is allergic to eggs though, so I have been working on my egg free cakes. I tried a new recipe this year. It was not successful. The consensus was that it looked like either a mushroom or a nuclear explosion.

I am proud of my egg free delights so I made another one. Here are the results. The second one was the clear winner and it turned out yummy, especially with frosting on it.

Backtracking further…our basement flooded. Not just ours, the whole neighborhood had flooded basements. There were 10 inches of water in the basement. It was not rain water, the sanitary sewer was spewing.

What we were left with…

Pretty bad, right? yes, I won’t disagree. Luckily we had insurance so it won’t all be on us, but what a mess. We had a company come in and dry it all out, pull out the flooring, and cut the drywall up 20 inches. That’s where we are now.

But in every incident, there is a way to laugh. Maybe not a hard full laugh, but at least a smile. Here’s the good in the situation, sort of. First, my dad had a collection of 800 jazz records that I inherited many years ago. About 1/3 of it was on the floor. Luckily about a month ago I sold it to a jazz enthusiast and collector who is enjoying it right now (I hope). Back in August our bookshelf fell over and our son took his books and packed them up. We shipped them to him. He also took his records. Because he was picking up his stuff, I too picked up all our books and put them up on a table. They are safe. All over my living room, but safe!

On the funny side, my husband said when he opened his office door, his slippers floated out to greet him. He did not put them on. Also, we had two litter boxes on a rug down there. They were floating, rug and all, around the basement. It reminded me of the old Bible study song, “Arky, Arky.” If Noah took litter boxes with the two cats, they might look like these. I wish he had taken a picture but it wasn’t topmost on his mind I guess. What was he thinking?!

The fans the people set up were loud. There were about 16 of them and two dehumidifiers (I think). they sounded like jet engines taking off. I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I took Chester to one of our favorite parks. He happily walked along the path, then decided it would be a good idea to stick his face into a mess of ticks. They weren’t the fat brown slow ones, but little black ones.

My sister said they are making themselves known in Ohio and Michigan. She said they are active in October. So, I picked them off and cleaned out my car like crazy. Now every time I have an itch I freak out. I hate ticks. Do we really have to deal with multiple kinds?

Well, we are dealing. Bunny continues to thrive. We find Bunny in many places but not torn up.

I’ll have to get Bunny something for Christmas if this keeps up. Have a good week and may you remain tick-free! Don’t forget to turn back your clocks tonight if you have to!

The Happy Opossum and the Bunny Saga

Chester does not care for Mr. Bones

We have a new friend. I wish I had a picture of him but it was dark so here is an AI picture of a possum in case you don’t have them in your area.

So dang cute!

Opossums are nice animals that eat mosquitos. Some people think they are ugly, but they EAT MOSQUITOS. Some people don’t want them in their yard but hey, they EAT MOSQUITOS! I don’t care if it looks like the incredible hulk in miniature. If it eats mosquitoes, it’s my new best friend. Actually, since we live by the lake, it’s midge season here, so hopefully the possums are not picky and will eat them too. Regardless, this possum likes the bird seed on our deck that the blue jays ignore after squawking to demand it. Surprisingly, Chester doesn’t get too huffy about the possum, call him Fred. It may be a girl, but I’m not sure how to tell unless it shows up with baby possums in the spring. Until then, it’s Fred. Anyway, Chester notices him, but just watches, unlike the two racoons that he gets all worked up about. My husband thinks it’s because the possum pretty much ignores him. It doesn’t move quickly, just keeps moseying along eating the bird seed. Not all the bird seed mind you, nothing will eat the little white seeds that look like rice. Fred came to visit last night. I didn’t let Chester out, because I felt sorry for the possum. People think mean thoughts about possums, so I will be a safe haven of positivity. Chester went out later but Fred was gone.

Meanwhile, the Bunny saga continues. Chester is in a bad habit of wanting treats before he eats his dinner. He always asks my husband, who says no. Chester gets into a snit and squeaks Bunny for awhile. He looks at me as if to say, “I have this bunny and you don’t.” I try to get Bunny without getting off the couch, and usually I let him win. He keeps this up for awhile, then dumps his toys, tears up a box or something and eventually eats his dinner.  You would think with all this chewing and squeaking Bunny would be in shreds but aside from being a little worse for wear, he’s holding up remarkably well. Bunny lives to see another day!

Chester sleeping with Bunny so I can’t grab it

Do you have these in your areas?

They are “Little Libraries” and people put books there and borrow them. Last summer there were three or four brand new Dr. Seuss books. We were having a fund raiser and I had to come up with a book basket. I took one of the books to put in it. I felt so guilty I had to put it back. It just wasn’t right to take a book then basically sell it. Kind of goes against the whole concept, right? Some people put canned food in them. Do you give canned food drives your best stuff or do you grab the three-year-old can of jelled cranberry sauce to clean out your cupboard? I confess to donating a can of beets. It wasn’t expired but…beets, you know? I’ve donated a couple cans of cream of something soup too. I would feel guilty but it’s my intention to intentionally stiff someone, I just forget to buy good canned stuff.

Just a picture of our favorite park. This field had an intentional burn last spring, and it grew back already!

That’s the story of my life. I forget stuff. I went to a program about organizing your space. I went with the co-grammie, who even the grandkids say did not need a program like that. I on the other hand, well anything would help. I do have a hard time keeping everything from overwhelming me, especially the clutter. The lady said to ask yourself if it brings you joy. Well everything brings me joy. Every little piece of artwork, every souvenir from vacations past, everything. I’m going to have to face the fact that even though it brings me joy, I have too much of it. I’ll have to steal myself and just get rid of stuff even as I bring more in.

My new favorite animal, the Otter named Steve. Sorry about the glare.

Like this picture…my new favorite from The Otter News. I just love it. Snarky? Yes, but so true. I have one type of meeting I used to have to attend when I worked that was the mother of all hated meetings. I will talk about that in the next post.

This picture, the money ball, was described in a previous post; we got it for the grandkids the fair. The grandkids were playing the carnival games, and they are pretty good at basketball. They won after only $20 which is a real steal!

Although it’s raining, it’s been pretty nice here. Fall in Ohio is just beautiful. I hope you are having a wonderful time. Enjoy!