Saturday, November 8, 2014

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Our last All Hallow's Eve here

We created a spooky front porch for Halloween with my old Sony 27"tv tuned to static with the subwoofer blasting and a mannequin hidden at the far end of the porch to startle unsuspecting Trick or Treaters.

Friday, October 17, 2014

I saw this today...

We never thought we'd see gas drop below $3 again. Sometimes it's nice to be wrong !

Saturday, September 13, 2014

The "new" shade pavilion

Beetles and ants bored and ate thru some of the pine logs that framed the shade pavilion and one corner collapsed a few months ago. So it was time to rebuild it and it's now finished.
The concrete pillars will outlast the rest of the deck and they blend in better with the "Roman Pool" theme.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

The new Foyer

Freshly painted and redesigned, the entry foyer welcomes with warmth and a touch of whimsy.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Passing of a Good Friend

The vet said Hercules had a month to live two months ago, (kidney disease) so he beat the insurance companies, but he started losing weight several days ago and then he stopped eating and drinking entirely.

He disappeared off into the neighborhood, and wound up reuniting us with a neighbor we hadn't spoken to in years.  It was one of those miracles of serendipity.  That was a special gift he gave us on what turned out to be his last day on Earth.
Early this morning, the vet told me Hercules had a bone tumor in his jaw and he would never eat or drink again.  I was certain I could get him to eat, so I took him home and tried for several hours.  He wouldn't touch milk, water, or gravy, so he and I just laid out watching the trees blow in the breeze by the pool in the back yard. Occasionally he would squeak to me that his jaw hurt.  Finally I put water on his tongue with a medicine dropper, so he could drink without moving his mouth, and he didn't even try to lick it up.  So I figure that means he made the judgement call for himself.  He climbed right into the cat carrier, again showing me that he knew what he was doing.
We had our "Soylent Green" appointment today.  He got two injections that were a bit painful at first.  I stayed with him petting him and telling him what a good boy he has always been for 15 minutes, so he would feel me by him through the last possible moment of any brain activity.  I believe cats probably get the tunnel of light just like humans do.  (I've asked a half dozen folks who died in a motorcycle accident or on an operating table and were revived, and they all got the tunnel of light with relatives waiting at the other end.)  So I gave him the best possible sendoff I could give him.

I prayed a Luminous Rosary for Hercules, my unconditional best friend for the last 17 years, for him to help me to make the coming years count and reach my goals and become the best person I can be.

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Harambe Nights Concert

At Disney's Animal Kingdom