Recently in kitten Category

I was looking for the kitten. It took me awhile to find it. Can you? The kitten seems to think my wreath is its own personal cat lounger. It doesn't move and rarely wakes up when the door swings open and closed. This is exactly the thing that inspires artists to draw scarey cat pictures for Halloween. I don't think she cares for the camera flash at all. It was cool enough last night to build the first fire of the season. It was just a little one -more for mood than for warmth. Steven has a lot of trouble as a firestarter. I would really worry about him if he ever decided to go camping or suddenly there was no such thing as a heater and we had to live by fire alone. It usually takes an hour for him to coax a flame. When he gives up in defeat (and severe frustration) I start the fire. ******* Yesterday I went in search of mulch -by the truckload. I called the local 'green recycler' and got a quote for a truckload which included the delivery. 1 truckload = 40 cubic yards = $880 (Holy Hell that's a lot of money and made me cringe and get a very weak sensation in my stomach.)This is loose mulch. They back the dump truck up and dump a giant pile in your yard. Then I called Lowe's. Mulch at Lowe's comes in a bag stacked on a pallet and is priced at $2.97 for 2 cubic feet. Follow me here in a little math. 3 cubic feet (cf) = 1 cubic yard (cy) 1 cy from Lowes = $8.91 1 cy from the green recycler = $22 $880 for 40cy truck load or $297(100 bags) + $20.79(tax) + $85(delivery)= $402.79 for 67cy Less than half the price and 1/3 more mulch! Shouldn't it be cheaper to buy the mulch when it has just been processed and delivered rather than buying mulch that has been processed, bagged, shipped, stored, purchased by the consumer then delivered? I called another company who wanted $26/cy, could only deliver in 20cy truck and would charge $130 to deliver. I just don't get it. Sometimes I wonder how people think they can stay in business when they out price themselves. I don't know about you but I have to cost compare otherwise we would do without alot of things and my house and yard would look like vagrants lived in it. Owning a house is so expensive these days I completely understand why many people choose to rent. Do you shop around and make sure you are getting the absolute best buy for your money? The mulch is being delivered Thursday morning. I guess you can figure how we will spend Friday and the weekend.

Firstly, I knew you all where going to give me grief about the kitten. I should have placed a bet. LOL - That is the best part about friendships -even on the net- you can speak your peace with a smile. In my own defense the cat must stay outdoors. When Gracie plays with the kitten for say 15 minutes or so her eyes turn red and begin to swell. Inside we go and have to wash her face and hands, put in some itchy eye drop stuff and then blow the nose for a while. If the kitten came inside full time I would have serious problems with Gracie. When Gracie was younger, between 18 months and 3 years, periodically she would need to be rushed to the ER because she could not breath. She has never been diagnosed with asthma and hasn't had an episode in a couple of years but seeing her struggling for every breathe makes me super cautious now. I can still see the heaving of her tiny chest trying to draw in air and hear the aweful rasp of air trying to be pulled into her lungs. If you have never seen such an attack be thankful. It is one of the most frightening experiences to face with a child. Secondly, the kitten is eating the canned food because it really wasn't ready for kibble. This kitten is tiny and I don't think yet weaned when found. The kitten still tries to suckle when it is held. It sucks at Steven's neck and the kids arms so we got good Friskies canned food and add a little extra liquid (milk) and warm it in the microwave for a few seconds. If we offer dry food the kitten just licks at it and can't eat it.

So that you can get an idea of its size the dish the kitten is eating from is my antique Johnson Brothers saucer and dessert bowl. The dessert bowl is about half the size of a common dessert bowl available today. The food on the dish is about 1 tablespoon. We feed the kitten 3 times a day and extra saucers of warm milk.

Thirdly, the kitten is too young to be fixed but Steven has checked into it. We just have to wait awhile yet. Oh and Steven did go out and get some kitty things and snacks, too. But the kitty can't chew the snacks. It just licks them. I am not being mean to the kitten. It is being spoiled. I am just being nicer to Gracie. It is for her own good to stay outside otherwise I would have to make all the kids cry and take it to the humane society or the animal shelter. See? We are doing right by this kitten. What else am I supposed to do in this situaton? Moving along this morning - This is what my fireplace looked like back in March. The big black hole of soot and ash that kept us warm while the snow had piled up outside for most of January, February and early March. It is also the same black hole that left a lingering stench of ash ever since. But I have remedied that with the insert you will see in the next photo. This is what my fireplace looks like this week after several (oh I could cry) thousand dollars were paid to fix the chimney that was damaged in a chimney fire that could have been caused by a lightening strike that also killed one of my 80+ year old damson trees this summer (I could cry even harder but I won't because I joined the National Arbor Day Foundation and they are sending me new trees to replace it). This is what the chimney looks like today from the outside. A 23 foot stainless steel liner was put into the chimney and a slurry of cement was poured around it to seal the damaged firebrick and mortar. Then another stainless steel tubing was run up into the chimney and connected to the cast iron wood burning fireplace insert I chose back in the summer. Then a chimney cap was put on because the chimney is a double chimney. It vents the fireplace as well as the fuel oil burning furnace. Why am I showing you these photo? I do not like the look of this fireplace. The mantel is barely six inches wide and there is very little room to display anything. I just have not found my place in dressing a fireplace yet -as far as decorating goes. But!!!!!! I have found a way to fix the look of that ugly brick and small mantel. I am going to whisper this so listen closely -A handyman is coming to my house friday and we are going to talk about stuff! I feel like I am hiring a gigilo! (Shhhhhh) I mean my goodness, nothing gets me more excited than painting and building and planting stuff - and this guy can and will - if I pay him. So see, I will have hired a gigilo -of sorts! (Shhhhhh) I know this man's wife has never considered her homely husband to be a gigilo -seriously, short, skinny, wild blonde hair turning grey, and missing several teeth -but he comes highly recommended -is not a picture of a gigilo. Can you hear my hands clapping in glee like some tiny toddler with an eye on a bright shiney object? Can you even imagine my excitement if I actually found a housekeeper? Neither can I.