Around the Yard

Went for what is becoming my daily walk around the yard today. If I just went out there and walked, it wouldn't take long at all as it's not that big of a yard. But, I have gotten into the habit of grabbing my iPod and listening to a podcast or two while my ever present outside kitties walk around the yard with me. We meander through the tall grass (yeah, need to mow already) and sometimes I even pull up some wild onions which seem to grow abundantly in my yard. Today, I carried my camera with me and took a few photos, mostly of the cats of course.

 Here is my little swing, just waiting for me to start coming outside and while away some hours sitting there with a good book and my ever present cats. Hope even jumps up in the swing with me sometimes. Mostly though, they lay around or under it.

 Here is Google (Da Goog as we call him) trying to ignore me and get some shut-eye. Didn't work of course. 

 This is Muffin. Queen of all she surveys. She's a temperamental little girl sometimes, but I love her. 

This lonely little tire filled with topsoil is just waiting for me to plant some potatoes in it. I have a couple other tires waiting to stack up as the potatoes grow. I can't wait. 

Well, at least Goog is winding up to pounce on his Uncle Tango and not on Muffin. She doesn't put up with such shenanigans.

And here's Tango. Like most orange tabbies, he has such a laid-back disposition. Such a great guy. ("Does this flower make my butt look big?")

And this is Goog's sister, Hope. Hard to tell from this, but she is a really tiny thing. Tough girl though. She likes me to throw pieces of kibble to her so she can pounce on them before she eats them. She also hunts voles, moles, mice, chipmunks....pretty much everything.


I always said I'd never have outdoor cats, then they started showing up. What can ya' do? I've gotten some of them to the shelter and new homes, but for one reason or another, these guys are still here. And I love them all.

This year, I'm going to try some gardening again. Tomatoes in buckets, potatoes in those tires, lettuces and/or kale in wooden pallets (if I can get them), and just maybe I'll put some corn in the ground. We'll see. Seeds are pretty inexpensive, I can get the buckets for a bit over $1 each, a friend has some pallets he's willing to give me, and I already have the tires (which I got for free from a local tire center). Yeah, I have plans. They're not written in stone though, so if I don't get all of it done, that's OK. There's always next year.

New Experiment

OK, so today starts a new experiment. I got the idea from a blogger (forgot which one now) who got the idea from Jerry Seinfeld. Yes, THAT Jerry Seinfeld.

Seems Seinfeld uses a calendar to make sure he writes an hour every day. The idea is to mark off the day after he gets at least that hour of writing done on a calendar that hangs where he can see it. When you see it like that, the X's start connecting and making a chain. Instinctively, you don't want to break that chain, so you are more likely to keep going.

The blog I read was about doing the same thing, only the writer had four things he wanted to do every day, so set up four calendars with a goal of doing those things for at least 15 minutes each. His items were cleaning, writing, exercising and IT stuff (he was some sort of computer/internet/IT person).

Starting today, I'm taking his idea and running with it, although I only have three calendars: cleaning, exercising and writing. That's at least 45 minutes a day, 15 minutes devoted to each. I'm sure I'll think of a fourth thing at some point, but for now, three is fine. The exercising at least 15 minutes will hopefully not only help me get into some semblance of shape (besides round that is), but will also help to bring my BP down.

The cleaning....well...the past couple years have been tough around here, and I've been so down about so much, I've let this place go BIG TIME. It's way past time to get on top of that, which means cleaning out, throwing out and/or selling lots of stuff that has piled up.

As for the writing, you'd think that since I run the local writers' group, I'd be writing like crazy. Not the case. Maybe it's the aforementioned tough times we've been going through, but my writing has really slacked off. So now the idea is to write for at least 15 minutes every day, and it doesn't matter what I write. I can jot an entry in my journal, work on a poem, write a blog post (this counts), etc. As long as I write SOMETHING for at least 15 minute every day, I'm good.

So, it has started. Let's see how it goes.

And so the story goes....

Well, to be honest, I don't entirely know how the story goes.

I am working on my first novel. I've been saying that for years now. It's not that I haven't actually been doing it, it's just that I can't seem to get it together. The idea I thought I had for the novel appears to be more of a short story, maybe. I don't know. For now, I'm writing bits and pieces of that one down, disjointed little notes and whatever comes to mind, then I am putting it away. Why? Well, I have a new idea.

OK, I know. Maybe I should finish one before I start another. But I love this idea. I got it from a paranormal podcast I was listening to the other day. (Podcasts are my newest obsession. I have almost 2500 downloaded so far. I love them.) This idea is so creepy, so scary...I just hope I can make the creepy and scary come across enough to justify my even trying.

I have always loved scary stories. I love being scared, which I know is crazy. I was listening to the podcast I mentioned on the way to a pet sitting job that is pretty well off the beaten path. This house is in the woods, no real neighbors close by. I love that place. And as I was walking through the area with the cat I was taking care of (he gets to go outside for a bit while I'm there), the wind was blowing just right through the trees. And when I say "just right", I mean it was creepy as heck.

I've noticed this before up there. When the wind blows a certain way, and the trees sway and creak, it sounds just like someone yelling off in the distance. Sometimes, it sounds like a woman screaming just far enough away that you have to stop and ask yourself if you're actually hearing it. Kinda like in all the creepy movies you've ever seen.

So, as I was walking, I was thinking about the things I had heard in that podcast, and I kinda scared myself. Doesn't take much sometimes.

I've tried recording that sound up there, but it never comes out right. You hear the wind, but not the lady screaming sound. Then again, maybe only I can hear it. Maybe it's only meant for me. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....