Jack and Leo hanging out together getting ready for a nap. They are quite the pair, these two brothers. I am sitting on the bed listening to Performance Today and Sammy purr.

We had a great and very informative lesson in fluid giving today from my cat sitter who is both a  certified vet tech and a newly graduated RN. She was wonderful and Sam is way less stressed than he has ever been receiving sub q fluids. After a week, he really needed them.

We won't go that long again.

My link today is this fabulous article on owls. Check it out just for the picture of the Russian fish eating owl. I listened to the Science Times podcast and the scientist profiled said that in the part of the wilds where he studies the owls if he hears someone else, he hides.

I am looking forward to teaching yoga tomorrow.

Cheerful crocus from Kes and Most Honorable's back yard yesterday. I know there are some fancy tulips planted in this area so that could be a tulip back there.

My link today is a Bird Note from week before last that is about Ravens and it has this vocalization they make to comfort each other including their young that is clearly recognizable as one to human ears too. So worth the two minutes it takes to listen.

I went to Powell's to look for used copies of books in the middle of the mystery series I am reading as neither are available in E-book or audiobook format here and they didn't have either. So instead I bought 3 other books. With that and the long article in the Times Magazine section on the science food companies use to make food addictive I will be spending a good chunk of the day with printed material.

This year I think I may skip the Oscars. There is only so much time.

This is Jack, the (impossible to photograph decently) black cat in my family. I took this today. He is a long sleek curious guy full of playfulness and an interest in experiencing things with his mouth as well as all his other senses. This way you get to at least see the length of him. 

This morning Sammy decided to chill out in his protected safe space in the closet after a big breakfast and a some pain meds. Tomorrow I start him on the hypertension med. We skipped giving him fluids today because I didn't want to invade his inner sanctum. I did get his arthritis shot in him when I arrived home. I am doing total oder cat immersion right now so it was lovely to spend the day with Leo and Jack, the kids.

Tomorrow I am going to Powell's on a mission to get a couple of used copies of some mysteries early in their series. 

Miss E. (and her iPad) is home and trying to avoid jet lag. She had good weather almost everyday of the European trip though I guess it was raining in Paris this morning.

Good day. Just tired. I listened to an interview with the author of this book called Erasing-Death-Rewriting-Boundaries last night. They are trying to do verifiable science on near death experiences. Fascinating.

There is this gorgeous picture for this coming week on the Sierra Club engagement calendar of mixed purple and white crocus in the snow. In some future life I would love to be able to get a few shots now and again at that level. I keep trying, at least in terms of composition if not equipment.

Besides working today there was much communication with my vet. Sammy had a pretty good day. He still is somewhat hyper but is moving almost normally. My cat sitter who is a certified vet tech has offered to come by and help with giving advice on holding him and keeping him calm. She's given fluids solo many times. The vet was reassuring and I learned that if I check the temperature of the pads on his back feet compared to his front feet it will help me understand if he is in a crisis that might need medical intervention. It amazes me the things we learn when we need to.

Tomorrow I get to go spend time with Leo and Jack, the Most Adorable kittens. And Miss E. comes home from Europe, (with her iPad we hope.)

Here is a link to something current about Buddhist meditation. I like the Krishnamurti quote at the end of today's post.

Sammy is much better today and I am bemused by how much all of a sudden his trash talking and demanding behavior seems precious to me where just a few days ago he was driving me batty with it.

Nice haircut and a decent walk this evening after a day at work where I am trying hard (but not quite succeeding) to focus on what I am getting done, as opposed to what I am not.

My link today is to blipfoto. How did I miss this site? I shall have to investigate.

So once again a test. My HTML Fairy is helping with borders. Thanks you! It works when I put the picture to the right but is a little cramped up against the border on the left so I'll need to figure that out. This is big progress though.

My tough guy cat Sammy had a very rough night last night and I just gave him probably a bit too much pain medicine but I want him to be comfortable. This sick beloved pet thing is really a challenge isn't it?

No link this morning. The picture and border are enough for now.

This is a test. A promising one. Helped out by a private and much welcome HTML fairy. Thank you! Nothing particularly special about this photo from yesterday morning unless you live here and are familiar with the PSU Campus and the park blocks.

I think I am getting closer to getting a color border now too.

This is where we have our big Farmers Market each Saturday morning from April to Christmas. I am so looking forward to getting fresh fresh local eggs again not to mention rainbow chard and in good time tomatoes and sweet cherries. Ah.

My link is The Inaugural Poem. I hadn't read it before today. It is, at least, a bit better than the poem 4 years ago. I like the sweep of it.

I am testing html formats to get a picture up that looks good and has the text wrap. We shall see how this big sky shot I took this morning on my way back from church works. Sigh. The sizing and border look nice but you can't click on the shot to see it full sized.

Today we had a Music and Worship Service and I enjoyed it more than I expected to. All about Paul Robeson and focusing on the Spiritual it seemed like most of the choirs were featured at one time or another. We had a guest bass Michael Morgan that was awesome and as I am a total sucker for Spirituals I was a happy girl.

Here is a link to a blog about Classical Music that I'd like to follow.

Miss E. Facetimed Kes from Athens this morning. How very exciting!

I've been scarce and haven't had time to figure out the new picture posting protocol here.  I should have time during this blissful three day weekend to get closer to mastering it. They do tell me patience is a virtue. Sammy has been zonked all day but I did get him interested in some T-U-N-A so I think all is good. I went to a memorial service (as one starts doing more frequently) that was an interesting mix of worlds for me. And Kes and I had a lovely breakfast out at Milo's. "The House of Hollandaise" the waitress joked. Stella has herself all wrapped up in my alpaca blanket. We're good.

Hmmm... New HTML for the pictures. I'll need to work on this. This is the vacant lot next to my place. The gym was going to build a parking garage here but then ran out of money. I am ever so grateful for each day that goes by that it remains undeveloped. It is a bird mecca.

Just one student in yoga class today. A different one. I had great fun teaching as this is a fit guy who is training for his first Triathlon in the spring. I was able to challenge him and we both enjoyed it. I have a nibble on a few new students too, which would be wonderful.

I'm having a little trouble staying focused at work this week. I know this sort of thing goes in cycles but I have so much to do...At least I am feeling better and was able to teach.

My big Valentines excitement is going to the dentist to have some work done. It will be quiet. I hadn't thought of this but no one wants to go to the dentist on the afternoon on Valentine's Day! Duh.

My link today is to a trailer for this new documentary about this amazing folk singer Rodriguez. A fellow I know at work has both the albums and says he thinks he was as good as Leonard Cohen. That is saying something.

It appears the diary site is down again. I am glad to have this as an alternative.

We had Women's Circle last night and went around the room and talked about what we were reading and enjoying and I was thrilled that a couple of folks were interested in Far From the Tree. I can't wait until somebody I know reads it. One of the women works in special education and the other coordinates hospice care and they both are regularly exposed in home visits to folks that are not neuro-typical.

We are all getting ready for the service this weekend for our member who died last month. She sewed costumes at one time for Janis Joplin, and there is some talk of folks showing up to her memorial dressed in bellbottoms and some flashy fringe. I think the best I can do is some of my Tibetan clothes. Which is appropriate as our departed member was involved deeply in Tibetan Buddhism for a time as well. The snowdrops are coming up in her garden this week without her embodied presence to see.

I like the absolute simplicity of this shot I took Friday afternoon. Sunlight on shingles and the bare stalks.

Today I am going to practice not being heroic. My cohort at work is on vacation and so I have her work and my work plus a whole bunch of extra work with no back-up or support and a process that needs to be run at 6am tomorrow morning. Normally I would clock in and get as much done as possible to lower my anxiety level but I already know I am not going to hit my Tuesday deadline and I am still sick. So. I am taking the whole day off. To compensate I'll stay home tonight, sadly, from the monthly Stonehenge Studios reading and turn in early. I am such a wild thing. Not.

I did read a review of Artful by Ali Smith the other day and am intrigued. I think I will force myself to download a sample so I don't just buy it and then stick it in my ever so long "to be read" queue. If you've read it, I'd love to know what you think.

I walked by this yard on Monday on my way to the doctor and was cheered to see the daffodil stalks out of the ground. Today, five days later in the midst of a freezing fog that was so full of UV that my progressive lens completely activated I saw these! I took this just about 1pm. I gasped when I saw them.

The camilla bush across the street is blooming too. The is the one with the variegated pink and white flowers. The light was so low I couldn't get a clear shot.

Color! It is very exciting.

I'm getting better. It is taking a good long while but the viral cold is passing into memory. I didn't have one coughing fit all day. And it is Friday!

Oh boy, signs of spring!

I have been wretched sick with this cold virus. Hence the no posting. I did go to the doctor and I will survive. I might even get my voice back someday.

That will make teaching yoga possible again.

Ah. Somewhere out there the forces of natures are collaborating to bring color and song back into our world.

The birds are beginning their mating songs and yesterday I saw a small flock flying north. There is a big shift going on out there.

Even though I am still sick I was able to get the work task done today that I was supposed to do Friday morning. Ah the joys of telecommuting. I need to call the doctor in the morning to make sure I don't need antibiotics. My throat is remarkably sore but at least I can swallow even if it hurts.

I tried T-U-N-A but I couldn't get the Pepcid down Sammy today. I did get the vitamins in him this morning. Every day is a new adventure in mature cat care.

I can barely get any sound out loud, which the cats find disconcerting. The whispering croaky cat mom. Luckily the Credo Mobile tech guy was able to understand me well enough and they are going to ship a new phone finally. I love my smart phone but it needs to actually work as a phone. Yesterday was very frustrating with static and then this drop off where the other person couldn't hear me even though I could hear them fine.

Oh well.

When I took this shot I only had eyes for the crocus and the first signs of burgeoning color, but now in retrospect I would love to go back and reframe it.

Still I love the mess of yard art and it is a wonderful example of that moment half way between winter and spring that we are at here today on Candlemass. Forty days since Christmas.

I am sick and have a horrid sore throat so we had a quiet day. It was lovely out here. Such a joy to see hours of light.

In a weird sympathetic accident with Kes's needle stick yesterday I cut the top of one of my fingers on the pill splitter this evening. Good thing I am not giving Sammy fluids again until Monday.

My link is silly today. It is about an exhibit of Dr. Seuss's hats at the New York Public Library. I guess it is going to travel after that. How fun that would be to see.

The song birds are returning! And Kes and I saw daffodil shoots with our own eyes this evening. The earth is stirring in our neck of the woods.

Huge accomplishment today: I gave Sammy sub q fluids for the first time and also this new arthritis med called Adequan. Kes was my coach and lovely assistant. We had a heck of a time figuring out how to get the old needle off the fluid bag and she stuck herself. But we figured it out.


And she just happens to be taking antibiotics. Good deal.

I like food to look pretty and I am completely transitioning away from plastic containers so today I ordered this pyrex glass container set. It is $9.00 cheaper than my local grocery. And the cute UPS guy will bring it right to my door.

My new work mantra is..."oh well". It seems to help.

My older sister's birthday is today and Miss E.'s first school dance. She leaves for Greece and Italy on the 15th. My sister is looking forward to a little break while the E is having her big adventure, and of course The E is looking forward to the trip. It is great when preferences align.