I gathered all my courage and went into Epic Ink Tattoo today. I asked for Scottie as I was told he was the best piercer around, and my 59 year old ears deserved the best. These ears had seen a little action when I was 12 or 13 when Lisa Benfield Edwards and I iced them up, stuck a needle in them and then stuck broom sticks through our newly pierced ears. The ensuing infection closed any thought of a pierced ear.
But today that all changed…and let me tell you…I felt like Talbots going into Epic Ink…but someone way cooler walking out.
Boom! A New Year’s goal completed. It’s going to be a year of DOING…not TALKING!
Do you remember this past summer when a cat that I named Lilly showed up and had five kittens? I posted about those kittens off and on for eight weeks and then I stopped. Something rather tragic happened to this mother cat that captured my heart…
Three days after the last kitten was adopted, Lilly became very, very ill. I’d had her at the vet just 14 days prior, and she had a slight rash. Other than that, she was fine. She was tested for feline leukemia (negative) and given all of her vaccines. She seemed healthy in the coming days, however, the night before the last kitten was leaving, I knew something was amiss, and it only got worse. Without going into all of the unsettling details, I made the painful decision to let her go peacefully. I had her cremated and her remains are in the house in a small, wooden urn. I’d promised this little cat she would move inside with me after the kittens were gone, and I wanted to honor that promise. This mother cat spoke to my heart. She was fierce in the way she protected her kittens, yet she trusted me completely.
When she had those five kittens, I wondered how I’d ever find them homes…I decided that if I could not find them good homes, I’d just keep them. Weren’t they cute? Two gray kittens and three “Oreo” kittens that were almost identical.
But…I did find them all homes!! All of them found very good homes, and thanks to Facebook, I’ve kept up with most of them.
The kitten that I see the most went to my niece and her husband. He was the wiry little gray kitten. He was moving when the others were sleeping! He was the second smallest kitten in the litter.
Today is name is Pip. Sometimes he is Mr. Pip, Prince Pip,or Pippy; sometimes he is Little S*@t!!! He is one of three cats, and he also rules a dog named Daisy. Pip lives inside but since he lives on a farm, he gets to go outside when he wishes, and he has proven himself to be a hunter. I don’t think he eats anything he kills. He’s a sportsman type of hunter. He terrorizes Daisy.
Our neighbor’s son and his very special girlfriend….Jason and Christine….took two of the kittens. They were the first two adopted. I keep in touch with Christine and she shares pictures. Here’s the little gray one that they adopted. I called him Huckleberry. He was the largest kitten in the litter and he was an aggressive eater. He had no issues knocking another kitten out of place so that he could nurse. He seemed to be the “alpha” kitten!
Here he is today (below). He is such a pretty boy. He and his sister just got “fixed” a few weeks ago.
Here’s a recent photo (below) of the black and white Oreo that Christine and Jason adopted…her name is Kinky Boots!
The other black and white Oreo kitten is now called Sophia, and she’s pictured below. She belongs to a young woman named Ann Eline. She is in a lot of Ann Eline’s Facebook pictures and is her mama’s baby.
The last kitten…one of the three Oreo kittens…was adopted by a friend of mine, and I do not have a recent picture. However, they are animal people so I sleep well knowing this kitten found a good home as well.
I’ve been wanting to get my ears pierced for years! My best lifelong friend, Lisa Benfield Edwards, and I had some piercing activity when we were 12 or 13. We stuck needles in our ears and put broom sticks in the holes to hold the holes open while they healed. Mine got infected. I don’t know how Lisa fared…I can’t remember, but I do know she now has pierced ears.
Forward to now….DECADES later. I still have virgin ears. I have wanted to get them pierced. I’m a little fearful, but I’ve really tried. Three times I’ve gathered my courage and went to get my ears pierced. The first time was about five years ago. I went to Claires at the Bristol Mall, and they were too busy to do it. I then went to Walmart and learned that they’d quit piercing ears two months before.
Today, I went to the Bristol Mall–again to Claires–and guess what! Today, as in January 5, 2016, Claires at the Bristol Mall stopped piercing ears. They referred me to their Kingsport store. The alternative is a good tattoo parlor that does a lot of piercing might be the best bet. I want to do it during lunch so I won’t be thinking about it too much. You can overly think these important things like whether to get your ears pierced in our 50’s.
I’m now wondering….maybe I’m not meant to have pierced ears? Maybe this is God’s way of telling me not to get my ears pierced, but why would He care? Even Mary McCroskey’s cows have pierced ears…why not me?
I’m going to try one more time. Hopefully by this time next week, I’ll have pierced ears. Here’s Lisa and me at our Class Reunion. I can’t believe she is covering her ears up. When I get mine done, you can rest assured I’ll be showing off some earrings, and all my clip-ons will go away. Far far away.
Mike and I got up early and went to Brstol this morning. We haven’t been going to church for about the last six months. I think we’ll start again in the coming weeks, but, for me–and I realize there are many who might debate this–a bit of time away from church is necessary on occasion. At any rate, we were out and about on a Sunday morning. We went to downtown Bristol seeking breakfast.
We landed at Bristol’s Manna Bagel. This bagel company is owned by a rabbi, and it’s open Sunday thru Friday. Mike has eaten lots of bagels in lots of different places, and he said these were very good. I have only eaten bagels from the grocery store or Brueggers’s in Raleigh, so I don’t know the difference. I can tell you these were yummy. I had a plain bagel with veggie cream cheese which is my favorite. It was very pleasant. We read the paper and ate our bagels in companionable silence.
This guy went with us. For you dog lovers, isn’t it fun to see their faces and ears “blowing in the wind” when they are riding in the car? It’s pure joy for them!
On the way to Lowe’s, we drove by one of two of Bristol’s new breweries. Not all breweries have food but I believe this one does. My friend, Danea, made the statement last year that “Bristol has gotten cool!” I agree!
Another thing I like about downtown Bristol is how old buildings are finding new lives. We need to do more of this everywhere. What was once Central Warehouse Corporation…is now Bristol Virginia Public Schools!
We went the “back way” to Lowe’s from downtown Bristol. We drove by VI College. I remember when being a VI girl meant you were really “up there.” I was more of a UCLA girl–Upper Corner of Lower Abingdon–which translates to Virginia Highlands Community College (for which I am forever grateful). If you believe in prayer (and I do), pray that something good will come of the VI campus.
Here’s the president’s house. It’s up for sale, too. All the buildings are up for sale.
One of the problems facing VI is that it is in a “shaky” part of Bristol. There are beautiful, old houses in disrepair. If I were a rich developer, instead of finding farmland to put my subdivision on, I’d buy a block of Bristol and redo each house. People who bought could walk downtown. Wouldn’t that be fun?
And this trip was not without a prize…from a pile that looked like this on the side of the road near VI College…
Came a treasure. Mike and I were in the truck (so handy), and I screamed STOP!! Because I saw this…
This chair, like those old buildings being re-purposed in downtown Bristol, is going to find new life. It will look something like this in the spring…only better. I’ll trick it out with fancy duct tape if Mike can’t fix the back slat.
Won’t that be grand? I hope you have a great week. This week I’m going to try and achieve one of my 2016 Goals. I’m going to get my ears pierced! Do you think I’m old enough?
Have you made your New Year’s Resolutions? One of mine is to be more organized and in the process of being more organized, I lost the very cool picture I took of my closet getting organized. Maybe I ought to rethink if I can really do that.
Here’s my first resolution for the New Year. I only have only two I’m settled on today, but I have more motivation to keep the first one than in year’s past.
I am going to have a more healthy weight and focus a little more on my health in not just one area, but all areas–mentally, physically and spiritually.
For weight loss, here’s my bench mark picture, and I’ve already lost two pounds since that was taken in November. I quit eating Pal’s hotdogs in October, and that one act has been helpful. Small changes. Also, I’ve got the tools. I’ve got the staff at About Face, my Fitbit (which I’ve already lost but I have another one), and Aaron (my stepson) got me an Apple watch. Last, I’ve got a dog that likes to walk. I can do it.
Another resolution is for my Little Man (River) in the picture with me. River and Mike and I will be going to obedience training in the coming months. We’ll be taking him to Paula Shupe in Chilhowie for help with this. River has a very gentle disposition and except for a few habits such as kissing, he could be a good therapy dog. Since I love to read and I understand there is a need for reading therapy dogs in the Tri-Cities, I’d like for River to have this job. He has to prove his good citizenship, however, and I’m hoping that Paula and I can help him reach this goal.
I have many other goals. What are yours? Writing them down and blogging about them will help me meet my goals. One of the goals is to give my blog a new look. So many things!
Happy New Year. It’s hard to believe it is 2016. A young friend I follow on Facebook, Heather Harless, said it well — “I just mastered writing 2015, and now it’s 2016!” That’s me, too, Heather!
We had some friends and family over and went to the Barter Theatre today. River wanted to look nice for our guests so he got out a few neckties to look over.
“I dunno,” I heard him say. “Nothing really speaks to me.”
He finally decided on green which was what I recommended as the others are too summery.
We’d been busy getting the house somewhat decorated. River has enjoyed helping although he gets tired sometimes.
Last week we put up a few things outdoors…wreaths..
And garland..
Our house is a country house…so we use lots of natural things that I can find around Mendota. Inside the house, I’d set the table and had it looking really good the day before and a cat got on it, knocked the flowers over and spilled water everywhere so I had to improvise. My tablecloth today was not ironed and the red carnation and greenery arrangement bit the dust as well. These flowers are just a bouquet I grabbed at Sam’s Club.
I have been thinking of getting rid of my antique dinnerware but I used a few pieces today and enjoyed seeing it out so much that I know I will be keeping it. Here’s one of my antique plates. Guess what the name of the pattern is? Bristol.
In both the Washington County Business Challenge and the Southwest Opportunity Cup Challenge, we met some great folks. One such person was Katherine of Sweetworks. She made these mini cupcakes. They are so yummy.
There’s some left over. I’m going to get one now. Christmas is just 19 days away. Can you believe that?
It’s Thanksgiving weekend, and I have started decorating. I love a natural, country Christmas. I started with the sled that I bought in Mendota for $15. Paired with stems of boxwood and a velvet ribbon, I’m so happy with it. It’s right by my front door.
I am lazy about holidays. Everything that comes out, has to go away come January, but I can leave that sled out after Christmas. Same with this grapevine snowman.
My True Love, Lowe’s, recently opened a brand new store in Bristol. It’s awesome, but no matter how good you are, when Home Depot has wreaths like this for $6.88 on Black Friday at 6 am, I’m going to be at Home Depot. I had a gift card and I bought six wreaths and four packs of pine garland. How pretty is this?
And I started making fresh boxwood wreaths…I’ll put these all over the inside of the house.
I preserved some of these a few years ago. That post (here it is if you’re interested) has been viewed thousands of times. I didn’t try that this time because it takes about three weeks to preserve the stems. They’ll keep at least until Christmas without preserving.
But all this might be for nothing. Christmas could be in trouble.
This is more of an update since I already mentioned Muffin’s house in this gratitude journal. However, what good is a great house if you don’t go in it? That’s what easily could have happened. Remember…we have a heated garage that Muffin refuses to enter.
So, I am so, so thankful that Muffin the Feral Cat likes his new home that Mike made for him. Look at him! He stays in there all the time. Well, he comes out to eat or sit by the door and hiss at my indoor cats.
River walks by and sticks his nose in — or…he did once. Muffin reached out and smacked him. Remember last year, when we hurriedly made a box house for this feral kitty that showed up? We used the grill cover on top of it? We could not get near him at that time. Now, he arches his back to be petted. I did have the pet heating pad in there, but it was not insulated like his sturdy new home is.
However, I may have to go back and use the grill cover again for extreme wind and cold because of the cut out. At any rate, I am grateful today that Muffin has such a fine house and that he likes it!!
Here’s the thing about a daily Thanksgiving journal that is also a blog. Sometimes it’s hard to post, and I’m nine days behind! Over the past nine days, I’ve been thankful for so much. Likewise, the tragedy in France makes me unsettled. Why do people have to do this to one another? I do not understand it.
On November 7, I was very thankful I had the weekend to myself. Mike went to Akron, and I had the house for three full days. I enjoyed having this space. I had started to go with him but decided against it. I wanted to clean the house. I’m cleaning and trying to sort through things that I still like but do not have a place for….does anyone locally want this? I do not want to ship it. If you want it, please message me. I am not selling it. I’m giving it away. I stitched it in 1986. My kitchen was all done in Williamsburg blue, and I made this to go with that kitchen. Love what it says “Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want but the realization of how much you already have.” Isn’t that true?
On November 8, I was so excited because I picked up a few things a local person, Pennie Jarrett, painted for me. Here’s one of them..(excuse my.terrible picture). She did this for me for $25. Pennie rocks! She actually made several things which I’ll show you later.
I’ll be using this at Christmas. I’m decorating with Christmas carols this year. All of my rooms are Christmas carols.
On November 9, I was glad that Mike was back home and had arrived safely. I had the space I needed and was done with it. On every day, I am grateful for this sweet face. He’s enjoying having toys.
Who could not love River?
On Tuesday, November 10, I had a great day at work. It was nothing special, but I am lucky to work for nice people, have interesting work, and I have a BFF at work. I am grateful for my “real” job, and following that day, I got to do something I’d wanted to do for a while. I also do a bit of work for About Face, a great (as in “the best” !!) med spa in the Bristol area, and Sue, the owner, recently purchased an IPL laser. We’ll be rolling this out in December, but Rhiana gave me my first IPL treatment for those “spots” on my hands. We took a before picture. This will take a few treatments, and I’ll show you the “after” pictures in six weeks or so. They’ll be gone. This picture is not of my hands but this is what I can expect.
This laser is really smart and our estheticians, Lisa, Rhiana, and Nina are loving what it can do for clients. I’m grateful for my relationship with About Face and Sue. She’s a sister from another mister.
So, Wednesday thru Friday flew by. I so enjoyed listening to the book from Jan Karon called “Come Rain or Shine.” I love a good book whether it’s on audio or in pages. Oh! And I’m thrilled that Hallmark has started Christmas movies.
I was fixing dinner one of those nights, and I realized how grateful I am for locally raised beef. I’ve quit eating processed meats but I still eat red meat, and Mike fixed me a rib eye steak that was the best. I asked him what was different, and he told me that “it was one of the steaks you bought from your girlfriend.” I could not wait to tell Sabrina Fleenor. I’d bought the beef several months ago and just not got around to fixing it. If you are local and want to get in touch with Keith or Sabrina Fleenor for your beef, let me know. I love small business people. Local beef packed locally at Russell County.
Sometime during the group of days that I missed in my gratitude journal, I went shopping. In Mendota. Can you believe that? I went up to the old store building in Mendota and bought a couple of things from “Doc”. For $15, I bought this sled which I’ll put a wreath and bow on and have a great outdoor Christmas decoration for the porch.
This is all so counter to my plan to get rid of things, but I’ve wanted an outdoor sled to put up on the mantle or out by the door for a long time.
I also bought a chair to make a spring garden chair. I have so many plans for spring. Look at that chippy green paint? I guess I’m thankful for chippy paint. LOL.
There’s all kinds of good stuff in that old store. After Christmas, I’m going to buy an old headboard with plans to do something like this for RiverCliff Cottage–our overnight guest house. Someone tagged me with this on Facebook. I love it. Sorry it is so little.
There’s old wrought iron headboards up there that would look great on a wall. I saw lots of old lanterns. There is a Hoosier up there. Lots of yummy stuff.
Finally, I’m thankful for those feet in the left of the picture –that’s Michael’s feet; he’s been hanging pictures for me. He’s got some good help with our little man.
I’m still droning on about the My Southwest Virginia Cup Challenge. Bear with me, I seldom win anything. I showed you this picture before. Why didn’t you tell me my sweater was too big? Seriously. I thought we were friends.
This is my favorite picture (below). It was our publicity photo. Of course, my little man…my little prince…River…had to be in it. Look how shiny and pretty he is. And a special message to the person who shot at this little dog and hit him before he found his furever home….”may you rot in hell.” He is healthy and loved and even has health insurance now!! He’s a rock star!! However, Mike had a drill in his hand walking toward River and me last week, and River tucked his tail and hid. When my friend had her camera tripod in its case and it looked similar to a rifle case, again, River was frightened. We’re going to obedience training soon. I hope he can handle it emotionally. He certainly needs it. He’s running things around here right now.
Today while being immensely thankful for River, I’m also thankful these were decent pictures. I normally am not so lucky. Normally I look like I have a jar of prunes nearby and just cannot keep them out of my mouth. Example:
But this one was much better, but wow…what a lot of teeth. No wonder River is good for me; he’s afraid I’ll bite him.
This is the last mention of the Cup and I’ll put the pictures of me away. My 15 minutes of fame is over. Sigh.
These are some of my thankful thoughts on this 6th Day of Thanksgiving. I hope you find many things to be thankful for in your life, too.
This laser is really smart and our estheticians, Lisa, Rhiana, and Nina are loving what it can do for clients. I’m grateful for my relationship with About Face and Sue. She’s a sister from another mister.
