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"Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful."
- Unknown

"That which does not kill you, makes you stronger."
- Handed down through the ages.

"Life's tough. It's even tougher when you're stupid."
- John Wayne



Cloudy, Grey Wednesday

So.  What's been shakin' the past couple o' days?  

Well, as I mentioned in one of the Comments sections, the fire danger is HIGH due to the early spring & snow melt.  The search plane has been going over Swamp River Ridge twice a day for a week or so now.  If the humidity is high and the clouds are heavy, they might miss a day here and there, but it's a sure bet that I'll hear the droning buzz as they approach on a sunny, windy day.  

As you can imagine, the worst conditions are when we have thunder and lightning with no precip, but, knock on wood, we haven't had any lightning strikes lately.  


The dad of Baby Girl (above & a little grumpy during our walk last weekend) is a highly trained USFS hotshot (you can Google that) who gets sent all over the country . . . at least he did before he was married and had a family, and he was the one who did the hand-off to me last Saturday when I nannied.  He'd gotten a call right before I arrived of a fire at the end of the Trail, but it sounded small . . . and, since I haven't heard anything more about it, it must have been.
Photo Courtesy of MN DNR 

As you can see from this map, most of Minnesota is in a state of fire awareness.  The circle represents the area I'm in.

Here's a link to another good map that shows what & where fires are currently burning.  Let's hope that this particular county in Minnesota isn't displayed there anytime soon!

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I am a horrible (cat) mother.  Geez.  I can't believe I did that.  Last night, Tom came out to pick up the kayak that he's trying to sell and a few other things.  (I can't remember if I've posted that here or not - anyone interested?  It's a beautiful, custom-made sea kayak used fewer than 10 times.)  He bought some supplies that I needed for this weekend's "Chickens 101" class from the lumber yard, too, and I made us dinner.  (Yummy, yummy saute of fresh garlic, marinated mock duck, and fresh veggies over basmati rice!)  Anyway, Annie Blue . . . .


Her hair is so long and fine (we thought we were picking out a SHORT-haired cat, ah-hem!) that she gets dreadlocks around her neck and along her belly, and they rat themselves right up to her skin.  I asked Tom to bring the hair trimmer that he uses to keep his hair short so that we could try to shave her up a bit.  Well, her hair is SO fine that it just kept moving thru the clipper blades and wasn't really getting removed.  So, I figure I would trim it up short with scissors, first.  (Are you cringing yet?)

While Tom held the oh-so-happy cat (not!) by the armpits so that I could access her soft underbelly (cringe again!), I started cutting (aaaghh!).  She gave a good yowl once, but it wasn't that bad.  Not enough for either of us to think to stop.  Later, after we'd removed a huge pile of the finest fur imaginable and Annie Blue definitely looked the worse for wear (even tho we didn't really make much progress on the knots of hair), Tom was loving on her when I saw something . . . raw . . . on her belly.  Oh.  My.  God.  That yelp that she'd given was for a reason.  

I NEVER would have guessed that an animal's (like that) skin would be so thin.  She had a clean little, 1/4" long (coulda been 2", I felt so bad) V-cut in her belly.  Geez, geez, geez, I am a HORRIBLE mother!  I ran to grab some ointment and liberally dabbed.  I haven't dared look at it today (I don't want the reminder), but she's just fine . . . as she was last night, too.  But, gawd, I feel awful.


Well, I have written long enough that the sun is starting to peek through, and the clouds are moving out!  Yayyy!  The two-day class I'm teaching this weekend needs a good deal of prep, so guess what I'll be doing today?


Make it a good day, wherever you are!

7 comments:

  1. Well, this was definitely the blog with the HIGHEST cringe factor I've read in a long time. My whole body was cringed! But, truly, it doesn't sound like the little nick was bad at all. What we don't put ourselves through with our aminals!!

    Yesterday we did a bunch of fertilizing in the raspberry patch and around all the fruit trees. The chicken manure compost we used had a little aroma to it but not bad as it was so decomposed it looked just like black dirt. As we were eating dinner last night and Zoey the Wonder Dog was lying on her bed a few feet away from Dad, he noticed a very, very awful, bad, rank smell rising from her body. Dang dog had found some time to ecstatically roll in the stuff (we never saw her do it) and she smelled so bad I had to wash her bed and Dad had to give her a bath. So much fun, these little dears bring into our lives.

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  2. Eeew, eww! I definitely cringed, and I don't even like cats! Glad she's okay now, although I am sure you are on her "short list" right now, lol! Wow, the whole state under fire watch, crazy for this time of year, all I ever remember about March and April growing up was the mud and incessant running water! And Mama Pea, for our dogs growing up, it was the sheep manure! Ugh, they would roll in it, and a rare high point for them would be to eat and bring us placentas from lamb time.... eeeek, lol!!

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  3. and I forgot to mention how cute she is peeking out from her hat!!

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  4. Hey girl! Don't feel too bad about Annie Blue. I did the same thing to my son's ear. Took off the top of his ear lobe, literally. He has to remind me of it often, but he still loves me...really!

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  5. Patty, you made me laugh out loud!!! Hahahaha! Oh, poooooor S!!! I'll have to look for a scar next time I'm over!

    :)

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  6. Don't feel too bad about the grooming laceration-that happens all the time, even to professional groomers. If it happens again, make sure the skin edges are free of hair & close it with a drop of superglue.

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  7. am truelly sorry about the cut on your cats belly but wow is it ever funny, yup the tears are coming AGAIN!! :) Thanks for the good laugh!

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