Our area had a lovely day today. It started cloudy and cool, but then it cleared off and got into the low 50s. I celebrated it after work today by doing something I hadn't done for a while: I mowed the lawn.
Final rite of our rapidly disappearing summer. A cold front is supposed to blow through on Sunday. We may see snowflakes before Monday.
The grass had gotten long because I hadn't mown it for a while. Part of it is basic laziness, I suppose, but the long delay is partly due to the ankle I twisted in early September. We have a push mower, so when you mow the lawn you get some good exercise. I didn't want to push the ankle until it was feeling nearly back to normal. It is now. If I twist it the wrong way, it hurts a little. Otherwise, it's back to normal.
I had to run out for a picture this evening, and when I walked out to the car, I said to myself that the lawn is looking fairly nice. Better than it was, certainly.
The picture, by the way, was at a youth hockey practice. Yes, winter's on the way.
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Geez, I've fallen behind on everyone's blogs lately. I've got an excuse. Maybe not a good one, but it's better than nothing.
At work, we have been working hard on our winter tourism issue. The official deadline is this weekend, and I fell behind on things last week. Suddenly it came to me--Eureka!--that nobody else is going to do the work for me. So I had to hustle my bustle. Like they say about the butcher who sat down in the meat grinder, "I'm getting a little behind in my work."
So no quiet time at the office this week. Instead, manic work to get a bunch of features written or updated. Meanwhile, I had a pair of friends I wanted to write to, and that took up my evenings at home. And I was already tired, from all the work I had done.
Also, Wednesday was my wife's birthday, and we wanted to visit my mom that evening. So we did. I got her a couple cards. Some of you may remember some of the infamous cards I get for my wife. The stock of clever ones seemed to be down this year. Still, I came up with this one.
Here is the front ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Bday08A-10-08.jpg[/IMG]
And this is inside ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Bday08B-10-08.jpg[/IMG]
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On a recent trip to see my mom, my wife and I decided to get a scratch mat for Max. We put it out, and Max seemed to take to it ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Scratch-Max-10-08.jpg[/IMG]
So did the other two cats. Maggie decided to give it a try. She thought it was good to sit on ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Scratch-Maggie-10-08.jpg[/IMG]
And Charlie decided to give it a try. First, she worked it up with a paw to make a little tunnel out of it ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Scratch-CharlieA-10-08.jpg[/IMG]
Then the little feathery toy on it got her attention, and Charlie had a great time playing with it ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Scratch-CharlieB-10-08.jpg[/IMG]
Oh, she was having a great time with it ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Scratch-CharlieC-10-08.jpg[/IMG]
The cats are getting along a lot better. Still an occasional hiss or growl, but it's gotten a lot better. Last time I wrote, I wasn't sure it was going to work out. Now it's better.
Max's personality is coming out more. He likes to get petted but doesn't like to be picked up that often. But he comes around, rubbing against my legs or my hand when I put it down. He likes to get his head petted and scratched. Purr, purr.
Meanwhile, nearly every morning now, Charlie comes to visit me about 5 a.m., when I'm just waking up. I feel her walking up by my side. I try to lie on my back, with my arm to my side, so Charlie will lie down by my side, with my arm on the other side, so she can put her forepaws on my upper arm. Purr, purr. Sometimes she gets her middle rubbed. Other times, I drift back to sleep.
Did I ever tell you that Charlie likes crackers? Every cat is strange in some way, and Charlie seems to have a weakness for ordinary soda crackers. When I came out to the living room this evening with a pair crackers, Charlie hopped up by me. Meow? Meow? Urrrow? She starts sniffing the crackers and tries to lick them, so I finally break off a tiny corner and offer it to her. She sniffs and then eats it. You could hear a soft crunch, crunch. She had two pieces and was satisfied.
Ironically, my wife said she was sitting with Charlie yesterday. She had a couple crackers for herself ... and Charlie paid them no attention.
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