It might FROST tonight!

After all these months of spending almost all my spare time out in the garden, everything is looking so beautiful and it might frost tonight! The LOW is supposed to be 35 degrees but since it's so close to 32, the weather man is saying to cover our plants tonight.

Here's a photo of just one tiny spot of my garden (the zinnias were from seed) - well I'm crossing my fingers and I'm heading out now to cover everything in sheets! AAAAGGGHHHHH!!!!!

Kanga

Kanga is my cat that lives at the veterinarian clinic that I work at. I originally had her at home with me but because of my dogs she had to be confined to the spare bedroom. She now is happy in the cat room of the boarding kennel that I manage. She has a few other house cats to snuggle with and keep her company.

Originally Kanga was rushed into the clinic several years ago with her previous owner in a horrified panic. The woman lived on a farm and apparently Kanga had been run over by some type of farm vehicle. One of her front legs was completely severed and the other one just dangling. She also had a deep cut where her lower leg joined to her body. The woman wanted our vet to do whatever he could to save her. Unfortunately she ended up loosing both front legs. I remember her right after surgery, I reached in to touch her and she started to loudly purr. After extensive hospitalized care she was finally able to be released. Unfortunately the woman planned to put her back out in the barn. Since I was the one who had been caring for her (and because I was so attached to her and loved her) I asked if I could adopted her and the woman was relieved and said yes.

I renamed her Kanga because she walks around up like a kangaroo. Sometimes she dips forward and uses her little stubs for balance. She is able to step into the litterbox and even uses them to cover her "business". She loves to be held and combed and purrs all the time. When she lived at home with me sometimes she would go up to the little dogs and rub her face against theirs. I found her many times sleeping with my old shih-tzu but sometimes the other dogs were just too rowdy for her, so I brought her to work with me. At the clinic everyone stops in all the time to play with her. She'll try to grab toys with her mouth if they are dangled in front of her and she shake them and throw them around and pick them up with her mouth and do it all over again. Some people at first worry about her "quality" of life, but if I open a can of cat food they are amazed how quickly she is up and on the move to get her share. Here's a few photos of her smelling the food, on the move to get it and then laying back down and licking her lips in satisfaction. She's an inspiration to me and daily reminds me that there's so much to be happy about!

Morbid?

I hope not.

I've been working so much in my garden this year and I have finally made my way to the back next to the gate, so I decided to make a little pet cemetery. Over the last few years, because I had adopted several elderly and/or sick pets, I have ended up with several little urns of ashes.

So I took broken pieces of concrete and small rocks and built up a flowerbed of sorts. A while back someone had given me the sleeping angel cat stone and the big angel was from my mothers garden. I have photos of me as a baby in front of that angel. So that means it's VERY old! -vintage actually.It's one of the few things I that own of my mothers, who has gone to Heaven so many years ago. Then I found these little tombstones that are actually for Halloween decor but I love them! I think I want that quote on my own headstone! _"I'll Be Back"! Ha! no doubt as a black cat or a chubby Golden Retriever!

I had all these plants that I hadn't put in the ground yet and I think they worked out nicely. I plan to add a clematis next spring in front of the silver pole to hid it. I am also going to paint little stones for each pet that ends up resting there.

I like it, it's away from the street and private but I'm sure some people I know will be mortified.

Sigh...

Labor Day!

I had to work this morning and missed the big parade that goes through town, but my niece Lily went to work with me to help get things done quicker. And of course I brought along Blue my dog!

We live in the Quad Cities on the Illinois side in Rock Island. I work on the Iowa side in Davenport. On the way home the Davenport Sailing Club was on the Mississippi and Lily jumped out and took some pictures (She is quite the photographer!)

Kinda Scary?

I've been working on my garden a lot this year. I have a tiny front yard and it is all flowers except for a couple of stone paths that I have created. On the one side of my house is a long dirt gravel driveway that I have lined in flower beds and towards the end I have enclosed it in hostas, roses and birdbaths with a bench at one side and a table grouping in the middle. I have enclosed the backyard with a wooden privacy fence (for all my little doggies to play in) except for a small section that forms a pathway that leads down to the bottom of the yard which has become an overgrown wild place! I had ventured down that path in search of some painted terra cotta pots that I had once used to line the fence. I made sure to wear my jeans and shoes (not crocs) because I am terrified of snakes and whatever else might be down there, anyway I dragged up a pot and set it down and discovered that most of the paint had weathered away, just leaving traces. Then I noticed that the remains of paint appeared to spell out numbers!? I don't know but it sort of creeped me out, my niece said I should go play the numbers in the lottery. (I never play) anyway... just kinda scary? What do you think?