FLYING SQUIRRELS

Our outdoor cat came to us unexpectedly, as a small thin stray of a thing with a sad, sweet, hopeful face.  She was one of many cats out there who visit our property every day, but you could tell she was uncared for.  There came a summer day when she sat longingly outside the screen door smelling our crockpot beef, and we "caved."  She's belonged to us ever since.

At the time, the NCFCA debate topic of the year was about immigration, so we named her Immigrant, her having come to us from someplace else.  That quickly morphed into Imogene, which is now her legal name.  We often call her "Immie," but my favorite name for her is "Mrs."  She is a very sweet-tempered cat.

But when it comes to hunting, she doesn't mess around.  Almost every morning it's my husband's job to take away her offerings to us and add them to the Rodent Graveyard beyond the house.

Lately her offerings have caused us distress and amazement.  Within the last three weeks, she has brought us three flying squirrels.  I never expected to see a flying squirrel in my lifetime, let alone this many.  I really wish she wouldn't!

They are so furry that when Imogene trots up to the door with one, she has nothing but a big fat mouth of fluff.

We hope that two of the three survived and got away--we scramble to bring Imogene into the house so the little creatures have a chance--but I suspect this one died after I moved him into the woods.

SCI-FI IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH

Is there a regular household chore that just irritates you very much--basically for no reason at all?  It's the hair in the bathroom sink that does me in.  Not because the hair itself annoys me, but because of something I was told many years ago about how easy it is to clean a bathroom and how simple it is to remove the hair as part of that process.

You are to take a tissue, dampen it, and "just whisk it out."

So every day, I take a tissue, dampen it, and chase and chase and chase and chase those hairs, all the while muttering to myself "JUST WHISK IT OUT, JUST WHISK IT OUT, JUST WHISK IT OUT:  RIGHT!!!"

Recently myself and I had a serious talk about this task that so totally annoys me every day.  A funny thing happened.  There was a sci-fi tweak that plinked in my brain, some sort of dimensional twist, just a slight shift of perspective.  Why not just take my time chasing those hairs and see this as an opportunity to daydream, relax, and stand there all day if I have to?  What a grand chance to goof off for a while!

Son:  Where did Mom go?
Other son:  Oh, she's just whisking hairs.

I wish this for you too, my friends--let those thoughts shift, just a little.

SELF-INFLICTED SURVEY

I couldn't resist the meme Old Hat has over at his website, so here it is (*with a few questions added myself)!

What is the most exciting thing you did this weekend?
We had our 6th annual Pemberley Promenade last night.  I taught the workshop two nights beforehand, and then was the Dance Mistress for the event (which included setup as well).  This year was Masquerade (Jane Austen style).  I went as Red Riding Hood.


What is the oddest chore you have done this week?
I ironed cloaks, dresses, pinafores, breeches, and neckties (from supposedly the 19th century).

*What is the hardest thing you have done this week?
Because each English Country Dance has music that matches the dance (for example, the music Row Well, Ye Mariners has a dance written for it that is called "Row Well, Ye Mariners") I have to use music from CDs for the balls.  But store-bought music doesn't play long enough for what we need, and so I use the computer to copy and paste bits of each to make them long enough.  For some reason, I had a terrible time getting The Rakes of Rochester to work.

What is the most ridiculous thing you attempted this week?

*What gave you the most worries this week?
I was worried about whether or not it would be too difficult for the dancers to learn some of the new dances I was going to introduce this weekend.  Also, my Younger Son had a terrible migraine headache this week.  I hope you can guess which of these worries REALLY worried me the most.

What is on your project list?
I need to make more soap (in 40-bar batches), as people like to buy it at Christmas time, and it takes 6 weeks to cure.

What are you reading for fun?
Sci-fi short stories.

What are you reading to improve your mind?
Um...do magazines like Time, U.S. News & World Report, Reader's Digest, and Scientific American count?
I don't really like to read many non-fiction books.

What is nearby and making you smile?
The trees are incredible this weekend, and today there is sunshine to make them a huge blur of yellow outside the window.

What should you be doing instead of this?
Changing out of my Sunday church clothes.

What are you doing right now to soothe your soul?
When I read this question, I stopped working on this meme and changed my clothes in preparation for taking a long walk outside.  But before I reached the door, sleep overcame me like a mist, and I took a nap instead. 

What kind of sunglasses do you wear?
I'm embarrassed to say I don't wear them.  I just got new eyeglasses and I need to purchase something that fits on them.

What is your current favorite song?
Does this mean my favorite song--or the current one going through my head ?  I finally got rid of Numa Numa, which stayed in there for at least 2 months (there's always the fear that simply typing the words "Numa Numa" will put it right back in there), and then a couple of weeks ago I picked up Doo, doo, doo, Lookin' Out My Back Door.  Of course this week it's been nothing but English Country Dance tunes--today it is Row Well, Ye Mariners.  Here's a video of our folks dancing it:

 

How is your iPod (or other music player) organized? 
Well, I have one of those things, but I can't figure out how to use it.  It has some good sermons on it, but sometimes I just have to listen to one I've already listened to--because I don't know how to find the other ones!

What have you not had time for lately, that you miss?
Long walks outside.

What is the strangest thing on your desk?
This is a windup toy I bought at a yard sale.  I wind it up every once in a while.


What would you be blogging about right now if you had the time and/or brain power?
I often would like to talk about some of my thoughts about relationships, particularly between mother and children or adults and their aging parents.  But since they read my blog, that makes it difficult.  Not that I would say mean things about them; it just would be awkward.

What do you have in your pocket that is not usually there?
I rarely use pockets.  Quite often I don't HAVE pockets.  It would be nice to have a big ol' pocket in my Regency-era ballgown so I wouldn't have to hold the wireless microphone box in my hand, but there you have it.  Me all dressed up, with a black mike on my cheek, a black box in my hand, and a black wire running in-between.

*What great food have you eaten lately?
This weekend I made a batch of meatballs in the large crockpot for gluten-eating folks at the ball AND a regular crockpot of gluten-free meatballs for us.  It's so easy and so good.  For a regular-sized crockpot, mix together one jar of apricot or peach jam with 18 oz. of barbecue sauce and pour it on top of 2 lbs. of frozen Aldi meatballs.  Cook on LOW all day.

Gluten-free:  Make your own meatballs, use Baby Ray's barbecue sauce, and gluten free jam.