cool, chilly, cold

This is Mary tending to Benny the Bunny. She is probably looking to the left to the neighbor’s yard because the children next door are probably calling out to her. They want to see the rabbit and sometimes she takes the rabbit over to the fence so that they can pet it. The children enjoy petting the rabbit. As can be seen in the picture the wire mesh of the cage is around 1” by 4”. Except on the bottom. The bottom of the cage is essentially open with the wires being about 6” by 12” apart. This allows the rabbit to hop around on the grass which he likes to nibble on. Plus he can get all of the smells of the earth. He really enjoys it out in the yard. His cabana as I call it. He also has a large tri-level cage in the house. He also gets to run around in a room on the back of the house in the afternoons which is the dining room. His favorite past-time in the dining room is pushing balloons around on the floor. He is most friendly at night when he gets to run around on the couch. He is very friendly to Mary and likes to rub noses with her. He seems to be a pretty happy bunny. With all his fur he will probably like this cooler weather that we are having. Actually this morning it is downright cold out there. At least it was at 5:00 am when I got up. I know that is early and I sometimes wonder if I am the only person up at that time.

From where I sit in the dining room at this early hour typing on my laptop, I am facing east and so I can see the sunrise through the window. I am noticing that the sun is coming up later and later as we approach the winter solstice which is quite a ways away yet. I guess that the terrible heat of summer is behind us. Today we are going grocery shopping and hot chocolate mix is high on the list of items to get. Nothing like a hot steaming mug of hot chocolate on a cold day and warming your hands with the hot mug. And of course, don’t forget the little marshmallows floating on the top of the hot chocolate.

This morning it is grits with red eye gravy and country ham in it and biscuits for breakfast. Boy, that is definitely southern “cracker” food. If you live in the “south” then it is obligatory that you occasionally eat some southern “cracker” food.

I checked the thermometers and the temperature in the house is 68 degrees and out in the garage it is 54 degrees. Since the garage is enclosed and probably gets some heat from the house, I suspect that it is colder than 54 degrees out in the yard. But I am not complaining about the cold weather. The memory of the summer heat is still fresh in my mind. In a way it reminds of that saying of Jackie Gleason that “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor, and rich is better”. Well, I’ve been cold and I’ve been hot, and cold is better. Enjoy the cool weather while we can because we all know what is coming after winter and spring. That’s right, a hot summer once again. Go reheat your coffee in the microwave, have some chili for lunch, and make it a great day. Lew

Mary came into the house and told me that there was a rainbow outside and for me to come and see it. I grabbed my camera on the way out because I knew that I would want to get a picture of it. The rainbow was a complete arc stretching from the ground up high into the sky and back down to the ground again.

There is always something magical about rainbows. Perhaps it is all those colors. Or perhaps it is the lure of that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The rainbow was so big that I couldn’t get all of it in one picture. I wonder what the ancient peoples thought of them. Were they taken in by their beauty and color also? I think so.
Cool at last, cool at last, thank goodness cool at last. That is a fractured quote from Dr. Martin Luther Kings sermon “I had a dream”, which is his most remembered sermon among the general public. The cool front has finally arrived and when I went outside this morning the air was crisp. The coolness felt good to a blue belly northerner. Cool weather is nice, especially at Christmas. After all, who wants to see a Santa perspiring heavily in his large red suit. It just isn’t the same as I remember as a child growing up in a hamlet in New York. Yes, I grew up in a hamlet. Highland is evidently too small to be classified as a town and so is classified as a hamlet. A hamlet sounds like some place where Frodo Baggins and the other Hobbits live. It was very country and a nice place to grow up. But now I am in sunny Florida and I intend to enjoy this cool air from the cold front that moved into the area. It is as if the whole outdoors is air conditioned like the house. This is the week-end and so everybody have a nice big hearty breakfast to ward off the chills and keep the coffee coming. Lew

topsy turvy

This is one of the fun gifts that I got Mary for her birthday. I have seen them advertised on television. Has anyone had any experience with growing tomatoes this way? Do you really get basketfuls of luscious ripe tomatoes? If nothing else it should be fun trying out this system for growing tomatoes. I am always a sucker for all of those things that you see on television. I like tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches or just devouring a ripe tomato like an apple. Yummy. Have a cool day inside the air conditioned house or drip with perspiration out in the yard. Lew

break-away cake

This is a break-away cake. To eat the cake you just break off a cupcake and enjoy.

Mary made this cake last night and it will serve as her birthday cake for today. She still has about five or six presents to open yet and then we are planning on going to the movies this afternoon at the West Oaks mall. We have a coupon for our free popcorn plus a birthday coupon for a free large soda at the theater (what a savings!) and also a coupon for a free pepperoni pretzel at Auntie Anne’s pretzel place. Today is Mary's actual birthday. It is always best to celebrate your birthday on the actual day.
Yesterday we got lots of DVD’s from the library to watch and some of them are really exceptionally good. We have Showtime and The Movie Channel free for a month but there really doesn’t seem to be all that much on it that is of interest. Besides, we have literally hundreds and hundreds of channels to watch on the regular cable television. I can barely remember the early days of television when there were only two or three channels and they wouldn’t start broadcasting until the afternoon and then end late at night. No 24 hour broadcasting like now. Our first set was a Dumont black and white. Our neighbors from across the street would come over to the house to watch our television. But they didn’t do that for long. When they saw ours, I think that they went out and got their own. What a difference today is with our hundreds of stations to watch on our large high definition color television. What an agony it would be to go back to that black and white Dumont. It isn’t that the old days weren’t so good, I have just become spoiled by modern technology. Have a nice day and I promise that cooler weather is coming. "Grant me patience in waiting for the cooler weather, but hurry" as the expression goes. Lew

owie

Tammy the cat has gotten herself an owie as we use to call a hurt when we were children. In the picture she is showing everyone her hurt leg by holding it up. Looking for sympathy which she has gotten lots of from both Mary and I. As soon as the veterinary office opens this morning we are going to call and make an appointment for her. Yesterday she was walking on the front leg but with a slight limp. Now today she won’t step on it at all. Perhaps the sore leg has just stiffened up on her during the night. But all of that is for our veterinarian to figure out. Mary and I think that she probably hurt her leg while climbing over the chain link fence into the neighbor’s yard. The chain link fence which is about 4 feet high is covered with a mass of grape vines. The vines are just twisted and inter-tangled all together. My guess is that her foot slipped down into the tangled mess causing her to fall and hurting her front leg which was still hung up in the grape vine tangle. That is all wild speculation but it sounds reasonable. I don’t know why she likes going into the neighbor’s yard because our yard is so much better. But she does it all the time.

But she still has her appetite which is good. Here she is eating breakfast at 5:00 am this morning. She is holding up her injured paw while she eats. Maybe she stepped on something and injured her paw? All speculation as Mary and I worriedly try to figure out what is wrong with her. The vet will take good care of her and give us a bill for that care but she is worth it. We will still fret and worry though about her until we get her to the vet’s office. Everyone have a nice day. Tammy’s day can only get better since she has gotten off to a bad start. No where to go but up as they say. Lew

Jack and the Beanstalk

This flower just keeps growing and growing. It reminds me of the story of Jack and the beanstalk. It is up to four feet high and still going strong. I transplanted it to a much larger pot because it was getting “root bound”. Although you can only see two of the flowers now, there is actually a total of four flowers on it right now. The other two are on the other side facing in the opposite direction. I never have much luck at growing plants and when something does grow well, I am amazed by it. I had to use some string to tie the plant up because it was tipping over because it had gotten so tall. This plant seems to be a continuing saga with monthly installments. More to come on the amazing flower next month. Lew

bunny cabana

bunny cabana. Well, sort of a cabana. There is no ocean or seashore but it is outside in the back yard and he goes there to play and have fun but yet have shelter from the sun. The bottom of the cage has a very large size mesh. Probably about 4” x 8”. This allows him to be able to walk (or should I say hop) on the grass as you can see in the picture below.

But he is a smart bunny. He knows that if he can reach the latching mechanism and
rotate it and slide it back he can get out the door. Here he is trying to make an escape.

He has a bowl of water, some lettuce to munch on, and grass under his feet. Bunny paradise. He almost has the latching mechanism figured out but he just has trouble reaching it. Time to go. The sky is starting to turn a dim blue as dawn is breaking. Another day. Another adventure. Each day is truly unique and memorable. Be sure to take time to smell the flowers. Really. When you see a flower, go over to it and smell it. But don’t pick it. Although some flowers don’t seem to have a fragrance from afar but up close they can have the most wonderful aromas. No wonder butterflies like them so much. Have one terrific day. Lew