Of Dolls, Clofoutis, and Social Security, and a Sad Farewell

   I had several things planned for the holidays, but I just never found the time to do them. I saw some toys at a Burlington store that I thought might interest those who like to do dioramas or 1/6 scale houses. 

 They might interest them, until they see how the scale really measures up.

  Not sure if they would still have these at Burlington, but if they really interest you, you might be able to find them online. They're by Arcady.

   Remember way back in 2022 when I did a post on some Friends Forever Club dolls I found at Dollar Tree? 

The two at the top.

Well they still have them, and they finally got the clothes too...

...and even wig sets! 

  They also have some little anime' looking dolls too.

  I have become the queen of finding marked down produce, so Ken can eat healthy. I happened across some severely marked down cherries a few weeks ago, and thought it would be the perfect time to try making clafoutis. I had some when we were in Paris, and it has haunted me ever since, (along with the pastries we had. I have been spoiled for anything else now!) 

  It turned out quite good, but I'm no French chef.  

  Recently I've been sitting around here, trying not to freeze, because our house is really cold. Not quite as cold as it is outside, but freezing none the less. And it has been VERY cold outside. I had to cancel both of Ken's therapy days and a doctor appointment, because it is so intensely cold that I didn't think it was safe for him, with his diabetes and poor circulation. So he has been doing some exercises at home, (and trying to get out of them!), and a little walking to keep from stiffening up. 

  I also had a doctor appointment last week, since I have been having swoony spells. I went to have blood work done They gave me a 'lay down chair' this time, because I told the that the last couple of times I have had weird reactions to having my blood drawn. (The last time I got a bit weak and sick, and the time before that I went to the car and cried all the way to the library. I just went crazy emotional and couldn't explain why. I did well this time though. ) And my blood work came back like Mary Poppins: practically perfect in every way. The only thing that was even slightly off was that my cholesterol was up by 1 point. How that happens when I haven't had meat or animal fat in 37 years, I don't know. I don't even drink near the amount of milk that I used to, or eat as much cheese. And with the price of free range eggs so high, I almost never eat them. I do eat some stuff with eggs in, but mostly lately I have been eating mostly things without. Anyway, the doc also ordered a CT scan of my head, an ultrasound of my carotid artery, and some kind of test on my heart. She did give me ear drops too though. She said my left ear had fluid, and my right ear was red inside. So I have been having Fuzz squirt the drops in my ear. My swoony spells were fading by the time I got to the doctor anyway, so I'm guessing it was an ear thing. I still have to have the tests done, as long as they will be paid for. That's because we STILL haven't got any income coming in. We are still waiting on Social Security Disability to kick in, even though the guy who examined Ken in December said it was a no brainer. I have been told that he didn't qualify for SSD, and instead will get Social Security Disability Insurance. That sounded worrying, until I was old that all that meant was that he qualified for a different kind of SSD. Apparently it's the kind they put you on if they assume you will be able to work again in the future. I don't know about that. The wonderful thing about SSDI is that they require a 5 month waiting period since you applied, before they will pay you. Fortunately, that's coming up in about a week, because we are running out of money.  Unfortunately, unlike the other kind of SS, they don't give you back pay from the time you applied, because they think you should have had five month's worth of money just laying around. I'm serious. They think that 5 months without money is 'reasonable'. Sure it is. 

  If you're wondering why people who haven't had income since July were shopping at a Burlington, (or anywhere else), well, we had a large gift card, due to Ken wanting to keep the horribly fitting suit he bought there, for Emma's wedding,  instead of the fairly decent fitting suit we got elsewhere. As with most things, he procrastinated until he was too late to return the suit for a refund, (and he had lost his receipt anyway), so we had to take a gift card. So we had Christmas shopping money to spend at Burlington. I also spent a lot of it buying marked down pajama bottoms and warm shirts for Ken. He's lost so much weight since his strokes, and is now cold, so he has needed a whole new wardrobe of pants he can actually keep up when he walks in therapy, and long sleeved shirts to keep him warm. He owned a couple of button up long sleeved shirts, but everything else was short sleeves.

  We had some sad news right before Christmas. Our cat Mow, who had been living with Ivy in Indiana for the last few years, was an old man, and had to leave us. I drove all the way to Indiana to be with Ivy on the day. She is heart broken. We got Mow when she was 10 years old. He was the best boy. I always said he was practically a dog. He was well behaved, didn't destroy things or climb on the counters, and  came when he was called. We will all miss him very much.

 

    So that's what I've been up to lately. I don't have much chance to do posts, but I'll try.

It's Been A Hard Year. Goodnight Piper

  A little over a month ago we lost our sweet girl Piper.
 

 My friend Lori had bought Piper, a border collie who turned out to have nervous problems.She was afraid of everything.When left in an outside pen she constantly dug. Lori had made her a pen in the barn. That was no life for her, so Lori was looking to rehome her. Fuzzy had been begging for a dog for ages. I went to Lori's one day and, as happens a lot when I go there, I came home with an animal. On our way to her house Lori was trying to pump up Piper's good points. I asked how big this dog was, and Lori assured me she was "Homie sized", Homie being the small basenji/shetland sheepdog mix dog my family had from the time I was a kid to my early twenties. I got attached to the idea of taking Piper before I saw her. When I did I saw that she was not "Homie sized". Instead she was a huge dog,almost regular collie size. And she wasn't finished growing yet. But I had gotten used to the idea that I was taking her, so I did. To this day "Homie sized" is used around here to describe something huge.
    I brought Piper home shortly before her first birthday. (Actually, I came home with two animals. I also brought home our bunny Gabriel that summer day. Luckily Ken was indisposed when I got home, throwing his guts up in the bathroom. So I didn't get yelled at too much.) Piper was our first dog as a family. Emma and Fuzz were in elementary school, and Ivy was just a toddler. So the kids grew up with Piper.
  She was a sweet dog that seldom barked, and was afraid of strangers despite her size.  When we first brought her home, Pipe hid under furniture for two weeks. Over time we learned that she did not play fetch, but she liked to tussle. She liked rough play. When she got really excited during play, she would stray off to quickly but lightly bite a pillow or piece or furniture, before jumping back in to play.When she played like this her face looked so fierce, but we knew she would never hurt us. She was so smart that when she was told to 'go to the kitchen' or 'go downstairs' she just did it.

Piper went camping with us.Here she is, comfy with Ken.

  Piper hated to ride in the car. It made her so nervous she often peed. (She also peed if she got yelled at for something. It made me have to be quiet and gentle with her, which was good, because I tend to lose my temper and yell. It was good for me.) When we got our camper van though, Piper LOVED to ride in it. If she walked by when the door was open she was in it before we could stop her.  Dad's chihuahua Tiny was scared to death of cars. While he lived with us they rode to the vet's in the van, Tiny sitting between Piper's front legs, where he felt safe.

   Piper had a stroke last November. She actually didn't eat for most of a week after her stroke, and wasn't able to walk for 2 weeks. We figured she was on her way out, but she was in no apparent pain, so we were letting her go the natural way. After about 4 days Ken was able to temp her with some chicken and Ivy got her to eat some cheese. She was on her way back. She wore doggy diapers for a couple of weeks and had to lay on pee pads. Yes, it was messy, but if Pipe was prepared to make the effort, so would we. After a couple of weeks Pipe was back on her feet. She had some hip trouble anyway, so it was rough going for her. I bought her some joint medicine for elderly dogs, and she did improve. She was moving pretty well for a couple of months, but then her health began to decline again. Finally, we had to let her go.  She would have been fourteen this month.

Piper last April, before her health began to fail.

  Goodnight Pipey.

"Just" a Bird

  Almost 5 years ago I had been thinking about getting another bird. I have always loved birds, and been fascinated with them---how wonderful it must be to fly! Then my friend Lori decided she wanted another bird, and she contacted a lady on Craigslist who raised parakeets. Lori asked me to ride along with her to pick up a bird, as it was a half hour ride and she wanted company. The lady had three birds for sale. They were only three weeks old, and they were all hand raised, because their mother had rejected them. One was pure white. She said she might keep that one, and I hope she did, because it obviously loved her.The other two, which she hadn't originally thought were even going to hatch, were blue. As we stood in the lady's living room, Lori snuggling one bird to her chest, and I the other bird to mine, I began to fall in love. I was considering taking the bird myself. I even kept thinking of a name, over and over. I would call him Irving Birdwing. But Lori decided she would take both birds. As we drove home we discussed the birds and Lori said I could take one of the birds if I wanted to. I called Ken to see what he would think of me bringing home another pet. (It seemed like every time I went to visit with Lori I brought home a pet: a parakeet once before, a rabbit, a dog.) Ken didn't like the idea. His answer was a resounding "NO". He said we had enough pets and didn't need another expense. "All those 'free' pets have been expensive.", he said. I wanted the bird so much, I overrode his decision. When we got home we opened the box where the birds were huddled neck to neck, and I took Irving out.
  Irving turned out to be a girl, but we kept the name. it suited her somehow.

  Two days after we took her home she got her foot caught in a thread on my clothes, and in her panic to free herself she injured her foot. She couldn't walk on it very well, but still insisted on walking around and climbing her cage, using a wing, one foot, and her beak. A few days later, when we had been out for the day, we came home to find she had hurt her tail, probably from falling while trying to climb her cage. Now she couldn't balance  either. I felt so guilty. I had taken her when she could have gone home with Lori, and now I had certainly doomed her to death. We took her to the vet, who recommended  we put her down. "You have to consider quality of life over quantity.", he said. He said it was very doubtful she could repair her nerve damage. His proof that she was beyond help, was that she walked toward him no matter which way he kept turning the towel he stood her on. (She wanted to walk to him!), and that she snuggled in my hands. "I don't know of any bird, handraised or not, that will let you hold it." Well then you don't know much. Irving was still a baby, and loved to fall asleep snuggled in my lap in my bed. Even when she grew up, she would still consent to be held occasionally, and would lean against my face when asked to "Give me a snuggle".
  And grow up she did. The vet said the only chance Irving had depended on how much time we were willing to spend on her. She had to have a fish tank so she couldn't climb,and we had to spend as much time holding her as we would. So we got a tank, and when I got up in the morning I went to her tank and put my hand in the bottom. As fast as she could she would drag herself over and climb into my hand. We all took turns holding her all day long. Ken works evenings, so all day he and I would take turns holding Irving. There was no other way she could groom herself because she couldn't balance, and it kept her weight off her foot and tail. When the kids got home from school, they took their turns holding her. In two or three weeks Irving was back to normal.
  Irving had more personality than any bird I have ever seen. She also showed so much love.

Irving was hard to photograph because she was fascinated with the camera.(Like most female parakeets, she wasn't much of a talker,but she learned to copy the sound of the camera shutter,along with the microwave beep, and the dining room door squeak.)

Trying to photograph her outside her cage usually resulted in this.

 But we did manage to catch this one, before she could get close enough to jump onto the camera! But she was running at it already!

She loved to spend time sitting on my head.

She was not usually a shoulder sitter. She preferred heads, in this case, Emma's.

She would use my hair like a tether rope and slide down by it to nibble at my face.

Although she did sit on shoulders so she could indulge in another interest...

...For some reason she also liked to look in mouths.

 She'd put half her body in there if she got the chance. Very trusting of her, but I nearly bit her head off once when she stuck her head in there while I was talking.
  She had to be a part of everything, and was very curious.

Irving helping to make a phone call in Ken's messy computer room.

  We tweeted back and forth constantly.
  One day, when Irving was about 9 months old, I had spent the morning working around the house with her on my head. It was so normal for us I didn't even think about it after a while. I found a lady bug and went to throw it out the back door--forgetting Irving was on my head. Of course, she flew out the door, and continued down the street and around the corner. It was November, and there was a freezing cold rain falling. I ran after Irving, but she was nowhere to be seen. I stood in the street and screamed to the family for help. Ivy was in school, but Emma was home from college and Fuzz was doing computer school and only went in for German class in the afternoon. Ken was home too, since it was 10:45 AM. They all ran out. Fuzz went all the way to the corner, barefoot and in pajamas trying to see her. Ken told me she was gone and there was nothing I could do, so I should come in. But I couldn't leave her out in the cold, She probably wouldn't survive. And she was so friendly, she would land on our dog's head. She would certainly be eaten by something. I was so upset I tried to tweet to her and couldn't get it out. Ken told me to calm down and tweet to her. I grabbed my coat and started down the street tweeting. When I got to the corner I heard her tweet back, but from waaaaaaay down the street. But I kept tweeting and in a second I heard her very close. She had come back.
  I found her on the roof of a house on the next corner and across the street. I couldn't see her, but we tweeted back and forth for a while. Fuzz had put on shoes and a coat at my insistence, and was out looking too. Emma had gotten dressed and came to the house where we were. It's a good thing no one was home because we stood outside their house tweeting and calling, "Irving!" Emma brought Irving's cage over in case we could coerce her back into it. But Irving stopped tweeting back. I wasn't sure if she had flown away or decided to do what she did at home after a bath: take a nap until she dried off, and no tweets until she woke back up.
  Fuzz thought he saw her fly around the back of the house, but he wasn't sure. We decided he would head down an alley on the other side of the side street, and I would take the alley behind the house where she had been. I started down the alley tweeting, and there she was,on a bush behind the house. She flew from bush to tree, to tree, to tree, until eventually she was 2 more house down.
  The whole family spent the day trying to get Irving to come down. But it rained all day. It was freezing cold. A group of sparrows were in a bush under the edge of a shed, but Irving was in a bare tree in the cold rain. I tweeted to her on and off all day so she wouldn't forget I was there. Eventually we realized Fuzz was late for German, and Emma ran him to school, still in his pajamas and boots. She came back with a net, but that didn't work either. I had to explain to the lady whose tree Irving ended up in, why we were all behind her house, with two vehicles, (Emma's and ours.),and a 16 foot ladder up her tree. Irving had parked in their tree and decided to take her nap until she dried off.
  The vehicles were to survive the cold, because it was COLD. I soaked two coats and a large tablecloth standing in the rain. Ivy had been picked up from school in the afternoon and joined the vigil. It got late. Ken had to be at work by 5, so he had to go home to get ready for work. Emma had to go to the bathroom. Fuzz had already gone home when he got mad because I wouldn't let him break his neck climbing a wet tree to try to catch Irving. Eventually,it was just me and Ivy, but Emma left the truck so we could stay warm. It was beginning to get dark.
  The rain stopped, and Irving began to tweet back, and shake the rain off her feathers. Pretty soon she would be dry and fly away forever. I decided to try again to climb the ladder up the tree and try to get her to come to me. I got to the top of the ladder and tweeted. She tweeted back. Then she flew. I thought."This is it. She's gone." But she only flew in an arc, and landed on my shoulder. I got her on my hand and she gave me a kiss, and flew onto my head. It was literally a blur after that, as I was crying so hard I could hardly see. I talked to her all the way down the ladder, although I'm not sure how I got down.I had been straddling a huge puddle in front of the door of the truck, getting in and out for the last few hours, but I have no memory of the puddle at this point. I only remember gliding over to the truck and getting in with Irving on my head, and shutting the door. Once inside she hopped onto my chest and I clutched her in my hands. Ivy got in with her cage and we were home free. I immediately put Irving in the cage and Ivy said, "Aw, you're not going to put her in the cage are you?!" "Are you kidding?!"
  She had given up her freedom to come to me.
  Everybody got colds after that: except Irving.
  A couple of years ago or more Irving began to lay eggs. They weren't fertile of course, but birds lay them anyway. I constantly worried that Irving, being so small, would become eggbound, unable to deliver her egg. It's fatal. Every time she went into egg laying mode, I worried. We aren't sure if that was the problem, because she was still eating, and active,but Irving kissed me goodnight for the last time last Friday night.
  When there's a death, never tell someone, "It's just a bird." Or a dog, or a cat, or whatever. Animals are part of the family. They give us love, and we fall in love with them. I never had a pet show me as much love as Irving did. I never had a pet who loved me more than anyone else. Irving was my baby. We had a bond I've never had with any other pet, as much as I loved them all. Irving was special.
   I will bring home no more pets. I don't want another bird. I'm finished.

Goodnight my Irving girl. I love you forever.

Purdey

  Last night we lost our sweet Purdey girl.

Purdey keeping Fuzz company while he plays video games.

The kids all grew up with her. Our first cat. Our first pet in our own house. A cuddler. Liked a hug and a good chin lick. Didn't like soft cat food, or cat treats. Loved milk, especially if it had had cereal in it first.Mother of three. She was 19.