Is It Possible to Have Too Many Hobbies?

Over the years I have had many hobbies.  In my younger years there was macrame and embroidery.  A neighbor taught me how to crochet, a skill I still use today.

As I moved into my middle years, family became more and more important, and so a passion for genealogy was born. Last year I took a couple of painting classes, you know, the ones where you get to drink and paint?  That set me off on buying my own canvas and paints.  And then the adult coloring book craze hit.  And soap.  I have tons of silicone soap molds and essential oils for making soap.  I can make my own butter, preserve some pretty decent jam, and whip up a nice beurre blanc on command.

My latest hobby has been learning to sew.  Again.  Home Ec back in high school didn't go so well for me;  sewing was not my strong point, and I don't think I ever did finish that skirt.

Once Spring comes around, I'll be gardening, and maybe even build my own raised beds with all the power tools I've bought over the years thinking that building stuff would be cool.

Oh yeah, and I actually have a pork belly hanging from my garage ceiling that can just about be called pancetta.  I'm learning how to cure meat.

When I think of my dusty house with the dirty dishes in the sink, my desk strewn with papers that need filing, and the laundry that needs to be done, I wonder, do I have too many hobbies?  Then I see a cool quilt block on Pinterest and I don't care any more.

 

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

I don't think we can deny the truth any longer.  The likely GOP nominee will be a billionaire businessman who is best known for his disgusting quotes about women, Mexicans, and prisoners of war.  This is the same party that produced Abraham Lincoln.

I keep hearing that people are angry, and "voting with their middle finger".  I get that.  I'm angry too, at a congress that can't seem to work together.  I'm angry that the gun violence continues unabated, and that any reasonable suggestions to slow it down are either ignored, or ridiculed because they come from a sitting President that is reviled by the right.

But, angry as I am, I'm not about to be stupid when it comes to my future.  If I have a bad day at work, I don't tell my boss to take this job and shove it.  If the market has a downturn, I'm not going to sell everything, go off the grid, and build a bomb shelter in my backyard.

So why are so many Americans making the decision to support a racist, narcissistic, misogynist?  I'd like to think that at heart, 99.9% of people are good, decent, hardworking folks that just want to live their lives.  So are the people voting with their middle finger poorly educated (the billionaire LOVES the poorly educated; he said so himself), or are the cockroaches of America coming out to feast in the darkness?

Cockroaches eat what is available to them: cockroaches that inhabit sewers feed on sewage, while species living on dead trees consume decaying wood.  So is America rotting internally, or will this election period shine a light on everything that's wrong with this country and send the cockroaches scattering?

 

Living in the Moment

In a previous post, I talked about how having pets was somewhat like having small children.  And when one of those kids is chronically ill, life can be stressful.

My days with Meep revolve around her breathing and her eating.  At 8 months old, she should be 7 or 8 pounds, but instead is 3 1/2 pounds (and it was a struggle to get her there).  Every morning I wonder if she's going to eat or not, and how much she'll eat before she turns away.  Immediately after breakfast Meep gets weighed.  It's one of the ways I can monitor her health.

Since she was found on the beach by the Detroit Lakes pavilion, Meepers has had one respiratory infection after another.  She's been on antibiotics most of her short life, and the Vets I've taken her to don't hold out much hope of her living to a full year.

Night before last, her breathing was worse than ever.  She was breathing through her mouth, and every 6 or so breaths would struggle to get air.  In bed, she immediately curled up under my chin to "sleep".  I could hear every agonizing breath she took, and cried because there was nothing I could do that I hadn't already done.  I truly thought that she was going to die in my arms.  But then, in the middle of the night, she stood up and sneezed 3 times.  And then she could breathe again!  When morning came, she was able to eat, and while her meouw was hoarse, it was there.

Last night, she was struggling again, but this time she wouldn't come out from under the bed.  Knowing that cats often go off to die, once again I thought she was a goner.  Until 5 am, when she bounced on my bed and started to wrestle with Leo.  She ate a good breakfast, and has been engaging in play, which is rare for her.  Most of the time she doesn't have the energy to chase after Leo and Maggie.

So for now, I'm living in the moment.  Meep is alive, and is having fun.  When I hold her upside down, she seems to have tremors of her head and feet; perhaps from oxygen deprivation.  And by late afternoon, my guess is that she's going to be struggling again.  But this is enough for now.

 

A (Not So) New Cat Litter Solution

In a previous post, I talked about traditional litter solutions.  My choice was an unscented, clumping litter, which has served me well over the years.  Except when the litter was scattered out of the litter box.  Except when the litter was tracked all over the house (ever try to sleep well with a bed full of it?).

My new pet sitter told me that most of her clients had switched to Tidy Cats Breeze, so of course I had to check it out.  The system consists of a box, much like a regular litter box, with a drawer below it.  The box has grates in the bottom, and the actual "litter" is  pellets.  A pad in the bottom drawer soaks up the urine that comes through the grates, while the pellets hold the poop.  For a healthy adult cat, the poop rarely sticks to the pellets, so your daily chore is to scoop the poop only.  Weekly, the pad is changed, and monthly the pellets should be replaced.

I bought a couple of the systems, and replaced one of my regular litter boxes with the Breeze system.  Before I could even step away, Meep used the new box, and the other two kitties were not far behind.

Now, as I said, a healthy adult cat's poop is great for this system.  Kitten poop and loose stools?  Not so much.  It still works, but the pellets stick to the poop, and diahrrea will mean a total cleanout before you wanted to.

Pluses:

• No tracking or minimal tracking (the pellets sometimes find their way outside the box, but it's easy to throw them back in)


• Less odor - the pads not only soak up the urine, but have something in them to keep the smell down

Minuses:

• Expensive.  I was able to find the complete starter system at Amazon for $19.99, but now the price is $29.99.  For replacement pellets and pads, Chewy.com seems to have the best prices.


• Availability in my area is online only, although some Walmarts carry the supplies

Motherhood at 55

I don't have human kids, but I do have three feline kids, all about 8 months old, and all with different baby daddies.  Growing up as they did in a shelter, they came with their share of issues.  Leo and Maggie both came home with colds, and they are both still blowing snot everywhere; on each other, on me, on my keyboard, on the wall...it's amazing how far that stuff travels.  Getting dried snot off a painted wall is not easy; I finally found the toilet paper and water trick.  Put a wet piece of toilet paper over it and it comes right off a few minutes later.

And Meep, well, she's definitely a special needs kitten.  She's mostly blind in one eye, and has had breathing issues her entire life.  The last Vet I took her to said he didn't hold out much hope for a long life.  The possibilities of what are wrong include Feline Infectious Peritonitis (no treatment, fatal), feline heartworm (no treatment, mostly fatal), and congestive heart failure (no real treatments, mostly fatal).

I can imagine what a mother goes through, at least a little.  The nights when Meep's breathing becomes so labored I spend hours with her inside a bathroom with a hot shower going.  This afternoon, Leo had explosive diarrhea - all over the wall behind the litter box.  I discovered that when I picked Meep up and found that she had diarrhea all over the side of her face - of course she had to lay in it!

So after Meep got her bath, I sat down to write this post. Focused as I was, I ignored the odd noises behind me.  Until it hit me - that noise was coming from behind the stacked washer and dryer.  Leo, practising his tightrope walking skills, decided to explore the back of the machines by walking on the cords back there.  He should keep his day job, because he fell down to the ground, and there was no room to walk out. Who exactly would you call to rescue a cat stuck behind a washing machine - the fire department?  I used my MacGyver skills and lowered a baking rack in the slot between the washer and the sink cabinet.  He finally got the hint and clawed his way to the top so I could grab him.

And now to clean up the snot that Maggie just blew all over my keyboard.