My New Neighbor

I am in the midst of selling my home and moving into an apartment complex.

I was there Sunday measuring for window treatments and met this fellow. 

He said hello.

There are a few pics of my new place over at The Other Blog

Snowy Hope

Hope had a snow day during one of our non-stop storms and she got to help Daddy clean up.

She was thrilled!

Daddy was a little less thrilled with the snow

Hope follows Daddy everywhere but she knows the end of the driveway is as far as she can go unless someone is holding her hand

She took a seat until Daddy was done with his dangerous in the street work.

I asked her if she knew who Miley Cryus was and she said she did. She likes the wrecking ball song. I asked if she was imitating Miley and she said "No way, I'm too little to act like that"

"Nana! Daddy is making me carry all the heavy stuff!"

"Just kidding"

Daddy admitted that having Hope as a helper makes the clean-up much better

I posted some pics of the cats over at The Other Blog

Bird On A Wire

A few shots of one the sweeties that hang out near my driveway

Dad's Day

The rain actually held off this past Sunday so that we could have a BBQ and pool time for Dad's Day.

The girls in the photos are Hope's cousins Their Dad John is a great guy. He is my DIL's cousin.
The little boy is Gabriel - his parents are my DIL's brother Michael and the famous Tita Geli
Micheal is the baseball coach in one of the pics.


Here we go ...

Leave Our Stuff Alone!

Siren and Isadora pretty much have their own room; when Siren first came to us he was so wild and anti-social that he needed his own restricted safe space. As time went on and money ran out I gave up on the notion of a second kitchen and small dining area of my own and created kitty world instead.

They tolerate my cleaning the litter boxes but when I dare to clean the entire room they come running to supervise me.

They stare down the Swiffer. I tell them it's not a vacuum; get over yourselves.

I point out to them that everything always goes back the way it was, not to mention that most of their toys are all over the living room.

I am ignored.

They plot my punishment.

Ungrateful brats

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Snow Saturday

At 4:30 this morning I was asleep on the sofa. Flashlight in hand. Cats at my feet.

At 4:45 a snow plow on the street behind us stopped and the flashing yellow lights made the cats go nuts. They were zooming up and down the hall and running to the windows.

I took some photos of the back yard through an open window. An icy mixture was blowing into the camera so apologies for crappy effects.

Then I took a few more shots from the carport at the side of the house. The footprints are my son's. He came home from work in the middle of the night.

Compared to CT, MA, RI and Long Island, NY we didn't get slammed with snow. I think there's about a foot of snow out there.

We never lost power, just some flickering. 

Stay warm and safe kids

Going Home

You can almost reach out and touch the majestic Verrazano Narrows Bridge connecting me in NJ to my family in Brooklyn.

Yet on Christmas Eve it took 90 minutes to reach the bridge.

Oh well ...

Outdoor Wednesday

Room With a View

Friday Fences

Longest TimeOut Ever!

That's what my granddaughter Hope called it when Siren and Isadora were restricted to "their room".

Whenever there are a lot of people in the house or if the doors are opened and closed often it's safer for the cats to be contained. Siren is anxious about everything and Isadora brings a whole new meaning to curiosity.

During Hurricane Sandy they spent more time in there than usual since it was dark and there were generator cords everywhere.

Hope was concerned. They would paw at the door and cry to her. She sang to them and told them stories.

She would mumble as I passed - "this is the longest timeout ever!"

The screen door was originally installed when Siren came to us with all his wild aggressive behavior. It's a great way to keep animals restricted to an area while allowing them to feel part of the scene.

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All I Want Is A Place Somewhere

During the wind of Sandy and the cold of being without power I put lots of comforters and blankets out all over the house so that Siren and Isadora could have plenty of spots to be warm and feel secure.

Siren likes to show off his tail.

Halloween-ish

Last year there was snow
This year a hurricane

I took some shots around town last week. These decorations have all been taken in now due to the wind and flooding of Hurricane Sandy.

I have promised my granddaughter Hope that if her school is still closed on Wednesday we will dress up and scare each other.

And then have candy.

Stay Safe Everyone

Charlotte

there are a lot of spiders around me this time of year
and there is always at least one who builds her giant web in the worst possible place
at the junction between the gate to the yard and the driveway fence

no one pays attention and will destroy the web just by walking through

so, in my capacity as Den Mother to the Charlotte Club, I step in

I can see the spot from the kitchen window

Sometimes I see the web first

Sometimes I see Charlotte

I go out with my trusty giant piece of cardboard and begin the moving process

This particular Charlotte went all Ninja on me and with the heaviness of the rain droplets I couldn't save the web

So she was relocated to the carport where she could - and did - build a new web

Gotta go, there are worms in the driveway that must be moved back to the lawn

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