This and That ...

Yesterday was my god-doggie, Sadie's, 10th-year birthday/anniversary. A special occasion for a very special basset hound! Sadie's mommy is my dear friend, Judy (my trusty cat sitter and the gal who rescued my sweet Haley many years ago before we welcomed her into our family). This is a pic I took of her holding Haley the night she brought her to us in October of 2006. Haley was only seven months old then.The photo frame is one she gave me for my birthday a couple of months later to place a pic of Haley in. I have kept this pic of the two ever since ...

Miss Sadie is one of Judy's rescue dogs whom she took into her home as a senior basset hound. A couple of years ago, Judy was devastated after Sadie was diagnosed with cancer in her eye. After many visits to veterinary specialists, (she was originally misdiagnosed by her former vet as having an eye infection) and a couple of surgeries later, she thankfully beat the cancer and they were able to stop it from spreading as well. These pics were taken by Judy of Sadie's 10-year birthday/anniversary celebration! I just love this dog so much!

Sadie ~ Halloween 2010

Judy also works with me and today she surprised me with this lovely mermaid statue for my birthday last week ...

And finally, Haley's beautiful urn which I ordered a couple of days ago from "Memorial Urns" came in the mail this afternoon, It is engraved, "Haley Lynn. Forever loved, my pretty girl" ...

A very special birthday celebration

After unarguably the worst birthday I have ever had yesterday, today was a very refreshing and pleasant contrast. Although yesterday was actually my 54th birthday, I spent a wonderful day today with my sister, Robin (aka Aurora Skye). I originally wanted to make us a homemade dinner of stuffed shells with ricotta cheese and Sicilian sauce made from scratch (YES, I can cook! lol) but with all of the turmoil which went on in the past couple of days, it was just not in the cards. So, I bought the ingredients and made us dinner anyhow ...

To go with our meal, I bought a bottle of Arbor Mist and a special treat I found ~ Mint-flavored Rum

And, my sister surprised me with a delicious red velvet cake (my favorite!)  YUMMY! ...

And some awesome birthday gifts as well ...

Scented Pisces/Astrology candles and pocket hand sanitizer.

I also received a lovely gift from Brett. A real cameo brooch of Amphitrite, wife of Poseidon ...

(In ancient Greek mythology, Amphitrite (/æmfɪˈtraɪtiː/; Greek: Ἀμφιτρίτη) was a sea goddess and wife of Poseidon and the queen of the sea.^[1] Under the influence of the Olympian pantheon, she became merely the consort of Poseidon and was further diminished by poets to a symbolic representation of the sea. In Roman mythology, the consort of Neptune, a comparatively minor figure, was Salacia, the goddess of saltwater.)

Goodnight all!

The Calico Cat ~ a poem

The following was a poem I had written a couple of years ago about my calico cat, Haley. I have decided to re-post it today in her loving memory.

The Calico Cat

She sleeps in the sunlight,

Her warm coat shines soft;

Purring ever so loudly

Underneath her catio loft

“You’re home! You’re home!”

She excitedly spouts;

As I walk through the door

“Let me in!” she shouts

Now sitting on my chair

Curled up on my lap;

Is that calico cat

And for hours she sat

~ Lady Caer Morganna

And the hits just keep on coming ...

It was not even a year ago that we lost our beloved Midnight, then came beautiful Kiki, and now we get the horrible news that sweet Haley has been diagnosed with advanced kidney disease. She was not eating well for me for the past few days so we took her to our vet at Conrad Weiser Animal Hospital. They took a urinalysis, performed blood work, and gave her a full examination. By the end of the day, Dr. Lila called me at home to inform me that Haley has kidney disease and possibly a bladder infection as well, but it looked at that point that we could give her more time by adjusting her diet, giving her meds, etc. The very next morning her husband, Dr. Mike, called us and told us that after reviewing her test results, Haley's kidney's are so bad that she will only have a few days, if we are lucky, to live. 

All of this comes just in time for my birthday this week and I fear I will have to spend it taking her to the vet and having her put to sleep. Needless to say, my heart is breaking and I am still reeling from the loss of my Kiki so soon!

They say god only gives you what you can handle. Quite frankly, I personally feel that is all BS myself. The loss of my brother, loss of my 13 year job, now the loss of three of my beloved fur babies in a row in less than a year at that.

I am seriously considering taking a hiatus from my blogs in the hope that I might be able to "re-charge my batteries" a bit. I am trying very hard to be strong, but it is so difficult at this point in my life. It seems the older I am getting the harder it is to bounce back from things. I am even considering not taking anymore animals in for a very long time, but we shall see ... I will have to think on it. Until then, I will spend the next couple of days comforting my sweet Haley and trying to make her as comfortable as I possibly can. As per usual, nature (and/or god depending upon what you believe in) has the last word and always will. But, I will do my best to give Haley all of the love I have left in me regardless of what challenges life puts before me!

One day at a time ...

Snow

Well, for the most part we have mainly had rain and freezing temperatures here so far this winter here in Reading, PA. Last night they were calling for 4 to 8 inches of snow, but it looks as though we ended up with just two or three inches this time around ...

The cats and I enjoyed a lazy  evening watching the "pretty white stuff" fall down on the ground, the cars, the trees, the road, etc.

Leo and Tabitha sharing a quiet night on the sofa

I, myself, decided to take the opportunity to kick back and finish watching season 7 of GOT.

Leo chilling out on his kitty condo

This week it is supposed to be back into the 60's temperatures! Talk about crazy weather, this is how it has been since the beginning of winter.

Odds 'n' ends ...

Happy Wednesday, my friends! Hope all is well with everyone, Been keeping kinda busy lately. Last night was my long-time and very dear friend, Kiki's birthday and our monthly get-together. We decided to eat dinner at one of our favorite places for taco night, The Liberty Fire Company and Social Quarters ...

My girl, Kiki

The other day, I went looking for a nice, fairly cheap jewelry box to hang and store my necklaces in. Can you believe I looked at several different stores and NONE of them carried even regular jewelry boxes? Boscov's Department Store actually told me that they were seasonal? ... Why? I have no idea. So, I decided to make my own - not the prettiest jewelry box in the world but it will do the job just fine. I bought a plain wooden box (I can always paint it later) with a glass door on the front and a hook command strip to use inside for hanging the necklaces ...

I picked up Game of Thrones DVD's seasons 4 through 7 to add to the first three I bought last year. I figure since it will be a long wait for the show finale (the last season will be 2019 with no episodes this year), so I may as well get caught up.

I also found the perfect frame for my Magic Love Crow art I purchased recently from Stacy, "Step Into Your Greatness" ...

Well, that is about all for now. Enjoy the rest of the week everybody!  Brightest Blessings!

This and That ...

Greetings everyone! I had lost my internet at home for a few days, but luckily I finally got it back today. As you all know if you have read my previous posts, I am losing my job sometime before summer as I was told and a lot of changes are coming my way - ready or not! 

I still believe that everything happens for a reason and I saw a beautiful painting created by my long time and very talented friend, Magic Love Crow, called, "Step Into Your Greatness." As I told Stacy, this painting SPOKE to me! Especially at this difficult time of my life. The unknown is always a scary thought and so I am trying very hard to keep a positive outlook. A very sincere "thank you" my dear friend, Stacy from Magic Love Crow! I am going to look for the perfect frame tomorrow for this piece to hang in my living room ...

Along with my crow painting, I also received some very special gifts from Stacy ...

An adorable baby crow card

And a wonderful journal book and a lovely Woman/Strength Crow tote bag created by Magic Love Crow!

In other news, I found a lovely cat locket for my calico kitty, Haley. Can't wait to find a good pic of her to place in it ...

My sweet Haley

I began making my holiday wreaths again, I had given my boss a fall and spring wreath about a year ago because she said she loved my wreaths so much. Since then, her house burned down and I promised her that I would replace the ones she lost. She told me that she really enjoyed them. Here is a pic of one of them ...

My new Ostara/Spring Equinox decoration ...

Brightest Blessings all!!