Ally Bean at THE SPECTACLED BEAN writes an entertaining blog featuring miscellaneous topics, thought-provoking questions, and links to a variety of quizzes. One of her posts included a link to a quiz to determine your home decorating aesthetic. (I was going to link directly to the post, but I couldn’t find it. Sorry, Ally!) To no great surprise, the quiz determined that my aesthetic is Farmhouse Chic.
The rustic nature of The Cabin is one of the reasons I fell in love with it. Our first viewing of this house is my only experience of love at first sight. (Okay, maybe that’s not true. Any random kitten provokes a similar feeling.) Not long ago, I realized that I may be leaning a little heavily on the “farm” portion of Farmhouse Chic. I told Kenn, “I may owe you an apology. I seem to have decorated the whole house with cows.” (Hobby Lobby feeds into my bovine obsession.)
My love of cows traces back to my childhood. I grew up living next door to my maternal grandparents. My grandmother was a bit of a hobby farmer and always had a few cows. Growing up around cows is how I learned that the saying “Curiosity killed the cat” should actually be ” Curiosity killed the cow.” Cows are nothing if not nosy. Stand in the middle of a field of cows and it won’t be long until you’re surrounded by cows checking to see what you’re doing.
Now for a peek at my “bovine chic.”
Our dining room wall.
A close-up of the wreath on the dining room wall.
This one hangs outside the kitchen door. I almost forgot about it.
I love the Progressive Insurance commercials about turning into your parents. I absolutely LOL’ed when they released the weather commercial; it perfectly describes both Kenn and our oldest son. Every morning, Kenn gives me a weather report including the high temperature expected and any chance of rain. Yesterday’s weather report was basically, “Things have changed. The rain now isn’t expected in this area until around 5pm. Radar shows a big blob of rain over Birmingham, AL.” With that, we went about our morning.
It was a muggy day, so we elected to sit inside at church. Inside was a good call; when the service ended, it was obvious that a pretty good rain shower had moved through and it was still sprinkling. Kenn and I said our goodbyes and headed home. (He volunteers with the parking team, so we usually drive separately.) As I drove, the rain picked up enough that the intermittent wiper setting wasn’t enough and I switched to the lower “continuous” setting. Then, about halfway home the rain changed from a steady, semi-hard rain to what my youngest would call a “wrath of God” rainstorm.
Y’all it was horrible. I switched the wipers to the fastest setting, turned on the defroster just in case, and turned on the hazard lights. Fortunately, there wasn’t a lot of traffic on the two-lane road I was on. It was one of those storms where it would probably have been best best to pull over, but doing so was impossible. That stretch of road has no shoulder to speak of; pulling over would mean going down an embankment and into a field. There’s also a section of road work where a traffic circle is being installed. So, I hugged the center line and kept my eye on the white line at the outside of the lane. However, even with the wipers at the highest setting, I could only get a glimpse of the white line every few seconds. The rain was blowing across the road in sheets – which occasionally included small limbs. Since there are a lot of pecan trees in the area, I prayed that, in addition to staying on the road, no limbs would come in through the window. I have never been so glad to get home. I made a dash inside, then stood at the window watching for Kenn. He and I take different routes home from church so I had no idea what he might have encountered. He did arrive home safely. It turned out that his route had several trees and limbs blocking the road.
I have to say that yesterday’s storm is in the Top Three worst storms I’ve ever driven in. One of the other worst storms was also in the local area. I had headed out to pick up my oldest grandson for a visit when a horrible rain storm moved in – equally as bad as yesterday’s storm with hail thrown in for good measure. I did find a place to turn around so I could head back home, but that time, I actually wasn’t on the road and didn’t realize it until a sign suddenly appeared ahead of me. I veered to miss the sign and wound up in a field. Fortunately, I was driving the Tundra and I managed to get out of the field, back on the road, and crawl home. The other Top Three storm occurred in Fort Smith, Arkansas when I was driving to Estes Park, Colorado. There I was, on the interstate in an unfamiliar town, and I couldn’t see a bloody thing. As soon as the rain let up and I could find somewhere to pull over, I did so and just sat in the car and shook for a few minutes.
Image from depositphotos.com
Fortunately, Daisy waited until yesterday evening to act up. Kenn and I met friends for dinner and on the way home, Daisy lost her mind. She started beeping and displaying error messages. “Eyesight disabled.” “RAB disabled.” “Check engine.” Simultaneously, the engine lost power and began running erratically; we managed to pull into a parking lot and began doing research. I thought I was going to have to call our friends and ask them to circle back and take one of us home to get the truck. We were able to eventually get the engine running smoothly enough to be able to make it home. Once at home, we disconnected the battery for about fifteen minutes and removed and replaced the gas cap making sure that it was sealed correctly. One or the other of those things fixed the problem. I’m convinced that some sensor got wet and temporarily malfunctioned. As of today, Daisy is still running fine. I’m just so, so thankful that whatever happened didn’t happen during my drive home earlier in the day.
Most of us are familiar with Pavlov’s dogs. In short, Ivan Pavlov, who was studying digestive processes, would ring a bell and present dogs with food. He soon realized that the dogs would begin salivating when the bell rang, even if no food was present. This is what became known as classical conditioning and helped develop the school of behavioral psychology.
A few months ago, I realized I have accidentally trained our cats similarly, even though no food is involved. We have two Ring devices: our front doorbell, and motion-activated floodlight which covers our carport and back steps. I have the Ring app on my phone and have different alert tones assigned to each device so I’ll know which one I need to check when a notification sounds. The cats have learned that when the tone for the carport sounds, it is frequently followed by someone coming to the front door. It’s funny to watch them. When the carport alert sounds, they either run for the door and look out the windows in the sidelight to see who’s coming or just sit up and look at the front door. Actually, I’m pretty impressed that they put all of this together on their own.
On another note, I found myself in need of Mark Petruska’s (as yet non-existent) cat scratcher business this weekend. As the owners of multiple cats, we have a variety of cat scratchers and cat trees scattered around the house. When the scratchers wear out, we generally buy a new one. At one point, we bought sisal with plans to just repair the scratcher. Well, I have no idea where the sisal went, and we never did repair that scratching post. When I was vacuuming last week, I found a mystery substance on the floor. I soon determined that the cats had scratched through the rope on the scratching post and were now in the process of destroying the cardboard tube that functions as the base of the scratcher. I assembled the replacement cat tree over the weekend, a process which required a lot of feline “assistance.”
The shredded scratching post.
Bear had to get in the cubby as soon as I finished it.
Roxie had to try out the new scratching posts while I was still working on them.
More progress on the cat tree, and I exchanged Bear for Roxie.
All finished. Bear and Roxie were exhausted from all that work.
I hereby pinky swear that next time, I will repair the scratching post, not replace the whole cat tree/scratcher.
What behaviors have your pets learned without training?
I wear this shirt once a year and post it on social media for the sole purpose of getting my adult sons to roll their eyes. This year, I’m sharing it with y’all, too. (Lucky you!🤣)
Even our church got into things this year. (Big shout out to the lady wearing the bedazzled R2-D2 shirt.)
Kenn and I both retired from federal civil service in 2019 (me in April, him in December). In August of 2020, Kenn started a job at the local agricultural research center. As time passed, he asked if I would be interested in similar job. I wasn’t opposed to the idea, but I also wasn’t necessarily looking for a job. As an introvert, it’s easy for me to go into hermit mode; I’m perfectly fine being at home for extended periods. However, Kenn talked me up to one of the scientists, I met with him, and I started my job at the research center in July 2022.
Even though I wasn’t looking for a job, I’ve really enjoyed mine. I get out of the house a couple of days a week, my boss and coworkers are great, I get to spend time outside (as opposed to a cubicle), and I get to perform a variety of tasks. The atmosphere is extremely laid back and my schedule is flexible. If Kenn and I decide to take a road trip for a month, there isn’t any drama; our bosses just say, “See you when you get back.”
Our boss decided the team needed hard hats while implementing one of his more “interesting” projects.
Due to the types of positions we have, our bosses have to renew our jobs each year – which has never been a problem until now. Why now? Well, we work on a government facility. I’ll let you put the pieces together. As a matter of fact, I had already been notified that my position had been renewed for another year only to be told a couple of weeks later that I wouldn’t be renewed after all. I don’t blame my boss, he has done all he can; these decisions are being made by individuals further up the chain. Kenn has been told that his position likely will not be renewed in August.
We’re fortunate. Kenn and I don’t need our jobs. The extra money, while nice, isn’t necessary to our survival. I really feel for all of the full-time employees who have lost their jobs – most with little to no notice. Being a government employee isn’t easy; for some reason, we’ve always gotten a bad rap. (There’s nothing like working your butt off only to get told how lazy government employees are.) And now, we’re being demonized even more. However, if the loss of my little part-time position makes it easier for even one full-time employee to keep their job, I’m all for it.
The one thing that has surprised me about all of this is how emotional I have been. At times, I’m really sad. I have truly enjoyed the last three years. At other times, I’m angry. Don’t tell me that I’m good for another year just to turn around and say, “LOL! Just kidding!” Right now, my primary emotion is… honestly, I’m not quite sure how I’m feeling. At this point, I’m just ready for it to be over with. If they were to come to me tomorrow and say I could stay for another year, I’m not sure I would; it’s hard to stay motivated with the sword of Damocles hanging over your head. I’ve already made plans to fill my “extra” time with volunteer work. I’ll also have no excuse not to finish going through that last box of I-have-no-idea-what-to-do-with-this stuff that belonged to my parents. Of course, I’ve gotten a little teary-eyed while writing this – and I rarely cry. Sigh. As the tattoo on my forearm reminds me daily, this too shall pass.
My tattoo on the day I got it – February 28, 2015.
Since I’m pouting, I can’t even think of any questions to post here. So, hit me with your random thoughts or facts.
A few of my cats have made appearances in various posts, but it’s past time to introduce y’all to the whole clowder. So, here they are in all of their furry glory.
Name: Molly
Age: 16
Nicknames: Molly Mayhem, Molly Mae, Girlfriend
Notes: Molly is the sister of Desmond; they got their names from the Beatles’ song, Ob-La-Di.
Nicknames: Beaver Butt, Brick, Baroness von Underbite
Notes: Cricket is probably the clowder member I worry about the most. She has feline herpes which manifests in her as respiratory issues. The poor girl sneezes constantly and always has a snotty nose. Steroid shots only help for a few days so we deal with it the best we can. As for her nicknames, Beaver Butt is due to the fact that she has a really thick tail. Brick comes from the character of the same name in the television show The Middle. (I love that show.) Brick has a verbal tic of saying “Whoop” and Cricket frequently makes a similar sound.
Names: Bob (r) and Tippy (l)
Ages: 11
Nicknames: Bob the Blob and Tippy Cat
Notes: We inherited Bob and Tippy when my dad died in 2016. They are my gaming buddies and insist on lying on my chest while I’m playing video games.
Name: Nyx
Age: 10
Nicknames: None
Notes: Nyx has adopted the kitchen as her territory. She’s fairly aloof unless we’re in the kitchen, then she comes in and weaves around our ankles and “talks” constantly. It’s not exactly a nickname, but we call her our house panther with kitchen specialization.
Name: Kota
Age: 9
Nicknames: Floofy Butt, Princess Floofy Britches
Notes: Kota’s name is an acronym which stands for Kitten of the Apocalypse. Kenn found her near the storm drain behind our old house and was upset that yet another cat had shown up. I said something to the effect of “Dude, it’s just a kitten. It’s not even the kitten of the apocalypse,” and it stuck.
Name: Bear
Age: 5
Nicknames: Old Man, Baby Bear
Notes: Bear has probably made the most appearances in my blog. He’s just an all-around cool guy.
Name: Roxie
Age: 2
Nicknames: Roxie Pants, Bunny Butt
Notes: Roxie’s biggest claim to fame is always looking shocked about everything. She also has the quietest meow of all the cats.
Do you have any pets? If so, what kind and how many?
Congratulations, y’all – we have successfully survived another transition to daylight savings time! We may be sleepy, but we made it. Personally, I love daylight savings time. I’m all about the longer days and extra sunshine. However, losing that hour of sleep sucks. At least the time on my my alarm clock automatically resets. Actually, now that I think about it, I’m lucky it did. I have a new alarm clock that I’ve only been using for a couple of months and I didn’t even give it a thought when I went to bed last night and didn’t set a back-up alarm on my phone. Fortunately, my clock did reset, my alarm went off as it should have, and I made it to church on time. Of course, I was patting myself on the back earlier for having reset the other random clocks in the house when I realized I haven’t reset the one in my car. Oh, well. I’ll get to it eventually. (Changing the time on a couple of our vehicles was so unnecessarily complex, we just didn’t bother.)
Now to enjoy the next eight months before we fall back to shorter days and longer nights.
Image from depositphotos.com
When Kenn and I married, I asked him when his various bills were due. He replied, “I just pay everything at the end of the month.” Yeah, that’s not how due dates work. So, I took over the finances and almost thirty-nine years later, I’m still the money lady. Sadly, part of handling the finances is taking care of the income taxes. I still remember the days of doing the taxes manually and pulling my hair out over the insanely complicated formulas for determining various entries. Who even came up with these ridiculous computations? I am extremely thankful that there is now software that makes completing income taxes relatively pain free. Now, if we could just not owe the federal government every year.🙄 At least we usually get some sort of refund back from the state to offset a little of the pain of what we owe. Even better, I don’t have to deal with this again for a year!🙌
Image from depositphotos.com
So, daylight savings time: love it or hate it? Income taxes: do you do them yourself or use a tax preparation service?
I have to admit that I have a contrary streak a mile wide. I’m not exactly the best at being told what to do. Ask me, and I’m fine. Tell/order me and take your chances. (I had to have a chat with the boss who entered my cubicle and said, “You! You need to do (whatever he wanted me to do).”) I’m also a resident of Georgia and don’t like the Georgia Bulldogs. I’m actually not a sports fan, but I don’t like the Bulldogs because they are everywhere, all the time – not just football season.
My contrariness has caused me to be reluctant to read certain books or watch certain television shows. (Still haven’t read Fifty Shades of Grey and don’t plan to.) I’ll write a separate post about my reluctance to watch Criminal Minds.
I had never seen an episode of Friends until 2024. When the show first aired in 1994, I was married with two young children and a full-time job; I had nothing in common a bunch of single, late twenty-somethings living their best lives in the big city. Everyone telling me how great it was didn’t make me want to watch either. However, sometime last year, I realized that Kenn kept the television in his workshop on Friends. I was shocked. He said he just used it as background noise. (Big Bang Theory is one of my “background” shows.) At some point, I caught a couple of episodes and decided that – wait for it it – I like Friends. It has now become one of my background shows as well.
Kenn went to a blood drive in early December 2024. When he came home, he tossed something at me and said “Here, you can have these.” It turns out that the Red Cross had given him two pairs of holiday socks. Kenn is strictly a black socks kind of guy while I like bright and colorful, so the socks were perfect for me. The one thing I wasn’t expecting was that the socks were a Red Cross/Friends collaboration – a combination that I would never have guessed existed. I guess it was in honor of Friends thirtieth anniversary.🤷♀️
The pair not shown has a turkey wearing sunglasses and a fez.
When it comes the the characters, Joey and Phoebe are my favorites. (Ross is my least favorite.) I recently caught an episode I hadn’t seen before featuring Joey’s “moo point.” Not only was it hysterical, but I also love cows so I had to get a shirt. I guess this officially makes me a fan.
Do you like Friends? Who are your favorite/least favorite characters? Are you contrary?
I’ve mentioned before that we suck at selfies. Please enjoy the results of us attempting to take a selfie in front of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park sign.
Nope. Don’t want everyone looking up our noses.Where did I go?Why is this so hard?We did it!
Linda Lou's Life 