Beginning and Starting

The look is winterish, the feel fallish, this with the foggy beginning of the day...really, the fog began last night, make for a wonderful stay at home day. Parts of the drive home from choir last night were rather foggy and difficult to maneuver. The fog has burned off and with our cooler temps beginning last week the leaf turning has sped up a bit. There is some loss of leaves from the heat from earlier last week and the wind we've encountered the past few days.

Fed the cats early this morning, well early for me. Punky was there to greet, Mama Cat was there to hiss and Mr McBeavy was fashionably late. Strawyer in the past few weeks has been a late arriver to  breakfast but because I like him so much, I'll open the kitchen back up to feed him. Punky and the Mr will finagle him out of his portion though. Mr McBeavy has a tried and true tactic, loving greeting by a rubbing of his head against Straw and then the Mr pushes Strawyer away from the bowl with all that head rubbing...all in the course of a cat hug. An unusual thing happened Saturday morning with Mama Cat. For those keeping a dance card, Mama Cat is the original cat to this brood. Two years ago in November, she brought her three kittens without their mittens, under the big fir tree on the gravel road. Since then we haven't seen another kitten from her, that is until Saturday. She brought with her two older kittens, one black and white and the other a solid gray kitten that is the spitting image of the gray cat that hangs around here from time to time. She let them come eat and play under the fir tree which had Mr McBeavy's full attention. She has not brought them back nor have they found their own way back. She and Camo only let a few of their litters survive. They are rather hard hearted in their treatment toward their kittens. Punky has a fit if Mama Cat gets too close to hers and then will chase Mama or rather Grand Mama back up to the wilderness of the gravel road. The kittens are about five weeks old and they mainly have stayed under the house or around the safety of the covered grill. Sometimes in the early evening they play on the porch steps with Mr McBeavy keeping a close eye on them and he also plays with them. He is a good cat.

I haven't ever had any kind of reaction to the flu shot that is until this year. The horrible headache, my eyes filled with pain, muscle aches and a bit of a rash usually says allergic reaction. At first the thought of aneurysm scared me but I Googled It Up and found the flu shot side effects. The next morning the effects lingered a bit but by the afternoon I was beginning to feel normal...or as normal as this one can feel.

Saturday was a full on sports day beginning in the afternoon. I had studied all week for the lesson on Sunday but hadn't written anything down. So, that was the first order of Saturday business. The kind folks at Lifeway gave us a reprieve of sorts. For weeks we have studied the rebellious Israelites and their practice of idolatry starting in the way back, early days to the divided kingdom days. Sunday the lesson was on Isiah 53, the suffering servant...Jesus. As a class yesterday we all welcomed the break and the lesson is a segway to some of the good kings of Judah. So, I was ready for LSU football at 3:30. They were victorious and beat Mississippi State. After that game I was able to see the end of the Baylor game against Oklahoma State and they too were victorious and stay unbeaten...Sic 'em Bears! Between the Baylor game and the Astros game which started at 8:08 pm, I reviewed the lesson, did stuff around here and got a tad bit of recreational reading in. I have to confess with the Astro game, I went to bed when the Yankees tied it up. You know I had to make the decision to be at least awake while teaching or totally invest in the game and be lethargic Sunday morning. Most times when the Astros are tied in the 9th it can go into extra innings. I would also like to add the best things happen to the Astros when I am not watching, so really, I did my part to help them. I woke up a couple of times in the night but wouldn't look at my phone to see the final score cause if they won or lost, it would wake me up and make falling back to sleep difficult. It was pure joy when I got up Sunday morning to find out the Astros were heading to the World Series and then seeing how it happened...more joy.

Friday morning the temp was 33 degrees when I woke up. I had given some thought going to the October Festival at the Amish store but the 33 discouraged that decision. Later in the morning when the temps began to rise I decided to stop  by the festival and find the three vendors I have bought from in the past few years. Arriving at the end of lunch time and at the beginning time when moms leave to be home or to pick up their kids was an optimum time. Found the vendors, bought a few things and headed on down the road toward Johnson City. Had a late lunch at Carraba's and made a last stop at the Barnes and Noble before heading back home.

Tomorrow, I will finally be able to get Mustang Sam into the dealership for the digital dash panel that has gone blank. Info isn't registering on the Ford Pass, so it must be more than a fuse. I will hook up Waze to the car cause the middle panel still works to know how fast I am going. Avoiding Woodfin for sure cause that is just a speed trap waiting. 

Spanning the Week

Nothing like a little unknown to begin a day. I had an email from Roy letting me know the alarm had gone off in the night...well, I forgot to set the alarm last night so.... I checked the app and I also had a text from the alarm monitoring company but nothing about an alarm. So as I am trying to find information on what all this means the distinct scent of something burning hits me like a brick. Panicked somewhat by the alarm news I try to hunt out the source of the aroma...all the while in my pajamas. Thankfully, it wasn't anything here at the house but across the road where tree debris is being burned...which I thought there was a burn ban but I guess since we have had some rain that  ban might have been lifted.

Early last week I thought I saw a cow in the dormant pastureland right across from us. Then a day or so later it seemed there was another cow and yesterday a herd was confirmed. Not as numerous as in the past but at least ten cows and one baby calf. That is such good news that for now it doesn't look as if that land will be developed for houses. Across from the pasture where the burning is happening, that looks like it might be making ready for development. I sure hope not but the good thing is if it is developed it isn't front and center from the front porch view.

The little family of three is enjoying the cat house and I haven't even plugged it in for warmth yet. Strawyer and Mr McBeavy spend the most time in it but Punky got some house time late yesterday afternoon. I turned the house diagonally to be able to see the front entrance a little better.
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Well, there has been a change...make that a family of seven. This morning after Nathan and Andrew finished laying the pine needles, trimming and cutting down the nearly dead plum tree, Punky and Mr McBeavy brought down two kittens from up near the tree stumps. Two black and white kittens and then I saw there was what looked like a gray and white kitten with another black and white one. Punky was putting them in the new house for the cats thus displacing Strawyer who was none too happy about their presence. Mr McBeavy, he has been playing with them and keeping them close at hand. Punky finally brought down the other two. I was planning on leaving but there has been a change of plans on that...more in the next paragraph. Anyway, I went out there to give some treats and Punky didn't seem to care that I was walking amongst her kittens. I hope she is trusting me but after yesterday's mishap, I didn't know if all trust was gone...yet you'll find out in another paragraph.

Punky accidentally got stuck in the garage for several hours. Because of her kittens being alone for those hours, she was frantic in the garage. So a frantic feral means I had some cleaning up to do. She had knocked down food and bowls, things on shelves. She also left a nice chunk of hair on the sticky fly catcher. As I began cleanup her little meow came from behind a few things. She was where Riley would sleep. Punky left in a scurry hurry to check on her fam. She left me with a very stinky garage. Nervous ferals fart a lot I've learned, Riley stunk up the vet office on her visit there.

When I started up the Mustang, the front panel where the speedometer and other instruments was a blank screen. Thought maybe I had hit a button or something. I turned off the car and began looking at Google to see if it wasn't serious and wouldn't have to call the dealer. Well, it is serious and there was a recall on these panels but we never got notice. After spending a whole lot of time on hold I was finally able to schedule an appointment for October 22nd.
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Good Monday, yes it has been a while and Buddy is making this more difficult by stretching out in front of the lap top. We might be situated now. The morning temp is 42. A brisk morning for sure. Buddy has been out on the front porch and soon returned inside. I wore flannel for the first time, well outside of home, last night. Hopefully we have made that all important turn into the fall season.

Since the last post my attitude has adjusted about the far out date of October 22nd for Mustang Sam to get into the repair shop. I think I was having a very horrible, not so fun day last Thursday. My attitude was not in a good place. The pace of life is slower here and I need to remember that in the good and in the annoying.

There is kitten news but I think I will make that a separate post.

I am so thankful for our Sunday School class, the Joy Class. Yesterday, we had yet another lesson on idolatry. It's not that I don't think we don't have idols in our lives that need to be gotten rid of, but we have had so many lessons this year on idolatry and rebellion. I studied and prepared but felt like the lesson wasn't good. It was in  2 Kings 17 when the Assyrians defeat Israel and take them into captivity. Three friends encouraged me yesterday after the lesson and those words came at the right times cause I was beating myself up on the inside. I do love the studying during the week for the lessons and I love our class. We are a praying class, a generous class, a laughing class and a noisy class who loves the Lord.

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What a beautiful cool Monday morning and the afternoon holds hope of rain. I survived teaching Hosea and the rest of the security cameras will be installed today.

The following is from a blog post I didn't publish last week and most all of it contains old and no news but the following paragraphs are just for catch up.

****We studied Jonah yesterday in Sunday School and this Sunday we will look at Hosea. Now, that is going to be the opposite from yesterday. Jonah, so familiar to us that we can overlook the multi layers to this book of the Bible but coming this Sunday, I don't think I have ever taught Hosea nor can I remember ever hearing anyone teach from it except maybe a snippet here and there. So truly, Hosea is a minor prophet... Last Wednesday when we had a new security system installed, God arranged...which is a major theme of Jonah, for the two techs doing the installation would be believers. I was outside when they pulled in the driveway and from the car came the sound of someone preaching or teaching...After frying and freezing apples I told Chris if they needed me I would be upstairs studying my Sunday School lesson. He asked what is it on and I replied Jonah. Well....how wonderful, he and Colin were listening to Greg Laurie in the car who just happened to be teaching on Jonah. So I Googled him up and read some of his Jonah notes and that my friends, turned the direction of how I studied. A great side story to this, Chris asked some questions about the book of Jonah, like he was seeing if I really was studying Jonah for the lesson on Sunday. Answered all his questions satisfactorily.

Last week held success in finally getting out some fall decor. Usually, I am on this by Labor Day but it took a little longer than usual this year. I bought some pumpkins from one of the favorite produce stands and have those outside on the front deck. I did a Johnson City trip last week which included both Amish stores. The new one was out of French burnt peanuts, so you know me and back road drives...it didn't take much for me to decide to go to the old store and they had some. Also tried a blood orange sparkling water they carry and yes, it is the bomb diggity. Not acidic like so many sparkling waters.****

On Friday my cousin David called. I don't think David has ever called and we haven't been in touch for years. He and Jan would be in the area and wanted to know if I would like to meet them for lunch on Sunday. Yes, of course, how fun! We had a good time of catching up and remembering. Dave and Jan travel quite a bit with car shows and racing. Not a bad retirement at all and when they aren't pulling trailers for their racing, they are touring about on their trike...a beautiful three wheeler motorcycle. We decided to go to The Farmer's Daughter in Chucky TN for lunch, southern comfort food and we had the opportunity to see if the leafs are changing...the leafs are still rather green with a slight touch of yellow and very few reds.


In preparation for the cooler temps I made taco soup. Gave some to Brenda and today I will get some into the freezer for colder days. I also fried up some apples so the kitchen was busier than normal. I have also watched more TV than normal with the Astros in the playoffs and LSU playing Utah State on Saturday. On Saturday night I happily went to bed knowing the Astros were up 1-0 and I am happy that they won the game. The ninth inning would have made me too nervous and would have had a difficult time going to sleep. I might have to head over to a local restaurant today to see the Astros since we don't get the MLB channel.

Yesterday, we studied Hosea in Sunday School. I was challenged all week preparing for the lesson. I am so thankful for two books that helped me get it all straightened out in my head and heart and on paper. We mainly looked at God's part in the story but we also spent time looking at Gomer's perspective and it was rather insightful and probably nothing you will ever hear from a pulpit. I had shared with Roy what I had found and he said, that is so interesting, I would go with that but if you were teaching men, I'd say, go the standard way. I reminded him if I was teaching men I wouldn't be in a Baptist church. Roy, the class and I got a good chuckle over that. I also have to write that I teach the most loving and supportive class. They are all such encouragers. Good thing I looked ahead at this week's lesson, which is on idolatry for the millionth time this year, cause the lesson could have gone that way...but it is all saved up for this week.

Collin, with Asheville Security helped, please read mostly did all the work in the set up, me put up the canopy that promised it was a pop up, no problem...I am always taken in by these descriptions. Ha! Anyway, we got the canopy for the little feral fam, I put in the stakes and put together the cat house. So far Strawyer is the only cat that has gone in but I hold onto hope that Punky and Mr McBeavy will go in.