Giving Lucille Her Medicine

My cat, Lucille, is hyperthyroid and has to take a pill every other day. She only weights six pounds, but it is quite the battle getting that pill down her. Dave and I have to do it together. He holds her and I open her mouth and throw in the pill and some days she bites me and some days she doesn't.

This photo is taken right before medicine time. You see that Dave and Lucille are quite relaxed.

Moore at the Gardens

I visited the Denver Botanical Gardens a couple of weeks ago, before the weather changed and winter arrived. I went to enjoy the serenity of the gardens and had forgotten that the Henry Moore sculptures were there. Henry Moore was an English sculptor and artist, who is known for the abstract monumental bronze works that are used as public art around the world. (I got that out of wikipedia). The Denver Botanical Gardens has some of these works on display and so it was a treat for me to see them.

I took a lot of pictures that are posted below. I noted in the reading that this set of sculptures were first displayed at the New York Botanical Gardens, and then Atlanta. Denver is their last stop before they travel back home to England by boat.

An Orchid on My Bedside Table

Every since I saw in the Martha Stewart magazine, a picture of her bedside table with an orchid on it, I wanted one, too. I am uninitiated in orchids until recently. David bought me one years ago, and it promptly died--or so I thought. Last Valentine's Day, he gave me another one and that one is doing well. I have given it attention and care, and went to a class at the orchid store where I learned enough to know that the earlier orchid probably wasn't dying when I threw it out.

My friend, Sharon, has a ton of orchids--she got the bug last year. This past week, I was at the orchid store and she came walking in. So, she toured me all around showing me different orchids. I bought a couple more. The experiment continues.

Martha Stewart has greenhouses, where she keeps her orchids and she rotates them in and out of her house--including on her bedside table.

Well, my bedside table has an orchid now and I am quite proud of it. It is blooming and draws the eye immediately when one walks into the room. After it finishes blooming, it will move downstairs to the sunroom with the couple of others that I have.

One thing I have learned: many people think that orchids are hard to grow and maintain. Sharon says they really aren't. I guess I will find out.

Hitchhikers

Midway through the summer, I noticed two plants that were growing in the beginning of a new perennial bed. I didn't know where they came from, as I hadn't planted them. Throughout the end of the summer and the fall, they have continued to flourish. I was suspicious that they came from my friend, Sharon's, garden when I moved some peonies from her place to mine back in the Spring. The mystery plants were beside the peonies. In fact, they look like they might choke out the peonies.

I took a couple of pictures and sent them to Sharon, asking if she knew what they were and indicating my belief that they might have hitchhiked in from her garden. She thought they might be giant poppies, which she has out there where we dug up the peonies. She said the poppies really get big in the fall. So, that's what I think they are. I'll have to move them in the Spring, but I am interested in seeing if they come back and bloom.

The Fat Boy

I came upon this picture when I was putting together a small digital picture frame for my desk. This is 'Fat Boy.' He was the apple of my eye. I lost him nearly five years ago to kidney failure. We had him only 8 or 9 years.

He came to us from the Humane Society and was brought there as a stray. At the pound, they called him Oliver, but we promptly renamed him Fat Boy. After I brought him home, he wouldn't come out of the basement for six weeks. Sometimes he would sit down there and caterwaul until I went down and got him and put him on the couch with me. Even after he mustered the courage to come upstairs on his own, he was still shy and retiring--always ready to beat a hasty retreat.

David was always concerned when our vet would send out the notification to come and get Fat Boy's annual shots. The postcard was typically addressed to 'Fat Boy Patton.' Dave was afraid that the mailman might think that card was meant for him (Dave).

One of Fat Boy's favorite things was to sit beside me on the couch when I was watching television and he would put a paw on my leg as we sat there together. It was darling. When Lucille came to live with us, she didn't care for him, but he admired her greatly. He was just a sweetie-pie. I still miss him.

Harvest Table 2010

I always like to have a harvest themed centerpiece on the table in the fall. Here's the one for this year.



The squash came from several different local places. The tablecloth I got in Savannah, my favorite city. I thought the candlesticks were a nice contrast. They came from the Peachtree Gallery in my hometown of Owensboro, KY.

The Blue Bear Gig

One of my favorite gigs we did this summer was the Blue Bear gig. Dave, Terry and I were sidemen for Mike Marsh, playing at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver for a doctor's convention. We played just inside and up an escalator at a spot right before the attendees entered the exhibit hall.

The blue bear has been peeking into the convention center for five years now. He is a 40 feet tall steel sculpture by artist Lawrence Argent, and his official art name is "I See What You Mean."

I had never seen the bear in person--only pictures of him in the newspaper--and I was just delighted to be playing with him looking in upon us. When I realized we were going to the convention center, I still didn't remember or realize that the bear would be there, but as soon as I saw him, my heart lifted.

The Blue Bear is very popular among Denverites and those from the ouskirts like me and I can see why--he's just fun! After we finished playing, I lined up next to all the tourists to snap shots of him. He made my day.