Gus Moves In

Happy Friday friends. Sometimes on Friday I like to do a Friday Favorites. But I guess one of my favorite things from this week is that the big orange kitty Gus has moved permanently into our house.

Remember when we got Gus a few weeks ago he had been living in a nearby neighborhood, hiding during the day and only coming out at night. He would go around to different people’s houses’ and they would feed him. Poor baby was not in good health. He had a bad respiratory infection and his fur was so matted you could feel these huge bumps and bulges when you touched him.

We put him next door at my father in law’s house so we could visit him and feed him several times a day. We took him to our vet and they checked him out. He had not been neutered and was not chipped. He had been living near this neighborhood for weeks and no one had claimed him. One of the neighborhood ladies had posted his picture on Facebook and it was shared several times and no one came forward. So I guess we were not surprised that he was not chipped or that no one was looking for him.

After we got Gus neutered and got the upper respiratory cleared up and his hair shaved we decided he should be an inside cat. He did really well indoors and seemed to be a big chicken when we took him outside. There is no telling what the poor baby went through during his weeks out in the wild.

***This was just after he had been neutered and a lot of his hair had been shaved off to get all the matted fur out.***

We decided to do short visits to try and get him and Kitty Kitty and Molly and Scruffy all acquainted with each other. We did this for about a week. We would bring him over for several hours a day. Kitty Kitty absolutely hated him, Scruffy was intrigued and Molly couldn’t care less. The minute Kitty Kitty realized Gus was in the house she would run upstairs and get under a bed and that is where she would stay until he left. After about three days Kitty Kitty started wandering downstairs while Gus was in the house. She would dart around and run to her food bowl or the litter box. We got Gus his own litter box so that Kitty Kitty wouldn’t think he was totally taking over. But poor Kitty Kitty was miserable and I felt terrible. We decided to give it two weeks and then make a decision about whether we could keep Gus and still have harmony in the house. After all, Kitty Kitty was here first and we felt an obligation to her.

Last Friday was move in day. Mark and I both had a long weekend off and we decided this would be the time. We moved all of Gus’ things over. He ran around the house as he always did when he came for the visits. Kitty Kitty ran upstairs for a bit but it wasn’t long this time until she wandered back down. Her and Gus circled each other. Gus was very interested and tried to be friends but Kitty Kitty would have none of it.

***This was the night they finally made friends. They stayed like this for about an hour looking at each other.***

This went on most of the weekend although, Kitty Kitty started coming around and they even sniffed each other a couple of times. By Monday night they were sleeping in the same room together along with Scruffy. Kitty Kitty was still keeping her distance. On Tuesday they started hanging out around each other more and more and by bedtime they were just a few inches from each other and seemed to be fine with it.

And now one week later and they are around each other all the time. A little hissing every now and then but most of the time they are fine together. I haven’t seen them lying together anywhere snuggled up or anything crazy like that but I’m not convinced it won’t happen.

O.K. now let me tell you a little secret. I am absolutely in love with Gus. He is the sweetest, loving kitty we have ever had. The outside kitties have always been a little ferrel and they don’t want you to pick them up or even pet them very much. Kitty Kitty has her moments when she wants to be petted but it is totally on her terms and you are only allowed to pet her for a couple of minutes at a time. But Gus, Gus loves attention. Actually he demands attention. If you are sitting he will jump right up in your lap and press his forehead against yours and hold it there. It is the sweetest thing I have ever seen. I had Scruffy on my lap the other morning and Gus jumped up and made himself at home under my neck. It was quite a cozy scene. Gus loves to snuggle and you could probably carry him around all day and he would be fine with it. When you pick him up he tucks his head under your chin and settles in. It’s so funny how each one has their own little personality. I think Gus may have been raised around dogs. When he meows it almost sounds like a dog. Mark said he sounds like the Cowardly Lion from Wizard of Oz. That is a pretty accurate description because he also looks like him!!!!

Gus loves to lay on this blue furry throw. Poor baby had some shots yesterday and he was not feeling well this morning. You can see his hair has started to come back in. It still looks a little patchy in places.

That is our Gus. We love him and can barely remember what it was like without him around all the time. It’s funny how these babies wander into your life right when you need them. Scruffy came along when my brother Allen passed away in 2018 and then Gus appeared when my sister Pat got sick and passed away last month. God definitely knows where to put them.

Have a wonderful weekend

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!

A Quick Trip To Bristol TN/VA

Hello friends a recap of last week’s trip to Bristol TN/VA. I had hoped to get a post out during the week about my trip but it just didn’t happen.

First of all I hope everyone had a happy Mother’s Day. I have no human children but I have definitely mothered many through the years. I think mothers come in many different forms. I received a precious message yesterday from a former employee that I still keep in touch with after many years. He wished me a Happy Mother’s Day and said he always thought of me as someone he respected and could come to for guidance and that I was a mom in his life. That truly made my day. It is amazing how just a few words can mean so much. My own mama has been gone for nineteen years and I have to tell you she was the best Mama in the world!!!!! We were best friends and I miss her every single day.

Last week I spent a few days at a meeting in the Bristol Tennessee & Bristol Virginia area with our Southern Highlands Attraction group. The two states are very close and there is a spot on the street where you can stand in both states at the same time. I did however almost get run over doing this once so if you try that be very careful. I am sure the locals hate this area. My meeting was actually in Johnson City but we spent the entire day Tuesday in Bristol.

We started the meeting Monday in Johnson City about a two and a half hour drive for me. I left early Monday morning so I wouldn’t have too many nights away from hubs and the fur babies. We met at the beautiful Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site. If you missed my Wordless Wednesday post I posted a lot of pictures of the site it is beautiful with so much history. You can check out the post here.

***Just look at these beautiful yellow Irises***

Our meeting ended about 4:00 and I headed to the hotel where we were staying. It was only a couple of miles from Tipton-Haynes. The Carnegie Hotel is a beautiful historic hotel. It is located in the heart of Johnson City with lots of things to see and do around it. We had a little time before dinner. I actually took a small nap.

Dinner was so delicious We went to Southern Craft Barbecue. It was only about a mile from the hotel. The food was amazing. This was probably some of the best barbecue I have ever had.

***A deviled egg, cornbread and sugar bacon, this was the appetizer***

***Salmon, Barbecue pulled pork, okra and sweet potato souffle. We had so much food, we had to do a lot of sharing.***

We started Tuesday morning with meetings. And then at 11:00 we took a bus to Bristol which is about twenty miles from Johnson City. We started out with lunch at The Burger Bar. This is supposedly the last place Hank Williams was seen alive. Not from eating there but it was a favorite of his. And that is where he ate his last meal. Just a little local history for you. There you will find the best burgers and milkshakes ever. Just a few of the burger selections: Hey good lookin, cold cold heart Hawaii 5-0, Howlin at the moon. I didn’t get a milkshake but the list to choose from is unbelievable. Check out their website here and plan to eat there if you go and get a burger and milkshake. It is such a sweet place with lots of memorabilia on the walls and just plain old southern hospitality.

Next we went to The Birthplace Of Country Music Museum. This place is amazing and I love it. I have been several times. It is so much more than a museum. A lot of people think that Nashville is the birthplace of country music but actually it was in the small homes and store fronts in Bristol where the very first country music was recorded. We didn’t tour this time but met with some of their staff and board members.

***We stopped in at The Southern Churn Ice Cream & Candy Shop and we just had to try this Mountain Dew Fudge. It was actually very good.***

Next stop we visited Benjamin Walls’ gallery for a wine reception and some chill time enjoying the beautiful photos of Benjamin Walls and we were actually treated to an unveiling of a couple of his new photos.

Benjamin is an internationally acclaimed artist, avid environmentalist, and successful entrepreneur. I am taking all of this from his website but go and check it out for yourself. His artwork has received seven international awards and has been displayed in dozens of museums, including five exhibits at the Smithsonian and twice at the Natural History Museum of London. It is almost unbelievable some of the photos that he has captured. Check out his website here

A few other places that we visited: The Paramount Theatre
and Lost State Distilling

After the wine reception at the gallery we went to eat at 620 State Restaurant for dinner. Another amazing meal. I had the chicken and rice and a sushi roll, and a margarita. It was yummy. We were exhausted from the day and being on the hot street. It was good to relax and enjoy our meal.

***This Margarita really hit the spot after a long hot day.***

Our bus picked us up to take us back to the hotel. I think I napped on the way back. The next morning we had meetings until noon and then I headed for home. Although I was only gone for two days I was so glad to get back home to my hubby and the babies.

If you live near this area or if you are just passing through don’t forget to check out some or all of the things I mentioned. It really is a great trip. Bristol Tennessee or Bristol Virginia is a beautiful area. You won’t be disappointed.

I hope you enjoyed your short trip to Johnson City and the Bristol TN/VA area let me know how you liked it.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!

May Day May Day

Hello and happy May Day. Can you believe that May is here already? Well it is. And full summer will be here soon. April was not a great month. My sister got sick in late March and passed away April 8th. It has been such a hard time for everyone in my family. But my Birthday and Wedding Anniversary were both in April and that was great although bittersweet without my sister.

When my sister passed away her neighbor and friend made me and my sister a “Pat” angel. She gave it to us at the funeral and I put mine in my pocket and didn’t open it until after the funeral when me and hubs started home. I looked at it and and I couldn’t believe that she had so perfectly captured something about my sister in this little angel. My sister wore a purple sweater a lot of times when she was sitting outside at the apartment complex where she lived. The angel is made of clay and it is perfect. It has brought me such peace having it with me. This sweet lady makes lots of things from clay especially animals. She has made clay animals of all of my cats. She is so talented.

Work has been absolutely slammed. I have to leave tomorrow for a few days for a meeting in Johnson City. I will be meeting with our attractions group. It should be a lot of fun. I know they have some great adventures for us and a couple of really nice restaurants. I stayed late on Friday at work to get caught up to be gone for a couple of days. I’ll take lots of pictures of everything and share them soon.

We are still working on getting Gus, the new kitty, used to the rest of the family. The only one who is still not very friendly is Kitty Kitty. I know it will take time. We have been keeping Gus next door at my father in law’s house. We can run over and visit and feed him and love on him several times a day. Last week we started bringing him over slowly to help all the inside babies get familiar with him. So for the last few days we have left him here in the house for most of the day. He hasn’t spent a full night but I think when I get back from my trip we will just leave him here all the time. The visits have been a great help in getting Scruffy and Molly adjusted as well as Gus. As I said Kitty Kitty is still not a fan.

***Gus seems perfectly content and is making himself at home.*** ***His hair has started to grow a little from where it was shave***d.

Our weather here has been crazy. We have had some very chilly mornings and then warming quickly in the afternoon and evening. I think we may have been in Whippoorwill Winter last week because the Whippoorwills were calling like crazy at dusk and then first thing in the mornings. The changes in the weather have made some interesting changes on my temperature blanket. I am a little behind on it but I’m working hard to get caught up. When I have April finished I will show you what it looks like.

And in my own true fashion of getting ready for a trip I have saved everything for the last minute. I planned to pack earlier this afternoon but started doing some other things. I absolutely hate to pack and will probably wait until first thing in the morning. I spent most of the day binge watching Ozark. If you watch it then you know the last few episodes of the last season came out on Friday. It was so good. I also worked on my temperature blanket while I was watching.

So that is where I am on this beautiful first day of May. I had some great walks outside with the babies. A nice May Day. I am heading up to start packing or at least put a few things in my suitcase. It’s a short trip so I won’t need a lot of things, said no woman ever. HA!!!

***This is Izzy. Doesn’t her color blend in with the woods?***

Have a wonderful week. I wanted to share this poem I found online last week. It has brought me a lot of comfort and I don’t know exactly when it popped up but it was obviously just when I needed it.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!

Hello Monday (Weekly Happenings)

Hello friends, how was your week and your weekend? It was a bit on the crazy side over here It was a busy work week. I still feel like I am playing catch up from taking time off a few weeks ago. Thursday was my Birthday and my wedding Anniversary. I know!! I got married on my Birthday. I remember telling my husband that he would be the best Birthday present I could ever hope to have. I still feel that way thirty two years later. We had Birthday cake at work. And my hubs sent me the most beautiful bouquet of tulips. He said he wanted to do something a little different in the way of flowers and he did. They are beautiful. It was a nice day I had a lot of calls and messages and I felt really special.

We didn’t really do a lot for the Birthday and Anniversary because as usual a lot of day to day life happenings got in the way. But we are used to that around here. Gus was also having a big day Thursday. He had an appointment to be neutered. Remember Gus, he is the orange kitty that we recently took in when we were looking for our lost kitty Milo. When we got Gus his fur was so matted we knew we would probably have to have him shaved or have his hair cut very short. Gus was not chipped and had not been neutered and he had an upper respiratory infection so we had to have all that taken care of. We have been keeping him quarantined next door at my father in law’s house. This way we can go over several times a day to visit and feed and love on him.

So on Thursday Gus was neutered. They also shaved a lot of his fur. The poor baby looks pitiful but he has to feel better without all that matted fur hanging off of him.

On Friday my niece got married. The venue was on the Ocoee River about forty five minutes from my work. I took all of my things to work with me to change into for the wedding because I wasn’t going to have time to come home and then drive back to the venue. My sister and I went together and it was a beautiful wedding. We had so much fun and the food was great!!!

***And the cake after, it was so yummy!!!***

On Saturday my sister, niece and I went over to clean out my Sister Pat’s apartment. Her son was there to help and her sweet neighbor who had become her best friend was also there to help us. It has only been two weeks since she passed away and it was really hard to do. But her apartment had to be dealt with so we did it. That’s just how we roll in this family. We have very strong women in our family and we have been through a lot. We do what needs to be done. We looked at pictures and read old letters and cards we had written to my sister. She kept everything. We laughed and cried and I think it helped with the healing process.

On Sunday we decided to introduce Gus to the rest of the family. We have decided to keep him inside when he moves in with us. We brought him over in a carrier and the minute he stepped out of it Scruffy was all over him sniffing. Scruffy quickly lost interest in Gus except whenever I was around Gus, and then he was all about sniffing and licking Gus. Molly barely gave Gus a second glance and then settled back on her bed. But the real test, we knew, would be the Queen, Kitty Kitty. She was upstairs when Gus arrived. She didn’t come down right away. Gus wandered around downstairs and hid a couple of times. An hour or so later I heard Kitty Kitty coming down the stairs. Mark and I glanced at each other. I could see the fear in his eyes. I whispered “here she comes” we held our breath. As soon as Gus saw her he started doing this loud meowing sound. Kitty Kitty froze for a few seconds and then ran right back upstairs. I think the two will eventually be able to tolerate each other but we are taking it slow and doing short visits right now. We hope to move him in permanently very soon. Fingers crossed. I don’t want to stress either one of them uhhhhhh or us out.

I love irises and I have some that came from my mama’s house from when I was a kid. I noticed the blooms this year were nothing like they usually are. I did a little research and discovered that they need to be thinned out. I plan to do that and maybe take some to work and give some to my sister and nieces so they will have a part of mine and my mama’s flowers.

***See how they need to be divided. I guess I just hadn’t noticed how bad they were.***

***Only two or three of these blooms have appeared this year.***

I have been working on the temperature blanket that I am crocheting. I have gotten behind so I am trying to crochet several rows or days at a time to catch back up. I will show you a picture soon. If you have never heard of a temperature blanket you can read my post about mine here.

That’s about it for the last week. How is your week shaping up? Will it be busy or will you be chilling?

Always remember

Love Your Day Your Way!!!