I Has a Sad

The last of the Cartwrights has ridden into the sunset.

Timberwolf!

The Rancher was working in the bush yesterday and had a visitor.



He happened to glance out and saw this wolf practically right beside the machine he was operating. The wolf passed by and went on his merry way.

(Hopefully, the Bag Lady got it right this time and everyone can see the picture!)



Later in the day, the wolf returned from his travels, and again passed right by the Rancher's machine. The Rancher grabbed his phone and after a little trial and error and fumbling around due to not being accustomed to taking pictures with his phone managed to capture this image. The Rancher said the wolf was much closer than this, but moved away before he figured out how to take the picture. He even tried to get the wolf to stop by whistling. The wolf looked at him, but had his own agenda and, like celebrities everywhere, ignored the paparazzi and carried on his way.

Babble Post

Wow - where did the week go? (For that matter, where did the month go?)

The Bag Lady loves her schedule at work, but finds it tends to cut into her blogging time! She starts the week with good intentions to post something every day, but usually ends up slacking off a little. She spent a lot of time on the computer yesterday, doing some research for work and playing games on facebook designing some forms for the Rancher. She has a few projects in mind, but nothing concrete yet, so hasn't got anything much to share with you. She has mostly just been cleaning her house in case any drunken young women stop by wearing white gloves.

Last weekend, she cleaned her china cabinet and everything in it, even going so far as to move it away from the wall to clean the woofies out from behind it and wash the wall! This weekend, she is contemplating tackling cleaning her office, but isn't sure she has the intestinal fortitude for that! There is Just.So.Much.Paper! She may save that task for next weekend, and do something a little more mindless this weekend, like coming up with a plan for world domination. Or cleaning her closet. She is trying to get a jump on spring cleaning (or finishing up last year's spring cleaning, take your pick.)

She wants to give her house a little facelift and to that end has been spending numerous hours staring into space, daydreaming....err.... planning what she would like to do. She had to replace the light fixtures in her kitchen just before Christmas, so now thinks that perhaps the dining room fixture should match the new kitchen lights. The ceiling needs to be painted, the linoleum and carpet are showing their age, and there are some windows that need to be replaced. The Bag Lady will probably have to wait for warmer weather before she starts any of these projects, but she likes to prepare well in advance. (And save up some money!)

In the meantime, she will clean and organize and daydream.



Today would have been the Bag Lady's parents' 61st anniversary.

This was taken on their wedding day, in Moncton, NB

Tired of Winter

The Bag Lady is tired of winter and decided she would post a cheery picture of the lilies that she grows in her flower garden.


There.

Don't we all feel better now?

(Well she would, except that she just remembered she didn't get around to dividing the bulbs last fall.... crap. Now she feels guilty. So much for cheering herself up. Sigh.)

HOW TO ALIENATE AN OLDER WOMAN

(in ten easy steps)

1) Simply BE 34 yrs old, blonde, slender, and attractive (and OWN it). That's a great start, especially if you are dressed provocatively.

2) Arrive drunk at the home of the older woman. Twice. That's sure to impress.

3) When the fat, frumpy, fifty-something's hubby proclaims that his neck is bothering him, leap to your feet and immediately start massaging him. (Especially after plopping yourself down right beside him when there is plenty of room to keep your distance).

4) Explain to the F-3 that you really weren't trying to come on to her man.

5) Beak off about how much you love your boyfriend, and how devoted you are to each other (after less than a month of living together), and be sure to bat your eyes at Mr F-3 whilst you do so.

6) Show off your superior conversation skills talking about how much you love your boyfriend's children, and how you have to work so hard to get them to obey you after they spend time with their mother. Be sure to do this right after you explain that your own two sons are living with their fathers (plural) but that you talk to them on the phone periodically.

7) Later in the evening, be sure to complain bitterly about what a terrible housekeeper the previous wife was (not true) and how hard you have had to work to whip the place in to shape. THEN, in response to the F-3's self-deprecating joke regarding her own lack of house-keeping skills, cast your critical eye around the room and proclaim that you could, probably, stand to live in this house. Oh, and don't forget to add a few tips regarding how to clean.

8) Slather your lips with gloss every ten minutes.

9) Stagger out to the living room and pass out on the couch.

10) Wake up, stagger back to the kitchen, join in the conversation briefly before whispering to the fat, frumpy, fifty-something's hubby that you "have a LOT of pubic hair!" before staggering back to the living room to pass out again!

These few tips are guaranteed to ensure that you will make a lasting impression, really.

Scarcely Worth the Effort

The Bag Lady hasn't had anything much of interest going on this week, and has been casting about for something to blog about.

She's had a couple of treatments on her back, and has herself convinced that the feeling is coming back in her foot..... sorta/kinda/some of the time. She spends an inordinate amount of time trying to make her toes obey her command to "Rise, dammit, rise!" and sometimes thinks she gets a tiny little response (but it might just be wishful thinking); most of the time the little monsters just lie there, staring mutely up at her, feigning indifference. Be assured, she has not given up this fight, and is determined to force them to bend to her will (or at her command, or something. But bend they will, the little bastards!)

(Warned you - nothing much going on around here worthy of a blog post - she is reduced to discussing her partially paralyzed digits!)

The Bag Lady can't even complain about the weather.... well, she could, because the freezing rain has caused a few problems, but compared to what's going on elsewhere, a little rain is rather minor, isn't it?

She thinks she had best just let y'all get on with your day, and hopes you have something interesting happen to counter this, probably the most boring blog post of all time!

Suppertime!

This.........


.... is what the Bag Lady came home to the other day after work. The Rancher's first attempt at pastry. And it was pretty darned tasty!

Monday Amusements

Don't know why, but these pictures crack the Bag Lady up.






Total and complete relaxation.

Clearing Away the Fog

This is what the Bag Lady has to contend with during her commute to town to work. Well, okay, some days. The ski hill that is situated on the banks of the river between her home and the city has snow-making equipment, and when they make snow, they also make fog. Isn't it pretty?



Of course, it's also a wee bit dangerous, because up ahead in this picture, where the fog really thickens, is a bad curve in the road. That gives the Bag Lady (and everyone else who drives on this highway) something more to worry about to keep her/them on her/their toes!

She has started a new position at her job. She is such a freak so detail-oriented that her boss decided she would be better suited to a job where she could sort and organize and spiff things up to her heart's content. She now works a few less hours, but they are all during the day and during the week, so no more evenings or weekends (Yay!) And she gets to do things like organize all the uniform jackets into cupboards and make everything neat and orderly, which satisfies some deep-seated psychological desire to bring order to chaos..... or something. When the Bag Lady organizes and tidies and labels everything, it calms her and helps clear her mind. (The fact that she gets to use a label-maker also makes her happy! Small things.....)

Want Cheese with that Whine?

The Bag Lady grew up in a small town (well, technically a city, but a small one) where everyone knew everyone else. If you needed to see a doctor, you actually could, sometimes even the same day! Hell, some of them even came to the house! She still lives near that same city, but it has grown (boomed?) with the oil field activity to the point where she no longer knows many people, and the medical system is totally overwhelmed.

In spite of the so-called slow down in the economy, the city where she grew up is still a busy little place. Try as she might yesterday, she could not get an appointment to see a physiotherapist or a chiropractor on an emergency basis. The earliest appointment she could get was three weeks away! A co-worker finally suggested she try a massage therapist, and gave her the name of the one she goes to. Bless her heart.

The Bag Lady did manage to get in to see the massage therapist and, although it didn't help a great deal, it did help a little and she finds that today she can move a little more freely. The leg and foot are still very painful, but she is hoping that she will actually be able to function a little better today.

Mind you, she just got out of bed, so she may be just a wee bit too optimistic.... she has not moved very far yet. She did do some stretching and exercising and will continue to stretch throughout the day because that does seem to relieve the excruciating pain a wee bit.

What a way to start the new year!

Adventures

As some of you are aware, the Bag Lady shares her domain with several critters. The Princess dog rules the house, and in her mind, at least there is a strict pecking order. She comes first (naturally), then the Rancher, then the Bag Lady, then the two cats. The cats, of course, may not feel the same way, but have never really told the Bag Lady their true feelings. They go about their business (eating, sleeping, and occasionally howling at the closet door where their treats are located) and pretend to ignore the dog.

The older cat, Tommy, has been around for many years, and spends a good portion of his time sleeping; curled around a heater, or the base of the wood stove in the winter. He is an excellent mouser, but considers that to be a seasonal occupation, and that season doesn't happen to be winter.

The younger cat, Fuzzy, feels it is his duty to hunt regardless of the season, or the prey! If it moves, it should be hunted down. Even if that means lying in wait on one of the stools at the kitchen island and swatting at the dog's tail when she walks by!

The Bag Lady is a lover of nature, and started feeding the birds in the winter many, many years ago. Once a human has started interfering with nature feeding the birds, the human is obligated to continue because the birds come to rely on that source of food. So, even though the Bag Lady has cats, she continues to feed the birds. She tries to pay attention and make sure that the cats don't hunt the birds, but occasionally Fuzzy manages to escape and spends a lot of time under the bird feeder, waiting for an unsuspecting bird to come within range of his razor sharp claws.

The Bag Lady was working at her computer yesterday afternoon when the older cat started acting very strangely, pawing at the sliding glass door. The Bag Lady got up to see what the ruckus was about and discovered that Fuzzy had a bird in the sunporch! Flinging the door open, she grabbed the cat and threw him into the house, slamming the door behind her. The bird had hopped a few feet away and stopped, huddled down, probably waiting for the final blow. This enabled the Bag Lady to actually catch the poor little creature. She inspected him for mortal wounds, but could see no blood or anything obvious. She took him into the house with her (mostly because it was freakin' cold!) and she and the Rancher inspected him closely. They finally determined that he was not wounded, except for a few missing feathers, and the Bag Lady took him outside again. He perched on her finger and seemed to give it a little thought, then took off.



Unfortunately, his flight was a little premature and he did a nose dive straight into a snow bank! Covered him completely. The Bag Lady ran back into the house, struggled into some boots and a coat, grabbed some mittens and went back out to rescue him. She dug him out of the snow and held him in her hand for a minute. He decided to try again, with the same unfortunate result! (It was almost comical, and the Bag Lady wishes she had a video to share with you, but she was too concerned about rescuing him to take pictures! The pictures included here were taken shortly after she saved him from the cat.)

She took him back into the house and warmed him up. Then she placed him in the only thing she could think of that would protect him and allow him to recover completely - the cat carrier!
After about half an hour, he seemed to revive quite well, and started trying to fly around the cage, so the Bag Lady took the carrier outside, making sure the cats were locked in the house, and set it on a table. She opened the door and within a minute, the little Redpoll flew out of the carrier. He weaved a little, but he managed to fly to the spruce tree across the yard where he is (hopefully) telling all his friends and relatives a cautionary tale of his strange adventure!


Oh, and Fuzzy cat was treated to a (slightly unwelcome) pedicure the very same day!

Dawn of a New Decade

Literally!