Musings on a Small Life

The Flea Family was moving out via U-Haul yesterday when I got home from work. Short trips back and forth, which indicated they were close by, and I guessed correctly that they bought the house on the corner a half block away, almost kitty corner to this complex. It had been on the market for a long time, then was sold last month. I saw Mr Flea's rusted out truck in that driveway this morning, as I headed down to catch a bus out to Walmart. Goody for them. The house has an above-ground pool in the back, so maybe all the screaming neighbourhood kids will play there this summer. When I got home from errands this morning, I saw the back end of a man heading into the unit next door. No car in the driveway. A little while later an AMJ Campbell moving van showed up. I have no idea how many people moved in, if parents bought the place for their partying university-age child, or what. I thought I saw a nice cat stand being taken inside at one point, when I was vacuuming in my bedroom...

I saw the bank mortgage person yesterday (rescheduled from Wednesday). They'd be only too happy to up-size my mortgage. She looked at what I have left to pay on my current mortgage, used a low resale figure for my townhouse (for the example), did her calculations based on today's rate, and came up with a payment that would, in effect, be equal to or slightly less than what I'm paying now (taking into account my condo fees). However, she did it based on an amortization period of 25 years. So it's great to know that I do have options from the bank's perspective, even though I have no intention of up-sizing a mortgage (at least not that much) and paying it till I'm 77. I won't be able to manage a mortgage/rent payment on my pension, even if I manage to stick it out here till 65. Interestingly, the bank (at least not my bank) will not give me a standard mortgage on any home less than 850 square feet. Apparently they look at resale-ability and small hom...

I realize now where most of my "white space" has gone: to social media. Probably most of us could say the same thing. I had a long period of a few (or more) years where I had only dial up at home (at the time, a free connection via work) and it was then that I read more, walked more with my camera, and so on.  Now...Well, now I'm seriously considering being off-line entirely for one day each weekend, either the Saturday or Sunday.  Anyway, I have some random pics to post. For the couple of people who aren't on FB and haven't seen her, this is Tinkerbell. She's a 6 - 7 week old goat rescued from a goat meat farm by one of the vet clinic staff. She's currently being bottle-fed, but soon will stay at home in her new shed (currently being built). She was a great distraction for me on Friday afternoon, while Nicki was having his anal glands expressed. I did get to pat her, but not for long, as she was into everything.  Barnacle, one of the ...

I saw this quote last night in my FB feed: And I thought, Where's the white space in my life? How can someone on their own, with an easy full-time job and only two cats plus small townhouse, not have "white space?" I think some of my priorities need to change--such as forgoing the constant cleaning (who can keep up with the dust and fur balls anyway). I used to have white space, so can't quite fathom how I've managed to lose it...it's the same life I've had for fifteen years.  This quote (above) was in my feed earlier this week and I passed it on to a few people. Yes! It's a large part of why I want a smaller home with less stuff -- less to do, less responsibility, more white space . *** Anyway, speaking of more time (but, alas, not to do less), I'm off this afternoon to take Nicki for his anal glands. I've got him on the 5 mg loratadine daily now, though don't know it'll help. He seems fine, his usual self, in spite...

It's Monday, I'm so struggling to focus and get anything done at work, just wanted to share this bit of inspiration I saw in my FB feed late yesterday evening. I love this and really need to take it to heart, because trying to solve my whole life makes my head spin.  As for Nicki: I did end up posting on the FAIM group and someone responded, suggested I try 5 mg loratadine per day for allergies. I had given this to him off and on last year, when he'd start having his bouts of sneezing, but since he hasn't had that so far this year, the allergy med wasn't on my radar for him. I'll try it for a couple of weeks or so, see if it helps. She also gave me the names of a couple of oral bronchodilators if that doesn't work, slower acting and longer lasting than Ventolin. So I can look to one of those if need be, at least in the short to medium term. Nicki goes for his anal glands this Friday afternoon, so I'll discuss it all with the vet then. Is...

Crappity crap crap crap. Nicki had another "asthma/coughing" attack from his purring, just at 6 PM before I was to give him his evening dose of inhaled Flovent. It's been 11 days since this happened, same time of day, same reason. Before that, it had been 10 months since he'd had an attack that I know of. I waited till it was over and he seemed okay again before going ahead. I'll have to ask the vet when we see him if we have any options, if I should temporarily add in Prednisolone or something else. (Nicki needs his anal glands expressed soon, so is due to go on in anyway.) I could post on the Yahoo feline inhaled meds group, and I might, but I really dislike the "know it all" attitude of a few of the long-timers. The group is a good resource, yes, but there are limits. And with this, there's only so much that can be done. Nicki's already at the maximum daily dose of Flovent and has been for a year, there's no where else to go with ...

I'm taking a half-day today, rather a last minute thing  but okayed by the "big" boss. It's payday, so there's always lots to do, too much for one weekend, and it's nice to have a few extra hours to get a jump start on the errands. So I'll wish everyone a lovely weekend and leave you with some pics from lunch time yesterday, and a couple of inspirational graphics from my FB feed. Peace .          

I took one of my bathroom vanity doors to Home Depot yesterday and ordered two custom doors via Renuit . It'll be 4 to 5 weeks before they come in. Too bad my doors weren't a standard size, I could have bought replacement ones off the shelf. I ordered this "7000 Series" style, below, but in the white lacquer, middle option, top row. There must be some trick to getting doors back on and hanging straight, though, as I couldn't manage it. My old door is crooked now, but after fussing with it for far too long, I gave up and put my energies into doing a second coat on the bathroom trim Chuck had installed last weekend . I'll have to consult a YouTube video on getting doors back on properly. As for the trim, this quick snapshot is blurry, but you still can see how great it looks (IMO). I love it! I thought it looked terrific last weekend, unpainted, but wow, two coats of trim paint makes it look fantastic . (Or that could be because I'm so used to...