Late Friday evening I realized that Charlie had quite an uncomfortable infection in his ... posterior glands. A dangerously raging infection. So at almost midnight, I was leaving messages for his veterinarian's office and emergency line making sure I could get him into the office soon after they opened.
< That is him, still very sedated after they worked on his rear end for over an hour to make sure the abscess and infection were cleared out. Now he will be on antibiotics and pain meds for ten days ... for another week from today.
So the art class I had signed up for was missed, but my fee was applied to another one coming up in April.
Saturday afternoon was spent sitting next to him on the sofa downstairs doing a Netflix chill and making sure he was coming around from the sedation and not going to be sick.
Sunday was much the same, although he was feeling and looking a lot better. I had to order a mortar and pestle to grind his meds easier because the back of a spoon was not as easy on the antibiotic as it was on the pain med, and I worried about shooting it across the room and not being able to find it (been there, done that).
Ages ago, when my pug, Tink, was on frequent meds for her liver shunts and bladder stones I had a metal one. When this one arrived, however, I was a little surprised at how small it was. My bad for not looking at the measurements, (I was more concerned with cost and how fast it would get here) but it still works as desired. I was just expecting it to be all grown up when it arrived and not a baby.
The full moon and I guess a lunar eclipse this week have brought the drama llamas, werewolves, and vampires out. I'm more than a little over it all at this point and have been on a warpath. I'm more than ready for April to be over and done with and have my life back again.
The past eight months of being an "accidental auntie" had moments of amazing blessings and enlightenment. Getting to know Bipan and learning more about the Hindu faith, India, and how to correctly say the Ganges River has been an experience I will always treasure.
On the other hand ... what was it the Osmonds sang about one bad apple? They were wrong. She did spoil two others of the bunch, and certainly my experience in having them as roommates.
I won't, and can't, blame it on the entire country or culture, because I think it was just one person's manipulative and narcissistic personality. I have never met a more conceited person in my life. It was as if no one existed in this house except for her, and how she treated the others (like her slaves and servants!) just completely infuriated me. Like a prima donna (drama llama) and her minions! It cost me a friendship and more stress than she was worth.
So that has been my week so far. Counting down the seconds until April 9th when at least three of the roommates will be out of my hair, if not sooner. Issues with my slumlord (the werewolf) this past weekend, and this week, have pushed the urgency to move out of this house into warp drive. (Take me out of here, Mr. Sulu)
There are three houses up on a hill across the road from the Dollar General.
I've been wanting to sneak up there since I moved here in 2020, and finally did last weekend.
I didn't spend a lot of time up there and didn't get close to the houses. The NO TRESPASSING signs with CAMERAS IN USE made me a little leery ... as well as the musky smell of bears and skunks. I was not interested in taking that scent home or waking up someone's nap.
I was tempted to get close enough to peek in the windows but didn't. Going in the summer would mean the risk of snakes, and again, skunks. I'm afraid the pictures I took from a distance may be as close as I get ... until next winter anyway.
No news is still no news in this situation. I spoke to Capt. John Crowley with the Utah Duchesne County Sheriff's Office today.
The Jeep is still on the mountain, totally covered by snow at this time. When there has been enough of a melt, now that they have a key to put it in gear, they will be able to move it. It was found 11 miles UP a mountain from the nearest paved road.
He gave me the GPS coordinates to where the Jeep is located and said that if the family wanted to search the area for him, the middle of June would be the safest time of year since they are still getting snow and winter storms.
I know that I would physically be unable to climb 11 miles up into the mountains without becoming another search and rescue statistic for falling and breaking my leg or hip.
Searchers on snowmobiles, and area hunters, have checked the Jeep frequently to see if any new tracks are leading to or from it, which there haven't been. Once there is enough of a snow melt, they will go up and search the area again on horseback.
There were not any cabins close to the area where it was found, but they still searched all of them with no sign of Justin.
The Jeep is in an area where stolen vehicles have been recovered in the past ... which is not to give any hope that he may still be alive ... but it opens the possibility that it was not Justin who drove the Jeep from Kentucky to Utah.
The reality is now that Justin is no longer alive. I know how much he loved his son, and that he would not have disappeared the week before Christmas on him. Justin was about the same age as Jaymie when his own dad died, and I know the impact that had on his life. He would not have done that intentionally to his son.
The question then is what happened to him after that week in December in Kentucky when his estranged wife last spoke to him.
I know I watch too many crime shows. I know I'm jaded about life and society. I've been around a few blocks. But Justin wouldn't do this to his son. Someone knows something about what happened to him.
First, a beautifully handmade quilt at the Goodwill for just $10.50! It is quite heavy and has some amazing fabric pieces on it. It is a twin-size and I may use it as a drape over a window in my future forever home. In the winter it will be an excellent blocker for cold winds, but it is too beautiful to just be seen a few months a year. I might have to use it as a wall hanging in the summer.
The new light socket kit came and was immediately installed. I got an inexpensive square shade at Walmart for now because it was more affordable than the $60 shade I wanted... but it will stay on my wish list for my next bonus or unexpected windfall.
I did splurge on this $10 finial, which was not the $30 one of several birds on a limb I was eyeballing at first.
I am as Robin Leach used to say ... a DIY crafter/decorator with champagne wishes and caviar dreams ... but a Natural Light beer budget. It serves me well though because I can create a home filled with things I love that don't break the bank.
My "recreation" of a China blue lamp base cost me $10 for the napkins, $5 for glue, $14 for a new light socket kit (which may not have been needed, but I take no risks with electricity), and $20 for a shade, and $10 for the finial = $59.
The last prompt that was given to us this week was "lightning bug" which is just another name for fireflies. Since we already had the fireflies prompt I chose not to do lightning bug, but am trying to think of a replacement prompt word. If I think of something, I will add it to next week's prompts.
March roared in with winter winds and rain. A sore throat turned into a sinus infection and into a bronchial infection. I waved a white flag of surrender finally after a week and a half and went to the doctor.
Bipan, the sweet soul that he is, made me a mug of hot ginger tea with honey and black pepper one night after hearing me try to hack up a lobe of my lung. I'm really going to miss having him around.
Not one to sit idle while choking, I pulled this cracked lamp base out of the garage. I had saved it from the trash where my landlord had put it last summer.
I had found a set of paper napkins in a shop, and knew exactly what I wanted to do with them!
Voila! Not perfect, but quirky and wrinkly like me, a new lamp base was created. I'm now looking at shades and will rewire the bulb socket with a new kit since I respect electricity and distrust old rusty works and wiring.
I probably will save it for my forever home since there really isn't a place here for it. It may become the focal point around which a room is decorated.
Today's fun art activity was learning about succulents, putting some in a beautiful colander planter, making a bling wand, and cute signs to decorate with. [Three of those signs found homes in other planters I had at home.]
These ornaments are for my June = West Virginia tree. The round raven hex sign and mini barn quilt were painted by my friend, Jane, who owns and teaches at Wren's Nest here in town.
It is her studio where I take my frequent art classes. Eventually, when I have my own forever home later this year, I will create and paint a hex sign that I can hang in my home. And probably another two to hang outside on the front and back just because I can.
This adorable hillbilly was carved and painted by a friend, Parrish, [Gnomes in the Garden], and will also adorn my June tree. I must think of a name for him.
I keep remembering a man I once met some 40+ years ago whose name was Erkless Peoples. He was a born and raised in the south kind of man, tho I won't say redneck, he was a country boy. I could not find a definition for the word erkless, or even erk [other than a man of the lowest rank in the RAF], but I imagine a Southern conversation that might have gone something like this:
Gran'daddy: June-Bug, I wish you'd stop messing with that there Peoples boy. He ain't no good for you, and he jus' erks me to no end to see him treating you like just another one of those city floozy girls.
June-Bug: Pop-Pop, you know he means good and well by me and this here boy ah his. There ain't an erkless bone in his body.
Erkless it is.
Finally, I will leave you with this picture of me and Charlie that Bipan took of us yesterday.
I hope that the remainder of your weekend is restful. 💚 Ci
I was sick for two weeks and am just now [thanks to antibiotics and steroids] on the tail end of it. So this will be catching up in two parts... the first part being the Wonder Habit art. Naturally, Blogger won't post them in the correct order, so just enjoy them as they are.
