another Frankie update

jambaloney and little Frankie are home. he is doing really good. the ladies at the hospital said he was such a good little man and they oohed and awwwed over him because he is so gorgeous. jambaloney put him in his carrier, he slept the whole way home. we got him in the house and he immediately wanted to go out. he went out on the back deck, his brothers went with him and so did we. we all sat out on the back deck for 20 minutes or so - just breathing the fresh air and looking at the beautiful sky. he ate - but they told us to feed him only a little - ya right. and then, when he has a million different comfortable places to go and sleep - he chose to sleep on this secretary desk. he doesn't even fit on it. but that's where he has been for the last 3 hours. he almost fell off at one point but caught himself and went right back to sleep.

he's gonna be out all night running around. he is such a tough little guy. i am going to continue feeding him as much as he wants to eat until he starts putting on some weight. the ladies at the hospital said that he is in as good shape as he can be expected being that he is a stray. jambaloney asked about vitamin shots but they said he didn't need anything. we also paid extra to have laser castration as it cauterizes the nerve endings while cutting and the cut is much smaller and heals quicker.

as for poor jambaloney - ugh. he had quite the day and didn't tell me about it until he got home - he knew that my nerves were shot and he didn't want to add to that.

while driving into the city he heard a funny sound which he thought was a piece of metal stuck in the tire tread. after dropping off little Frankie he looked at both front tires and under the wheels and he saw on the passenger side a cracked casing and a loose wire. he used his phone to find the nearest dealer and it turned out to be a problem with the 4WD Vacuum Actuator. thank goodness when we bought the truck we bought a 5yr extended warranty so this was covered. our actual dealer is in the town an hour the OTHER way away from us but these guys said that they could take care of it. jambaloney explained that he had to pick up little Frankie and the guys dropped everything and took care of it right away. they also fixed the other side...buddy told him that they usually blow in pairs. all for $100 deductible. the job would normally cost $425!!! jambaloney still had plumbing stuff to pick up at Home Depot - he asked the guy if there was a bus nearby that he could take. they take him in their shuttle bus for free. AND picked him up.

as jambaloney is telling me all of this i can only imagine how panicked he must have been, then grateful and then relieved. he says that he loves cape breton - that we get some of the best servicse in the world here. i always remembered that when i left home 25 years ago - i always remembered that people here cared and did their jobs very well. it makes my heart swell when jambaloney, who grew up in the city, tells me this. i am glad that i came home. i am glad that i brought him and my two boys here. i am glad that little Frankie is still sleeping on the secretary desk.

i give thanks to the Lord. i am trying to be as grateful as i can be.

EDITED: an update on Frankie Blue Eyes

it is 5 after 11. jambaloney left in the truck with little Frankie at 7. jambaloney called after he dropped Frankie off - he said that little Frankie was quiet the whole ride in to the city. the women at the hospital said that Frankie was beautiful and definitely part Siamese. please pray with me. i haven't stopped crying since they left. Frankie is such a gorgeous creation of our Lord...and we have to maim him. and that soooo breaks my heart - i wish i could have left him intact.

i really wish that we didn't have to do this...but we have to consider our other boys. my heart is broken. little Frankie must be feeling alone. and after just having found a family. he does not know what is happening to him and he must wonder why. i can't stop crying.

they will call jambaloney at 2pm - 3 hours from now - and let him know if he can pick up Frankie. i really hope that he can pick him up and take him home so that we can start the healing process immediately.

Liz (jambaloney's Mom) - if you are reading this - thank you from the bottom of my heart. you paid for this and you will never know how much i appreciate that.

i can't stop crying...i hate doing this. i am sorry for being such a downer. but God - my heart is aching and breaking.

EDIT: thank you all so much for your comments - i will respond immediately. i just wanted to let you all know that jambaloney has little Frankie and is on his way home. apparently little Frankie did amazingly well at the hospital and is sleeping in his little carrier. i am allowed to feed him a little when he gets home (he hasn't eaten since last night at 12)! jambaloney has all kinds of tips from the ladies at the hospital on what to do when we get him home. i can't wait for them to get home.

Lil Blue Eyes, well-shocking and our awesome new gift to each other!

 

meet Frank Sinatra, Lil Blue Eyes for short. isn't he gorgeous? he is so affectionate and loving.

and malnourished and underweight and so tired and had obviously been dumped "in the country" by some idiot or idiots. we figure he is about 8-10 months old. and based on his weight and demeanor we figure he has been living "in the country" for at least 2 months, but probably more.

it's heartbreaking when idiots do these things. he has somehow managed to feed himself and take care of himself, but if you have ever met someone with PTSD - this little man is definitely suffering from hyper-vigilance - as he would have to. he has definitely been around humans - he is not feral. so an idiot or idiots dumped him. i hope i don't ever find the idiots.

anyway, he's not fxed either. our 2 older male cats are. they have allowed him onto our property and must have been hanging out with him for a few nights before he was brave enough to stay around during the day. when we first saw him, he came right to us - crying and talking and crying - he's definitely part Siamese. we fed him and fed him and fed him - he was eating 4 full cans of food a day and a can at night - we have got him down now to 3 full cans a day - our cats eat about half a can of food a day with snacks and dry available all day long - but that just shows you how hungry this little man is.

i should spare you the details that he barfed up the leg of what looks like a mouse....and he ate one of our squirrels - just awful. that's how hungry he was and that was how he had been feeding himself. yes, normal for a wild, feral cat but this little guy is not wild.

anyway, we made a little bed for him in the shed but because we knew that it was going to be raining yesterday, we brought him onto the porch and have made a little bed and eating area for him. our cats don't seem to mind him there. they go in and out of the cat door, and he eyes it all the time, but he has not used it - there seems to be some understanding between the 3 of them that he can stay on the porch but not come into the house. he cries at the door and tries to run in when we open the door, but he has not come in the catdoor yet. he is so smart and completely submissive to our 2 cats.

so, he has an appointment at the vet for monday. once he is fixed and gets his shots we will let him into the actual house. i hope that our cats will be ok with that but they kind of have to be. and hopefully they will sense that he needs to mend and will leave him alone and be ok with him in the house.

my nerves have been shot all week making sure to spend time with each cat, love them, pet them, give them treats, etc. - they all seem to be ok but i worry about this and that and i just want to give this little guy a home. he is incredibly affectionate - he's starving for affection actually - and i can't bear to see that. i hope everything will go well when jambaloney brings him home on monday.

anyway - in the midst of all this drama - we also had to shock our well. we followed the instructions below to a tee and hopefully it will keep our water clean. do any of you shock your well? how often? we have been told to do it every 6 months but i find that a little much. i can't stand the idea of putting that much bleach in our well!!!

and last but not least - check out our latest "accroutrement" at the Manor.

yes, me dearies, that's my brand new dishwasher!!!! and it lives on the plastic-wrapped porch. it may stay there over the winter or we may put it in the basement - we aren't sure. regardless, jambaloney did all of the plumbing and wiring and it works like a charm!!! we had been saving for months to get this baby and i love it! the tire inserts on top of it are to prevent it from tipping over when you open it to put in, or remove dishes. jambaloney is building a proper box for it today. woohoo - i have a dishwasher!!!

sorry i haven't been around to any of your blogs lately - give me a day or two to catch up!!!

the provincial bird of Nova Scotia - what an amazing sight!

 


wow. can you believe that sky? those clouds? the only way to believe that they are real is to believe that lotta joy drew them on a great big giant canvas and then somehow came here and threw that canvas on some trees so that we could look at such pretty skies. lotta joy - wow, buddy, i thought you did an awesome job on jambaloney's portrait here but it appears that your talents are endless!!! and thank you for thinking of us and putting up such a giant canvas so that we can enjoy such beautiful skies!!! it's amazing how selfless some people are. but we sure do appreciate it!


have you ever had the chance to watch a father osprey teach his child how to fish? we did today at the river. what an amazing thing to watch. more amazing is the fact that ospreys are the official bird of our province.

 we were honoured and gave thanks to the Lord for allowing us to witness such a site.

they weren't bothered by our presence at all...

i tried to get a pic of when they dove for fish but missed every time.

the little man was learning from his father and it was brilliant to watch. the little man dipped several times but he only caught one fish. no matter - his father kept teaching him.

we had merlins build a nest in our yard back in the city. they brought their babies to our big, giant 76-yr old oak tree every day. we could tell that 2 of the babies were female - they were puffier - and one of the babies was a male. that little male used to sprawl on a tree branch and suntan - no, i kid you not. the babies would wait for approximately 45 mins before they started screeching for food. their parents always returned and fed them dead birds that were caught in flight - a little ick.

but the fact that they chose our yard with us in it to leave their babies...you can only imagine how touched we were.

and now an osprey father brings his baby to our land - down at the river - where we are - and teaches his baby how to dive - ugh. i teared up the whole time. jambaloney was just simply touched and amazed.

how lucky are we?

sorry to have been away but i know that you all understand!!!

 

 i haven't been around the interwebs very much for about a week - but i know that you all understand! ya know, hubby came back from the city, i layed on him on the kitchen floor for 3 straight days without either of us moving (no Rob, buddy - not THAT! just laying on top of him and hugging him!!!)

then there was the usual catching up on watering and starting new building projects and of course the river!!!

i have tried to make it through everyone's latest posts - the terribly, sad event in Colorado, of course, leaves our hearts heavy. but we have been praying for everyone that was affected by this senseless event, whether they were in the theater or not, and will continue to do so.

what do you have for breakfast when there are no fresh trout and the frozen ones will take too long to defrost? well, of course, spaghettini with olive oil, garlic and delicious fresh basil!!!! oh man - this was so yummy!!!



check out my beautiful amaranth!!!! i have never grown it before so i started it in pots - but it needs it's own huggie kultur soon! i can't believe how beautiful it is!

and here's my day-lillies growing by the apple trees. and a hosta that's gone to flower. both will be transplanted in the fall and seeds will be gathered from both. they are kind of strangling one of the apple trees. we are clearing the whole area where the 2 tiny apple trees grow. still no sign of apples but we hope that there will be some one of these years!

woohoo! nasturtiums are starting to flower. back in the city, i had nasturtiums that were almost as tall as me! echinnacea too! but starting over from scratch means starting over from scratch. so i will have to be patient and wait for these beauties to grow! the flowers are delicious and soooo spicey! want an awesome appetizer made from nasturtium flowers, cream cheese and smoked salmon? go here.

crap. just talking about the nasturtiums and smoked salmon made me cut and copy this pic. if you want the recipe - go here.

 

look at this tiny, tiny, primrose growing down at the river. so delicate.
 

 river? did someone say river? yer darn tootin's baby! we went for a couple of swims before jambaloney left on his trip but we have been down daily since he got back. the weather has been perfect even though the water is still only a few degrees above freezing - brrrrrrrrrr - can you say brrrrrrrrr? i am talking freezing. we don't care tho - we love the river!

here's our usual setup down at the river - our blankets, towels, books, and lunch on the cooler.

lunch was a quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) salad, some carrot sticks, sweet pickled onions, pickled beets, green and black olives, some sliced pepperoni, old cheddar and mozarella - yummeh!

look at that gorgeous clear blue sky! and that gorgeous, mineral-filled water of the river! every time i take a dive i make sure to drink some! hey - there's jambaloney enjoying the freezing water!

and that's me getting ready to go in! for the purposes of keeping this blog post PG-13 - i was sure to wear panties!

sploosh! man that water is freezing and refreshing! i have to sit in the hot sun for at least 30 minutes before i dare take a dive!

hey - that's me - wishing that you all were here with us. but just know that we keep you all in our hearts when we are down at the river.

Helga - it's supposed to be another scorcher tomorrow. get your bathing suit and towel ready girl...we're going swimming again!

the most beautiful portrait ever!

my friend, lotta joy, does some really wonderful portraits. she has posted some of her work on her blog - go and check it out here. i feel that the famous people that she has drawn come to life when i look at her work.

anyway, i asked her if could get her to do a portrait for me. and she agreed. i sent her the pic of jambaloney and i that you see on the sidebar, as well as one of my favourite pics of jambaloney. she chose to do the portrait of jambaloney although if i can "hire" her properly, i think that i will get her to do the one of jambaloney and i because the portrait that she did of jambaloney is to die for!

here is the pic that i sent her:

this pic is one of my favourites of him because it really shows the beautiful shape of his eyes. it also shows his smile lines and i have always loved his little smirk. i think he is the most beautiful man in the world!

on the day that this pic was taken, we had spent the day putting down hardwood strips on our stairs. we had spent the day walking around our garden, of course this was back in the city, and we had just had a really ordinary day together. but we were together. he was tired when i took this pic but i just knew at the end of such a wonderful day, spent doing ordinary things together, that i had to capture an ordinary day that was filled with love and ordinary things. i was so in love with him on this day and i had to capture the feeling with a pic of him. i said, "babe, let me take your picture". he hates having his picture taken. so he gave me his little sideways grin that i love and i took the pic.

lotta joy had no idea what this picture meant to me.

and yet somehow, she managed to capture everything i feel in his portrait.

she did an amazing job. she captured his beautiful eyes with such detail. i think i can see myself reflected in his eyes. the eyes are what really kills me in this portrait - i don't know how she does it?!?!? she nailed every one of his smile lines. i love those smile lines. and she got his mouth and sideways grin just perfect. the shading around his nose and chin kill me. she totally nailed his chin.

but the eyes. oh my goodness - the eyes.

i hope that you all enjoy lotta joy's portrait of my beautiful man. there are some really talented people in the world and lotta joy is one of them. she's also really, really funny! please be sure to check out her blog here.

thank you so much, lotta joy, for creating what will become my most-treasured possession.

roast. i want some slow-cooker roast!

 

i am dying for a plate of that right now! i am starving and it's my own stupid fault for not eating. but i just can't seem to be bothered to eat when my baby is gone. but, i just spoke to him and promised that i would eat. so i took some hamburger out of the freezer and will cook it up - maybe just eat it as is. who knows these things?

i spent several hours yesterday talking to my dear friend Helga - i so love talking with her. she is such a genuine person and means the world to me. i also talked again with her son, Connor - thanks so much for that Connor - i really like talking with you. and i even got to talk to Helga's awesome husband, A - that was a real treat - he is such an awesome guy! thanks to all 3 of you for keeping me so occupied!

jambaloney had a wonderful time yesterday. he went up to his Dad's for lunch and had a nice visit. then he went to his Mom's fishing camp, helped his Step-Dad work on his cottage and then the 3 of them went fishing. his Step-Dad, Ted, caught 2 big bass which they ate for supper. this morn, they have just finished breakfast and are doing some stuff around the camp and then the big meeting is at 11am (about an hour and a half from now). then they plan on spending the rest of the day doing some work and then more fishing. he is looking forward to more fishing with his parents - he really had a good time fishing with them yesterday.

i have already been out and fed the birds and watered the gardens. it's a real scorcher today - it's already 23C and it's only 10:30!!!! i am thinking i might head down to the river for a swim in a bit....but i'll have to wear clothes just in case. when i am with jambaloney, i take clothes in a bag. we've never encountered anyone when we've gone swimming but it would be just my luck to be down there naked and meet up with someone eh?

anyway, only today and tomorrow and then he's home tomorrow night at 1am. i can't wait. i hope that you are all having a great sunday! thanks so much for all of your support and positive comments for the last 2 days - it really has helped me and i really appreciate it!

stupid is as stupid does?!?!?!?

you wanna hear about stupid? try this on....

i don't know what to do with myself because the love of my life is gone. i am happy that he is seeing family and friends - but i am crying my stupid eyes out over everything. i go outside to water all of our veggies - and that is food for our future and i just don't care. i could barely wash the dishes from yesterday. i want to scream. i want to join my friend Stephen who has a good series to watch.

and then my new magical and wyzardry friend, lotta joy, sends me a note to let me know that she has finished jambaloney's portrait. have a look at the portraits that she has done of famous people on her blog. she has an incredible eye for detail. and she has amazing talent!

and then she sends me a snippit of jambaloney's eyes?!??!?!? thanks Dana...that has really helped with the crying, you darn nutter!

man she is talented.

can you guys help me? i am trying to pay her peanuts for her time and she just won't let me. can you all hammer her and make sure that i can pay her? pleeeeeeez? she has taken the time to draw a beautiful portrait of the man i love....and she won't let me pay her $50 lousy bucks. i need help here, peeps!

the woman's got me bawling my eyes out. it's almost enough to end the friendship.

i can't wait to share the finished product with you all.

ack. ack. ack. Beth, i need some hairball remover fast!

yay - i talked to him! i'm starving! and some tea!

jambaloney called last night when he got in - 1:30am his time, 2:30am my time. i had fallen asleep by then. it's hard to find stuff to do when you're missing your baby!!!

i had a marathon phone session with my friend Helga yesterday - Helga, thank you so much for being there for me. i also got to talk to Helga's son, Connor, and that was simply awesome! i hope i didn't talk his ear off - i am hoping to talk to him again!

jambaloney called this morning when he got up. it was nice to hear his voice. he did a bunch of running around the city yesterday afternoon, he picked up my korean chili powder - 5lbs of it - woohoo! much kimchi will be made with it! he picked up a few other odds and sods and then met 4 of his friends at a restaurant/bar at about 5pm. they had a really good time catching up together. he had a blast. i am so glad that he had fun. they all yakked all night and then one of his friends drove him home. today he is off to see his Dad, and then off to his Mom's fishing camp. he spent a ton of time at that fishing camp growing up and it holds a special place in his heart.

what do i plan on doing today? i think i will just flomp and maybe watch some movies. call my friend Helga later and chat some more. dig out my friend Sci's number and give her a call. read blogs. i need to eat something - i'm starving. but when i am missing my man i just can't be bothered to eat. as awful as it is for you, i would kill for a big mac right now.

what i should go and do is make myself some tea. you start with comfrey.

find a nice comfrey leaf.

gather a few heal-all flowers.

chop it all up together and put it in your teapot.

steep for 5 mins and then enjoy. comfrey and heal-all are very good for you.

i should get up off my butt and go make some.

so what plans do you all have for today?

ack - arghghghgh - ack some more!

 

and here's another beautiful sky pic for my friend Helga. i have a telephone date with her later today. i am looking forward to it.

jambaloney has just left to go back to ottawa. he'll be back on monday night late. i am already crawling out of my skin not knowing what to do with myself. he wasn't supposed to be leaving until next friday, but dates changed and whatnot and we found out on tuesday - like 3 days ago - that he had to go today. what a scramble! because we thought we still had a full week - we have half of the house torn up so it's an awful mess and it has to stay that way until he gets back. my nerves are shot.

i hate when things pop up unexpectedly. we are planners. we plan for things. especially even more so since moving here. we like to know ahead of time what is expected of us. this came completely out of the blue. i almost wish we cancelled. but he needs to go back to go to an important meeting with his mother. ugh. i feel sick.

anyway - we went down to the river the other day and had our first swim - woohoo - we love swimming! but the river is really backed up! more on that later! here's our matching river shoes. jambaloney's are too small for him but he still manages to squeeze his feet in.

here's the new path jambaloney cut for us going down our road to the river. he left all of the wildflowers on the sides of our path. we love the wildflowers.

whenever i see one of these guys i sing "froggie-frog-frog" and jambaloney always corrects me and says "it's a toad". i don't care though. i love singing the frog song.

see how backed up the river is?

check it out. we had to wade through 1ft to 4ft high water just to even get to the river!!! you can be sure that if we ever build our dream cabin down here that it will be built on stilts!

the reason for the backup is because of a blockage where the river empties into the ocean. it happens every year. we are hoping that the county backhoes will be out soon to clear the blockage. it's awful pretty water tho.

these trees are in trouble if the water line doesn't go down soon.

it's some gorgeous looking out of the forest and at the river and sky, eh? i love it.

i saw something pink in the woods. this is what we climbed through to find it.

i knew i had seen something pink. check out these wild roses.

so dainty and delicate!

the snapdragons don't seem to mind being buried in water.

and here's some new funny-looking grass. every time we walk down to the river we see something new.

this storm went right over us and headed out to the ocean. sometimes it is sunny and hot and within 3 seconds, a storm blows over. they are awesome to watch. sometimes the sky will just burst and it will rain for 3 minutes and then the storm leaves and it's sunny and hot again. the weather here is just amazing like that.

here is some lettuce flowers. i am letting go to seed for seed-saving purposes. they are so pretty. who knew that lettuce could be so pretty?

check out the potatoes - they are thriving for sure. i love potatoes!

up close with a potatoe flower.

check it out! my first tomatoe flower - woohoo! i have named all of my tomatoe plants "Little Helga's". i am naming all of the flowers "Littler Helga's". anybody got a good idea for a name for the actual tomatoes?

check out these marinating pork chops - yummeh!

and a few leftover shrimp - toss them on the barbie too!

and voila! grilled delicious pork chops, shrimps, and grilled apples and nectarines - deelish!

after supper we went and sat in our rocking chairs out front. we had full bellies, we had had a full day and the sky was full of wonder.

i'll be around a lot this weekend hitting up all of your blogs and whatnot. i don't like it when jambaloney is away from home. i am going to miss him something fierce and not have a clue what to do with myself with him being gone. i know that i am a grown adult woman but that man is my life. i hope he has a nice trip. he is meeting up with some old friends tonight and i know that he will enjoy that. he will also get to see his Mom, Step-Dad, and Dad, as well as some other family. i hope he gets enough sleep and eats properly. i miss him so much and he only just drove down the driveway.

ugh.