When it rains, it hurricanes.
First Harvey, now Irma. The devastation in Houston is so massive, unbelievable and just, well, heartbreaking. I feel so bad for the people and animals of Houston and all that they're going through right now. I can't help but wonder what I would do in that situation. I found a series of YouTube videos on hurricane preparedness and told my husband to watch them because if I do, I won't sleep. Although predictions for Irma are keeping it out of the gulf, it still looks bad for the east coast.If you're like me and don't have a lot of money to donate to the various relief efforts, you can donate points from any participating memberships you may have. I had some Choice Hotel points that I donated, which in turn went to the Red Cross.
There's an artist in my area that's selling paintings to raise money for Direct Relief's Hurricane Harvey Response Fund. Her name is Sarah Rutledge Fischer and these adorable flamingo paintings are $35 plus shipping. You can pre-order yours HERE on Etsy. Not sure how long that link will be good for, so if you want one, it would probably be a good idea to act quickly on that. I pulled this picture from a video on her FB page if you want to look her up. She's a lovely person and she just completed a giant tree mural in Fairhope.
Rock Update
I'd like to thank those who donated to Help Bring Tito Home. There haven't been any updates on Tito, but miracles do happen and I'm not giving up hope just yet. Friday night I was scrolling through the various apps on my phone and happened to notice I had a private message on instagram. That feature does not show up on my computer, so I was surprised to see the little notification. I clicked on it and was thrilled to see a message from Simon which totally made my week!
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| Rock portrait of Tito. |
Last week I worked on making some certificates of authenticity that will double as price tags for the fall market. I'm going to print them on card stock and cut them out, but I will also keep a printed master so I can keep track of the ones that have sold.
I painted two more rocks yesterday. Another possum and a watermelon wedge.
Mister Mister
Mister is a big boy. I mean REALLY big! He's probably up to about 20 pounds, despite being on a "Perfect Weight" formula dry food. When you pick him up, he's solid as a rock and you can see that he has big boy paws.
His most favorite thing in the whole world is sitting by an open window. He will paw at the blinds madly until you open a window for him. We felt bad that he didn't have enough room on that windowsill to be comfortable, so we bought a long piece of laminated shelving and cut it to fit into the bay window area in our kitchen. It rests on the sills and doesn't even need to be screwed down.
He loves it.
He can really sploosh out now. lol
Van-tastic.
Remember the 1991 Ford Aerostar van we bought for Megan over the summer? Well, hubby was unable to repair the air conditioning with a recharging kit, so we tried to resell it, but nobody was interested. Turns out Megan likes driving it more than my little car. She is always cold, so she doesn't mind not having a/c, bless her heart. Hubby got a little fan gizmo that he attached to the dash and it runs on the cigarette lighter. He says it works really well and helps keep the front windshield from fogging up when it rains.
She's just about ready to go in for her driver's test. Also, she started cashiering at Publix and is doing great. Hopefully they'll promote her soon so that she can get cashier rate which is a little higher. She had applied for a library aide position which is a city job that pays more and would utilize her mad computer skills. We were so proud that she got an interview, which went really well. They said they'd call this past week, but she never heard anything back, so I guess she didn't get the job. It would have been nice to at least get an email saying so. Oh well. She's very proud of herself for surviving the interview. Go Megan!
And that's the latest from the Clamco ranch. I hope all is well with my readers. There's a lot of bad news out there lately, but if you are safe, dry and well, then, as they say in the south, you are blessed.
I love the kitty shelf. What a good idea! Congrats to Megan, interviews can be so intimidating. We are on Florida's east coast, just south of the space center. My oldest daughter recently moved to the US Virgin Islands and as of this morning, we are unable to get her off that little island. Watching Irma closely for her sake and ours, but for now, we are safe, dry and well, so we are blessed.
ReplyDeleteI am hoping Irma just peters out at sea, but the latest report shows it hitting category 4 strength in the coming days. :-(
DeleteIt has been a hard week here with the loss of my beloved MotherInLaw and the devastation in Houston. I'm happy to say all my Texas family is doing well. I'm still recovering from the stress and too many hours in the car. My daughter will fly back to Cali tomorrow and I will miss her so VERY much! I do love seeing your rocks, so amazing. I haven't touched my watercolors in over a week but hope to get some time soon to paint. Hoping that Irma doesn't come close to you! Hugs!
ReplyDeleteLinda, I have found that painting coupled with listening to pleasant music can help make the blues go away. Hugs to you too. <3
DeleteI am happy for Megan that sh is doing well in her job, and brave and applying for and receiving interviews. The right fit will find her. Perhaps Mister is not really a domestic cat, but a small bobcat. His paws are massive for a kitty.
ReplyDeleteFunny, Megan did some research on Mister. He has these tufts of fur that come out the sides of his head by his ears. Megan calls them his angel wings. Apparently they are common in Maine Coon cats which tend to be a larger cat breed. She read some other characteristics that seem to fit him under that category as well. Not quite bobcat, but his is a big boy. lol
DeleteDon't have Megan give up so soon, with the Labour Day weekend you never know, they might have had a hard time getting making their decision. She should follow up with them next week (more good experience). She is definitely in the blooming stage of life! So glad the van worked out for her. You are right, people should give what they can. I am not giving to hurricane Harvey simply because I want to give more to our own natural disaster, the fires that are still burning in our Province and thousands are still evacuated and people are still losing houses. It is terrible what is happening there and hopefully there will be no more terrible hurricanes hitting landfall this year
ReplyDeleteI am what they call "crisis weary." I seem to be called upon to give to so many charities that I can't keep up. The problem is that I am not well off at all and cannot give anymore money. I recently donated to a GoFundMe for someone I don't even know very well who needs surgery and has no insurance. A few days later, she posted a photo of her new hairstyle. Yeah, I can barely afford to go to a salon myself, so that really upset me. There are many, many, many animal rescues that are constantly needing money for sick dogs and cats. They really know how to pull on peoples' heartstrings. I have used up all the money I made so far from selling my painted rocks to donate to charities. I'm all out of spare cash now. I know there are very wealthy people out there who could do amazingly good things for the people of Houston, but sadly I think they probably see the disaster as just another way to make even more money. Do I sound cynical? Trying to stay positive and upbeat these days is very difficult. As for Megan, I actually think that there still is a possibility of her getting that job. Wheels turn very slowly here in the south. We shall see. :-)
DeleteYou are also what we call a "soft touch." Quit donating to so many charities that you cannot afford to keep some for yourself. Set a limit on your charitable giving and stop when that is given. I cannot donate to charities. But, I satisfy the need to help by doing other things. I can get $20/hr. by tutoring. So, when I volunteer to tutor for someone who cannot afford me but might not get into hs without a better math score in 8th grade, I recognize the long term financial benefits of my "donation." The gift of time is important, too. I am not suggesting you find a place to give time. Just limit your giving to a set amount each month. Lots of people do this. It is a line item in their budget.
DeleteTell megan to touch base with the position as aide. She can work herself into a better position with her computer skills.
Over here we can only contribute in cash, or in goods. And many charities are incredibly fussy about what goods they will accept. After my father died several told us that any clothing had to be dry-cleaned before they would take it. WTF?
ReplyDeleteMy heart goes out to everyone affected by Horrid Harvey.
Love your rocks and am very glad that Megan is doing so well.
I won't be showing Jazz Mr's window ledge or he would want one.
congrats on the interviews! They are intimidating for sure as above reader noted. I have given about a dozen this week....and I am on interview 3 myself with 1 company and have a first interview tuesday with another company. Unfortunately upper management switched at my current job. I love Mister. He's so unbelievably precious.
ReplyDeleteTell me more about the fan for the car--brand, store, anything so I can get one. My ac doesn't work well most of the time. And, my windows fog up.
ReplyDeleteHe bought it on Amazon. Here is the link:
Deletehttps://smile.amazon.com/Powstro-Powerful-Rotatable-Adjustable-Dashboard/dp/B073PRQ3PW/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1504528895&sr=8-8&keywords=fan+runs+on+cigarette+lighter
Thanks!
DeleteGreat idea about the dash fan. You know, I had a Suburu Justy back in the day, 1989 - 1998,(when I got a Geo and that was a lemon and got rid of that in 2000 for my nissan), and I bought it a month before relocating from SW Georgia to mid/central FL - and it was a 'stripped down' model that I bought and drove off the lot same day - with no radio and no AC ! Wish I had known about the dashboard fan back then! And my AC now is pretty Kaput now so that would be great (still driving that 1999 Nissan I bought in March 2000 - yes I am - it has 139,000 miles and still going).
DeleteGADawn57
Mister looks very cute all spread out on that board by the windows. I love cats. I just lost my little girl kitty a week ago. She was about 13 years old and got sick so had to put her down.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear Megan's sticking with the van. Not having a/c can be difficult in this area. I've had to deal with it before and it's just no fun, especially the older you get. Great she got an interview and is working her way up to cashier at Publix. I heard that's a good company to work for. Good luck to her on her driver's test!
So sorry to hear about your kitty. We have a senior cat that is declining fairly quickly. I think her time is coming soon. She's 15.
DeleteOh! And Irma! How could I forget about Irma? I'm worried a little about her too. I'd hate to see another hurricane hit the U.S. or anywhere again. Harvey was Texas' Katrina, it seems. I went through Hurricane Ivan in 2004 with 120mph winds. It was very unpleasant and scary. For 2 weeks I did not have electricity. Hot meals were a rarity. I was fortunately able to go over to my mother's house and eat some hot meals. She only lost her electricity for 3 days because she is on the power grid of one of the local hospitals.
ReplyDeleteNever eat those MREs they give out after hurricanes. They are gross, except for the candy they throw in there. :P
We've been through hurricanes up north, many in fact, but not down south. At least not yet. Not looking forward to it. We live right next to a water tower which I was told is a good place to be for a couple of reasons. 1. It's built on high ground and 2. Power to it will be restored before anywhere else so we're likely to get our electricity back on faster than other areas. We bought a chainsaw yesterday. We have a generator and we've been buying extra bottled water.
DeleteGood idea with the tags! I've been making a ton of stuff for my craft show in November. Hopefully I sell some lol
ReplyDeleteLove your photo organization of your wonderful painted rocks Lorraine. You asked on my blog comments where I get hemp oil. I buy it from retailers who carry Miss Mustard Seed paint products and from retailers who sell Fusion Mineral Paint products.
ReplyDeleteJoy
Love your rocks, Lorraine! I hope the show is a success for you. We are waiting out Hurricane Irma, hope she is gentle with us.
ReplyDelete