Deogratias

Why we do what we do

A friend asked me to post this. Watch it! It's very powerful.

What's wrong with Shadow?

UPDATE:  Shadow seems to be improving, and the vet is coming over tomorrow!   

Shadow joined our family last fall and has quickly overtaken all our other pets to become the family favorite.  Unfortunately he became very ill yesterday and we're not sure why.

Lee's pretty sure it has to do with the eye infection he's had for a while.  I've been treating it with some over-the-counter cat eye antibiotics to no avail.  It seemed to get a little better, but never completely.

I'm pretty sure it has to do with the stalking he's been doing at night.  I think he fell out of a tree or had some sort of accident.  He was fine the day before yesterday when he left for his night out, but when he returned home he was weak and could barely hold his head up. 

We both also suspect that it may have something to do with the insecticide we sprayed to get rid of the ants coming into the house. We kept the pets inside until it dried, but who knows if that's enough.  We hated to do  it, but if we don't get rid of those ants right away they'll take over the house!

We had a cat named Fred long ago when we lived in apartments, and whenever the apartment complex would spray she would go crazy.  She would hide behind the toilet and then come out running around erratically.  It would last for a day and then she would be fine.

So back to Shadow.  Alex found him out in the driveway and brought him in.  He's breathing heavy and using his accessory muscles to breath.  He had no interest in food and water all day and just slept.  Then when we arrived home after a ballgame and dinner he came out to meet us.  He quickly tired though and fell back asleep.

This morning he's eating a lilttle and seems to be improving somewhat.  It appears as  if he has some sort of bruise on his abdomen that is hanging down and is very sensitive to the touch.  Consistent with my theory about falling out of a tree.

So why haven't we taken him to the vet?  Well, we use a moble vet whom we really like most of the time.  But yesterday he didn't return our messages and we're wondering what's up.  His answering machine says to call the emergency vet. clinic in case of emergency, but we really can't afford that.  Plus that, Alex HAD to go to his piano lesson yesterday because it was the last day to record his songs for graduation in May.  Shortly thereafter Jacob had a baseball game and his team was counting on him.  Even if we wanted to, we didn't have TIME to take him to the emergency clinic.

I'm pondering taking him in today, but he seems to be improving.   I have a rather hands-off method of  handling illnesses for the most part anyway.  I don't take the kids or myself in to the doctor unless it is simply the last resort.  I think at times it's best to just let illnesses run their course and that much of our interference  uh treatment is for our mental health anyway. 

I'm just keeping an eye on him today.  I just heard him jump down from his food shelf where he ate a little.  I'll call the vet again and hopefully he can come look at this eye infection.  We love him, but as Lee says, he's just a cat.  If he dies we'll be sad, but we'll just get another one.  Maybe you think that's cold hearted, but I think not.  Our pets are pets and NOT our children.  Priorities you know.

A Simple Monday

  For today, March 30, 2008

From outside my window came my alarm clock this morning.  The pretty little sound of "Phoe-be, Phoe-be".

I am soooo thankful for the sunshine.   Did you know that March is the rainiest month of the year in Georgia?  If you're in Georgia, you know.

In the kitchen I'm fixing a big pot of grits.  Our new favorite breakfast can be enjoyed by us and the leftovers fed to the chickens.

I am wearing purple jammies.

I am reading a novel by Laura Lippman.  Thanks to Linda for introducing me to this fabulous writer.

I am hoping that Alex makes a good recording of Arietta and Minuet 2 today for his piano graduation.

I am creating ... a garden still.  Now it's time for planting.

I am hearing the dryer.  In it are the clothes I'll be wearing today.

Around the house... I've resigned myself to having a dirty messy house this spring. We have so much to do outside right now.

One of my favorite things... watching my chickens scratch.  It's so fun to watch them searching for food - bugs, grass, anything they can find.

A few plans for the rest of the week include being a better blogger.  I vow this will not be the only post this week.

Here are two  pictures that  I am sharing with you...

 

The three oldest boys served at Mass yesterday, and Andrew lost a tooth.

  

For more of these fun Simple Woman posts, visit Peggy's Place.  I'm so thankful to Peggy for providing this forum to share. 

The Solemnity of the Annunciation

Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38). 

 

  Image of the Incarnation from the Dome of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Subscription Difficulties

For some reason this blog hasn't been updating to Google Reader for a couple of weeks, and I'm not sure why.  All I know is that I'm starting to miss you guys.

Currently I'm playing around with some things trying to fix it.  I've downloaded some add-ons from my browser, Mozilla Firefox (Which I actually LOVE for all things except blog publishing, but that's another story.), and I've installed a Feedburner. 

Here's what's worked for me.  Click on the link on top of the left sidebar which says Subscribe to this Feed.  Then subscribe.  Then go in and unsubscribe from the blog in its previous location.  It worked for me and hopefully it'll work for you.  

Another thing that might work is to just click on my blog and then click Refresh.  You might try that before going to the trouble of resubscribing.

Whatever you do, PLEASE don't forget about me.  I love my blogging friends!

Checking In

We just arrived home after a long day which consisted of our Blue Knights and Pilgrims of the Holy Family clubs at our church and Jacob's first baseball game of the season.  Both went well, as the Pilgrims are working on their First Aid badge, and everyone enjoyed eating the pumpkin bars I made.  Jacob got two hits and had some good plays in the field, but unfortunately his team took the loss. 

I haven't been blogging much the past few weeks - probably due to all the fun we're having with our chickens and baseball.  Blogging will probably continue to be sporatic over the coming month or two for those reasons. 

I'm still reading my favorite  blogs though, and tonight I came across a link to a blog about a little girl who really needs our prayers.  Stop by and visit little Ansley Kate and say some prayers for her and her family.  They have some hard times ahead and pray for healing.

Finally, here some pictures I'm gonna share just because. 

A goose egg (picture taken at a visit to a farm)

 

Two chicken eggs (from our laying hens)

 

One of my mother's tea cups.

 

My mother's hutch

Now I have to go because Jacob wants to get on the computer so he can find out how the Braves did today. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

 

   

St. Patrick's  Prayer

May the Strength of God pilot us.
May the Power of God preserve us.
May the Wisdom of God instruct us.
May the Hand of God protect us.
May the Way of God direct us.
May the Shield of God defend us.
May the Host of God guard us.
Against the snares of the evil ones.
Against temptations of the world

May Christ be with us!
May Christ be before us!
May Christ be in us,
Christ be over all!
May Thy Salvation, Lord,
Always be ours,
This day, O Lord, and evermore. Amen.

Happy St. Paddy's Day.  You can find this and other prayers here.  For a quick and easy recipe to celebrate the day with food, try this.

Home Grown Foods No More?

Today as I was driving across town to pick up two more laying hens, I was thinking about how I could sell the surplus eggs as well as  homegrown vegetables at the local farmer's market downtown every Friday morning.  It could be a way to pay for some of the costs of owning the animals and having the garden, as well as a great learning experience for our homeschooling family. 

Then I arrived home and learned about HR-875 - The Food Safety Bill which is making big news today.   The following link was forwarded to me from a member of my Catholic homeschooling group. 

For me this would basically mean that I would have to spend much of my time documenting my food safety proceedures.  The extra cost and extra time would probably make homegrowers go underground or stop all together.  How could we compete with big agriculture which can do these sort of thems relatively cheaply? 

Please contact your congressman and senator and ask them to oppose HR-875.  Homegrown food is so much more tasty and better for you than the stuff you can buy in the store.  Support your local farmer please.

Here are some shots from last year.

       

And this year.

   

Please help save the small family farm. 

A Little Family Fun

Last Friday night Lee took Jacob to see the Atlanta Thrashers play and Alex, Nicholas, Andrew and I went to Family Fun Night at the ballpark. 

                

Here are a couple of shots of Andrew's first game. He's catching:

 

and hitting.

 

We had three games scheduled today, including Jacob's opening day, but they were postponed due to rain.  Now instead of six games next week, we'll have nine!  Glad I picked up a case of water bottles at the store yesterday.

Scones

I made them and they were yummy!  Thanks for the recipe Marianne!