3 Paws Saloon Attic

Our deepest sympathies, Val. Our hearts goes out to you.

There is Always a lot of forms to sign with a cremation; at least here in SA. I have had to deal with two.
Cremation costs go by size/weight? I didn't know that. So, if it were a child, it would be less? And you pay extra if you want the ashes? I didn't know that either. I wonder if it is the same here; never asked.

OMW. if things were done by post here, (or did you mean e-mail) the deal would only go through next year, if you were lucky. I posted a letter to Kimberley (a matter of 4-5 hours away) in January - the lady still hasn't received the letter.

Hope all is done and dusted by now, Val, with only memories remaining.

BTW, if you don't hear from me in a while, don't worry. I am running out of MB fast, also I will be house/baby sitting for Nicky from 20th - 27th of this month, so will be incommunicado. Her (girl) friend is taking her to a game farm, as a birthday present.

Val, and all other US readers, hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I arrived home last evening, having survived the house/baby sitting...LOL. Nicky claims to have had a lovely, relaxing time at the game farm. She took plenty of pics of the animals there and had lots of stories to tell. They were awoken every morning at the crack of dawn by a guinea fowl knocking on the front door - demanding to be fed. Bush-buck were eating out of her hand and a meerkat (think you would call it a ground-squirrel) crawled down her blouse and didn't want to come out. So yeah, Nicky was in her element with the animals. They also swam in geothermal pools and drank lots of champagne, LOL.

Shenay and I had a good time together. She was a big help with cooking dinner and hanging up washing. Exams are over and she is confident that she has passed. She will be going to grade 7. Only a week of school left for this year, then the six-week Christmas holidays. Ray will fetch her on Saturday on his way home from work; he starts work on 1 Dec.

It is always good to spend time with our children, eh Val?

Nicky sent me pics of her game farm stay, so thought I would share a couple with you.

There is Nicky with the meerkat on her shoulder; then one of her feeding the buck at the front door of their chalet. There is also one of her stroking a caracal in the rehabilitation center - lucky girl!

Wolfie, I wish we were having your weather here. It is scorching hot, with not a cloud in the sky - it is 8:20am.
Last Wednesday night we had the most amazing electrical storm. I was riveted to my workroom window for absolute ages, just watching the multiple lightening strikes and waiting for the resounding crashes of thunder. It was the most magical aerial display I have seen since leaving Kimberley in 1994. I love electrical storms - just to witness, not to be out in them.
The next afternoon, we had hail. That lasted all of 5 minutes - only small stones, thank goodness. We haven't had a drop of rain since then, with the oppressive heat (107F), my spinach is wilting and my roses are scorched and drooping.

Well, hubby is off to work - won't see him again till the night of 24th. This year he is approximately 50 miles away. Not so far actually, but the traffic he would have to pass through daily is horrendous with a couple of high accident zones (usually with huge delay times) on the way. His boss has found him an apartment only 15 minutes away from the mall where he is to work. I am sure Shenay and I will have a great time looking after each other, LOL.

How kind/generous of that lady, to give you a winter coat. It sounds really cozy! Walking to work in snow sounds like no fun at all - hope that doesn't happen.

Doesn't school take a break at this time of year? I am glad that I didn't go to school in the US; not taking a break in the festive season would have been devastating to me. December/January break is the longest in our school year, usually about 6 weeks. I never, ever, went to school on my birthday - one of the joys of being born in the first half of January.

Do you think you will be having a white Christmas?

well,i been a lil busy putting a glass door cabinet together,the last 2 days.it was/is a pain put together set-up.now it's in place,and with canned foods in it.and all i have left to do with it.is to put together the 3 draws for it,and put them into place.in which they'll go across the bottom of it.

Wow, Wolfie, that looks pretty good. Well done! Hmm.....Can I nab some of those canned goods?

Gosh! You make me shiver, Val, just to think about your temperatures. It is a bit cooler here today, only 85F.
What luck that your furnace is working before the big freeze - And, that you still have a lift to work.

I was in tears yesterday. Shen asked me to make her a dress for Christmas day - she picked out the material and pattern. She was Sooo excited and watched my progress eagerly as it started taking shape. I was about 80% finished when the machine (inherited from Angel) jammed - with the dress caught under the needle. I tried all sorts of things to get it unstuck, but to no avail. I resorted to Google, which helped a bit. I unscrewed the needle, releasing the dress - Phew! (I had visions of cutting the dress to release it.) But the machine remained tightly jammed. I burst into tears! Shenay looked so crestfallen, but tried to comfort me, (bless her heart) by saying she would find something else to wear. I maintained that I would finish it, by hand.
Anyway, last night before going to sleep, I asked Angel to help. This morning, just before 6, I was up and at the machine, turned the wheel backwards and VOILA! - it released! I couldn't stop saying "Thank you", over and over again. Happy ending; Shen will have her dress for Christmas day.

Mission accomplished!! You were correct, Wolfie, the delight on that young girls' face made it all worth while. I was bear-hugged and kissed numerous times. The dress fits perfectly, and looks good on her.

You seem to be quite the chef, Wolfie. I have never even thought of making turkey soup, perhaps because turkey isn't so popular in this part of the world. The only time we usually see turkey is at Christmas time; and then it is always out of my price range. Chicken is the cheapest 'meat' here.
Good luck with the dishes and present wrapping.

My house looks like a disaster zone. Dust and pieces of thread almost everywhere. I have let house-cleaning slide since hubby has been away - too busy sewing, cooking and entertaining Shenay. I will have to knuckle down in the next two days as Nicky is coming for lunch on Sunday. Fortunately, all my present wrapping has been completed.

How wonderful Val, a good start to the festive season and a weight lifted from your shoulders. How nice to be given a box of globes too, here in SA, they are rather pricey and surge protectors cost mega bucks.
We have a similar system here, they call it "Indigent Services", we also have to reapply for it yearly.

Ray arrived home safely on Christmas Eve, tired from his (almost) month long 9 -6, 7 days a week job; he is still recuperating. This was his twelfth year doing the Santa job in malls, and his sixth year doing the "Mama Magic Expo" (a 4 day stint). LOL, the "Mama Magic" people book him, specifically, at the beginning of the year already. He must be doing something right, eh?

Christmas Day dawned rainy and much cooler than usual. We didn't allow that to damp our festive spirit. Shenay was just so excited. We arrived at Nicky's home before 11am to find the other invited guest already there. She is another tenant of the complex (and Nicky's second in command as chairlady) who would otherwise be spending the day alone - her hubby is a sound engineer for a sports channel. He was sent down to the coast to do a broadcast of a five-day cricket match.

Nicky put out a wondrous array of 'starters'. LOL, so much that my gammon was eaten as an after-thought. The rain was light, so we were still able to eat out on the patio. After the meal we went inside and Ray gamely put on his Santa suit once more to have the traditional photo of him and Shen. Shen then took on the usual job of Santa's helper, handing out our token gifts. Naturally, there was a big pile for her.

It was a delightful day with much chatter and laughter. We did however, drink a toast to absent loved ones.

Shen proudly showed off her Christmas dress!

Val, the last two pics are of the 'special' blouse I made.

My, we just keep getting quieter, and quieter...   Shhh! What was that!?  Oh! Me typing! lol

Hope all is well with everyone.  

I think it's fairly much the same with everyone, Wolfie.  Money runs off faster than it comes in.  Just when I think I've got things squared, BAM!    Robbing Peter to pay Paul. 

It's an uphill battle, lots face.  

Nothing much going on here. Work is kicking my tush, lots of times I'm asleep before 8PM, Of course getting up at 3 AM might  play into that.  lol

It's been a hard few months here.  I mean really hard. Dealing with an older brother's passing, and my youngest brother having a quadruple bypass done has not made life any easier. Then to top it off someone is playing very uncool games with my financial well being.  I ended up closing my bank accounts and opening new ones, and having to change credit card accounts as well.  A very large pain in the tukus.

Sounds like your home is getting a serious over haul, Wolfie.  Bet it'll be real nice when it's done.

Today they're having a Celebration of Life  ceremony for my brother Kevin out in California.  He passed last November. Of course I do not have the money to go, and the other two siblings health won't allow them to (nor do they have funding either.)  Kevin would understand, and I think it's sweet of his friends to do this for him. I asked his friend, Mary who will be there if I wrote something if she'd read it. she said she would. I thought I'd share it here.

Writing this has proven harder than I initially thought.  I wanted to share what it was like growing up with Kevin as my older brother.  I wanted to illustrate that even though his birth family is not physically present, we are in spirit. I wanted to express my and his remaining siblings' gratitude to each and every one of you for having been in his life, for giving him company on the path he chose, no matter how long or short your paths converged.  Kevin knew and understood the worth of real friends, and he treasured you all.  He didn't have much in the way of material wealth, but he considered himself enriched by your shared travels on Life's path. 

When you come from a big family, it's easy to get lost in the shuffle. Even though I was 5 years younger, and a girl, Kevin made sure I never got too lost, that I knew it was Okay if I saw things differently, and that my thoughts and feelings mattered.  Not that he was always angelic, but he was my Marshmallow Warrior. That is to say, even though he appeared to be very laid back, if someone hurt someone he cared for, he would make that person very, very sorry.

  I remember when I was quite young, Kevin introducing me to monster movies via TV.  Today, I can revel in the campiness of those old black and white films, but when you're just a little kid, they're REAL and terrifying.  We'd sit there in the flickering black and white television light watching the werewolf, or whatever that week's monster flavor was, with me trying hard to be brave like Dorian, who was 4 years my senior, and denying  that I was scared every time Kevin would ask.    Of course, Dorian, being a bratty big brother, would wait and at the scariest part, would suddenly clamp his hand on my shoulder or jab me in the side, making me jump and scream, which he thought was just hilarious.  Kevin, in turn, would ask him what he'd done to which Dorian would laugh he scared me. Kevin would growl, punching him in the arm, "YOU don't scare her!" Then turning to me he'd suddenly yell "BOO" causing me to shriek yet again, and he'd laugh saying that was his job.   

I mentioned coming from a big family. All told there were 8 of us kids, with the eldest being 23 years older than the youngest. During most of our youth, there were 5 of us at home.   Because of her health, our mother couldn't often make it to school activities, and if my Dad was working late or at night it meant no family at your function, because Mom didn't drive.  When I was in 4th grade, my class was putting on a play that I had written, directed and also acted in.  As you can imagine it was a huge deal for me.  As luck would have it, that night my dad had to work a double shift.  I tried not to show it, but of course I was upset at this turn of events.  It felt really weird as different kids pointed out their families in the audience to know I had no one there, but as they say, the show must go on. Final curtain call and parents are swarming the stage telling their particular darling what a good job they'd done.   A few did stop and told me it was a really good play, and did I really write it myself, when I hear this familiar voice say, "Hey! There's my sister the star!"  I should have known my Marshmallow Warrior wouldn't let me down.  He was just that kind of big brother.

I could go on; there are just so many memories.  Some good, some not so good, but that's life for you.   

Thank you, Mary, for giving this voice, so that I could participate in this celebration of his life in some small way. His life is truly worth celebrating. When anyone of you thinks of him I hope it is with a smile, he really would like that.

Sorry to hear your Mom hasn't been doing so well, Wolfie.  Always seems to be something, doesn't it?  But I guess that's life. At least she is home and  that's great news about the oxygen (being portable and all).  

My allergies have been really bad this year. I pretty much stay broken out in hives. If it wasn't so close to the end of the school year, they'd probably make me get a doctor's note to prove it isn't a contagion of some sort.  It's just so purty.... (sarcasm).

After this week, there's only 5 more weeks of school.  Everyone is stressed that works the kitchen.  We haven't heard if our contract has gotten picked back up yet, so we don't know  if we have jobs next year.  Rumor is we'll need to re-bid on our positions as well, because they plan on condensing the freshman kitchen with ours.  They haven't told us how many positions will be available; will we ALL have jobs or just some of us?  Will the new kitchen be ready?  Questions, questions, questions....

Same here with the pictures, Wolfie.  Says the page doesn't exist. 

Had a nasty scare at work, Thursday when construction workers hit a gas pipe.  Was still early about 6:30 AM, so not many students were around, thank God. Plus no one was seriously hurt, and no explosion! YAY! They were able to turn it off before anything truly awful happened.  Plus someone had the presence of mind to run into the school and pull the fire alarm, so we all got out, before the fumes got too bad.  

We did end up sending one of the managers (pregnant) to the hospital as she was throwing up like mad. Thankfully, she and baby are fine, and a co-worker with a heart condition was sent home.  Most of us developed minor headaches/nausea, but it was deemed safe so we finished our shift.  

Speaking of shifts, only 3 more full days left, and then it's half days until June 6th, when summer break starts! 

Fergie, tell Ray he simply MUST share that recipe with me! I love hot stuff!!!

My prayers are with you, Wolfie.

I am finally on summer break from work. Today marks the 4th day, and all I've really managed to do is sleep, and take naps.  Jerome was beginning to worry that there was something wrong with me. 

Something very strange - nearly all my 'summer' clothes have gone missing.  They're not in the closet or in any drawer.  Much too small for Jerome to wear and much too big (and short) for his girlfriend.  I don't remember throwing them out (and why would I?). They just seem to be gone.  Just one more thing for me to be scratching my head over, I guess.

By all means you can post that link, Wolfie!  Not sure how much good it'll do, but every lil bit helps

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 This is one of my latest digital creations, Zombie Granny.   Not too sure I'd be in a big hurry to hug or get a kiss from her... She says "I could just eat you up!" She probably means for reals.  

  Feeling a bit better and not as worn out as I was.  Thank the Lord.