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75% of the Torchicks came to visit this weekend: ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
liquidize, puffgirl_two, and sffan. It was great to see them all again, and they got to play with the alpacas and kittens as well as with us. Liq tuned up Dar's old guitar, and I got a serenade of some classic Phil Ochs tunes, which doesn't happen every day of the week, you know. She's so cute :)
In absolutely shocking news, SF was here - and our sole pregnant alpaca did not give birth. She's losing her touch, I fear.
The fine weekend ended on a sour note when Dar's head collied with Adama's, and it looks as if Dar got the worst of it. She thinks it might be a concussion (and what is it with this house and concussions?!); I've been checking on her off and on since she went to sleep, and she's breathing OK. Since that's about the full extent of my nursing skills, I'm hoping that that's good enough. We'll see how she is in the morning.
Speaking of Adama, he's being a bit of a brat these days. We had to separate him from Hannibal several weeks ago, so Adama is now in with the females and crias. He's a juvenile male, which means he's old enough to go through the motions of mating without having the equipment to really get the job done. Thankfully. Because he's been all over Delilah today, and that's driving Hannibal berserk. Delilah will kush next to the fence by Hannibal, which gets Hannibal's juices flowing, but then Adama will trot on over and cover her, making the orgling sound that males make when they're mating. I'm sure if he could stick his tongue out at Hannibal, he would. In fact this morning I was watching from the house as Hannibal had his neck stuck as far through the fence as he get could it, trying like hell
to bite Adama - who was standing calmly just out of reach. Sneering, I'm sure. Boys.
Dar's best friend and family are coming to visit tomorrow, and I'm hoping they'll be taking a couple of the kittens home with them. Jane and Morse to be exact. Or at least Morse. Of the four kitties, Jane is the one least socialized; she really doesn't have all that much interest in humans, while her sisters and her brother are more than happy to play with us. If one of the kittens gets left to be a bona fide barn cat, it would probably work out best if it were Jane.
My car is fixed, which makes me quite happy. It turned out to be a wheel bearing, so it wasn't ridiculously expensive; best of all, we no longer have to fear that the car will fall to pieces around us as we drive down the highways and byways. Always a good thing.
The results of all the kidney tests still aren't back. Or at least that's what the clinic is saying. I did get the blood work results, and those are pretty good. Something is up with my red blood cells, but there's no flashing neon sign about kidney damage anywhere there. Or at least nothing new. Tuesday I'll be all over them trying to get the rest of the results. I'm surprised that they're not screening my calls by now :)
I watched The Lady in the Lake again; I was in a morphine haze, so I plead temporary mental defect, but honestly, it wasn't all that bad after all. Horribly silly and plot holes that you could drive a truck through, but it was also very sweet in parts.
My cousin Maryann died last week; the service was Saturday. She was only 60, and it was cancer that killed her. She's the first of my generation to die in that very large family of ours. I was remembering when my aunts and uncles started to die. At the wake for the second one (I believe it was for Aunt Emma), my Aunt Louise started loudly moaning, "This is it. This is the start. We'll all be dying now." I believe that the term "Drama Queen" was coined specifically for Aunt Louise, but she was right. I mean it was inevitable that they would age and die, and her siblings were all rolling their eyes as she was wailing, but I get what she was trying to say. So I heard of Maryann's death, and I thought: this is where it starts.
I don't hear any bells tolling for me or anything maudlin like that. Of the 20+ cousins in the family, I'm one of the youngest. The fourth youngest actually. But that also means that I have cousins 10 or 15 years older than I am, and the inevitable is, well, inevitable. It makes me sad. I wish I could have been able to make it to the service not just to share in the mourning for Maryann, but to commemorate the new era in our family.
But for now, the house is quiet and Pixel is curled up against me. I'm warm and drowsy and safe and loved. And very grateful.
liquidize, puffgirl_two, and sffan. It was great to see them all again, and they got to play with the alpacas and kittens as well as with us. Liq tuned up Dar's old guitar, and I got a serenade of some classic Phil Ochs tunes, which doesn't happen every day of the week, you know. She's so cute :)In absolutely shocking news, SF was here - and our sole pregnant alpaca did not give birth. She's losing her touch, I fear.
The fine weekend ended on a sour note when Dar's head collied with Adama's, and it looks as if Dar got the worst of it. She thinks it might be a concussion (and what is it with this house and concussions?!); I've been checking on her off and on since she went to sleep, and she's breathing OK. Since that's about the full extent of my nursing skills, I'm hoping that that's good enough. We'll see how she is in the morning.
Speaking of Adama, he's being a bit of a brat these days. We had to separate him from Hannibal several weeks ago, so Adama is now in with the females and crias. He's a juvenile male, which means he's old enough to go through the motions of mating without having the equipment to really get the job done. Thankfully. Because he's been all over Delilah today, and that's driving Hannibal berserk. Delilah will kush next to the fence by Hannibal, which gets Hannibal's juices flowing, but then Adama will trot on over and cover her, making the orgling sound that males make when they're mating. I'm sure if he could stick his tongue out at Hannibal, he would. In fact this morning I was watching from the house as Hannibal had his neck stuck as far through the fence as he get could it, trying like hell
to bite Adama - who was standing calmly just out of reach. Sneering, I'm sure. Boys.
Dar's best friend and family are coming to visit tomorrow, and I'm hoping they'll be taking a couple of the kittens home with them. Jane and Morse to be exact. Or at least Morse. Of the four kitties, Jane is the one least socialized; she really doesn't have all that much interest in humans, while her sisters and her brother are more than happy to play with us. If one of the kittens gets left to be a bona fide barn cat, it would probably work out best if it were Jane.
My car is fixed, which makes me quite happy. It turned out to be a wheel bearing, so it wasn't ridiculously expensive; best of all, we no longer have to fear that the car will fall to pieces around us as we drive down the highways and byways. Always a good thing.
The results of all the kidney tests still aren't back. Or at least that's what the clinic is saying. I did get the blood work results, and those are pretty good. Something is up with my red blood cells, but there's no flashing neon sign about kidney damage anywhere there. Or at least nothing new. Tuesday I'll be all over them trying to get the rest of the results. I'm surprised that they're not screening my calls by now :)
I watched The Lady in the Lake again; I was in a morphine haze, so I plead temporary mental defect, but honestly, it wasn't all that bad after all. Horribly silly and plot holes that you could drive a truck through, but it was also very sweet in parts.
My cousin Maryann died last week; the service was Saturday. She was only 60, and it was cancer that killed her. She's the first of my generation to die in that very large family of ours. I was remembering when my aunts and uncles started to die. At the wake for the second one (I believe it was for Aunt Emma), my Aunt Louise started loudly moaning, "This is it. This is the start. We'll all be dying now." I believe that the term "Drama Queen" was coined specifically for Aunt Louise, but she was right. I mean it was inevitable that they would age and die, and her siblings were all rolling their eyes as she was wailing, but I get what she was trying to say. So I heard of Maryann's death, and I thought: this is where it starts.
I don't hear any bells tolling for me or anything maudlin like that. Of the 20+ cousins in the family, I'm one of the youngest. The fourth youngest actually. But that also means that I have cousins 10 or 15 years older than I am, and the inevitable is, well, inevitable. It makes me sad. I wish I could have been able to make it to the service not just to share in the mourning for Maryann, but to commemorate the new era in our family.
But for now, the house is quiet and Pixel is curled up against me. I'm warm and drowsy and safe and loved. And very grateful.
