Frazzle

 

This cute little guy’s name is Frazzle. Not a name I gave him but one he came with. I thought the name was very apt for my mother and bought it as a gift. 

It was a difficult time for our family. My mother had had two surgeries, first for endometrial cancer, and second for the lung where it had spread. She was undergoing an intensive radiation regimen of treatment, hence the being frazzled.

I was a single mom, living in Canada, and she was living in Florida.  I sent the dog to make her laugh, to let her know I was with her in my thoughts, if not in person.

Frazzle is mine, and has been for more than twenty years.  My grandkids have seen it, wanted it, but I can’t give it away, the connection too dear.

Frazzle has a friend, Tommy, another stuffed animal I sent my Mom. He’s a white cat, a bit smaller than the original and missing his brown spots but a close copy. Mom loved the real Tommy that lived in my house and often said how much she’d miss him when she moved south. So, I got her one of her own and mailed it as a house warming gift.

These guys are not often off the shelf but I needed Frazzle for a special occasion. My granddaughter was turning 21, and I was sending her a multitude of greetings by text throughout the day.

I positioned Frazzle and made a quick video message, singing Happy Birthday off camera and out of sight.

I did make it down to Florida twice after that time, the second when I brought Frazzle and Tommy home. 

My eyes have filled with tears as I write, remembering both good times and bad. I miss you Mom, today and every day. Love you always. ❤️

The Fly

 I found myself eating ice cream last night at midnight.  Apparently ice cream is second to chocolate on the list of comfort foods. My need of comfort began earlier in the day. 

Yesterday in the late afternoon the sky turned grey and ominous.  The sound of thunder and sudden flashes of lightning spoke of a coming storm. There had been warnings so I was not surprised to see the sky change.

But we did not get a forceful downpour, nor did we get the winds that have accompanied summer storms previously. We got a steady rain, coming straight down like a wall of water.  It was pretty and I found the sound lovely. So I opened my door to get the full benefit of Mother Nature’s beauty.

The problem with the open door is it lets the bugs in, namely flies.

When the rain ended I closed my door. I enjoyed my dinner, did my dishes and relaxed to watch a movie. It was as I was crocheting that a fly made itself known.  It persisted in landing on my hands, a couple of times making me lose a stitch swatting it away. Finally I thought I was rid of it, until I went to bed.

Lights out,  I was comfy in my bed trying to sleep but was bothered by this one pesky fly. It would not leave me alone. Almost an hour passed and I could stand it no more. The battle was on. 

Flyswatter in hand I sat in the chair by my bed, eating ice cream and watching a repeat episode of Chicago PD. I was the good guy and the fly was the wanted felon that needed to be taken care of, by any means.

I got one good swat at him but he eluded my custody and went into hiding. The ice cream did the job, and I was ready to return to bed.

I won the battle but the war still wages, that fly has begun a day time attack. 

Goodbye Tree

 Apparently one of the old trees on my court has carpenter ants and the town ordered it removed. 

The danger is that the trunk and limbs lose their integrity and could be downed in a strong wind. And we have had some mighty strong winds with these summer storms.

It’s quite the procedure.  The first guy is in a lift like you see the power workers use.  He ties off the limbs and using a chainsaw works his way across the top of the tree.

The big truck has a crane with a cable that the lift guy attaches to the limb. When the limb is freed it’s lowered to the ground 

On the ground there’s another worker with a chainsaw. He remove the smaller limbs until there is just one big log remaining.

All the leaves and smaller branches are fed through a mulching machine. The large limbs are cut into manageable size pieces and in the end everything is removed and the area cleared, like they were never there.

That’s a lot of wood, but I don’t know whether it’s good for fire wood. 

It’s quite the setup and a lot of my neighbours, like myself, are intrigued and sat to watch.

Poor Bailey

 Bailey is not a happy camper. 

I’ve been using up all my leftover bits of yarn, making fun hats for dogs. I made a couple and wasn’t sure of the sizing, so I sent one home for Bailey to try on. I needed the visual and now know when the pattern said ‘large’ it really meant ‘medium’.

Bailey was not impressed, no matter that the hat was in his team colours. Yeah Maple Leafs.  I’ll make him a better one before hockey season starts 

Bailey, my Bud

Bailey is the youngest member of my daughter’s family. He is a two year old Labradoodle they got as a puppy.

I’m not sure of all the particulars of why this breed was developed other than it is the most non allergenic of dogs. As my grandson has a long list of allergies this was an important requirement.

My granddaughter brought him over for a visit and forgot his leash. He is still a bit puppy but is usually very obedient. You caught the “usually” right?

I live in a seniors complex, made up of quad units so we’re close together, in our own little neighbourhood. It’s quiet, and not very busy. 

I had left the door open for the sun and breeze, the dog playing with a tennis ball while the humans visited.

It all happened at once. The maintenance man on his small tractor pulling a cart to collect the garbage, the volunteer delivering a meal, and my 95 year old neighbour stepping out to get her dinner. 

Bailey barked and charged out the door, followed by my granddaughter who quickly got the dog in her control and back inside. Funny thing, he stayed by my side after that, as if he was protecting me.

Old people, they are not always the forgive and forget type. I got a stern lecture from my neighbour about the danger of a big dog being loose where there are vulnerable seniors around. I agreed and apologized, promised I would not let it happen again.

Still, I got the cold shoulder for about a week, the neighbour not speaking to me. Of the four of us in our little section, one unit is currently empty, and the fourth is home to a lovely, very active, very social English woman. As I am home all the time, the one my neighbour usually visits with, she got over her harsh feelings about the dog. 

There was a collage art project I wanted to try and Bailey seemed the perfect subject. I gathered my glue, my old magazines and my scissors and got to work. It was fun, and for a first try at something so finicky and detailed. I think I got a fairly good likeness.