State of the Garden Address

We've been enjoying a ton of cucumbers and some carrots so far this year.


Our tomato plants are now so large its difficult to keep them upright.


But there are a ton of these. I'm having a hard time being patient waiting for them to turn red.


The cucumber plants are out of control. I mean seriously. I think there are only 7-8 plants in this bed and it's overflowing into the pathways and into the bean bed.


Beans and cucumbers are intermingling.


Roux is a good helper.

4th of July Recap

What with my laziness in uploading pictures combined with the Tigger scare, I owe you a 4th of July post.

We were pretty lazy around the house most of the morning and afternoon which was awesome. We headed over to Mel and Di's around 4.


The water was cold! Bryan wanted to get in the water and see how Roux swam. We've never put her in the water before.


Mel helped hand her in.


Roux immediately wanted out.


Bryan tried to hold and comfort her, but she was arching her back and struggling so we were afraid she'd hurt herself.




THIS is my all time most favoritest picture. Seriously. That eye ball.

Bryan is all calm and smiley and Roux is like OH MY GOD I'M DYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She was probably in the pool a total of 45 seconds.


Bryan and Vieve chilled in the pool a little longer.


Then we made silly faces and played with my phone.

A new home for Dribble

Over the last year or two Dribble has grown exponentially. I cannot tell you the number of people who have commented on it and also remarked that we needed to get a bigger aquarium. I dragged my feet for the longest time because as the primarily, ehm, only aquarium cleaner, I didn't want to have to deal with a bigger aquarium to clean.

I had to cave when I was watching him a few weeks ago and he could nearly touch the front and the back sides without trying. Whoops.



Here's the before.


Here's the old one in front of the new one.

I was a bit shocked when I saw them next to each other. I had taken the measurements and then hit the store looking for something slightly bigger that would fit on the table. This was the next size up.


Here's our sofa table after. It's much bigger, but he has soooooo much more space to swim now.

I bought two bags of smaller rocks at the pet store thinking that would help fill it out. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.... It looks like a joke. We'll need to add some more rocks and stuff to catch the poop and bits in there. But still. I think he's much happier.

This morning

I didn't get much sleep last night. Thinking about Tigger, missing Bryan, and worrying about logistics to come.

One thing I was thinking about in the shower was to stop complaining. The verse, which I haven't read in years, came to mind to do everything without grumbling or complaining. I don't like people who complain all the time and I should make every effort to not be that person either.

7:15 I loaded up Tigger in the carrier, fed the other three, and managed to get the two of us out the door. It was awkward with the big carrier, but we made it.

In the car I was listening to the Dinner Party Download podcast as a distraction. They had a British writer talk about the British vs. American point of view. One thing he said that he admired about Americans is that they don't complain as much as the British/Europeans.

It's kind of amazing what you can do before 8:30 am. I was able to drop off Tigger, pick up some breakfast, pick up my car and get to work early.

When I arrived to work I started up the computer, went through my email, opened my gmail and Facebook for a brief scan. The very first item that came up on my feed was an update on a family from church. The wife of the family has been put under hospice care. While I don't know this family very well at all, it breaks my heart for her husband, her daughters, and their young families. It was the perspective I needed.

Yes, this isn't exactly the most fun time right now with Bryan away, car problems, and cat cancer, but we have each other, we have our family, and things could be a lot worse.

Tigger Tail

We received some bad news regarding our first born, Tigger, today. A week or so ago we noticed a growth or some weird bump on his tail. Bryan insisted he go to the vet, despite me being pretty lackadaisical about it.

Last Wednesday they had an appointment. The vet shaved a small portion his tail and took a biopsy.

We received word today that the results showed lymphoma. Cancer.

I kinda always figured that cancer at some point would figure into our lives. Whether it was one of us, a parent, a close friend. Somehow our lives would not be left untouched. (Not that they weren't before. They were, just in a different manner.) Cancer was surely a mountain that we would have to climb together.

I never expected it to be in one of our pets. Perhaps I'm being a bit dramatic. It's a pet. Yeah whatever, maybe I am emotional. Maybe I am on my third glass of wine. That does not mean that I have not cried my eyes out about it already once today.

We went through the Bosco ordeal and death exactly a year ago. It doesn't seem fair to be back here again less than a year later. (Bosco died on July 21st if you want exact dates. We found out about her leg in March.)

Tigger does not have a death sentence... yet at least. Tomorrow I will take him back to the vet. They will do more tests and will likely cut his beautiful tail off.

It was the most beautiful tail there ever was. Bosco's was a close second with its cute little brown spot.

I remember the time that he caught his tail on fire that one Valentine's day. I was so afraid that it would maim it forever. He cleaned it up and it was as good as new the next day.

So here we are. Dealing with cancer in our first born. Tigger is approximately eight and a half years old. He is our handsome man. Perhaps a bit aloof most of the time, but he's a sweet cat who loved to cuddle with me when no one was looking.

Even though we got the worst case scenario news today, I'm hoping for the best tomorrow. Maybe the cancer hasn't spread yet and we won't be facing rounds of chemo with a cat. Maybe it won't be too bad and we'll have several more years with the little stinker. I sure hope so.