Wednesday, June 16

Up at 6:30 to get ready to go to water aerobics. The pool is cool, but the showers in the dressing room are positively cold. I shower slightly (just dash under it now) so it won't be such a shock when I get in the pool. Learned today that one of the boilers is down, with no plans to fix it in the near future, so no hot water at the showers, and only tepid water coming through the pool jets. Still, I enjoy the pool, and feel refreshed after a workout.

Back home, once I was ready for the day, I baked a lemon cake for Hubbie's birthday gathering tomorrow. In the morning, I'll finish the cake by topping it with lemon pudding and a meringue icing. This is a favorite dessert for Hubbie, though I can't eat it because of the yellow dye in both the cake and the pudding. So Mother baked a chocolate cake for me, using applesauce in place of oil, sugar substitute, and egg substitute. I'll top the cake with sugar-free pie cherries and fat-free whipped topping.

Once the cake was out of the oven, I baked a ham. Then Hubbie and I got busy with household chores. Mother came over after lunch and put together a dish for supper...she mixed together the sauce from the Swiss steak and the sauce from the barbecued pork chops last night and blended these with the brown rice. She topped the dish with Monterey Jack cheese and baked it. It was a good dish, served with fresh cucumbers and tomatoes, and sourdough bread.

Later, Hubbie and I went to a grocery store to pick up last minute items for tomorrow's meal. After that, we all occupied ourselves in individual activities. I researched attractions that we might do while we are in the Capital City, where I'll conduct a photography workshop at a children's museum.

I also went into the yard to gather a variety of flowers to make an arrangement for the dining room table.

Speaking of flowers, today, an interesting box of garden stuff was delivered to Hubbie. Seems he bought a grab bag of plants. The grab bag contained strawberry plants, Dahlia tubers, Sweet William, Sterling Star Lilies, Red Hot Poker, Mixed Balloon Flowers (or Chinese Bell Flowers), Gladiolus, and Crocosmia. Since he was unfamiliar with some of the plant's requirements, I researched online for information on the planting and care of the plants.

Sad note: one of the cats that recently had kittens, and who moved them to a place where we couldn't find them, decided to move them back near Mother's front porch. So Hubbie checked on them and found that none of the three kitten's eyes were open. The kittens are about four weeks old, so obviously the mama cat hasn't taken very good care of them. Hubbie washed their eyes, but they appeared to be blind.

Later today, he took the mama cat and the kittens to the vet. We feared that the kittens would have to be destroyed, and I was heartsick about it. I was relieved when Hubbie brought them home again with the news that the vet said they aren't blind, but they have an eye disease. So he prescribed a liquid antibiotic, and recommended putting an antibiotic salve on their eyes twice a day. One kitten is now looking around, but the other two still can't see.

The mama cat is really beautiful...white, with big blue eyes, and black around the nose, on the tips of the ears, and on her feet. She is also very sweet and craves attention. But we are convinced that she's retarded and doesn't quite know what to do with her kittens. Still, she'd make a wonderful house pet. One of the ladies at the vet's office has expressed interest in her. I hope she takes her.

She's not the only cat that's a bit strange. A few of the others have six toes on their feet. And the females are unusually small. We think these quirks are the result of too much inbreeding...a male cat in the neighborhood has been servicing all the females here...his offspring, first, second, and third generations. If we could catch him, we'd change his mind in a hurry!

But, if we can give away the mama cat, and have the last of the other mama cats spayed, our problems will be solved...until these five kittens grow up, that is. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to find homes for them before they are ready to breed.

Spent the evening watching TV, including an episode of "Miss Marple," from the public television channel. Most prime time shows have ended their seasons, so TV fare is scant. I've recorded some movies from premium channels, but the first two we tried tonight didn't suit us, so we gave that up.

I have several movies on DVD that we haven't watched yet, so as the summer rolls along, we'll probably dig those out. However, the next few weeks will be pretty busy, so there probably won't be a lot of time for watching movies, anyway.