Halloween Day of the Dead

Today the keeper was out all day. One of the things she did was go down to Seattle Center to be with everyone celebrating the festival of Dia de Muertos. Although the day doesn't really happen until Monday, they were doing really well down there. folks came up from the State of Michoacan with their art, crafts, textiles, and artists from all over the area created altars, including a young man from St. Louise. Children and musical artists performed on the stage, and visitors were able to purchase sugar skulls and "bread of the dead." She then left for the cathedral and Mass for All Saints and was very impressed with Fr. R's preaching on the call to sainthood of everyone and how we should all be called " Your holiness." When she got home, she did not call us holy, because when she walked in she found her bread of the dead on the floor in the dining room all ripped up. We tried to say the raccoons did it, but she was quick to blame Alice, and she was right. Alice spent her first years starving and since the keeper was late in arriving, Alice took dinner into her own paws. she didn't like the bread much, and so just tore at it. We thought you would like to see a photo of her work. Other than this, we had no trick or treaters. The keeper is taking the candy to her meetings tomorrow.

Halloween Preview

These are some of the bizarre Halloween decorations our neighbor has filled his yard with. The keeper finally showed them to us. She says these people do more for Halloween than anyone she knows, except fo rher brother. After we saw the photos we played with our new catnip. That was enough for us.

Winds of Autumn

It still is pretty warm outside, but with the rain it seems very damp and chilly. We have been out exploring and remarking all of the spots where our had work at marking has been washed away by the rain. the keeper doesn't quite understand this need. She lectures us about the news stories about bears, coyotes, and cat eating raccoons. We have never seen any of these in our yard. She has a pretty hefty imagination we think. The leaves are falling down fast and the maple ivy on the deck has been stripped almost.The remaining stems look like surfer bleached hair. not that we have seen a lot of surfers ourselves.

We watched her set up our Day of the Dead altar in the dining room. This year she added orange twinkle lights. We think it is a little tacky. She hasn't put up the photos of our deceased friends yet. We will include our beloved four legged friends, if she listens to us.

Celebrating Donna

On Sunday night we said goodbye to the keeper as she went out with J and W to fete their friend D. Of course they went to their favorite spot, Pomadoro, which was hopping. But after wonderful pomodoro balsalmico, pasta with pestos, and then, birthday tiramisu with a candle for D. It was a great reunion. D has been such a great supporter and friend over the past ten years. And it was time she didn't have to cook for them.

Hedge trimmimg

It stopped raining today. So the keeper decided to trim the hedge with the neighbors' electric trimmers. Well, she learned that you need a lot of bodily strength to hang on to those trimmers and to keep lifting them high in the air to attack the top. she worked for about 4 hours, and pooped out. She got the side facing the house trimmed, but she looked up to see that the top of the hedge had a rise in the middle, and that she had been a little over zealous with the arch over the gate. She cleaned it all up, and now is getting ready to call the professionals to finish the work. Well, she did pretty well for a novice. It meant that we got to spend the afternoon outside and we lounged out on the deck in the sun till the wind picked up.

We sat on the couch with her inside as she read Latin American ecclesiology in Spanish. She fed us chicken tonight, too. A good day for us all!

Fall Treasures

This was a very busy week for the keeper, and a very shut in week for us. But I guess I was able to get out long enough to grab a swig of the water that makes me sick. I went out and slurped out of the plant saucers. And I am sick again. So the keeper is poaching me chicken.

She has been out to meetings and appointments, and we are in. But today there was a big funeral at her old church. They celebrated a lady named Patty who lived an illuminating life for all and it was a happy funeral despite the fact that she died too young. The keeper said that Patty had the light that the darkness can not put out.

The keeper came back home and we got to spend a few hours in the cold afternoon air. I should have stayed away from that plant pot. I know. The keeper was admiring her eggplant which is still growing, but tonight she wrapped it in a sock and wrapped plastic around the plant. She doesn't want to pick it too quickly or leave it to freeze.

Even with all the rain and wind, the leaves are still beautiful, but now they are falling quite quickly from many of the trees. We found toadstools in the front yard--beautiful red ones collecting the rainwater. We know not to eat them. The keeper says they are good for the garden.

Today was a splendid day and we were able to spend time outside and lounge around on the hot tub. The keeper had a quiet day, and decided to take a hike around LFP and she let us stay out while she was gone. She reported back that the leaves are popping out with so much color, that she kept saying WOW every time she turned around.
she took so many photos that now she thinks she will have to have a Fall Color of the Day until the Winter Equinox.

She met two guys cleaning out the ditch below the house that almost slid down the hill two winters ago. One was from Guadalajara and the other Cancun. They were probably day laborers from Home Depot. No car, only a plastic bag with their lunches. They were digging out gravel from the ditch and throwing it into buckets. Very hard work, harder than what she did yesterday.

The neighbors in LFP are starting to put up Halloween decor. The keeper said that she will show them to us later.

Monday Arboretum

The keeper did not rush home from the dentist. No, she left us inside and went rambling home, stopping wherever she felt like. so she headed to the Arboretum. She used to go there a lot more with a friend, but hadn't been there for awhile, except to the BGC. So, she went exploring and said she was overwhelmed by the color and the peacefulness of the park. The colors stood out in the grayness. Obviously she was not the only one. She came across a woman painting with water colors, a man paddling his kayak, and a whole brood of school kids with teachers and chaperones. The lake was so still, and the willows weeped right into it. The algae glistened and the bird and squirrels were scurrying underfoot and over head. It inspired her to come home, let us out, and she spent the entire afternoon digging up the garden like a squirrel and planting 100's of purple tulip and allium bulbs. She came in covered with dirt. We had already come in and stationed ourselves by the food bowls. She fed us. But now, we notice, that she is cooking chicken. Hm.

Monday Madison Park

Today we stayed home and the keeper rushed off to the dentist in Madison Park. She said it was a fun visit. An older couple, two of his patients, had just brought him a microwave pasta cooker, and they who were somehow connected with the pasta trade, said that this cooked pasta better than anything they had ever experienced. So the keeper and the dentist had a conversation about the safety of plastic and microwaving. This is an unusual diversion from their normal conversations about politics and world events. Maybe they just were weary of the latter topic. she will see him again for a new crown soon. We are happy it is the keeper who is seeing the dentist and not us. But we know our appointment is coming. And unlike the keeper we get knocked out, and don't have conversations with our dentist.




After, the keeper did a little shopping in MP and walked down to the very deserted little beach. But low and behold she saw a heron surveying the lake, serenaded by lots of ducks. The heron never left the perch. His/her mate was on another post. It felt like fall down there, she said. She hadn't been down there for awhile, and it seemed a lot had changed. New shops, a few new restaurants. With the overcast day, it seemed a sad place.

Day After the Rainstorm

On Saturday it rained and blew so hard that it cleaned the air. It wasn't very cold, and everything seemed so fresh. We didn't go out much because the keeper was out all day and part of the night. She gave a talk early in the morning in West Seattle and then had brunch with the hosts following. They live on a bluff overlooking the water, Vashon and Maury Islands, and on good days, Mt. Rainier is to the east. A sabbath place. Lovely people.

From there the keeper headed to Bellevue for the Spanish Mass and a meeting, but had to stop and behold the beautiful park with the blueberry trees and silver pond all shimmering under the pewter sky. The trees were shouting, "STOP! Stop rushing and look at us!" So she did, and brought us pictures so we could look too. We think we would have enjoyed it.

Farewell, Patty and Welcome, Bella

At the end of the week, the keeper learned of two events on the continuum of life. Her first blood grand-niece was born in Spokane. They named her Bella. She looks pretty bella from her photos. Her parents are pretty bella too.

At the other end, her friend Patty, left this life after a long and courageous battle with illness. We wonder if Bella and Patty passed each other in the interstices of life somehow. Patty had an incredible spirit, joy, humor, faith. Many will miss her. The keeper will.

Cosita

Can you believe that we are posting this picture? It's hard to admit that we are including a dog in our blog. But we are tolerant cats, no? This little animal is Cosita. His keeper brought him to a workshop which the keeper offered this morning. We hear that he was mostly well behaved, except for one accident. But can you imagine having to wear clothes like that? Neither Alice nor I would ever be caught dead wearing clothes other than the beautiful coats God gave us. Actually, the keeper told us that we are both bigger than Cosita.

Windy Wet Sabbath

First, the keeper has been too busy to take dictation these week. So we will start from last night. It started raining last night and one of the gutters had gotten pushed off kilter somehow in the wind or by those raccoons who run on the roof. Anyway, it broke away from its coupling and we had Niagara Falls in front of the bedroom window. There was sooo much rain. The keeper came home late this afternoon and it was sunny and very windy, but she ragged out the ladder and climbed up and fixed it. Then she decided she should check all the other gutters, then she decided to clean the garage gutters. When she gets going, there is no stopping. But the rain and wind calmed and now we are ready for the next event. It thundered today and lightening cracked. Alice hid under the bed. Actually, I did too. We were happy to see the keeper come home. By the way, our rian barrel is all full now. And we don't need the water. We need more rain barrels.

Oregon Grape and Primer too

Today it was a gray day. Gray clouds, chill wind, we didn't stay out too long. Impending rain. The keeper's friends, Gabriel and Teo, came over, and scraped her south wall and painted it with primer. They are anxious to come back and do the whole thing in the spring. It already looks better. While they painted, she cleaned and then moved out her summer clothes and brought out the winter ones. In a house this small, everything that isn't being used gets put away. It had a finality too it. No more shorts, no more lounging in the sun for whole afternoons for a while. They say it snowed in the mountains. Yuck. We are creatures of summer. It was chilly enough last night that Alice and I fought over the pillow nest next to the keeper's head last night. I am happy to say I won. I even brought my slobbery toy mouse to bed. The keeper praised my hunting skills.

While we slept this afternoon, she went out walking in the twilight and said it was full of woodsmoke and that sweet mossy fall smell mixed with the smell of rain and exhaust. But she found a beautiful clump of Oregon Grape, with those pretty purple berries. She said she became nostalgic over her memories of playing with the Oregon Grape in the field next door and painting faces with Dustine and Chrissy and MA and Mike. Trouble was, paint was easier to get off than the purple juice of the Oregon Grape. Faces, arms, legs smeared blue and purple, stained for awhile. She said she resisted the urge to try it again this afternoon.

BAD CAT! BAD CAT!

Okay, we believe that Fall is really here. It's pretty, and some of the leaves are changing but it's chillier. Alice doesn't like having her paws touch the cold ground and so she leap frogs over the grass or the wood on the deck or the pebbles in our side yard. Inside seems better these days. can you believe that the keeper is going to try to race fate and rain and is having two sides of her house painted on Monday? She decided she couldn't wait any longer because the snow of last year and the heat of the summer started peeling the stain off the side wall. so her friends Gabriel and Teo are coming Monday to scrape off the damaged paint and put a primer that matches the old paint on. And then in spring they can paint the rest. We think they can get it done. It is such a little house.

The keeper decided this was not a good day for her work. Everything seemed to go sideways which is unusual for her, and she is beginning to question whether or not she should keep using her talents this way. We just hope she will keep putting cat food on our plates. But tonight, she gave us some salmon, and Alice had the nerve to jump up and paw a large chuck off the plate to the floor. There was some yelling. You know, "Bad cat, bad cat..." over and over and over. Meanwhile Alice hid what she knocked off and ate it where the keeper couldn't reach. BAD CAT! She acts this way because she was starved nearly to death at a young age. But she hasn't learned that her days of scarcity are over. I have never known days of scarcity. There was my mother and then the keeper, and for 14 years I have had it pretty darn good. Better than 1/2 the planet, says the keeper. By the way, the neighbors are celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend. They know how to throw a dinner party. But the keeper is trying to stick to a diet, so, we are all home together.

October Sun and the Laurel Fort

The sunny autumn feels like some past summers have. When the keeper got home, we all went out and explored the inside of the laurel bushes where all the squirrels have been hanging out. It is like a fort, and the sunlight licks the leaves and makes its way through the branches. We didn't catch any squirrels. While we were exploring within, they were swinging from the tree branches above us.

We also checked out the apple tree, there is a portion of it which is dying and producing some wizened little apples. Not edible but with a rugged, sad beauty.

Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher Day

It's had to believe that Fall is here. The last two days felt a lot like summer. We hope all the fall is like this. We spent the day outside, lounging. The keeper cleaned and waxed the kitchen floor on her hands and knees. We were impressed and decided to leave her alone. Later she came outside to read and plant the remaining bushes and plants. She is also supposed to be trimming the hedge, but we think she is hoping to hire someone else to do it. That might be good, because then it will get done.

Today is the feast day of Mother Mary Rose who founded the SNJMs. The keeper told us of all the great SNJM ladies that have been influential in her life--K, M, J, K, and so many more. They keep the charism alive in ever changing contexts. And to think that the Vatican is investigating all of the sisters in the US. We think that they are barking up the wrong tree. There are so many other ecclesial situations which are in need of investigation these days, but the sisters are not one of them. Mother Marie-Rose, pray for us.

Moth House

The moth has moved in with us and has been sleeping in the light switch in the hallway for a few days now. It doesn't move, but it has made itself quite at home. It is warmer inside than it is out, and it doesn't seem to be causing any damage. We got to go outside for most of the afternoon and the keeper put out the cushions again, so we could lounge in the sun. And lounge we did. The squirrels are very busy chasing each other and lugging loot up and down the trees from the nest they built all summer. The keeper made us come in early and I made quite a fuss. Now I am grateful, because she didn't get back from her meeting till almost 9 PM.

Autumn Fruits

Today was the last day for the Lake Forest Park Farmers' Market. The
keeper wished her farmer friends happy fall and winter, and brought home her final purchases--flowers, organic honey crisp apples, squash, fall strawberries, raspberries, lettuce. Then we found some more treats in our own back yard. Some more tomatoes and some of our apples were ready.

Feast of Saint Francis

Today after all of her commitments the keeper came home, let us out, and cleaned out St. Francis' birdbath bowl for the feast day. That should help all those who try to drink out of it. Yes, and of course, she blessed us on this feast day. She used to take us to her church and we would be part of the animal festivities. But that doesn't happen at all the new places now, and it is fine with us to have a private blessing. We hate our cages.

We were fascinated today by all the spider webs that are hanging in front of the house, there were seed pods captured in the web, and they sparkled like diamond necklaces in the sun light as the wind tossed them all over. It's amazing how strong that silk is.

Moonrising

What a beautiful evening we had. Yes, we even went out for awhile. The keeper worked all day, and came home after an 85th birthday party, and a college counseling session. ( Note: These two events involved different people.) She said she hopes to be as wild and crazy at 85 as this person is. The young man is very smart but will be the first in his family to graduate from college. His mother became literate recently. He finished community college and now is negotiating the challenges of applications and admission processes. He will make it, with some good connections. If the keeper has anything, it is contacts! She had dinner with the family --pupusas from El Salvador. She says that there will be pupusas in heaven. When she finally got home, we raced outside. But the evening has a chill to it, and the wood stove smoke is in the air. We rushed back in. The keeper turned the furnace on for the first time and Alice and I sat on the vents, much better than sitting on the cold ground. The keeper went back out to watch the moon rise over the trees. She loves the moon.