Buddy’s Annual Physical

Posted on February 13, 2014February 13, 2014 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

Can it really be a year since Buddy came to stay with me?

Must be. Vet records don’t lie. So out came the carrier and to my surprise , in went Buddy. No coaxing, no teasing no stuffing. He just walked right in. We are off to a great start!

Carrier goes into the car. During the short drive to the vet I only heard one soft mew. I could see Buddy’s face pressed against the slats facing me but he didn’t seem agitated.

The wait in the office was short and wonder of wonders, the vet tech we had was Diane, our pet sitter so someone Buddy knew well. It just keeps getting better and better.

I opened the carrier door and Mr. Bud strolled out like he owned the place. Very confident. Unfortunately that didn’t last long. As soon as Diane started to clip his nails he turned into “Hell Cat”! I’ve seen Buddy in a bad mood but never anything like that! I told Diane to forget about a nail trim. No point in upsetting him or getting her scratched or bit because he was trying both. She then managed to get him onto the cat scale, basically a glorified baby scale. 16+ lbs. not quite 17. He’s a big boy!

We set Buddy loose and let him roam the exam room to calm down. Diane went to get the Vet who soon arrived with another technician in tow. Buddy seemed to be on his good behavior at first but then scooted under the exam table and wouldn’t come out. I volunteered to sacrifice myself to get him and sacrifice I did. Blood flew and it wasn’t the cat’s. I’d have been a good candidate for Jackson Galaxy’s My Cat From Hell, a show on animal planet. So much for being a “Cat Whisperer”.

They wrapped Buddy in a towel and the tech had on leather gloves that went to her elbows for protection.

They let me wash off my blood in the sink but there were no bandages so I watched from the sidelines with paper towels on my scratches.

As expected I was told to put Buddy on a diet (Fat Chance pun intended) and we laughed about how hard it is to lose weight. Buddy got his rabies shot and distemper drops and was pronounced healthy and whole. (More than I can say for me)

I was embarrassed. In all my years of owning cats I have never had one misbehave so badly. Diane told me not to worry about it. After all, I found Buddy and who knows how much handling he had before I rescued him.

Back home Buddy headed to the food bowls first (A Stress eater?) then to me. He sniffed my arm, now covered with Band-Aids and gave me a series of kitty kisses. I guess I’ve been forgiven. The sweet cat that I know was back and that devilish one was long gone… at least for another year.

Photo of the week~ 6

Posted on February 11, 2014February 11, 2014 by Dusty Roads

The week 6 tallies are in. The Photo of the Week with the most hits, likes, shares and/or comments is Outdoor Gazing with a total of 33 points.

Don’t forget you can let your choices be known by visiting, liking or commenting at www. dustyroadsphotos.com

To order prints click here: http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com/p161572686/h3451a7bc#h3451a7bc

What to do 2014 Vacation?

Posted on February 10, 2014February 10, 2014 by Dusty Roads | 4 Comments

Here we are well into February and the only decision I’ve made about vacation this year is that I need to use my time share and that I want to be able to cross another state off my To Be Visited list.

Sandy tells me she’s staying home this year so I’ll be flying solo. My time share just launched Club Solo, an additional membership which has been developed to provide a range of benefits for those members of THE Club® who vacation alone on a regular basis. Of course there’s an additional annual fee but it might be worth it. Some of the perks of membership are: For reservations for studio or club suite accommodations at a Diamond Resorts International® resort booked 10 months to 6 months prior to arrival, you will receive a 25% discount on the points values quoted. When booking from 6 months prior to arrival, you will receive a 50% discount.

That kind of discount would open up more resorts. Something to think about for a future add on. I think this year I’ll stick to my regular membership.

I plan to make a return trip to New York in September to try to get more photos of hot air balloons. Now that I’ve done it once and can see how it works, I think I can improve my shots.

So the question now is where do I want to go and what time of year to use the rest of my vacation time. I compared my list of Must Visit States to the states with timeshare exchanges and that only narrowed it down a little.

There were 30 states on that list and of those 30 my timeshare has exchanges in 17 of them. If I were to tackle the list alphabetically then the first state on the list with a time share exchange is Colorado.

Colorado has 2 exchanges, one in Steam Boat Springs and the other in Estes Park. My initial reaction is that the Estes Park location is more to my liking but when I did a search about the best time to visit (for wildlife viewing) the recommended months were June for baby animals or September for the Elk Rut. July and August didn’t even make the list!

I’m interested in wildlife photography first and landscape photography second. Often they kind of go hand in hand anyway.

Do any of you live in the area? Has anyone visited? When time of year did you go? Any suggestions? I would plan to rent a car to get around. I look forward to your comments and suggestions.

New Year the Chinese Way

Posted on February 6, 2014February 6, 2014 by Dusty Roads

It’s the Chinese New Year but unlike Western New Year the Chinese New Year lasts much longer. Chinese New Year celebrations traditionally run from Chinese New Year’s Eve, the last day of the last month of the Chinese calendar, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, making the festival the longest in the Chinese calendar. Boston’s Chinatown is holding it’s festivities on Sunday Feb 9, that is if it doesn’t get snowed out.

It seems every time I go to write about something we get another storm. We just finished our 2nd snow storm of the week and if we get the storm on Sunday it will be a trifecta. I know, I live in New England and it snows in New England. Suck it up cupcake! But seriously, I’m getting worn out from this winter that has hit us with one storm after another. Granted they haven’t been blockbusters, but at the rate things are going the next big storm could be right around the corner.

Back to The Chinese New Year. This year is the Year of the Horse. I thought that was really cool. I like horses but the Year of the Horse doesn’t really have much to do with horses at all.

The Horse is one of 12 symbols in the Chinese Zodiac. The Year of the Horse starts from Jan. 31, 2014 (the Lunar New Year / Spring Festival of China ) and lasts to Feb. 18, 2015

So what can you expect from the Year of the Horse? This is the description provided on the astrology page about the Year of the Horse: The spirit of the horse is recognized to be the Chinese people’s ethos – making unremitting efforts to improve themselves. It is energetic, bright, warm-hearted, intelligent and able. Ancient people liked to designate an able person as ‘Qianli Ma’, a horse that covers a thousand li a day (one li equals 500 meters).

Strengths
People born in the year of the horse have ingenious communicating techniques and in their community they always want to be in the limelight. They are clever, kind to others, and like to join in a venture career. Although they sometimes talk too much, they are cheerful, perceptive, talented, earthy but stubborn. They like entertainment and large crowds. They are popular among friends, active at work and refuse to be reconciled to failure, although their endeavor cannot last indefinitely.

Weaknesses
They cannot bear too much constraint. However their interest may be only superficial and lacking real substance. They are usually impatient and hot blooded about everything other than their daily work. They are independent and rarely listen to advice. Failure may result in pessimism. They usually have strong endurance but with bad temper. Flamboyant by nature, they are wasteful since they are not good with matters of finance due to a lack of budgetary efficiency. Some of those who are born in the horse like to move in glamorous circles while pursuing high profile careers. They tend to interfere in many things and frequently fail to finish projects of their own.

Interesting. But I’m only a Rabbit

lost in the Year of the Horse. 🙂

The Red Red Robin

Posted on February 5, 2014February 5, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I saw another flock yesterday. I hope they found someplace warm to roost before the storm hit. Silly Birds…don’t they know they are supposed to migrate south for the winter?

WHEN THE RED, RED ROBIN COMES BOB, BOB, BOBBIN’ ALONG
(Harry Woods)
When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob-Bob Bobbin’ Along
When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’ along, along
There’ll be no more sobbin’ when he starts throbbin’ his old sweet song
Wake up, wake up you sleepy head
Get up, get out of your bed
Cheer up, cheer up the sun is red
Live, love, laugh and be happy
What if I were blue, now I’m walking through, walking through the fields of flowers
Rain may glisten but still I listen for hours and hours
I’m just a kid again doing what I did again, singing a song
When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’ along
When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’
When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’ along
There’ll be no more sobbin’ when he starts throbbin’
There’ll be no more sobbin’ when he starts a throbbin’ his old sweet song
Wake up, wake up you sleepy head
Why don’t you get up, get up, get out of bed, cheer up
Live, love, laugh and be happy
What if I were blue, now I’m walking through fields of flowers
Rain may glisten but still I listen for hours and hours
I’m just a kid again, doing what I did again, singing a song
When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’
When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’ along
Along, along, along, along, along.