I cannot live without books.

This is a quote from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, June 10, 1815 .  I think maybe "she's" a relative of his.  Yep, you read that correctly, no need to read it again.

How is it that "she" could be related to Thomas Jefferson!?!??  "She" most definitely has a thing for books.  However, unlike Mr. Jefferson, I'm not even sure "she" reads any of them.



Upon inspection today, I discovered that there no where a book does not belong.  Okay, so I'm here and I'm telling you, "she" has books.  LOTS of books.  TONS and TONS of books.  Maybe I should start a library for "her".



When "she" went to Washington DC, a trip was made to Monticello - Thomas Jefferson's home.  It is written that he had so many books anyone entering the library had to follow paths made among the stacks and stacks of books.  Tall stacks!  During his lifetime he owned between 9,000 and 10,000 volumes of books.

Well wouldn't you know it, "she" came back home feeling so much better about the number of books "she" had. Well isn't that just lovely, thank you Ms. Tourguide for that bit of information!  Hope she makes a career out of being a tourguide, because I'm telling you AA would never take her with that kind of helpfulness...

I reminded "her" that Thomas Jefferson's books ended up in the National Archives and are an important part of history and record.  Somehow I doubt that the books found in "her" possession will make it to anywhere important.  Unless of course it is decided we cannot afford cat litter any longer and then they will indeed make an important contribution.


So just how many books does "she" have?  In "her" office I counted 359.
And in "her" studio I counted 223.  Thats  582 books!

FIVE HUNDRED EIGHTY TWO?!?!

This does NOT include the multitude of magazines or the binders containing a bazillion pages from magazines. Nor does it include books in any other part of the house.

I didn't include those because I'm not sure I can count that high.  It's not that I don't have the know how to count that high, it's simply self preservation - by the time I finished counting the books I mentioned, I was worn out.  Good thing, once opened, they make nice lounging spots.  I'd have never made it to my bed....I was exhausted!
I wonder if "she" realizes that books can be read or if "she" thinks they just look good sitting on shelves????

So, how many books do YOU have?

Romeo’s breakthrough - scientific mystery solved!

During the past few days, I’ve been laying amongst the junk and pondering a few things.  Questions about the “how’s” of the natural world.  

Further, I know there are a few of you out there who don’t appreciate the intelligence of your four pawed companions, so I’d like to provide a demonstration of intelligence by addressing a long sought after answer to one of nature’s mysteries.

Work with me now, okay? My solved conclusions are not for the feint of heart….

Bees and honeycombs -  Grand-dad is keeping bees now.  Or maybe they are keeping him.  Not sure at this point as there are approximately 30,000 of them.   One person or 30,000 bees - you tell me who is keeping who.  

So the bees arrive at the agricultural center.  He and the other members set up the bees with their hives.

But Grand-dad decided he wanted to start some bees at home too.  So he drove them home.  I should mention  they came home IN the truck, not in the bed of the truck.  INSIDE THE TRUCK.  

This is how they were transported....and please note that not all the bees were in the transport box.  There were some hitch hikers - part of the colony that didn't want to get left behind.  yes, even bees have separation anxiety.  I mean c'mon if you saw your best friend leaving, you would want to go with him wouldn't you?!?!

And here is the queen.  She has her own special little box and several traveling attendants.  Seriously, if she doesn't have the attendents, within hours she will simply lay over on her side and die. Sheesh, I hope she isn't reincarnated as a cat in her next life - independence isn't her strong suite!

 

Anyway, back to the topic....seeing how Grand-dad made it home without a single sting, I thought perhaps they were a friendly bunch and took the opportunity to get a first hand look at the little guys and their home. 

Have you ever really looked at a honeycomb?!? I mean REALLY looked at one? Check this out…

All the “cells” are perfectly spaced apart, perfectly constructed with exactly the same measurements on all sides and perfectly matching the one next to it.  Seriously! Look at the picture again and you’ll find a new appreciation for the little guys…..if you still don't appreciate the gravity of what I'm saying here, click on the picture to enlarge it, ....their little honeycomb is perfect!

How do they do that?  And how can so many of them agree on the same shape, depth and design?!?! I mean these are bees for pete's sake, not rocket scientists! 

After a great deal of analysis, I came upon the answer in what Oprah calls the “Ah ha” moment….

Note, below is the picture of the bee keeper and a few of his bees.  Before he left with the bees for the trip home there were at least a dozen on him.

In this picture, an incredible event is occurring.  It is that moment when the bee keeper, who is also an engineer, passes on his knowledge of structure and precision measurement practices to the instructor bees.  Similar to osmosis (you did learn about that in school didn’t you?), but this acts strictly on brain wave transmission.  The bee keeper transmits and the instructor bees tune in with their antennae and absorb all the necessary information!  And *poof* they know how to make a perfect honeycomb!  Amazing, yes?!

The relationship has it perks for the bee keeper as well.  Because the bees are grateful, they share with the bee keeper how NOT to make them mad – which I might add is NOT a pretty sight.  Which, BTW is why "she" got stung - not privy to the same knowledge as Grand-dad, "she" squeezed one of them when she reached for the frame.  Like duh, bees do NOT like to be squeezed!

Well that concludes our lesson for today.  Now you know just how the bees make a honeycomb! Thank you for attending!

Next time I post I think I will tell you about another mystery of science….how “she” seems to always find room for yet another piece of junk.  That post won’t be for the feint of heart either – graphic pictures will be shown, facts and numbers revealed…..such as just how many old tattered books does “she” really have? 

Of course, if there's any other dirt you'd like to know, I am certainly open to suggestions. 

In the meantime, have a great day and try not to stare too hard at the next bee you happen upon. 

Over the river and through the woods to Grammie’s house we go….

Hi Flag!  Can you come out and play? 

Don’t want to?!  Oh forgot you prefer the air conditioning.  Sheesh, typical girl cat. 

Well then, is Grammie or Gramps home?  Maybe you could send one of them out to play – I’m bored.  I think I’ve already killed all the moles in “her” yard.  All the lizards are without tails.  And I don’t want anymore worms….too gritty.

Wow – a bird’s nest!  Bummer, it’s empty. This must be the one that fell out of the tree when we had those fur bending winds last week. 

Oh my whiskers are vibrating….here comes someone, sounds pretty big, even for one of the fluff boys (they are four pawed like me, BUT one weighing in at 19 pounds – gotta watch him, he’ll eat the rug you’re standing on)….oh hi Grammie!!!  So glad you could come out and see me!  Got any snacks???  (Grammie’s always have snacks)

Got any snacks in here?

Thought so!  SCORE! (Romeo is happy to report that his belly was fully for a complete 10 seconds.)

Wha’cha going to do Grammie?

You are putting “her” to work you say? 

Oh yeah, that typewriter was looking a bit rough.  You were tired of the dead plants?!  But Grammie, they matched the typewriter.   Since when do antique typewriters NOT match dead plants?!?! 

You worked so hard to kill those, I don’t understand why you want to change them out.  I mean c’mon you watered them until they floated, then you decided not  to water them until they looked dry like a dog bone, then you put them in the sun and fried them to a dark brown crispy color,  then you decided to try and baby them and put them in the cool shade….purrsonally, I think it’s the comfortable shade that did them in……see what it does to me?

I almost forgot – I promised my furriends I’d show them your pee-on-me bush. 

What do you mean you don’t know what a pee-on-me bush is?!?

C’mon I’ll show you.

Yes, this one! What?

Pee-on-me….Peony….that’s what I said!

It’s beautiful is it not?!?!  Told you it makes “her”  pee-on-me bush look pitiful.

I don't remember what happened next. All those snacks and exercise....well's it's enough to wear a tough cat out....but still, it was a good day!  I hope your's was too!

For moms, sisters, friends, aunts and grandmothers....

Moms come in all shapes, sizes and ages.

Many will know you as a mom but sometimes   

"moms" may also be a friend, a sister, an aunt, or grandmother.

It doesn't matter the age of the children you love,

you are still "mom".

It doesn't matter if the color of their skin or their eyes doesn't match yours.

They might have fur of many colors, 

still you are "mom.

It doesn't matter if they live near or far.

There is no distance that will keep them from being your child,

and you the "mom" - 

you are a part of their memories and their heart.

May you be celebrated and appreciated today whether you are a "mom" to a

dog or cat....

or child....

one or many!

Happy Mother's Day to ALL Moms!

Knock, knock....

The weather is beautiful, want to come outside with me and take a walk? We could head out from the deck to the east....but remember, we can't go any further than the driveway.  Those are the rules "she" made for me.

What about the backyard?  We could go for an adventure in the woods.....

....but we can't go off the property.  There's d*gs in the neighbors yard.  And a turkey, a rooster with a big beak and some chickens.  Of course even if the d*gs didn't get us or the big beaks, we might still get a tick....what? You didn't put on your flea and tick treatment?  Hmmmm, maybe the backyard isn't a good idea.

I know! Let's head south by the ash tree - it's still blooming and it smells so nice!  It's nice and shady too, you'd like it I'm sure!

Oh wait, check out the pee-on-me bush! It's finally blooming!

Grammie's pee-on-me bush has a bazillion blooms!  Guess there are lots of cats peeing on her bush! No, not me...probably the neighbor cats.  You know that one that is always coming by looking in the window at night.  What do you think?  No sorry, we can't go Grammie's today.  But I promise, I'll take you there soon and you can see for yourself.

C'mon let's go to the ash tree and rest.....

Whoa - oh my whiskers!!!!!  Do you see it? It's a BABY - about the size of a tangerine...look closely....

What's that you say?  Oh yeh, "she" scares the fur off me and curls my whiskers too when "she" gets too close to me with the grass chomper.  Can I apologize for "her" - really I am sorry. I'm sure you were having a great afternoon nap in the blueberry bushes.  Well, no worries little buddy we'll leave you be.  I wanted to show my friends my pond anyway.  Have a nice afternoon!

Let's go back up towards the house so I can show you my pet piranhas! Yep, there's SIX of them in this pond....

Don't get too close, I'm not sure if "she" fed them today or not.  You wouldn't want them to attack you would you?

I didn't think so. 

They are almost as ferocious as me!

Almost.

Wow! A lily! And it's intact! Maybe "she" did feed them today...

Have I worn you out? Sorry, I didn't mean too - I just wanted to show you around on one of my milder adventures. C'mon, let's go rest and plan our next adventure.....