Awake again...

I slept for 5 hours and then I was awake again. I checked and double checked, but I really was. Those sleeping pills don't work for more than 4 hours, so I was lucky that I slept the extra hour. The first thing I did was make myself a cup of coffee. A mug, actually, and then I installed myself behind the computer to check my emails.

However, Tyke had other ideas and wanted to be walked, so I had to get dressed and take him for a spin around the field. The weather was lovely outside and I didn't need my jacket. I am still wearing my cowboy boots, though, but I think it's time I start looking at my summer shoes. At least if it keeps being this nice out. My little toe will be very relieved to have the pressure taken off it, especially if I wear sandals. I can't imagine not constantly wearing socks after all these months and hardly know what my feet look like. As long as I've still got 5 toes on each foot it will be all right.

Tyke is very happily ripping apart an old leather case that I wasn't using for anything any more. He does manage to find the most interesting things to play with and I constantly have to pick up all the little bits and pieces. He has no concept of what is a toy and what is not. Anything that is leather or plastic or paper is good for him, as long as he can rip it apart. I suppose he's practising ripping his prey apart. Oh, now he's got an empty cat food box out of the paper box. I wonder how he's going to handle that? He does have a very happy life. It's the little things that make it so.

Gandhi keeps trying to sit on my lap when I sit behind the computer, but she walks on the keyboard when she does, so I don't want her here. It's a repeat performance every time, though, and she doesn't give up trying, no matter how often I pick her up and set her on the dining table. It's great to be adored so, but the timing is all wrong. Of course, she likes everyone and will climb on any lap available. All she requires is comfort and love and she gets that by being a sweetheart.

Tyke's shredded that box in 5 minutes flat. It's unrecognisable now. I asked him, "Did you do that, did you make that mess?" and he very proudly wagged his tail. I told him. "You have to clean it up now too," but he acted like I was speaking in a foreign language. I can just see him now, picking up all those little pieces of cardboard and putting them into the trash. That would be the day. I'm afraid it's up to me to get it cleaned up. I pay the price for his pleasures. The things I do for that dog!

I just got my second mug of coffee. I moved up the spout of the Senseo machine and now it has stopped leaking, so I will keep it at that height. It's starting to be a machine with an instruction booklet, beside the one it came with, and it's showing signs of ageing. It does get used an awful lot, but still I'm just one person. I always want equipment to outlast me, but I don't realize that it doesn't and that I have to be ready for the day to replace it. I'm going to knock on wood and hope everything lasts for a while.

I'm going to take my medicines in a while and lie down on the sofa with my book. I think I can sleep a little bit more. Oh yes, I do have to clean up that mess first. I have to look on my bookcase and see if I have another book by Carol Shields. If not I have to get ready to pick out another book for my next read and order a new book by her at Bol.com. I do have to allow myself some little pleasures once in a while. A new paperback there is not expensive and doesn't break the budget.

All right then, off I go. I must make my day as pleasurable as possible. Reading and sleeping are nice ways to spend the time. So is blogging, of course, and I will do a lot of that this weekend. I will get through it in the best possible way. So far, so good.

Have a wonderful day. I will here, the sun is shining after all, though I wouldn't mind a little rain shower.

Ciao,

Nora

At the Ponderosa.

It's another good morning at the Ponderosa. I've got my cup of coffee and my cigarettes and my trusty four footer lying beside me, so what more could I ask for? A little bit of warmth, I think. I will turn up the heater just a little bit, because it's just a bit chilly in here. It's only 3C outside and I admit, it has been colder, but today I have cold bones in my body. It's so nice to put my feet against the warm radiator. Ah, if you wait a while, it gets warmer in here and you notice the difference immediately. I already am starting to feel more comfortable.

It's still dark outside, but it won't be much longer and I'll have to take the dog for a walk. The outside world is not calling me at all and I'd rather stay in here nice and warm, but the poor dog must be aired. He is so dependent on me and my goodwill. Right now he's sound asleep, though, curled up in a ball, as far as his old bones allow it.

I fell asleep quickly last night and am slowly making headway in my book. I try to read as many pages as I can before I go to sleep, but eventually sleep wins and my book drops on the covers and I sleep with my reading glasses on my nose. I'm reading "The Last Girls" by Lee Smith right now and the next book I'll be reading is "Half Broke Horses" by Jeannette Walls. Both of these books were gifts from blog friends and receiving books is one of my greatest pleasures. Receiving things that smell good is another one.

Oh, my dog is telling me it's time to go out, so of we go...


It's cold outside. It's that damp cold, you know? The kind that goes through your whole body and makes you shiver and glad you walk into your warm apartment again. I turned up the heater by half a degree, but it's making a lot of difference. The radiators stay hot longer and it is really warmer in here. I've got the thermometer set at 20C, so that's not that outrageous, and it does make a difference in the comfort zone.

I'm wearing my boots now, which reminds me that I have to go out and buy several pairs of thick socks, because all I have left are thin summer socks. Unless I set out on an expedition in my underwear drawer and see if I can find some other socks in there. Why do socks have this tendency to disappear, and I don't mean single socks, but whole pairs? Do they run away from home, are they abducted? It's a mystery to me. I know I had three pairs of thick socks and now I only seem to have one pair. There must be a solution to this problem. My underwear drawer is not that big and deep. It's not like things get lost in a bottomless pit there.

I must do some last minute chores. I have to put the dishes away and check the whole apartment for spider rag, because I didn't do that yesterday. I still have to clean the refrigerator and change the bed and put laundry in the washing machine. I have to check all the corners of the living room and under the furniture for drifts of dog hair that appear overnight. Most importantly, I must take a nap. I'll do that on the sofa where it is nice and warm. Every morning after I've taken my medicines, I must take a nap. It's the way it is. I'm almost asleep as I sit here.

Okay, I'm off to do what I have to do. I must hang in there just a little while longer, although it's tempting to sleep now.

Have a good day, don't let yourself get caught up in the details of life. Not like I am, anyway.

Ciao,
Nora