More kitten pictures

 
 
 
 

Hopefully have two people coming to see the kittens this weekend and am praying they will take some home with them.

Free Kittens! You know you want one!!

 
 
 
 


The mother of these kittens is a neighbor's cat who continues to bring her kittens down here to get them away from the children up there. We cannot take on any more cats. We (and the neighborhood) are over run! These poor little guys are going to the shelter unless I can find them home. The mother is about half feral, but if I start now I can get these kittens used to people and suitable for adoption. If you would like to take one, please contact me ASAP!!!!

Owl

We came across this guy when we were out for our Sunday drive, up in the mountains in the Campbell's Creek area.

 

He turned around to get a better look at us.

 

We could hear him calling to another owl, and the other answering him.

Sims 3 for iPod Touch (and iPhone)

I am a huge Sims fan. The first time I saw the game, I KNEW it was the game for me. Create little people and control every aspect of their lives? It's like playing God! LOL I played the original Sims, Sims 2 and even Sims for the gameboy. And this week the newest Sims game, Sims 3, was released!!! Also released on the same day was the Sims 3 iPhone/iPod Touch application!! Since I had decided not to buy the desktop computer version just yet, I was thrilled to learn I could get one for my iPod Touch. And for only $9.99, it was a cheaper way to get my Sims fix.

Although it's certainly not the same as playing the full game, it is a scaled down version (unlike like the Gameboy game I have, which is really nothing like playing the Sims). The Sims look just like the Sims on your computer and can do a lot of the same things, with some limitations. For example, you are limited in how the Sim can look, what furniture you can get, etc. So let me tell you what I have learned about it so far (some things are unlocked as you go along and I haven't learned everything about it YET).

When you create your Sim, you can choose skin color, hair style/color and clothing but you don't have very many choices. You also choose the type of person they are, the choices being Jack of All Trades, Nice Guy, Jerk, Sleaze, Power Seeker and Maniac. You can further define their personality by also choose 5 personality traits (out of several) for them, such as good sense of humor, friendly, easily bored, conversationalist, slob, etc.

Your Sim starts out with a small home with the basic necessities and a little money. The only thing not included that I think is a necessity is the stove, which you can buy. Unfortunately, there's no cheaper alternative like the microwave in the old Sims game. You can't change the home at this level.

In order to cook, you need the stove but unlike past versions of the Sims, you also need to purchase recipes AND the ingredients for them. The cheapest recipe is grilled cheese, which requires buying only bread and cheese. Once you run out, you have to go back to the QuickMart and buy more ingredients before you can cook anymore. You can also get a quick snack from the fridge or buy a meal at the town's restaurant.

After buying the fishing kit (at the hobby store), you can fish in the town lake and catch fish to use in your meals. You can also grow your own vegetables, but you can't do that until you upgrade your house and I haven't gotten to that point yet.

Another purchase at the Hobby Store which I found to be important was the repair kit. I discovered that when my first Sim's refrigerator and tv both went out at the same time and I had limited money and had to sell a few things in order to buy the repair kit. That was the only way to fix the broken appliances (you can't hire a repairman!).

In order to make money, you must find a job. Jobs include working at the restaurant, the QuickMart, the town hall, the science lab, etc. Work places seem to be dangerous. My first Sim died from an attack from a lab monkey. However, I was able to load the saved game again and she was still alive. So don't despair when yours dies. I couldn't figure out how to get promoted at work and was just biding my time assuming it would happen after I gained skills or something. But then I noticed when talking to my Boss Sim that I could ask for a raise. I did and he gave me one. I don't know if it's always that easy. I had built up a good relationship with him beforehand.

You can meet other Sims in town or you can just go to a house and introduce yourself. You interact with them similarly to the old Sims, by choosing from available actions, sometime dependent on what kind of relationship you have. As you build your relationship, you go from acquaintance to friend to good friend. If you choose to be romantic, you can go from budding romance to date to partner. Those are all the levels I have seen so far. One note about interacting with other Sims - one thing I didn't realize right away is you have to scroll to see all the possible actions. Sometimes the other Sims will offer you money to do things, such as kicking another Sim's trash can, slapping another Sim or even bringing them some cheese.

The only real negative I have found so far is the fact that the game crashes regularly. But the beauty of the fact that it is an iTunes app means that the makers can push updates out for it whenever they want, so I hope this will be fixed soon. Most of the time it's not too aggravating, but the last time it happened for me I was trying to visit a particular house and every time I got there it crashed so I had to give up and do something else.

I haven't gotten very far in the game so I'm sure are other things to be discovered. So far I like it a lot and I think it will satisfy me at least for a little while. Eventually, however, I will have to buy the actual computer version.

EDIT: after posting this last night, I tried rebooting my ipod by powering it down and that seemed to help the crashing.

EDIT 03/13/11 - Comments to this post have become redundant - there's nothing more that can be said, so I am disabling comments.

At the doctor's office

The oral surgeon's office, to be exact. I broke an old dead tooth off recently and am going to have an implant. I went to the oral surgeon last week for an evaluation.

 

I am fascinated by the 360 degree x-ray of my mouth. I thought it looked like I had a very odd jawbone until I realized it's my entire mouth, flattened out.

 

I love technology and how the x-rays appear immediately on the computer.

I'll have the rest of the broken tooth extracted in about a month, along with a bone graft. I found it interesting on the consent forms that they use cadaver and bovine bone! I jokingly told them I wanted the bovine bone (I could be part cow!) but they use cadaver. Although the surgeon said he would do whatever I wanted :).

After the extraction, I have to wait 6-8 weeks then a metal cylinder which will act as the tooth root is implanted. After that, I'll get an artificial tooth from my dentist.

Dental Implant Surgery - MayoClinic.com

Happy Mother's Day

Yeah I know I'm a week late. I spent the weekend with my family. Saturday Mom, Sis, Niece and I had a sleepover at Mom's. Sunday we picked up Nephew and Lil Bro and went to Diehl's for lunch. Later I went to visit Step-Mom. I am blessed.

 

 

Sleeping Kittens

Sleepy Snoopy


Stubby wakes up enough to wonder what I'm doing


Someone needs repotted

Billy's Soho's at Southridge

We finally tried Billy's at Southridge today. I g uess it's actually called "Billy's Soho's at Southridge".

Billy's is located in what used to be Smokey Bones, near the Red Lobster and Olive Garden at Southridge. The menu includes "home cooking" type food, seafood and pasta, basically. You can see the menu at Fork You's blog here:

http://forkyou.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/billys-sohos-at-southridge-menu-and-update/

Although I think the prices are a little high, the portions are large and the service was good. The decor is the same as when it was Smokey Bones, which is a lodge-type atmosphere with log paneling, a stone fireplace and lots of tv screens. The restaurant is large and has ample free parking.

Overall we were pleased with our food. Husband got the meatloaf, which he said was "pretty good". He had his choice of mushroom gravy or brown gravy and chose the mushroom gravy. He chose the green beans as his side and said they were "very good." His meal also came with a salad and bread basket. The tomato came from my sandwich.



I had one of the specials - a prime rib sandwich. I ordered it with provolone cheese only, specifically said I wanted nothing else on it, but they still brought it with lettuce and tomato. No problem, since it was open faced and easily removed. I asked if it came au jus (the French Dip is my fav sandwich) and the waitress said it could if I wanted it to. I noted prime rib au jus on the menu so that should be easy enough. I envisioned thinly sliced, tender and juicy prime rib and the broth typically served with a French Dip. What I got, however, was thinly sliced hard and dry prime rib. They apparently grilled it after slicing it. The "jus" was gravy.



After hearing Fork You's raves about the onion rings, I chose them as my side and was not disappointed. They were delicious and among the best I've had.

This is probably not a place we'll go often, but we will try it for a change now and then.

Lucky Dog

 

I spotted this dog riding around in Kanawha City. At the stoplight, he was barking at the cars that got too close to his car.

Man's Art Cannot Compare to Nature's

Viola

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Dandelion

Gratuitous Cat Picture of the Day

Sometimes I can hear this old earth shouting

"Sometimes I can hear this old earth shouting
Through the trees as the wind blows
That’s when I climb up here on this mountain
To look through God’s window
Now I can’t fly ...
But I got two feet that get me high up here
above the noise and city streets
My worries disappear"

- Arlos Smith

Thanks to my husband for that wonderful quote (actually lyrics from a song). Apparently Smith says that he wrote that part of the song while he was on top of Seneca Rocks, looking out over this beautiful valley.



I can soooo relate

Kitties

"I has a sleep"


"I has a bench"


“Mommy, no look at Roscoe, look at MEEEE!”

Pansies

Free Kolaimni Healing

Free kolaimni healing starting at 6:00 p.m. this evening at Mountain Mama's (702C Jefferson Road in South Charleston, West Virginia). Last sign in at 8:00 pm.

 

I'll be there but you don't get to choose who works on you, you have to take whoever is available.  But there are lots of great healers there if you want to come by!

 

<i>I think I need to post about kolaimni, don't I?  It's a healing method similar to reiki that I am learning. More later.</i.

Happy Birthday Kittens

Five years ago today, Stubby, Rascal & Junior were born. Take a walk down memory lane with me and see pictures from their first few months of life. They were such cute kittens!! And I love them so much. They have been a true blessing in my life.

Miss Bobbi & the Kittens: April-June 2004

Unfortunately, Junior is no longer with us in "body", only in spirit. I miss you, my little sweetie!

Daffodils

 

Mom got me this Ikeban-style vase made from pottery at the Arts & Craft Fair last year. I finally tried it out. I like it!

Oh how I love SPRING!!!

How old is that tree?

By looking at the core of a tree, we can count the annual circles (rings). Each ring represents one year of life for the tree. As I understand it, the lighter circles are the growth in the spring and the darker circles are from the summer growth for the year. So you just count either the light or the dark (usually the dark because it's easier?)

I would like to know how old the larger trees in our yard are. I examined one of my sitting stumps.





Those two photos are of the same stump. This is a tree that came down in a storm a few years ago. I didn't count the rings, but it appears to be fairly old, maybe 100 or so? Maybe not. I don't really know.

This tree is a younger tree that was growing beside the sourwood tree and Husband cut it down. It wasn't very big around.