Innamorata

"....if our lips should meet,
Innamorata;
Kiss me, kiss me sweet
Innamorata~
Hold me close and say
You're mine;
With a love as warm
As wine...."


HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

In honor of the most romantic day of the year, here's my latest favorite video:



It's a gorgeous day here in the desert after yesterday's storm blew right by us, not even dropping more than about 12 drops of rain. Mel and I are on our way to Art Under the Umbrellas in La Quinta and try to dodge all the bikes on the road from the Tour de Palm Springs...hey guys! Next year, I'll be out there with you ;).

Mercy Mercy Me

Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Where did all the blue sky go?
Poison is the wind that blows
From the north, east, south, and sea
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be


Wow, talk about a buzzkill first thing in the morning! I hadn't been up for long this morning, just getting the puppies fed, the cat squared away and the birds taken care of, got the coffee going and straightened up the kitchen~ Melanee was still in bed with her door shut, so I didn't know whether she was awake yet or not, but I was trying to be quiet while I got a few things done.

All of a sudden, both of my little guys raced toward the front of the house, barking like crazy. I thought they heard the cat meowing and were barking at her, but then I looked around the corner of the dining room wall and saw they were barking AT the front door. Geeze!

I knew nobody was at the door at that time of day, so I figured I'd open the door up so they could see for themselves and calm down.
But when I opened the door, they ran out to the driveway, barking. And then I heard why....

I heard someone SCREAMING. At first, I thought it was a lady down the street yelling at a dog to get back there (kind of like I was yelling at MY dogs to GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW)...but NO! The next thing I hear is some OTHER female voice screaming back...YIKES! I saw one lady across the street and all I wanted to do was get my dogs into the house before something worse happened. I don't know what all the screaming was about, but I've never heard any commotion around our development in the last 2+ years that we've been here. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

When I looked outside again, I saw a big burly man leaving the one house that I saw the first woman screaming in front of, headed toward the other house....and I thought to myself...."I don't think that's a GOOD thing", so I went back in and called 911.

I hate to get in the middle of other people's arguments or issues, but these days, you never know what might happen when people are so out of control; things just seem to escalate! And I was concerned for all of them; I can't even imagine what was going on, but you just hate to see stuff like that. And I didn't want anyone to get hurt or do something stupid that might ruin their lives over some probably stupid argument. I hope they don't hate me for calling the cops, but I just felt it had to be done.

People are so stressed these days, that petty issues seem to be magnified and insurmountable and people's coping skills are being tested and frayed. It makes me sad.

Anyway, there were a couple of police cars and several officers talking to a few people for awhile. So that was our excitment for the morning. I hope that's the extent of it; I'm not big on drama these days, LOL.

A little scream with your coffee??????

I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry

"Did you ever see a Robin weep,
When leaves begin to die?
That means he's lost the will to live
And I'm so lonesome I could cry."

Well, my little Lucky dove finally gave up the will to live and went to the Rainbow Bridge sometime after I covered the birds up for the night last night.

He was pretty old to begin with, and he's always been a little on the psychotic/neurotic side; has always picked his feathers and then started picking at his skin. It's actually amazing he lived so long, but.....every time I found him on the bottom of the aviary when we were in Napa, I'd nurse him back to health and even with his picking, he lived a pretty good long life.

Poor little guy; the last few days he really picked himself and was bleeding which wasn't really anything new, but I had a feeling this was going to be it.

I put a heat source on the cage so he wouldn't be cold and his little Parakeet friend TweetyBird kept him warm too. Tweety's been calling for Lucky all morning long; it's sad. He's not ready to make friends with my other dove, Cocoa, so for now he'll have to just look at him thru the cages' bars.

I suppose I should be relieved that Lucky's out of any misery he has been in, but he was born in the aviary I had in the back yard of my apartment and he was the only dove I brought to the desert with me. I gave all the others to a friend of a friend, but I knew nobody would care about Lucky because he was such a head case, and I had committed to caring for him, so I brought him along with the cockatoos to the desert.

He had a kind of a rough start to life I think....he somehow got caught by some rodent or something one night and I found him almost dead on the bottom of the cage. Of course, I NEVER find ANYTHING all the way dead; I find them ALMOST gasping their last breath and I'm compelled to bring them into the house and spend months nursing them back to health. But poor Lucky (is that an oxymoron, LOL?) had had his skin all ripped to shreds and had a gaping wound under one of his legs. It eventually healed over, but no feathers ever grew back on his abdomen at all, so he sort of looked like a plucked chicken over most of his body except for his head and wings....and then he started pulling his feathers out all over his body...in the photo, you can see he's missing a big area near his tail....but he always kept on keepin' on. I've lost track, but he was at least 12 years old. The little guy is at peace now, but I miss him, he was a sweet little bird.

Today is making plans for Valentine's Day. I refuse to go out to dinner b/c the restaurants all raise their prices and offer different things than they usually do, so you never know what you'll wind up with, plus the service is usually lousy too~ I finally figured it's just not worth it. So, Melanee and I will come up with a FABULOUS menu (we've already got the champagne and caviar on the list), and my very BFF just called and we're trying to coerce him into flying down here for a few days so it will be a REAL celebration. Nobody enjoys champagne and caviar like Roy and I do! Huh, Roy? Of course, nobody enjoys anything as much as Roy and I do, because we were elected at birth to be the ultimate enjoyers of everything LOL. And we take that responsibility VERY seriously!

So, we'll have to drink a special toast to Lucky Dove now that he's flying free, beautifully feathered and healthy and happy again~

OHHHHH, what a Beautiful Morning!

...oh what a beautiful day! This is what I woke up to this morning~ just outside my bedroom, the moon going down behind Mt. San Jacinto! Snow covered Mt. San Jacinto! So, yes, we had RAIN! And now we've got COLD, brrrrr! But it's sunny and beautiful, something to bask in, that's for sure!

I'm excited today because my friend Melanee will be back here again (with all her stuff, LOL). She's going nuts, and I can't say I blame her. I DETEST moving, and the last few times, I've had movers pack just about EVERYTHING (including a stick of butter that was wrapped separately and carefully placed in the china butter dish with the lid carefully placed on top, LOL)~ I don't think it makes a bit of difference, it's painful no matter what!

The little YE's are being the Yorkie Terrorists again; it's TUESDAY....garbage and gardeners day. They LOVE Tuesdays. I was hoping the gardeners would be here early while I was out running errands, but noooooooooooooooooooooooooo....that only happens once in a blue moon. I think the boys hear the gardener's truck when it gets to the cross street leading into our development and go FLYING off my lap or whatever they're perched on at the time, barking like a pack of wild dingoes; Max snaps at Madison b/c he wants to be the ONE who "gets" them and Madison is like a snarling, growling, barking beast! It's shocking. And they're MINE.....all MINE, LOL. Madison is extra happy today b/c it's so cold and he gets to wear his favorite pullover. Max had his on, but he already peed on it, so he's going au naturale for the rest of the day unless it gets colder and then I'll put something else on him which will please him no end. That's ok, b/c Little Pie will be here later on and that will take his little doggy mind off the indignity of being clothed.

I'm still waiting for that phone call from a prospective employer. Gosh, I sent 4 resumes out over the weekend. So humbling, LOL....I remember the good old days when interviewing was merely a formality; I always knew I'd get whatever job I applied for. Of course, if I were applying for a full time NIGHT shift job in ICU, it probably wouldn't be any question either. I've decided to preserve my sanity for as long as possible though, LOL and TRY to find something else. I just know there's something out there for me!

Well, I've gotten everything done that I really need to do other than some ironing (God, I just LOVE ironing...NOT...but you know how it is like when you stop hitting your head against a wall and it feels so good when you stop?? That's how I feel about ironing; it's so nice to have it DONE). So, I'm off to the ironing board and to wait for the onslaught of gardeners who'll whip my dogs into a complete squirrelnutzipper frenzy..yeeeehawwwww!

Out to dinner tonight for good food and LOTS of wine~ believe me, I think it's gonna be one of those days, haahahahaha.

And They Call it Puppy Love.....

I'm sorry.....I just HAVE to post these so cute photos of Max's sister~ I'm glad I've got my boys, but oh gosh, she's such a little doll baby! That's it for today, LOL....just cuteness! Oh...this is Princess Little Pie

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

Ok...I'm not really ready for baseball yet, but I found these last week and I think they deserve at least a mention.
Let me just qualify this first, by telling you that I'm not a hot-dog person, so if they aren't as good as I think they are, just consider the source!
In fact, I pretty much refuse to eat hot-dogs unless I happenen to be at a ball game, which these days is pretty rare. Dh LOVES hot dogs though. So I buy them for him and he tells me always to get Ball Park Beef franks. So I do.
Except last week, when I was looking at all the different types, these caught my eye~ Ball Park Angus franks. They cost a little more (actually, they were just something like $3.25 at Walmart)but they're WONDERFUL! They have that sort of "crunch" when you bite into them and they have a really good flavor, not like a bunch of ground up parts of stuff. KWIM?

If you like hot-dogs, check these out. I've actually eaten TWO of them so far ;).