Is life ever simple?

I'm looking at this little leaflet that was included with the simplehuman trash can I ordered to store the peanuts-in-shell I mostly feed to the bluejays and squirrels.  It doesn't quite hold the entire box of nuts, but I'll live with that cause I need to be able to reach the bottom of the can without having to go to the chiropractor afterwards.  Its purchase is a last ditch effort to restore my barnyard looking kitchen back to some semblance of a lovely place to enjoy preparing and eating a meal. 

Love this brand of trash cans...I found them when the need arose to curb a trash loving junkie hound from eating used kleenx, and scattering the leavings all over the floor as he picked out what he thought was the gourmet of the lot.  I'm trying to multi-task as I attempt to write this post off the top-of-my-head, and lately I've sucked a bit at that crazy idea...so I'm trying to go back and forth...writing a bit, then checking on the potato and onion pierogies that are simmering in the skillet to have with my lunch with a steaming hot cup of Lady Grey tea...mmmmm.

Tools for simple living...as if simplehuman products are the answer to making my life simple.  My panasonic microwave died a spectacular arcing and fireworks death several weeks ago, so I bravely decided to not replace it and learn to live without it...thus the need for the chef's choice electric glass kettle to prevent me from ruining my small sauce pan, or better yet burning down my kitchen.  I've discovered a watched pot never boils, but if you leave the room it bubbles up at sonic speed and cremates the pot innards.

A little 8-inch (believe me...8-inches is little compared to all the food guzzling people do now days) waffle iron now sits beside the glass kettle.  It makes an adorable round waffle that is divided into five hearts.  I fell hook, line, and sinker for that review of the lady saying now she could make those little heart waffles topped with strawberries and sour cream that she loved on her visits to Europe...mmmmm.

Buying the all-clad cookware to pamper myself in my older age, was a luxury time saver as well...the stainless steel clad around an aluminum core is the easiest pan I have ever cleaned.  If anything is stuck to it, soak it a bit and it comes right off.  Of course, it's stainless and stainless steel scratches, so I find myself searching out all the old cleaning products that my mom used, as they were so much more friendly with your belongings.  I already know that I will never have scratch less pots and pans, because a life of trying to make my pots and pans look like they have never been used is pure craziness to me.

I do have the ones I use most sitting out in the open on a hammered steel triangular tower, as they hogged up the cupboard space and all my bake ware was piled shamelessly in a mess on top of each other.  The clatter of pulling a pan out of the stack would send the felines and canine scattering for cover to the bedrooms.  I've been munching on my pierogies and sipping Lady Grey tea...so soothing for my headache that has been hounding me for most of a week.  It eases up...gets ugly...eases up...gets ugly...right now it has eased up; I haven't found that magic combination yet that will send it far away, but I'm trying.

Miss Chloe, dog wrangler apprentice flunky, is much better now and becoming a little testy.  She's tired of living in my bathroom...heck, I'm tired of her living in my bathroom.  Taped the shower curtain to the outside of the tub to keep her from falling in.  Vic's bathroom is Yvonne unfriendly and taking spit baths isn't a way to go for very long.

Her leg reopened because part of the tissue was dead or dying and infection set in.  She's been on antibiotics, and I apply a concoction the vet made to dry up the infection and help the healing process.  She has about a five inch gash on the backside of her leg that is fairly deep and still draining, so she stays in the bathroom until she is stitched up.  She's scheduled for another vet visit next Friday.  If all is still good, then she will be stitched up.  Also suffering a broken rib, she will always sport a nub on her right side after she heals.

I am amazed at how she manages with no pain killers...puts all the bitch-about-the-little-things people to shame.  She moves around quite a bit, loves to be loved, she's started to play a little, puts up wonderfully with all the doctoring I do to her...she's a survivor, and dare I say...the perfect feline.  No ear mites, no diseases, no worms, she clearly was someones pet...how could anyone discard her is beyond my comprehension.  A mother cat and another kitten showed up the same time she did, so I don't know if they are connected or not; I'm not checking out the other two, I don't have the time, money, or room.

So very sad how people discard these poor souls on our park all the time, all the years the park has existed.  So many people with no sense of responsibility or compassion.  These persons have absolutely no place in my life, except for their discards that I have rescued or mourned for.

Doesn't she just melt your heart?

Chloe went to the vet this last Wednesday - Andee on Thursday and he is on a type of thyroid pill to see if it will help kick in the production of the other type of T-cells he needs, otherwise he will be on two types of thyroid pills for the remainder of his life - Chloe again to vet on Friday.  Chloe's visits were emergencies, as there were no last minute openings.  I took her in at closing time, 6 pm, and I had several other people with closing time appointments waiting with me.  An extremely bad week of emergencies and lots of bad tempered people voicing their opinions at having to wait so long...what is wrong with people.  So one has to adjust...doesn't anyone know how to adjust anymore without bitching?

I've worked with the public most of my life and people can become nasty when they aren't number one, so all three days at the clinic I let everyone go ahead of me, no matter what order I was scheduled.  I was told that I was the only kind one of the bunch, the only one that still could laugh and joke after waiting so many hours.  I've had to wait longer than that at the emergency ward at the hospital.  Becoming irate in these circumstances is a waste of good energy.  I have a wonderful relationship with the clinic. ..they're my friends...they're my pets best friends.  I do get rewarded for good behavior...I get discounts and even have had a free visit here and there when I have waited way too long.  Kindness begets kindness. 

    

Well, I've rambled on and on...finished off the cooked-to-perfection pierogies and took the last sip of wonderful tea, and I'm thinking my life has never been simple...never.  Tools for simple living?  Okay...these are my tools for a simpler life...not a simple life...an endless supply of humor, patience that never runs dry, compassion and empathy.  Life is much simpler when one can go with the flow and not dwell on the bumps along the way.  I find that I am happiest when I make others happy.  Really simple.

Andee doing what Andee does best...