Edgar Allan Poe, A Black Cat and Thunderstorms

   For the past few days, we have been getting daily rains complete with thunder, lightning and wind.  The storms are soothing as I know the gardens are being well-watered.  It is during these storms that cat and I sit snuggled together enjoying each other's company.  As Prince of the Bayou, Mr. Bat demands that I hold him tightly on days like this.  He still has throwback anxiety from when some hateful person flung him from a car window during such a storm years ago.  The thunder and lightning do not bother him but the raindrops on the rooftop do.  So, my work day ends and I gladly cuddle the Prince.  What better way to spend a storm than with cat cuddles!

  Yesterday, the snuggles put me in a chair that gave me a direct view of the french doors and their colorful glass panes,  It was not long before the sun peeped out enough to give those panes a delightful glow!  To the left, Edgar Allan Poe watched over us as the lamp softly glowed beneath him.  This vision brought comfort as I thought just how much I like the way the room is decorated.  While not to many people's taste, it suits mine perfectly.  The room is filled with quaint objects such as antique lamps, furniture and clocks...lots and lots of clocks!  Then there are the quirky "finds" from thrift stores, roadsides and friends.  Nothing in this entire room meets the "expected" living room aesthetic...from the almost black walls to the red velvet loveseat and purple chairs.  It is just eccentric and eclectic enough to meet my standards...and Bat, the cat's.  He and I find comfort here among the oddities.

The Critters Are Stalking Me!

   It seems as if things are stacked against me this summer.  Oh, how I wish winter would arrive with a bang.  Yep, here it is only the last of July and I am dreaming (and wishing for) cold weather.  I imagine those not used to the heat are doing the same but it is not the heat that is bothering me.  It is what comes with a hot, muggy summer.  Bugs!  We have an overload of insects this year.  My garden has been decimated by the eastern lubber grasshoppers, there are mosquitoes in droves and cicadas are crawling out of the ground and leaving their castoff shells everywhere.  Those are bothersome but can be handled.  It is the wasps that are the thorn in my side.  In the past two months, I have been stung ten different times.  Most of the time, I get too close to their nests and the are letting me know to mind my own business.  Well, I WAS minding my own business and still got stung today.  

  After the last bout of stings, everybody told me "Stay inside!  You will not be stung."  Yeah, right.  Those wasps are stalking me now.  They are out to get me by hook or crook!  This afternoon, I was cleaning our tool/craft room when I found a bunch of things that belonged to Darling Daughter.  I figured those needed to be returned to her so I left the room, went to the dining room and put the items there so I would not forget to give them to her.  Then, I wandered back through the living room.  Aha!  There was my glass of lemonade!  I looked down to grasp it when, suddenly, I felt a stabbing pain in my neck!  Thinking I had somehow inadvertently gotten something sharp caught up in either my hair or shirt, I headed to the bathroom to check my "wound".  Staring in the mirror, I noticed something strange on my collar.  Yep!  There was a WASP!  That critter was fiery mad and was searching for another spot to attack!  I flipped it off into the sink, threw a washcloth over it and rushed to get the bug spray.  Son came to my rescue, though, and killed the beast!  He, also, found the nest and got rid of the entire thing.  It seems that the nest was between the window and screen in the living room.  That wasp evidently did not like me being so busy.  It literally stalked me in my own house!  Oh, winter, where art thou?  How I wish you would come for an extended visit and rid my place of all these bugs!