Rec Time

The kids (well, two of them) got some rec time in the yard this afternoon...

Canon and Lucy

Puppy-Sitting for the Barrera Puppies--

Ladies Night

Lovely night with two of the most awesome ladies I know. Emily and Nicole!

My Baby Bear

As many of my friends and family know, we're cat people. We have three. Teddy, my oldest, turned 17 last week, September 17th. Spotty is the middle child, he'll be 15 next February, and the baby, Boomer will be 4 next May.

We came home the other day to find Teddy with one of his eyes kinds closed with the bottom eye lid protruding up. His eye looked as if it has sunk back into his head. He is seventeen, but he still loves to fight with his brothers, so at first thought, we determined it was possibly a war wound from play.

We made an appointment with the vet and did a little research and had a few ideas of possibilities. The vet determined that we needed to schedule an x-ray and go ahead and start a round of antibiotics and set an appointment for Tuesday 9/27 for the  x-ray.

We dropped off Ted this morning (9/27). I stopped by the vet this afternoon to pick him up and find out what the x-ray had found. Unfortunately the news confirmed that he does have Horner's Syndrome in his right eye. (Link to a page about Horner's Syndrome in Cats.) Basically it's a common neurological disorder of the eye and facial muscles that can be caused by a multitude of underlying problems. What we had discovered in the x-ray was that Teddy has a tumor behind his right eye. It's about the size of a dime right now.  I guess we missed a few signs over time. He has had a tic in his paw for a while which is a symptom of the tuner like the Horner's Syndrome.

N
o, maybe he's not a real child, but he's been my baby for almost 16 years. It would be difficult for anyone to deal with.  He's fine for now. He's happy, eating like a piggy, and still loves to cuddle with me on the couch and purr away. We may have him for 6 more months or a few more years. There's no guarantee.

I'll enjoy it as long as I can!

Cats and Fish, Oh My!

Hanging out with Mom

Mom had knee surgery- so I went for a week and a half to help..

(Gabriel the Cat thinks he's being so helpful!

A bird laid eggs the day I arrived.. these are the babies the morning that I left.

Appomattox, VA Trip

Over the weekend, we spend some time with our friends who live in Appomattox, VA. Since we all love history and there is so much of it out that way, we were able to see a lot of awesome things!

We arrived in Appomattox and went with Ron to the Visitors Center. If you need some gifts with confederate flags on them, I may have found the place for you!

Headed down the road a few miles to the location of the Battle of Appomattox Station. Battle occurred April 8, 1865 between 4 and 8 pm. Union led by General Custer and the Confederates were lead by Brig. Gen. Reuben Walker.

Another half mile down the road is a little cemetery and a plaque.

Confederate Cemetery

Appomattox Courthouse; Surrender Site.

McLean House- the house where the surrender was signed- This is a reconstruction with period construction items.

Headed to Bedford, VA to the National World War II Memorial. Bedford VA. Bedford provided a company of soldiers, Company A to the 29th Infantry Division when the National Guard's 116th Infantry Regiment was activated on 3 Feb 1941. 

D-Day, 6 June 1944, by the end of the day, 19 of the Bedford Boys were dead, two more in Normandy, and 2 more in the 116th infantry. In 1944, the population of Bedford was 3200, proportionately, the losses were the nation's most severe. Taking this information, Congress warranted the establishment of the National D-Day memorial here in Bedford.

SaveSave

Mariners Museum

Saturday, Terry and I decided that we would go over to the other side of the water and visit Newport News. It only takes about 25 minutes to get there, and the drive is at least pretty at this time of year.  

Right before you arrive at the museum, driving up the side of the James River, there is a little park with a few Lion Statues and a monument to Collis Potter Huntington, the founder of the Newport News Shipyard. We later found out that Lion Bridge is a dam that was built in the early 1920's. 

The Lions were added in 1932. 

There is also a 550 acre park on the grounds of the Museum.. Noland Trail is a five mile hike through the park that twists around Lake Maury in the middle. Maybe next time, we'll dress appropriately to walk down the path!  We stopped there for a few minute to take some pictures.  There was a tree on the inland side of the road that looked like it had been there since the Civil War.

Then we went to was the Mariners Museum. We'd been there a few times before when they had a Traveling Titanic exhibit, but that was nearly 10 years ago.

After the Mariners Museum, we took a drive to Dutch Village Apartments... When Terry and I first got married like 200 years ago, he and his friend Doug lived here. (In the first pic with the tree in front of the apartment) After we got married, Doug, Terry and I.. and Teddy... moved to another apartment in Dutch Village..

It was fun to see the old place and we left kinds quick before we got shot. It was not a nice neighborhood!

We headed over to Patrick Henry Mall... It was nicer and had been added onto A LOT! After about 20 minutes there, we decided that we'd had enough..

We had heard that the Colosseum Mall had been town down and there was a new Town Center type area added.. Peninsula Town Center.. It was very nice, crowded, but nice!

That was it for our little Saturday. We headed back to Virginia Beach. :)