Did you miss me?

The past couple of weeks have been pretty rough around Naruna. The Lovely Bride has been trying to prepare for the end of the school year, while training her new puppy and her old husband. The OR has been busy, especially with orthopedics, and late nights have become the norm, as we try to fix or replace broken/worn out hips and knees. Of course, not getting home until 8:00 or 9:00 several nights each week has taken its toll on my old body and the LB's nerves. At any rate, I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted anything until an email arrived from cousin Vicki, wondering what had happened to me. This will be my feeble and belated attempt to make up for my absence of the past weeks.

One wonderful event during the month of May was droplets of moisture falling from the sky. Naruna received almost 2 1/2" for the month, which was enough for Burnet County to call off their burn ban. Vegetation has greened up, and the yard sprang up almost overnight. It finally got to the point where I got out the old push mower and knocked down most of the weeds. It took me a day and a half to accomplish what our lawn guy, Paul, does in an hour. My knees were certainly protesting after that little workout. Paul is usually pretty good about keeping the grass(okay - weeds) cut, but the rain had all of his clients hollering for help. It certainly reminded me of why we pay him to take care of it.

We have had a major influx of critters here in Naruna, with a new puppy and a litter of kittens all showing up at about the same time. The puppy is a scruffy little dog, reported to be some sort of chihuahua, and is named Ruby Jean. She arrived with floppy ears and longish hair, and really didn't look like any chihuahua I had ever seen. She is one of those animals you want to pick up as soon as you see it, cuddle it and carry it around everywhere. The LB keeps reminding me it is a dog, and even though it is small, it needs to learn to act like one instead of a toy. Susan keeps trying to establish herself as the Alpha of our pack, so she can maintain some discipline as she attempts to train the little bugger. I see my role as being the one who is responsible for spoiling her rotten. As she has grown(almost 4 pounds now) her ears have straightened up, and are completely upright. Still doesn't look much like a chihuahua to me.

The litter of kittens has been a more emotional event for us. As is frequently the case, this was an unplanned pregnancy, and took us by surprise. Apparently, the feline gene pool isn't very deep in Naruna, which is one reason for trying to get everybody fixed if it looks like they are going to stay with us. Of four kittens, one didn't survive its first day, a second with a deformed leg suddenly expired after about a week, and the little grey tabby hasn't figured out how to use its hind legs and has a definite personality disorder. Not sure if it will make the cut or not. The remaining kitten is the antithesis of his siblings. He is stout, fuzzy and very precocious in learning to motor around under his own power. He is white and has blue eyes which are bright and sparkly. The LB already seems to be struggling with the idea of giving him up for adoption, so we may just add him to the permanent cat population of Naruna.