Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Alfred in Aggie Uniform

Fall of 1929

Family Photo

The above photo was taken when Daddy went to A&M, the fall of 1929, just in time for the Great Depression. He always loved the Aggies and the Aggie experience, although he didn't graduate. You would never find a more loyal fan than Daddy or Grandpa Conitz. I can't believe that was almost 80 years ago.

His winter uniform came in handy when we had to go to school on really cold days. The heat didn't usually make it up to the third floor from the boiler room so we wore all the warm clothes we could find and kept our coats, gloves, scarves on and brought quilts and blankets. The teachers wouldn't let us sit together to keep each other warm, though. Girls didn't get to wear these type of uniforms, and there were no girls at A&M, back then. So it was really special for me to get to wear Daddy's wool uniform on those cold days. (Of course, it would have been more special if it had belonged to an Aggie boyfriend!)

If Daddy were alive today, we would have had a joint birthday dinner, either on Sunday or on my birthday. Red roast and red gravy for me, fried oysters and oyster stew, a birthday cake, and chocolate pie for him. And, of course, he would have had "sky juice" to drink and I would have had milk or a Coke. He would have piled his plate high, a few times, and used bread to clean his plate. And I would have picked at my food and complained, most likely, or pouted over one thing or another.

Grandpa and Grandma, Pappy and Uncle Tom, Toot and Honey, Thelma and Irvin, and Barbara would have been there for our dinner. Mama would have cooked, if we had it at our house. (I think that Daddy liked to have it at Grandma's house, while she was able to cook.) And Birdie would have helped in the kitchen. We all would have crowded into our small dinette which held 4 nicely and eaten pretty much in silence, except for some talk from Toot or Pappy, and some sports talk from Grandpa. And, maybe, some squabbling between Barbara and me.

I don't recall Daddy getting presents on his birthday. Maybe some pajamas or a shirt or tie, which went into a drawer to save. That was about the same thing as at Christmas.

We can always tell when it is about to be Daddy's birthday. There are always lots of Elvis Presley movies on tv, now. It certainly is nice to share your birthday with a celebrity.

Daddy would have been 98 today, if he had lived. His father lived to be 96.

Bitsy

8" x 8"

pencil

I wanted to get in some sketching last night before I went to bed. I looked at my list of EDM challenges, picked up my pencil and sketchbook, and thought, "I really should try to draw Bitsy". I get kind of frustrated when I try to draw animals, and people, because they just don't come out realistic. As much as I have looked at cats and dogs, for lo these many years, my drawings of them still usually look like cartoons or all out of whack.

But Bitsy had sneaked to a place she was not supposed to be, and was just enjoying herself as the ceiling fan blew warm air down on her. She has been hiding out on a chair, under the dining table, where no one can find her or bother her. She is rather aloof. And even more so since she has been sick.

Bitsy had jumped up onto the back of my daughter's recliner, where the boy cats usually like to nap. She chooses a fuzzy blanket on my bed or an arm of the couch, normally, and sometimes, the dining room chair. The kids do not like for Bitsy to get on that recliner and chase her off when they catch her. I guess that, at night, after we all go to bed, Bitsy takes over and goes where she wants to go!

I thought I would try just doing some searching lines and not worry about making the drawing realistic-just capture the pose. Which wasn't an easy thing since she started turning over and moving her head. I decided that she was settled enough that she would make a good model, but she fooled me.

I throw sheets, heavy towels, and even those puppy puddle pads where the critters like to sit to protect the furniture. In the drawing, there is a towel draped under Bitsy, and over the back of the chair. Otherwise, claws do a number on upholstered things. And they seem to like to sit on a soft towel or blanket.

Bitsy is 22 years old, and will be 23 in March or April. She is a muted calico Manx cat. And, as Barbara says, a free spirit. I call it independent and kind of wild. She used to come sit at my elbow or on my feet, just out of reach. When she was a tiny kitten, she used to sit on my shoulder, like the pictures you see of pirates with their parrot. Then she changed to feet and shoes. Bitsy had one litter of kittens when she was one year old. We quit letting her out of the house after dogs killed almost every cat we had that went outside. I thought that Bitsy would be okay because I saw her, several times, bloody the nose of a Black Lab that caught her on the front porch. The dog ran off. But I didn't want to risk losing another cat, so she became an indoor cat.

Bitsy is an excellent weather forecaster. If it is going to rain, she flattens out on the floor and creeps along to a "safe place". I usually catch her and put her under her fuzzy blanket on my bed. We know that the storm has passed when she comes out from under the cover.

Lately, though, Bitsy has been losing weight. She's had some diarrah and, sometimes, she throws up her food and water. Usually, though, I think that is because she has eaten a lot of food, and drunk a lot of water with it. She won't eat anything except dry IAMS cat food. And sometimes, a bite of chicken. We tried other cat food, but either she wouldn't touch it, or it would give all the cats diarreah.

This time, we took her to the vet, and learned that she was extremely dehydrated, has renal failure, and had a systemic infection associated with that and old age. The vet said that she is like a 107 year old person and has lived a very long life. They gave her IV fluids, an antibiotic, and an "Old Kitty Shot", meant to keep her feeling better and happy for the rest of her days.

Unfortunately, something in the office made me start sneezing (I was sure that it was the smell of coffee, because that's what I smelled and started sneezing. I don't drink coffee and the odor makes me sneeze just like cigarette smoke.) Between using a lot of Kleenex and wiping my eyes, I finally had to just sit down and let Barbara hold Bitsy and talk to the vet. (Bitsy was happy since she likes Barbara, and Thelma.)

I don't know if Bitsy is going to live for a short while or a long time. And I don't know what to expect. I was afraid that he was going to tell us that she had cancer or that she needed to be put to sleep. I went online to find out more about renal failure in cats and learned a few things. I thought it was interesting that, on one site, it said that your cat will let you know what they need. It seems that cats don't feel a lot of pain with this, unless they go into things like convulsions. They just feel unwell. Among other things, they may have nausea and malaise. The vet said that diarreah is a symptom.

Since we brought her home, she hasn't ventured out of the den/kitchen/dining room, utility area. Her food, water, and potty are there, and her favorite sitting places. So, I guess that is where she wants to be.

She still isn't really cuddly. I try to pick her up and hold her, and claws go out everywhere. But, she does come up and sit on the arm of the couch while I am eating or watching tv. I think she doesn't trust me because I might have some of that awful medicine to give her. She really doesn't like that! Of course, she has always been like that.

I didn't think that she was really terribly sick because she was eating, drinking, jumping, climbing, running. (She is so cute when she runs, with that little cotton tail and her sort of bow legs and pigeon toes. She reminds me of a rabbit.)

For a cuddly, affectionate cat, we have Simba, the yellow, fluffy tom cat. He and Bitsy have never become friends. They stay far away from each other. They used to take separate sections on my bed for naps, but, now, Simba seems to have most places to himself.

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I hope that you are going to join in the Sketch Crawl Saturday. I can't believe it is almost here! And I never did get t-shirts for us! You can click on the logo in my sidebar to learn more, or read down in some earlier posts to know more about Sketch Crawl.

If you aren't local to Bryan/College Station, you can still participate where you are, or even start your own group in your community.

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It isn't long until the workshop in Calvert with Viriginia Vaughan, either. That is coming up Saturday February 21. Send in your deposit of $40 by Feb. 1 to reserve your place in the class. The balance of $40 is due at the workshop. Contact Cecelia at grannyc_54@yahoo.com for a supply list and information.

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Vision-Bitsy

Bitsy

Sleeping on the Couch Arm

6.25" x 4.25"

watercolors

Can you see the cat in this picture?

Bitsy is my elderly calico Manx cat, now 21 years old. She is quite independent, and still gets around very well. She is aloof and a great weather forecaster. She stays just out of my reach, until she knows that I am asleep or can't reach her to pick her up. When I do pick her up, the claws go out everywhere! She likes to sit at my feet, or on the opposite arm of the couch. At night, she starts out sleeping on my feet, but migrates to behind me after I am asleep. She acts a little like a dog, by checking people out when they come in the house, and she was a good watch cat. She also bloodied the noses of a few big dogs who used to come up on our porch. They learned to stay away from her. However, when we lost a few cats to those dogs, Bitsy became a house cat. I guess that is why she has lived so long. She eats well, and will only eat one kind of cat food. Picky like me, I guess, but it has worked well for her.

When there is going to be rain or bad weather, Bitsy crouches low to the ground, creeping along until she finds the safest place in the house. She flattens out lower and lower and has a frightened look on her face. When I notice this, I put her on my bed, with her favorite blanket over her, leaving room for her to get a little air. And, when it is safe, she comes out and starts walking around. The rain may not have even materialized, yet, but Bitsy knows when it is coming.

I was watching tv and decided to check my vision in my bad eye by looking at something other than the television set. I read that people really miss being able to see the faces of their loved ones, or even faces of stranger, when they have Macular Degeneration. I wondered just how much I will be able to see. On this night, I looked over at Bitsy, sleeping on the arm of the couch, opposite me, and on past into the dining and living rooms. I closed my good eye and tried to look with the affected eye.

I could see the green columns dividing the room, the edge of the green hutch, the organ , table and lamp in the living room, though a little blurry, When I looked at Bitsy, I saw the purple spot with the top of her head and her ears sticking out on the right side. I could see one white hind leg hanging over the couch arm in the middle of the purple spot, and a hint of her side above that. And, on the left side of the purple spot, I could see her cute little Manx tail-a little powder puff that has only shown up in recent years. (She has lost a little weight, which is good, as she was a very large cat.)

If I looked at other things in the room, the purple spot moved with my eyes, so that the center is always covered. I could see around the edges, but, if I looked at something, it just wasn't there. The object of what I looked at was always covered up by that purple fog.

I realized, as I sketched Bitsy, that this is what people are talking about. I wouldn't be able to see my cat, or other things, if I didn't have one eye that is not affected by AMD. If it should go to both eyes, and I know that this happens, I wouldn't be able to see Bitsy, my grandsons, or what I might be trying to do.

For more information and sites on Macular Degeneration, look under Eye Sites. And, to see more of my journey with wet Macular Degeneration, see my older posts, or archives. Each of those posts is prefaced with the word "Vision".

I wanted to share with others what I am learning about this problem and how it has affected me. I had never heard of Macular Degeneration when I was diagnosed, and was desperate to find out what I could, to find some real help, and to understand what was going to happen. I hoped that, through my blog and my art work, I might be able to help someone else who found themselves in a similar situation.

I have promised to share with you the information provided by the man who has created the online eye test, "My Vison Test". I have a link to it under Eye Sites in my sidebar.

I had hoped to do that on this post, with this picture, but my little story about Bitsy started getting long. ( I just can't stop typing once I get started! ) I'll send out the information on a separate post today.

Scroll down to the bottom of my page and sign my guest book. You can add a picture if you wish, but you don't have to if you don't want to. You can see some of the different things people have put on there.

I do appreciate your comments and your interest.

Blue Monday-Wash Day Today

Blue Monday
Wash Day Today
8.5" x 11"
pencil
Previously, I posted a drawing of wash day, always on Monday, when I was growing up, and I wrote about how it was at our house, and in most of the community. Monday seems to be the day for washing in many places besides our little corner of Texas.
To see that drawing, along with the one about ironing day on Tuesday, and heavy cleaning day, waxing floors and such, on Wednesday, look back in the older posts.
Today's drawing is of wash day today. I thought that might be appropriate since it is another Blue Monday, with clothes in the washing machine and more, sorted and ready to go. It's a gray day outside with warnings of the first freeze of the year tonight. I'm sure glad that I don't have to do my laundry over a wash pot and a sink with a rub board, then hang clothes on the clothes line outside, wait for them to dry, and have to carry all that inside to sort, fold, sprinkle, and get ready to iron on Tuesday.
In my picture, above, there are stacks of laundry on the floor by the utility room, sorted and ready to wash. The washer and dryer are beyond the open door, along with the central heating and air conditioning unit. A variety of products for making the clothes clean and soft line the shelf about the washing machine and dryer.
I'm sitting in the den, in a recliner, feet propped up, while I draw and watch an old movie on tv. Bitsy, my elderly Manx cat, is perched behind my head while she naps. Beyond the double doors is the dining room and living room, with the organ. My mother's painting of what we called "the big house" or "the two story house" (my great-grandfather's house), hangs over the organ. There is a fireplace on my right side. That would be nice for a warm fire tonight and tomorrow after the cold weather comes in. It won't be cold for very long, though.
I don't know if very many other people wash clothes, while they are drawing and watching old movies on tv! That's the way I do my washing, these days. I might even be painting, or in another room, working on my computer, while the machines do the heavy things. That's really amazing, if you stop to think about how things were done not so long ago, and how they are done today. I wonder what new inventions they will come up with in the future to make our lives even easier. And, of course, along those lines, what will they come up with so that everyone can have these same easier lives.
I won't need to iron tomorrow, Tuesday. I caught up with that on Saturday. Most things don't need to be ironed, these days. But, an occasional purchase by my new-to -purchasing- his- own- clothes, grandson, means a few 100 % cotton shirts that have to be ironed. I think that he will read the labels better next time he buys his own clothes.
Let me know if you see something that you are interested in purchasing, or if something appeals to you.
Thank you for reading and sharing. Be sure to check out the various things on my sidebar.
I'm having a little trouble typing this right now. Trying to hold a puppy with a tummy ache! Pluto, our Chihuaha, Dachshound, Beagle, mixed puppy, was clearly in pain last night, yelping and crying in pain, so that we couldn't sleep. A call to the vet at almost midnight, revealed a big fee for emergency calls. I thought for sure that he had chewed on something he shouldn't have found, and was having stomach pains. We gave him some bread, which might coat any foreign objects, and I remembered a vet telling me to give my dogs grease, like from bacon, butter, or Crisco, if they were ever poisoned. We were contemplating giving Pluto some Crisco, but he went to sleep, finally. My daughter took him to the vet when they opened this morning.
It turned out that the tiny dog had just eaten too much food and was a little constipapted. And that was expensive, too. So, he's taking a laxative. At least, he isn't crying out in pain like he was last night, and we know that he didn't eat something that he found. He's been chewing on the fireplace rocks, the wood for the fireplace, socks, laundry, he even pulled the fuzz off of a tennis ball we had given him to play with. We threw out his toys that weren't well made and I encourage the family to keep tiny things picked up, like Legos, paper clips, wraps off of straws and snacks, and clothes. He chewed a hole in my favorite flannel gown while I was holding him! I'm pulling him away from things he shouldn't have, like the fireplace rocks, and substituting his chew bone for them. But, I know the chewing will be going on for a while. We moved the pet food from the floor and will feed him just when he needs to be fed. The cats will have to jump up on something to get their food.
When pets, and children, get sick, usually in the middle of the night or weekends, and you don't know what is wrong, or what to do, and can't take them to the doctor or vet, it is so upsetting. Makes you wish that you were a doctor or a vet or a nurse and had some concept of what to do. Some way to get relief for that beloved person or pet.
It's a relief to know that Pluto is going to be fine and that he didn't eat something that could hurt him. Honestly, I never heard of an animal eating too much and having a tummy ache! My pets have always eaten what they needed, then left to do something else. This little one takes a few bites of food, or a little water, runs off, then is back for more.
Finally, he is running around, now that my daughter is back at home. Pluto is so attached to her, he wants to be with her constantly. He usually just wiggles and his claws scratch me, when I try to hold him. Today, while my daughter went to the store, he wanted me to hold him, while he chewed on my fingers.
Stay warm and enjoy something indoors, a warm drink, a hot meal, or soup, or, maybe even one of my favorites. I like to eat ice cream when it's cold, and while I sit by a heater, or stove!