Monday Photoblog? Sure, why not?

Eastern Red Cedar tree

I haven’t done a photoblog in a while, so what better time than a Monday afternoon? Of course, like all of my blogposts, I’m scheduling this ahead of time because I plan on being busy later. I’m a wee bit addicted to reading at the moment, so must run off soon. 

I’ve seen a few people talking about author Donna Tartt online lately. I read The Goldfinch when it first came out a few years ago. I’m sorry now that I didn’t give it a better review because looking back, I rather enjoyed reading it. I want to read it again, so I’m not sure why I was being such a hard ass. 

I think I struggled with the length of the book. I find anything that requires complete concentration extremely difficult, and challenging. My attention span is poor, and it’s something I have to work on daily. Some days, I’m a crying mess of frustration because no matter what I do, I can’t stay focussed. 

Blackbird on a dead branch

I haven’t read her other books, so decided to give The Little Friend a try. I’m settling back into Donna Tartt’s laborious (don’t you just love this word?) literary writing style. I imagine her painstakingly rereading every word of each chapter, so she never leaves a word unsaid. There seems to be a delicate tug of war back and forth between (almost) too many words, and just the right amount. I must say, I’m getting quite addicted to the push and pull.

Having started the book yesterday afternoon, I’m only a little over 100 pages in. I’ll have to let you know my thoughts after I’ve finished it. 

Full moon last week.
Those clouds, tho. 

I unpacked this purse that my dear, sweet bestie friend, Wanda, made for me 9 years ago (woah, how time flies), makes me smile every time I see it. I LOVE the little pink flip-flop ornament. 

Gonna end this one with some links..

An idea I came up with to keep my paint brushes soft is to use Burt’s Bees hair conditioner. Not only does it help soften dried on acrylic paint (what is up with me leaving brushes to harden on the table, lately? UGH), but it makes my studio smell pretty too. 

This podcast I listened to a couple weeks ago woke me up to the dangers of feeding your pets crappy store bought food. I immediately changed their food, but it wasn’t soon enough for some damage to be done.

A few days ago, I rushed Harold to the emergency vet hospital. He was extremely lethargic, and throwing up bile and blood. When the vet told me he was also pooping and peeing blood, I was so scared! 

After 4+ hours in the emergency room being x-rayed, and poked with all kinds of needles, his diagnoses came back – he has a form of bladder disease, which is caused from eating cheap grocery store food. And, even though the vet tried to reassure me that I didn’t do anything wrong, I feel as if it’s my fault. I know how badly food has messed up my health. I should have researched pet food sooner. Now he’s on prescription food for the rest of his life. To say it’s pricey is an understatement – 7.7 lbs for $48, and the canned food is $2 a can. Plus, tax.

HUGE lesson learned here. You can either pay for more expensive food up front or you end up paying by sacrificing your pet’s health. It is soooo depressing to see your little fur baby in pain. I never want to see that look on Harold’s face again.

Aww..poor little guy was in soooo much pain.
:(””’

Emergency room visits aren’t cheap..it ended up costing me over $500, which is nothing when you’re talking about your fur baby’s life. However, I sure wish I had spent that money in high quality pet food rather than vet costs. Did I mention that he ended up coming home with four different medications??!! He was one sick little kitty. 

Aww..it’s so good to see him happier now

I’m hoping by writing about it, I’ll save other pets from going through this horrible experience. If you can afford to, please upgrade your pet’s food to the best quality you can buy. Do some research and find out what’s best for your pet.