My back hurts hon...

K I S S I N G

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Saturday Evening in he Valley

It is not quite 8:00 pm in the Valley and there is just as much light outside now as there was this morning at 8:00 am and the temperature is hovering around 80 degrees with very little humidity at all in the air.  You can see the failing sun off in the distance just above the horizon from our screened in porch and can look directly at it without wearing sun glasses.  This is one of the best times of the day for me as it is mostly quiet, warm to the touch, and sitting outside is relaxing in its solitude and solace from an even lazier day when an afternoon nap will not keep me from sleep in about 3 hours from now.

Saturdays are typically a day off from work for those who have a Monday through Friday work schedule and these days are typically used to do those things around the house that could not be done during the workday after coming home...  but since many people are not working, these things now get done during the week so Saturdays
typically are days of doing nothing.

This Pandemic has changed everyone's lives and while many people are concerned about a loss of income and a falling stock market for those who have investments like myself, financial worries by many are very popular these days...  but, not for me...  because if I were to die today, we have enough money saved (including the sale of the house) to pay for my wife's expenses (assuming they are typical and/or moderate) for another 25-30 years taking her to 92-97...  which should be long enough.  However, if I were to live for another 10 years, we would have additional dividends from our investment to cover those same expenses without selling the house.

This Saturday evening in the Valley, I am just as peaceful as the Valley itself.

Simply Beautiful...

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Move Over Slick...

Since you're here...

Fat Little Cats

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My Mother Loved Daisies

Saturday Morning in the Valley

As mentioned before, I am living in the Valley of East Tennessee nestled between the Great Smokey Mountain on one side and the Cumberland Plateau on the other side which prevents, at least most of the time, bad weather from entering our area unless it comes up from the Gulf of Mexico.  We get more rain than snow or sleet and seldom does it remain in the lower 30's for more than a week or two during our brief winters; although, Spring is no longer a gradual transition for us and quite often are there periods of Blackberry Winters lasting for a few days in our area.  However and generally speaking, the climate is damn near perfect for someone like me who can no longer tolerate the moist cold weather or the humidity of the hot summers.

During our first 5 years of retirement, we traveled somewhat every other month, sometimes every month but recently and not because of COVID-19 and the Pandemic have curtailed our traveling but because we have had some bad experiences in international airports with our luggage and the logistics of finding the right location that it has become a hassle for us and taken away most of the enjoyment...  plus, 8-10 hours in an airplane is rough on our bodies and passing through many time zones has been difficult for us to adjust on either side of our destinations.

SO...  in the Valley we remain... in our modest home...  1200 square feet upstairs and 1200 square feet downstairs with a weirdly measured acre lot, 4 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms, open concept kitchen dinning and living room, and exercise room, den, and 3 garages with a screened in back porch and a front porch that spans the length of the house.  In the backyard is an above ground 28 foot round pool that is 12 years old with minimal signs of wear and tear.  A wooden deck surrounds the pool with enough extra space for several lounge chairs and a 12' X 12' gazebo and a Hot Springs 12 year old hot tub near the shady side house wall.  Under the screened in back porch is an enclosed 12' X 15' storage space with siding.

My wife and I and our 3 cats are comfortable and want for nothing except maybe less space to have to keep clean as we have been throwing stuff away about every quarter now that we don't need in case we ever get the nerve to sell this house and move into a smaller one that is more suitable to our needs and that is only on one floor because eventually we will not want to go up and down any stairs.

Saturday morning in the Tennessee Valley is like any other morning in the Valley for us now that we are retired.  Our cats wake us up around 6:00 am each morning for a treat and after returning to bed (we alternate who gives the treat) we continue to sleep for another 2 hours or so...  coffee for me and it varies for my wife from hot chocolate to juice to diet Pepsi while we check our messages on the internet and as I post articles and other stuff on my blogs, she surfs the internet for all sorts of things like clothes, vacation deal, items for the house, deals on movie tickets, to health issues as we both listen indirectly to FOX NEWS on cable....  our cats have gone back to sleep.

We're Coming For You Joe...

Not Here...

L I B

WHOA...

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Our Three Ten Year Old Children

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We have three cats that to us (my wife and I) are like children.  We got them all within months of each other about 10 years ago and all three of them are different.

Our first acquisition was a yellow male cat that we named Chazy who was spoiled as a young kitten until we had to take him to Kentucky to befriend our second cat, a Siamese male named Piper who was mistreated when young and hid under the bed for 6 months only coming out at night...    Chazy stayed under the bed with him until Piper felt comfortable enough to come out during the day when I was there.

Our third cat was picked up from a Cat Rescue Mission who had been abandoned so early in his life that he had to be bottle fed by the main handler at the Mission.  We had to sign a document agreeing to raise the yellow male cat according to a list of logical rules that we would have adhered to anyway.  We named him Tippy.

Chazy
Piper
Tippy

Even after living with us for 10 years, Piper is still skeptical if we do anything that breaks our routine and does not liked being picked up by me when anyone else is around; but, if I am alone with him, I can pick him up and turn him upside down in my arms and rub his belly as her purrs.

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Our cats sleep with us in bed at night if they want to or sleep on the couch or on another bed in one of our spare rooms.  Our cats have a swinging door that they can go through to get to our screen in porch and there is another swinging door in the basement that gives them access to an outside fenced in area that we had built especially for them.  There are seats in two corners and there are walkways all around the perimeter of the enclosure and underneath a bushy vine crawling on a metal gazebo trellis that we put in the center of the enclosure for the vine with two plastic chairs and pillows for the cats to sleep on as well.

Today, I was out in the cat enclosure replacing the corner seats with new wood and fixing the steps leading up to the walk around area with new wood as well.  I wanted to make these new items as secure as I could so that they will last another 10 years.

IF... If... if...

I'M A DEMOCRAT... WHAT ABOUT YOU LUV?

I USED TO BE A DEMOCRAT BEFORE BIDEN...

CUTE

Burn baby Burn

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