Random 5 for July 5 – Birthdays, pond, Starbucks, tornados, relocations

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Brother Tom at his 85th birthday celebration! Yes, that cake says 85 and still alive!

Brother Tom at his 85th birthday celebration! Yes, that cake says 85 and still alive!

Happy Birthday Bro! – Last weekend was my brother’s 85th birthday. He is amazing. I think of him as 60 but sometimes he acts like 16. He has taught me a lot but most of all if you have your health, age is just a number.

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My pond has a tutu on it!

X!?0X@### — I’ve been waiting for all three of my water lilies to bloom at the same time to take a picture. It would be the most beautiful picture ever! Just as the last lily starting blooming a night marauder struck and ate up some of my plants including lilies. Now instead of being a gorgeous peaceful site, my pond has a netting over the foliage. Time to get out the night camera to see if it’s deer or a groundhog. We are also talking fencing in the upper portion of the yard.

In and out – One of my favorite baristas moved on from Starbucks. She had been there two to three years which is a long time for that place. Most of the employees are kids that are in school or in transition between school and their first “real” job. This barista was moving on to a large restaurant. Aside from being cheery and upbeat she remembered everyone’s name and drink. When I went through the drive-through and heard her voice, I identified myself and my drink was perfect.

Now what? – We don’t live in a tornado prone area. I don’t ever remember one here. The other day as I was on the computer my cell phone went off like an air raid siren. It scared the crap out of me. It read that we are in a tornado warning and should vacate to the basement immediately. We had a half hour until the tornado came through. We really didn’t know what to do. (How do you get four cats to crotch in the basement with you?) Would they sound local sirens when it was spotted? We turned the TV on and watched. As it turns out the real tornado was considerably south of us. There was a super cell that went through our area and cause a lot of damage nearby. As for us, the sun kept on shining and we didn’t even get rain.

Goodbyes – A dear friend’s son is relocating to another part of the country. Visiting will be a plane ride or a 24 hour drive. The beloved husband went through this with all four of his kids. It’s never easy but especially painful at the beginning.

So how was your week?

 

49 thoughts on “Random 5 for July 5 – Birthdays, pond, Starbucks, tornados, relocations”

    • It’s been a week long war. Every night I cover and she eats something else. Once they find something they keep coming back. It will take 4 to 6 weeks to get our fence installed.

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  2. Tornado warning? That is really weird! Massive heat waves in Europe, epic droughts, floods in Texas and now you’re mentioning tornadoes…global weather patterns have gone crazy! And i must mention your brother. How fantastic to be so strong and healthy at 85. Inspiring! I think you’ve mentioned his wonderful sense of humor, and perhaps that’s in part what’s kept him so young! 🙂

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    • I can’t describe how amazing he is. He golfs 3 times a week and he doesn’t look 85. He has had asthma for 20 years but it’s so well managed I can’t remember the last time I saw him with an inhaler. He cooks and gardens and is rarely home. His goal is to outlive me (I’m considerably younger). That wouldn’t upset me as long as it doesn’t happen anytime soon.

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  4. I’m sorry to hear about your water lilies. I was looking forward to seeing them. Your net made me think, I need to do something to protect my potted plants that are getting too much sun. May I can fashion some kind of awning.

    Like you, I have favorites in the places I shop–even in the grocery store. I find myself going to my favorite lady’s line sometimes even when it’s longer than the others. We have such nice conversations while she’s ringing up the food in my grocery cart. I’d miss her if she left.

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    • The lily war is going on. We put a wooden grid over the pond last night and something went through it to eat more lilies. Time to get out the big ammo! (by the way I have no idea what that is. No one has given me a good suggestion!)

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  6. Love the post, Kate. Wow…your bro looks fantastic and very happy. 85 is an awesome age…I should know since my hub and I are there; you’re right on…healthy and happy keeps one young!
    We have lived in tornado country most of our lives; we haven’t ever had a shelter but once I took all four of our little boys to the neighbor’s cellar and that was a nightmare. Thankful you were safe along w/the cats. Those storm alerts put our Gibby on her toes…me, too. Curls our hair. When your kids move away, it’s a little sad. When they’re nearby it’s awesome; all four of our sons now live in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and all of us are happy! Love ’em.

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    • You are so lucky to have your kids nearby. We would love to have my husband’s kids in a car drive away instead of plane flight. That was my first brush with tornadoes and I’ve had enough thank you!

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  7. I am so happy you had no tornado to deal with. Pretty routine here for me to hit the basement and it has been bad this Spring and early Summer. I head to the basement even when straight line winds are forecasted because of all our large Oaks. One has gone done in a storm two years ago and just missed the family room. CH stays up top and watches fascinated. We have been in the path of three tornadoes and one was in Louisiana when we had three cats. We were in an apartment then. We stuffed each cat in its own pillowcase and ran to a bedroom closet. It wasn’t pretty… the cats were not happy. The water was all sucked out of the the apt complex pool.Your brother looks very happy on his 85th birthday! Good for him at 85! The cake is priceless! I hate that something is messing with your beautiful pond.
    Our week was rainy and stormy with good grilled food squeezed in between storms!

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  8. Hope you catch whoever is eating form your pond and set them straight! The resident bunny doesn’t even hop away from me anymore, just keeps on eating around the flowers and in the yard. I’ve only caught him in my veggie garden once but did see him dive into my neighbors today. Your brother looks fantastic, happy birthday to him. Here’s hoping the next Starbuck’s barista gets to know you by name and coffee order.

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    • All the baristas know me but this one was special in my book. We don’t seem to have many bunnies this year. We have foxes so maybe they are keeping the population down. On the other hand we are overrun by chipmunks. Fortunately, we haven’t had much damage from them. They scurry around the pond and patio and are hilarious to watch.

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  10. Happy 85th Birthday to your bro. My brother is 10 years younger than me and is not allowed to say my age. 😉 (Actually, I think he did once on FB.)

    Hope you’re able to discourage whatever critter is noshing on your pond. At least they left the goldfish alone.

    We’ve had tornadoes sweep thru our area. Wish we had storm cellars to hide out in, but Florida was apparently built over a swamp. Kate, I’m glad you were out of harm’s way. 😉

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    • We have a basement to go to but to me it always seems like it’s not a good idea having the whole house fall down on you. I am particularly glad I didn’t have to herd the cats. I rarely lose fish although we do get blue herons from time to time.

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  11. Thank you for asking. It’s terrible. After putting Mac to sleep last Sunday, a few days later cat #2 got sick. She’s refusing all food. Holiday weekend. I’m terrified. We did get her subcutaneous fluids this morning.

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    • My cats usually get sick on holiday weekends. Last year it was Jake on the 4th of July. When the cats aren’t happy, no one is happy. I am so sorry about Mac. Hope #2 gets better.

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  12. I guess the critters think of your pond as an all night all you can eat salad bar. I grew up in a place that had tornadoes often. One went right down the middle of our street while we were having supper. Not a house or tree was touched.

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    • I’d like to find the advertisement for our salad bar and take it down. Damn critters. The tornado thing was scary. I always take stuff like that seriously even if it’s unlikely. You just never know. Our weather has been wonky for the last year.

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  13. Those marauders…do’t they know they are holding up a masterpiece…oh, they held up the piece they ate and called it a masterful snack.
    Happy late Birthday ( just stretch it out for more fun)
    Storms…if the sky is green and the trees are blown almost vertical to the ground with an odd train-like sound roaring – Stay out of the car! And keep the weather radio on that is tracking the path. Whew. Cat hair can stand straight out…while they are spitting,snarling and fighting you…
    Hope this week has only the fun excitement!

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  14. Love your random musings, Kate. We live with three cats in a tornado-prone area. We’ve always had enough time to gather everyone and get to the basement but I do worry sometimes. When the weather is threatening I always like to keep an eye on their whereabouts, just in case.

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    • My cats don’t like to be herded and they don’t like to be together unless it’s their idea. I’ve read that animals can sense those things and would hope for the best — either cooperation or their ability to find a safe hiding spot.

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  15. We received a few of those scary cellphone warnings when we were ion our recent road trip. They were flash flood warnings and we weren’t quite sure what to do either. First of all, where did our phones think we were? We don’t usually keep our location service turned on so was it based on where we currently were or where we were when we last turned it on? Secondly, since we were far from home, we had no idea what our next action should be. For the most part we just decided to ignore the warnings and take our chances. Somehow we survived.

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    • It would be scarier on the road. At least at home I knew that I could go to the basement. Of course it was hard to go down there when the sun was shining and there was no wind. We opted to wait until we heard or saw something either in person or on the TV. Nothing came for our area and that’s the good news.

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  16. Wow, 85. God bless him. You take the best photos by the way. So long barista. It’s funny how impersonal people make up the fabric of one’s life. You saw her every day and she’ll be missed. There’s something to be said for that.
    Tornado warning…I suddenly saw Miss Gulch on her bicycle shoot by. Love the cat line.

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  18. Herding cats is never easy . . . especially if we’re trying to collect our thoughts:

    “W~H~A~T?! A tornado. Here? That’s odd. Oh, Auntie Em, Auntie Em. There’s no place like H~O~M~E. Now, where are my ruby slippers? Toto!!! Toto!!! Oh, wait . . . I have cats. I feel light-headed. Was I hit on the head or am I just caffeine deprived? Or maybe it’s the adrenaline rush. Fight or flight. Hmm . . . should I take supplies to the basement with us? Food? Water? Where’s the bar? I need a drink.”

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  20. I laughed out loud at that cake – that’s fantastic! Whomever made it had a great sense of humor and your brother Tom appears to have one as well 🙂

    Sorry about the tornado alert – scary stuff !!

    The moving part is exciting but hard – but maybe now there’s a new cool place to go visit? 🙂 MJ

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