Five simple things
Hello.
We have had a rough week. Last Thursday we said goodbye to our little kitty, Meia, and it's left quite a hole in our hearts. Last Friday I didn't feel like posting a "Five simple things" because of this and since Thursday all of us have been in grief mode. On Tuesday we got to see our precious cat one last time before she was cremated and it was heartbreaking. The Bean grew up with Meia always around, just like Baz and it's been so hard for him. Meia has been with us for almost 18 years. She was the first pet, along with her brother, Milo, The Mr. and I had when we first moved in together. She's been our "relationship" pet all these years, saw the passing of her brother, saw the passing of three of our pets before her, saw the arrival of The Bean, moved with us to Oregon from Arkansas, and was our little house cat. I can't even begin to explain how much she meant to us and how much she will dearly, wholeheartedly, and terribly missed by all three of us. Having lost two of our longtime pets in less than a year is incredibly difficult to accept. They were amazing animals and they have definitely left a void in our lives. Please take a moment to read my blog post dedicated to our sweet Meia here.
Here are "Five simple things" that made my week.
1. These peas...
This Klean Kanteen came with a plastic lid, I ordered a stainless steel lid to use instead. The plastic lid will be sold in a future yard sale we have planned before summer ends. The Bean has been using this stainless steel water bottle for his water and I think it's been filled at least 100x this week alone. You can get the same one here.
5. Lastly, our missed Meia.
• Find a new use for those single-use plastic bags.
• Great online reading games.
• Make your own natural bug repellant.
• Makes me think.
• Need to cleanse?
• Mountain Valley Growers.
• Make a unique breath freshener.
• Perennial herbs.
• Oregon Convention Center's eco-friendly policy.
• Everyday objects creating names.
Have a good weekend!
We have had a rough week. Last Thursday we said goodbye to our little kitty, Meia, and it's left quite a hole in our hearts. Last Friday I didn't feel like posting a "Five simple things" because of this and since Thursday all of us have been in grief mode. On Tuesday we got to see our precious cat one last time before she was cremated and it was heartbreaking. The Bean grew up with Meia always around, just like Baz and it's been so hard for him. Meia has been with us for almost 18 years. She was the first pet, along with her brother, Milo, The Mr. and I had when we first moved in together. She's been our "relationship" pet all these years, saw the passing of her brother, saw the passing of three of our pets before her, saw the arrival of The Bean, moved with us to Oregon from Arkansas, and was our little house cat. I can't even begin to explain how much she meant to us and how much she will dearly, wholeheartedly, and terribly missed by all three of us. Having lost two of our longtime pets in less than a year is incredibly difficult to accept. They were amazing animals and they have definitely left a void in our lives. Please take a moment to read my blog post dedicated to our sweet Meia here.
Here are "Five simple things" that made my week.
1. These peas...
Things are coming along nicely.
"In order to live off a garden, you have to practically live in it."
― "Kin" Hubbard, American humorist (1868-1930)
"In order to live off a garden, you have to practically live in it."
― "Kin" Hubbard, American humorist (1868-1930)
2. This cottonwood seed...
They are everywhere and almost like snow.
3. Some river floating...
Two weekends in a row now we have floated some of the area rivers including, the Willamette River and the Santiam River. This is the first summer that we have floated these rivers and we have been having a blast!
4. This lid and Klean Kanteen...
This Klean Kanteen came with a plastic lid, I ordered a stainless steel lid to use instead. The plastic lid will be sold in a future yard sale we have planned before summer ends. The Bean has been using this stainless steel water bottle for his water and I think it's been filled at least 100x this week alone. You can get the same one here.5. Lastly, our missed Meia.
We are really missing her and her sweet personality. Please take a minute to read about what a great cat Meia was here, and here.
A few more things:
• Find a new use for those single-use plastic bags.
• Great online reading games.
• Make your own natural bug repellant.
• Makes me think.
• Need to cleanse?
• Mountain Valley Growers.
• Make a unique breath freshener.
• Perennial herbs.
• Oregon Convention Center's eco-friendly policy.
• Everyday objects creating names.
Have a good weekend!
Sweet Meia
I feel like our hearts have been put through a test since last September. Not even being a year since we lost our beloved Baz and still not fully healed, we had another blow to our hearts. We let go of another one of our wonderful pets after almost 18 years.
The source of this is unknown, but this gravesite of "Dewey" sums up a lot of how I feel about my sweet, little Meia.
Our sweet, loveable, little, Meia, left us on Thursday and we are all still emotionally numb. Last Friday I didn't really feel like posting for my "Five simple things" because most of the day we were all confused, hurt, and just lost. I felt like I kept hearing her little meow from under the bed and looking at her food bowls really broke my heart. The three of us took Friday off from everything and just used the day to grieve. The Mr. was able to go back to work on Saturday and keep his mind active, but The Bean and I really struggled. The Mr. said he took a few times throughout the day to excuse himself while he walked a hallway at work with tears in his eyes, or went to a back room at work to have a private moment to reflect on what great pets we've lost in less than a year and mourn for Meia.
Pets are such great companionship and Baz was all of our companions, but Meia was different. She was mainly my cat. She was Siamese/Persian and the runt of the litter she was born into. She was always so small and as The Mr. put it, "A forever kitten." I think that phrase defined her in a perfect way.
Meia was born in 2000 and came into our lives the same year in October. She was the only female in the bunch; With the other three being her brothers. My sister had lost her kitten, Max, a few months prior and had talked The Mr. and I into going with her to a pet store in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to find another kitty to help her get through her loss. We found the lucky foursome huddled in a corner of a cage at a pet shop in the local mall for $25 each. My sister talked The Mr. and I into taking two and she took the other two with the hopes that we could have them play together on random days and enjoy our kittens together. Unfortunately, after seperating the four they never bonded again together as a four and they were all really skittish in their behavior. Her two kittens, Cooper and Norman, became friends and our two kittens, Milo and Meia, became friends. Milo and Meia were colored the same, but were opposite in coloring. Milo was mostly dark gray with some white and Meia was mostly white with her dark gray ears and dark gray tail. She was definitely one of a kind in her coloring and personality.
Meia was born in 2000 and came into our lives the same year in October. She was the only female in the bunch; With the other three being her brothers. My sister had lost her kitten, Max, a few months prior and had talked The Mr. and I into going with her to a pet store in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to find another kitty to help her get through her loss. We found the lucky foursome huddled in a corner of a cage at a pet shop in the local mall for $25 each. My sister talked The Mr. and I into taking two and she took the other two with the hopes that we could have them play together on random days and enjoy our kittens together. Unfortunately, after seperating the four they never bonded again together as a four and they were all really skittish in their behavior. Her two kittens, Cooper and Norman, became friends and our two kittens, Milo and Meia, became friends. Milo and Meia were colored the same, but were opposite in coloring. Milo was mostly dark gray with some white and Meia was mostly white with her dark gray ears and dark gray tail. She was definitely one of a kind in her coloring and personality.
Milo and Meia were such great cats over the next six years. They both would sit with me in our living room in Arkansas and eat cheese out of my hand and slowly they started trusting me and coming out slowly to socialize with us. We started letting them go outside more and Milo would climb trees, chase birds, and be a normal cat. Meia, on the other hand, never climbed a tree, was scared of birds, and would stay close to the porch and watch her brother play. She had moments where she would follow him through the woods, but shortly after she would come running back to the safety of the house. She wasn't a normal cat and we noticed as she got older in age, she always remained small like a kitten. Milo took care of her, though. Because of her being so tiny and not quite fully developed physically and mentally she needed him. He helped groom her, showed her where the food was, and also helped her in and out of the litter box from time to time. They were always together, running around together, and playing together, until Milo's kidney issues took him away from us in 2006. After Milo's passing Meia was lost. She didn't come out from under the bed for four days and she didn't know what to do after he was gone. It broke our hearts to see her grieving for him. I tried several attempts to get her to warm up to me and trust me again. I finally got her to come around after several days and she started opening up to me more, sleeping with me, and before long I became her person to help her get through life.
She and I would sit together and just enjoy each other's company. She was such a great cat overall and over the years she started showing her great personality to The Mr. and The Bean. She would come into the kitchen when The Mr. was getting ready for work and talk to him while he made his lunch for the day. That is one thing Meia enjoyed, talking. She would sit and meow at us in different tones and tell us so many things.
She would sit in the windows waiting on all three of us, or one of us, when we left the house. She watched out for us and Baz. When we brought Hardy into the family she immediately showed him the first love. She loved other animals completely, but she thought dogs were great! She showed Baz and Hardy so much love throughout the years and they loved her in return. When Baz started getting sick she stuck by his side. She loved him and he loved her. She outlived all of her brothers in the end, with Milo passing first, then Norman passing in 2014, and Cooper following in 2016.
Meia was more than a cat, she was our sweet, little, friend that showed her love for us the older she got. She saw the arrival of The Bean and watched him grow up. She traveled from Arkansas to Oregon, moved with us all four times. We were hoping to have a full 20 years with her and have her take the next steps in our life with us. I don't feel that 17 years and nine months is enough for her, or any animal, and having her poor, little heart fail her in the end just isn't fair. Meia was one of a kind and deserved a better end to her wonderful life. She and Baz are missed so much by everyone that knew them both completely. Our family Christmas pictures won't be the same without her and the 17 years she graced our social media accounts, text messages, and paper photographs. Her presence is missed so much by us and our hearts are broken knowing she is gone. Pets give us so much in their life and in the end, letting go is the hardest part.
Her last picture on the way to the veterinarian to be euthanized. I enjoyed her cuddling with me and spending these last moments by her side. With years of loyalty a pet gives it is our duty to repay them and be with them until their final heartbeat.
Her last picture on the way to the veterinarian to be euthanized. I enjoyed her cuddling with me and spending these last moments by her side. With years of loyalty a pet gives it is our duty to repay them and be with them until their final heartbeat.
We'll be seeing you, Meia.
Thank you for 17 years of loyalty and love.
Baby Meierz (October 20, 2000 - August 9, 2018)
“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” ― A.A. Milne
Five simple things
Hello.
This week wasn't as hot as last week, with last week getting up over 100 degrees on a couple of days. We did get a few things done this week that we've been procrastinating. Things like, draw up rough plans for a floating deck build, get homeschool papers in order and organize The Bean's material for the following year. We don't really take a summer vacation, but we do take some time to sort things out from time to time and the summer months gives us that time. We don't have stacks of papers, or even filing drawers full of workbooks, or worksheets-What we do have is work that was done throughout the year, we keep our favorites, and recycle the rest. In our efforts to go more minimal with our living we like to keep things with the homeschool classroom minimal, as well. Here is what the rest of our week looked like:
Saturday: We finished our permanent volleyball poles and went on a hunt for a net. We found a great one at a sporting goods store in Corvallis, Oregon, and we promptly put it up. We tried out the poles and net to see if they were good to go and once we were all in agreement that it was "job well done" we played several games clear into the evening. We are all pretty excited that we have our own volleyball court in our backyard. More on this later.
Sunday: The Mr. unfortunately had to work the weekend through. It's hard to plan anything on the work weekends, but on those days we make small plans and try to get them done before Monday. One of those plans this week was to buy the materials we needed for our rough drawing of a floating deck The Mr. has been wanting to build in our backyard. We weren't sure exactly what we were going for until we started looking through Home Depot for the goods. We ended up buying half the materials right now and setting them up just to make sure it is what we are going for. We hit the jackpot and picked up the right length, so we will finish purchasing the floating deck materials next weekend and finish the job. More on this later.
Monday: Monday is what we like to refer to as, "Monday Madness." The Bean and I use this phrase in our homeschooling just to be sure and get everything done in the classroom that we weren't able to complete the week before. We also use this time to get everything in the house done and ready for the rest of the week, too. It's a great way to start the week and get things done that we would ultimately put off and more than likely not get done. I like to use the "Monday Madness" time to get my blog organized for the week and it really helps me stay on track for the week, too. Speaking of blog, have you seen the clip art section of my blog yet? Check out the calendar prints by scrolling down the page. They are custom-made and fit a three-ring binder. I use them to stay organized and write down everything each month to keep us all on the right track in our home. If you need a bit of help keeping things organized, try my printables for the calendar. I am currently working on a blog organizer sheet, so check back soon for that.
Tuesday: We ended up taking our 17-year-old Persian/Siamese kitty, Meia, to the veterinarian. She hasn't been acting herself for awhile and given her age, we just aren't sure what was going on. The veterinarian said her white blood cells are elevated and put her on some antibiotics and pain medicine. We hope this helps her get back to her old self again, but if not, we are prepared to face what comes next. She's been a great cat and The Mr. and I have had her since she was a kitten. She's starting to show a bit more action and looks as though she is feeling better, so we have our fingers crossed. Last September we lost our oldest dog, Baz, so we really aren't emotionally ready to lose another one of our pet friends. We have high hopes that this medicine will help her and keep her with us for a few more years.
Wednesday: The Mr. took the day off from work to be home with us while we stayed alert with Meia. She seemed to be feeling a little better, but still shows signs of her age from time to time. We also went and picked up our new glasses. The Bean looks sharp in his new pair and The Mr. looks like Drew Carey with his new specs. We are all glad to have them though because a couple of us were starting to get eyestrain headaches. I'll share a picture of us with these new specs on soon.
Thursday: We spent the day "saving" our neighbor's dogs. As hot as it has been a lot of pet owners forget to refresh their outside pets water bowl and the animals get dehydrated, have a heat stroke, or worse. On Thursday our neighbor's dogs started acting strange about 9:00 a.m. They were drooling a lot, lethargic, wide-eyed, and twitching every few minutes as if they were dying. The Bean and I rushed over and told them something was wrong, with one dog, the puppy, in worse shape than the older dog. They agreed to let me take it to the veterinarian to get it some help, if I could. The Bean and I ended up taking the puppy to a local vet and they determined that the dog had some broken ribs, was extremely dehydrated, and could have internal bleeding. They sedated the puppy and gave it an IV of fluids and in turn I was to drive it to the Linn County Animal Control for further treatment. The Bean and I did just that and in turn our neighbors lost ownership of their dog. They informed me when I took the puppy to not let the veterinarian, or the animal control know that it was theirs. Linn County Animal Control now has the puppy and will hopefully be able to bring it back to health and adopt it out after it recovers. The Bean and I returned home and cleaned out the back of the car from where the dog had been and as soon as we finished our neighbor came back over and asked if we could give him a ride to take his other dog to the veterinarian because it was starting to act the same way as the puppy. I agreed and drove him to an emergency veterinarian in Albany, Oregon, after two local veterinarians had turned him down for treatment. After about an hour of sitting with him, helping him fill out the proper paperwork, and hearing him use a lot of profanity toward the staff, they informed him that his dog had eating either marijuana, or other narcotics. I was not surprised one bit by the information. Our neighbors are quite the potheads and when picking up the puppy earlier in the day a woman coming out of the garage told me that the dogs could have gotten her back pain medication that was sitting on the porch. Unbelievable, right? So needless to say, we gave him a ride home with his dog, gave him some money for dog food, told him to always have water for them no matter what, and were glad at the fact that we were able to get the puppy away from them and hopefully saved its life. I reported the entire incident to the local police department and informed them of everything that had transpired. I am not sure what can be done as of right now, but at least I feel we did the most we could do for those animals. Bad thing is, there are three other dogs on the property, too. The Mr., The Bean, and I will definitely have our eyes on them from time to time just to make sure they are being cared for properly.
Friday: Seeing as Thursday had us going with excitement from 9:00 a.m. until about 7:00 p.m. we are going to take today low and slow. The Bean and I have a few things to cover in the homeschool classroom and I plan on working on the Forest School page on my blog. I am really happy with the way our homeschooling has progressed into what it has. I look forward to sharing all of our lessons under that page tab soon.
For the rest of the week, here are five simple things that made this week good.
1. This stack of hay...
This week wasn't as hot as last week, with last week getting up over 100 degrees on a couple of days. We did get a few things done this week that we've been procrastinating. Things like, draw up rough plans for a floating deck build, get homeschool papers in order and organize The Bean's material for the following year. We don't really take a summer vacation, but we do take some time to sort things out from time to time and the summer months gives us that time. We don't have stacks of papers, or even filing drawers full of workbooks, or worksheets-What we do have is work that was done throughout the year, we keep our favorites, and recycle the rest. In our efforts to go more minimal with our living we like to keep things with the homeschool classroom minimal, as well. Here is what the rest of our week looked like:
Saturday: We finished our permanent volleyball poles and went on a hunt for a net. We found a great one at a sporting goods store in Corvallis, Oregon, and we promptly put it up. We tried out the poles and net to see if they were good to go and once we were all in agreement that it was "job well done" we played several games clear into the evening. We are all pretty excited that we have our own volleyball court in our backyard. More on this later.
Sunday: The Mr. unfortunately had to work the weekend through. It's hard to plan anything on the work weekends, but on those days we make small plans and try to get them done before Monday. One of those plans this week was to buy the materials we needed for our rough drawing of a floating deck The Mr. has been wanting to build in our backyard. We weren't sure exactly what we were going for until we started looking through Home Depot for the goods. We ended up buying half the materials right now and setting them up just to make sure it is what we are going for. We hit the jackpot and picked up the right length, so we will finish purchasing the floating deck materials next weekend and finish the job. More on this later.
Monday: Monday is what we like to refer to as, "Monday Madness." The Bean and I use this phrase in our homeschooling just to be sure and get everything done in the classroom that we weren't able to complete the week before. We also use this time to get everything in the house done and ready for the rest of the week, too. It's a great way to start the week and get things done that we would ultimately put off and more than likely not get done. I like to use the "Monday Madness" time to get my blog organized for the week and it really helps me stay on track for the week, too. Speaking of blog, have you seen the clip art section of my blog yet? Check out the calendar prints by scrolling down the page. They are custom-made and fit a three-ring binder. I use them to stay organized and write down everything each month to keep us all on the right track in our home. If you need a bit of help keeping things organized, try my printables for the calendar. I am currently working on a blog organizer sheet, so check back soon for that.
Tuesday: We ended up taking our 17-year-old Persian/Siamese kitty, Meia, to the veterinarian. She hasn't been acting herself for awhile and given her age, we just aren't sure what was going on. The veterinarian said her white blood cells are elevated and put her on some antibiotics and pain medicine. We hope this helps her get back to her old self again, but if not, we are prepared to face what comes next. She's been a great cat and The Mr. and I have had her since she was a kitten. She's starting to show a bit more action and looks as though she is feeling better, so we have our fingers crossed. Last September we lost our oldest dog, Baz, so we really aren't emotionally ready to lose another one of our pet friends. We have high hopes that this medicine will help her and keep her with us for a few more years.
Wednesday: The Mr. took the day off from work to be home with us while we stayed alert with Meia. She seemed to be feeling a little better, but still shows signs of her age from time to time. We also went and picked up our new glasses. The Bean looks sharp in his new pair and The Mr. looks like Drew Carey with his new specs. We are all glad to have them though because a couple of us were starting to get eyestrain headaches. I'll share a picture of us with these new specs on soon.
Thursday: We spent the day "saving" our neighbor's dogs. As hot as it has been a lot of pet owners forget to refresh their outside pets water bowl and the animals get dehydrated, have a heat stroke, or worse. On Thursday our neighbor's dogs started acting strange about 9:00 a.m. They were drooling a lot, lethargic, wide-eyed, and twitching every few minutes as if they were dying. The Bean and I rushed over and told them something was wrong, with one dog, the puppy, in worse shape than the older dog. They agreed to let me take it to the veterinarian to get it some help, if I could. The Bean and I ended up taking the puppy to a local vet and they determined that the dog had some broken ribs, was extremely dehydrated, and could have internal bleeding. They sedated the puppy and gave it an IV of fluids and in turn I was to drive it to the Linn County Animal Control for further treatment. The Bean and I did just that and in turn our neighbors lost ownership of their dog. They informed me when I took the puppy to not let the veterinarian, or the animal control know that it was theirs. Linn County Animal Control now has the puppy and will hopefully be able to bring it back to health and adopt it out after it recovers. The Bean and I returned home and cleaned out the back of the car from where the dog had been and as soon as we finished our neighbor came back over and asked if we could give him a ride to take his other dog to the veterinarian because it was starting to act the same way as the puppy. I agreed and drove him to an emergency veterinarian in Albany, Oregon, after two local veterinarians had turned him down for treatment. After about an hour of sitting with him, helping him fill out the proper paperwork, and hearing him use a lot of profanity toward the staff, they informed him that his dog had eating either marijuana, or other narcotics. I was not surprised one bit by the information. Our neighbors are quite the potheads and when picking up the puppy earlier in the day a woman coming out of the garage told me that the dogs could have gotten her back pain medication that was sitting on the porch. Unbelievable, right? So needless to say, we gave him a ride home with his dog, gave him some money for dog food, told him to always have water for them no matter what, and were glad at the fact that we were able to get the puppy away from them and hopefully saved its life. I reported the entire incident to the local police department and informed them of everything that had transpired. I am not sure what can be done as of right now, but at least I feel we did the most we could do for those animals. Bad thing is, there are three other dogs on the property, too. The Mr., The Bean, and I will definitely have our eyes on them from time to time just to make sure they are being cared for properly.
Friday: Seeing as Thursday had us going with excitement from 9:00 a.m. until about 7:00 p.m. we are going to take today low and slow. The Bean and I have a few things to cover in the homeschool classroom and I plan on working on the Forest School page on my blog. I am really happy with the way our homeschooling has progressed into what it has. I look forward to sharing all of our lessons under that page tab soon.
For the rest of the week, here are five simple things that made this week good.
1. This stack of hay...
The fields are being plowed, rowed, and baled around the Valley this week. This time of year is always hard on allergy sufferers, but the grass harvest seems to only last for a few weeks and the sneezing goes with it.
2. Lebanon turkeys...
Always fun to see them out and about. This time they came through our yard and had babies with them. They are neat birds and 100% wild.
3. The girls...
With the hot temperatures the girls have been spending a lot more time poolside and staying wet. We've enjoyed watching them just be ducks the last couple of weeks.
4. These silicone items...
4. These silicone items...
On our journey to become plastic-free, more zero waste, and to be more minimal we are slowly finding items that can help keep us on track. These silicone jar lid covers can fit a wide mouth or regular mouth jar top and have a hole for a straw on the top. We have already been using them and they are great for taking drinks on the road. The other item on the right is a summertime must have! Nothing better than homemade popsicles! Both of these items can be found on here and here.
5. This sunset...
Living on the western end of the United States gives us a view of the setting sun that those in central, or eastern states will never see. Such a beautiful sight some evenings.
A few more things:
• Flash mob pillow fight in San Francisco. Do people still do flash mobs?
• Rethink Aveda products. They aren't as natural and eco-friendly as you might think.
• Need a new blog to follow? Check out Hollowsolid.
• Alice and Wonderland.
• The cutest travel trailers for those that don't need all the unnecessaries.
• The real meaning of the word, "Muse."
• There was a time that our president actually cared about the environment.
• The Quiet Revolution Vertical Axis Wind Turbine could change the way we harness wind energy.
• Yoga on the go with Yogaglo.
• Need twine?
Have a good weekend!
• Flash mob pillow fight in San Francisco. Do people still do flash mobs?
• Rethink Aveda products. They aren't as natural and eco-friendly as you might think.
• Need a new blog to follow? Check out Hollowsolid.
• Alice and Wonderland.
• The cutest travel trailers for those that don't need all the unnecessaries.
• The real meaning of the word, "Muse."
• There was a time that our president actually cared about the environment.
• The Quiet Revolution Vertical Axis Wind Turbine could change the way we harness wind energy.
• Yoga on the go with Yogaglo.
• Need twine?
Have a good weekend!
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