our weekend so far

Bill and I are staying with our oldest grandchild, Mikala, while her parents are in New Orleans this weekend. At least I am; this morning Bill had to return home for a homeowners meeting (he's one of the few on the board with solid common sense) -- then back to Houston.

This is Bearcat when he saw that once again an overnight bag appeared. Last weekend we were in Pflugerville where Bill helped Matt put in cabinets and desks at Misty's daycare. Bear thinks we are gone from home too much (and my hermit nature agrees!)

It's been a hectic week all 'round: Bear has been on a hunger strike, refusing to touch the prescription food the vet ordered. The vet and we finally gave in, choosing to feed him and let his probable kidney failure take its course rather than let him starve himself to death. That meant a trip to College Station, to the nearest pet store. They will give us credit for partial bags of any food he refuses to eat. So far, he likes the Wellness brand.

It was also time for my car's yearly inspection and tags . . . followed up by an unexpected replacement of the brakes! The PT Cruiser is going on 11 years old and we had never had to have any brake work before so I guess it was time. Still a great car for all the driving we do across Texas.

Bill had a pre-surgical doctor appointment following lots of tests. On Monday he has surgery on his upper spine --- the arm pain he's had for a couple of years has worsened and keeps him from sleep. They will be replacing two discs in his neck with bone grafts, then "screw" the whole together. I guess that's what they call fusing spinal discs? Lots of jokes about paying to have his throat slit (surgery is done from the front) and his being turned into Frankenstein's monster with bolts in his neck. Keeps me from picturing something truly scary.

I sketched the above tomatoes from a photo on my IPad. We picked green tomatoes just before a freeze to make fried green tomatoes; then we've been so busy that they turned green on the counter. The black page is where I messed up on some written notes and covered it up with acrylic paint. Tonight I did a quick sketch of some of the pets' toys with a white gel pen. I wish I hadn't tried to add the shadows . . .