God Used a Cricket to Save My Life

In December of 2014, I was having problems with feeling very weak and nauseated. I do deal with

Fibromyalgia (Fibro) and a list of other health issues so feeling weak and nauseated is not new to me.  Even Fibro sometimes feels like the flu. Yet this was weird because I couldn't get up off the floor of my lounge pad on that Monday.  Usually I can go about doing things a little at a time, but something was different this time.  I thought that it was just another health issue I have to endure so it didn't really bother me too much. On Tuesday,  I felt a little better but I could barely do my laundry. I just sat by the dryer and pulled out the clothes and threw them over my head to the table because I was too weak to get up. I didn't even fold all of them. I don't normally act like this.

photobucket.com

On Wednesday, I saw a cricket in my kitchen. I don't like crickets so I was anxiously trying to get it out of my kitchen so I would be able to sleep at night. No I am not one of those people who loves the sound of crickets chirping or chiming in the middle of the night.  I tried to catch it with a cup I found nearby, yet it hopped to the back of the stove.  Grrr, I thought. I am never going to be able to get it. As it hopped behind the stove, I leaned toward the wall to see if I could see it.  All of a sudden I smelled gas coming from behind the stove.

I immediately called the gas co and sure enough there was a small gas leak coming through the regulator.  He fixed it as I tried to find the cricket. No luck. After he left, I opened the windows and felt fresh air in my lungs immediately. I was too lightheaded to think about opening them beforehand. I noticed that even my cat Buttons was walking around more after I opened the windows.

The next day I saw the cricket hopping out of the kitchen. I ran to it to catch it because I didn't want him in my bedroom making those cricket sounds. Yet I felt sorry for him. Poor little guy, he probably felt sick too with the gas leak because I didn't hear him at all make a peep the night before. I decided to capture that little guy and I walked the three flights of stairs to the outside and released him. He needed a second chance and some fresh air.

God sent that little cricket to save my life and my cat's life too. If I didn't see him hop near the back of the stove, I wouldn't have known I had a gas leak.  I have heard people say that animals (cats and dogs) have warned people when danger was close by. God must have a sense of humor, because he sent me a cricket.



For this story and more of my creative writing, tips, and artwork, checkout:

www.teensytidbits.blogspot.com

I am so Over the Owls

Well, today my neighbors said that the screeching owls have moved on. I had to go check it out so I peaked out the window down the hall from where I live. Yup no more screeching sounds. I loved those beautiful owls that I was able to observe for a week or two.

I looked on the sidewalk, and lo and behold, there was a creature sitting there. This brown animal's eyes were looking at me..it wasn't a cat or a dog. I couldn't tell what it was. At first I thought it was a brown owl . That is so awesome but Was it hurt? Why is it on the sidewalk?  Yet it was so cool to watch...

It looks so curious with its white face and brown body, just looking around and turning his head from side to side.. Oh I wish I had my camera.  I went and put a note on my neighbor's door and went back to the window and it was gone. I am a curious person, by nature so I had to go investigate that animal.

I forgot I had my camera phone so I got it ready and  I went downstairs as fast as I could and out the door to go see if I could get a closer look, but the animal about as big as a kitten or puppy was nowhere to be seen...

Then I moved closer to where it was originally standing, and I heard a sound as if something creaked open, then all of a sudden this beautiful brown owl flew about 100 ft away from me, but it was carrying a smaller animal...his dinner....oh gross. I immediately got nauseated and felt like I was going to puke when I saw that animal being carried away to be eaten,,,just the thought of it made me not like that owl any more...I know they have to eat, but that was too much for me to see..

As I walked back to my apartment, I had this bad taste in my mouth, and felt disgusted by the owl....as I am writing it, it's still giving me chills down my spine...I am a city girl...I don't like to think of  animals killing other animals for food....Okay I know I eat certain meats, but like I said. I am a city girl...If I had to kill it, I would be a vegetarian...

so long furry friend; I hope you had a good life.

We Have Visitors

About a week and a half ago,  I was at my neighbors apartment around 9 p.m. which is in the same building as my place. I sat on her nice couch and while we were chatting, I heard screeching sounds. I asked her to listen and we were quiet as the sounds enhanced. I suggested that I thought the noise was a screeching owl. She laughed as she said that she hears that noise a lot at nighttime and thought it was her neighbors making that noise. I kindly said, as I chuckled, "that's not your neighbor; that's a screeching owl." As we continued to talk, the noise would become louder and then lower a few decimals. I said goodnight to my friend, and went on my merry way. I totally forgot about the lonesome owl. 

Last week, one of my relatives came over to visit me. While he walked back to his car around 8:30 p.m., he heard the same noise that my friend and I had recently heard from her apartment.  He called me and told me that he thinks there is a nest of owls in the palm tree where I live.  I thought that was cool, but eventually forgot about the owl again...

Then the next day, I went out for a few hours and visited with some friends.  After I was dropped off at 9 pm, I heard an increased number of screeching sounds coming from the palm trees. I decided to investigate the noise.  I went up to the third level of my apartments and looked out the hallway window...and lo and behold, there was one owl, then another, and another, and one more...than I think there was even one more. They were on the palm tree branches, some were flying in the air, and some were peaking out of the palm tree...So I called my neighborly friend and told her "you have to come check this out...There are 4 or 5 owls in the palm trees on the property."  She was amazed and came as fast as she could up the stairs. It was a sweet moment to share this surprise with her.

The beautifully white colored owls would circle around and come for a landing on the palm tree that was right in front of me.  I couldn't believe it's beauty of how it soars through the sky with no effort.   A few of them soar in the sky, some sit on the palm tree branches, and a few stay in one spot that looks like a nest in the palm tree.  It's so amazing. I have seen owls before, but they usually glide into the palm trees and hide.  So it was magnificent to see these beautiful creatures God created.  When they were flying, I wouldn't hear any sounds from those owls. Only when they landed on the branch, it was then that they would start communicating with each other in this high pitch screeching sound. When two particular owls would join the nest, the owls would get so excited and the screeching would get even louder as though they were the welcoming committee or the hungry committee...These two, I think were the younger ones. They didn't seem to take off anywhere but flapped there wings and were extremely excited when I assumed mom and pop came back...These younger ones, looked just a tiny bit smaller than the other owls, and even a little bit rounder.  But don't let that stop them, they sure have lungs...They get just as excited and loud as the adult owls.

I ended up calling one of my other neighbors on another day and told him about them...I said, "You have got to see these owls." So he came up and we saw at least six owls... Out of the six I saw, five of them were hanging out on the branches and some would fly and come back to the same tree while one (I will name the Rebel) decided to fly to the opposite palm tree.  It was so magnificent to watch...You know, there could even be more owls than the ones I have counted.  

One of my new nightly routines is to see these beautiful, peaceful creatures.  Six beautiful, fluffy white owls right where I live...Amazing...and the best part is, the owls are on the other side of the building so the screeching sounds don't wake me up....lol...so I do feel a little sad for my neighbors on the other side....if they aren't getting a great amount of sleep from the group of owls.  The owls seem to come out from 8:30 p.m. to 5 a.m.  Yup, about the time people are either trying to relax or sleep.  

I have been google-ing information about owls. Did you know a group of owls is called a Parliament (ask.com). I also found out that there are over 200 different species of owls too (ask.com). Who knew? I had no idea. If you want to see a list of the owls, check out http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=all

Okay I have to go now and spend sometime with my new friends.

the picture of the owl is from: pictures from http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/3160392778_1e4fd6e031_o_TimLenz.jpg

Another House-Sitting adventure. This one is the tops!!!

Okay I was actually dog sitting, cat sitting, or maybe zoo sitting a couple of weeks ago. I was taking care of 3 cats and 5 dogs and thankfully the tortoise was in hibernation.
One of the cats, we will name Crazy Cat, decided to have fun in the field in the back. He came in with fox tails, weeds, and dirt all over his thick fur so I spent a great amount of time picking them out of his fur and mostly out of his bottom.

One night, as I opened the bathroom door and was drying my clean and shiny hair, I noticed in the dark living room that the cat dropped a sock near the puppy. I thought it was no big deal; then I thought about it. The cat doesn't usually have socks in his mouth, the dog does. So I turned on the light in the living room and noticed I was staring at a gopher. Yuck, eeek, ooouuuooo. I don't like rodents. So I was about to dodge for something to get rid of it and realized the broom and dust pan were in the kitchen. The 3 dogs and 1 cat were trying to get near the yummy delicacy. As I shooooed them away, I ran for the broom in a sprint.

I took a deep breath and swept up the rodent, but the rodent was soft and limp and wouldn't slide nicely onto the dustpan. I had to keep trying to gather this fresh kill before the animals devoured it. THis was not a great day for me; still makes me grossed out just thinking about it. lol
I finally got it and was heading out the front door when I realized there was the huge dog on the front porch. I had to sway her away and put the rodent outside with the dustpan. I am just thankful the dustpan had a tall handle. I looked outside and remembered I already took out the trash cans eaarlier because the next day would be trash day. As I looked down, I realized I am in my pj's, yet I had to get rid of this rodent before the animals got it. I ran and grabbed a jacket and didn't care how I looked. I walked out to the front of the house, out to the street, and carefully put that limp golpher in the trash receptical.

So glad that was over. Now it was time to get ready for bed. The owner of the dogs likes her animals to wear cloths, so I changed 4 of their clothes just in case she came home the next day. I put on their warm shirts because it was cold. I felt like I was getting 4 babies ready for bed. Crazy. Okay 2 dogs had medicine, changed 4 dog's clothes, made sure they all went out to potty, and then put 3 in a bed. One of them was missing her owner so she slept on the floor in my bedroom. Okay every body is set, so now I get some time to myself. Man, I felt like a crazy mom. lol
Whew, what a night.

I had a hard time sleeping; the dog I let sleep in my room, actually snores. Then in the middle of the night, something startled me. I looked on the side of my bed, and the dog was jumping up and down really high, trying to get on my bed. All I could do was laugh. I don't know how long she had been jumping and NO I did not let her sleep with me.
The next morning I realized it was going to be a hot day, so I had to change the dogs clothes again because they would have roasted in their warm clothes. So I ran to the dresser drawer where all the dog's clothes were and picked out 4 more outfits, then threw them on them because my bus was about to pick me up. Then I made sure 2 of them had their meds and all were fed and I was out the door.

Next day, I was getting things done in the house, and then made sure the door was locked and the alarm was set before getting ready for bed. A half hour past and I kept hearing barking. I told one of the dogs that was following me to stop barking. Yet she wouldn't stop. Actually I figured out it wasn't her at all; it was one of the dogs I forgot about and left him outside. So I had to unset the alarm and open the door and let him in. Then I the alarm back on.

A little later, I kept hearing running water. It was bugging me because I was the only one in the house. So I opened the door and forgot about the fact that I had turned on the alarm. So the alarm is now blaring; I run and turn it off. I call the alarm company to tell them that it was a false alarm and didn't want to be charged for it. I dialed the number that was written down. It said the number is changed and to call another number. So I call that number; after following all of the steps and talk to an actual person; they said I have the wrong alarm company. So then I finally call the correct company and the rep said that the alarm didn't register onto the system. I guess if you turn the alarm off within a few seconds, it doesn't compute. I remember running to turn the alarm off. What a crazy week I had!!!
And the owner of the dogs wonders why I was so exhuasted after I dog sat. funny. lol Stay tuned for more housesitting adventures.

Creepy critters

okay, I am back from Oklahoma and I had a welcome visitor today. I kept hearing this weird sounding noise in the back yard, but thought nothing of it. Even that cat was a little fearful looking.
I went outside, looked up at the patio and noticed a foot (or more) long tail hanging through the wood slots. SO I went a little ways out and low and behold, there was a fuzzy creature. I couldn't see his face. 
I decided to go get my cell phone to take a picture of it.
It had moved, I looked at a different position and slowly climbed on a white chair to get a better view, and I used the flashlight because it was dark outside, possibly around 9 pm. It was this long tailed, furry possum bigger than Liz's cat PC. I was freaked out and wasn't sure if it was going to jump on me but it looked as much scared as I was. It had two fangs and some sharp looking smaller teeth.

I looked a way for a moment. All of a sudden I heard it chomping on something that looked like a big Bettle bug. It was salivating and sucking out the inside of whatever it was eating and chomping loudly. It was pretty disqusting. Then I got a closer look of what it was eating. It was a small avocado. After it was done eating, it let the avocado pit fall to the ground.. It was huge. EEEWWW...Pam, Penny, and Debbie, this is no joke... forget the tree rat, the bugs, the dogs, the frogs, I think this was the worst and it was on the patio roof of my backyard. 
How do Liz and I get rid of it? any ideas.
See ya all soon...I have lots of things to blog about regarding my trip, so I will be writing y'all soon... Missed y'all

Slimy green in not my favorite color

I had the pleasure of house sitting in a quiet neighborhood these last couple of days. I won't mention where it was, because It wouldn't be wise to give a person's address away...
It was a beautiful place, even the outside seemed nicely landscaped. Everything was great, until...the sky turned to night and all I could hear was:
Ribbit, ribit, Ribbit
Everytime I closed my eyes to go to sleep, all I saw in my mind's eye were frogs; luckily I couldn't physically see them and all I heard was ribbit, ribbit, ribbit. The first night I dreamed about frogs, snakes, lizards, and other yucky stuff I don't like.

One night , as I was eating my nice piece of baked chicken, all I could think about were frogs. Well they were still making those crazy ribit sounds. While chopping on the chicken, all of a sudden, I realized the chicken on my plate was in the shape of a frog. I pondered about that as I was still chewing and listening to the frogs. I then lost my appetite as I thought of myself chomping on a frog leg. Yuck... I decided to give my chicken to the cat (with the owner's permission of course.)