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It’s only Wednesday and we’ve already been to Bennington twice this week.
Monday was warm and sunny. Today there was snow on the hills as we descended into Vermont.
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While I’m almost always up for a drive, I’ll admit I was not enthused by the purpose of these trips, specifically to a Staples shop.
Though I can’t quite see how I will ever get the chance to use mine, we decided it would be prudent to renew passports and this involves photographs.
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Every nation appears to have different requirements in this regard, but Staples has a program set up to deal with most.
Online however, the United Kingdom was not mentioned, so when Grant was told that it should have been, I found myself in a more disheveled state than I was prepared to have recorded.
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What earthly difference would it make?
Passport photos are supposed to be awful, ie: real!
In truth I could have been persuaded, but I planned to attempt taking a selfie. How hard could it be?
When it comes to satisfying government officials of course, it can be very hard.
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Which is why, when Grant had to go back today, I decided to comb my hair and wear a more respectable jumper.
Mission accomplished. Now I just have to satisfy the remaining requirements…ho hum.
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Monday was a very much nicer day to be out, with a delightful set of clouds.
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It was the sort of day that makes you feel good to be alive.
When there isn’t a lunatic at large.
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It has often been a fantasy of mine to see whether I could eliminate Chinese products from my existence, not because I have anything against the Chinese people, but because I do not approve of their government, ironic as that now seems.
Casting my eyes around, I’ve always promptly abandoned my fantasy as being an impossibility. However, the way things look, it may become reality!
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We will manage perfectly well, but the removal of inexpensive items will affect more than just individuals.
There is an online network called Greater Good that sells all sorts of cheap merchandise to help raise funds for a variety of charities and most of those items are certainly imported, many from China.
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Our current administration is not in the least concerned that they have mistakenly and illegally deported innocent men to an obscene prison in El Salvador, so why would they care about charity?
Least of all animal charities.
It is particularly the women of this administration that offend me. Not that I have much in the way of forgiveness for men who behave badly, but that gang is a particularly cold-hearted group of bitches.
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Soon I shall have ground my teeth down to nubs.
Which reminds me that they have an appointment tomorrow for a six-monthly cleaning, quite unnecessary I’m sure, but I was informed once that attending regular check-ups of this sort keeps the charges down.
Without insurance for dental care, it’s of some importance. I do get a discount for being an old woman, which is why I haven’t sought out a new practice.
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Perhaps tomorrow I’ll have a revised, improved opinion of the current one!
How bad could a cleaning be?
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Meanwhile Lily has been diagnosed with kidney stones, to be treated with an as yet to be determined anti-biotic. Tomorrow she must provide a urine specimen, to that end.
At the age of 17 surgery is obviously out of the question. Special diet is an option but unlikely to be accepted.
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It seems to me that the cats of my childhood which were fed scraps and bits of meat or fish, lived much longer and with far less ailments than our modern pampered generations.
While we can’t afford top of the range cat food, we certainly don’t settle for cheap brands, yet one wonders what all this fancy pet food contains.
What does human food contain in the way of preservatives and filler?
It’s not something I have ever worried about, but I think one certainly could.
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At this late stage of my life, however, I’ve given up the one thing I have always been able to do better than most.
Worrying will be no more.
Thank you, Carolyn, for your beautiful photos of trees against the blue sky, and your musing about the politics, always an interesting subject in today’s world.
Joanna
Our 16 year old cat git all but 8 of her teeth pulled today and all the abscesses flushed. I wondered why, but she’s family. Our dogs eat. Too well. For their own good were told. Had an Irish Setter make it to 15 on grocery store food. Oh well.
That would be got🤦🏻♂️
Oh poor love. But it will be a relief for her to be rid of the abscesses. My Panther had most of his teeth out years ago because of rodent ulcer. Yes, they are family. Your Setter achieved a good age. Never long enough, though, is it?
That’s one of life’s tragedies that pets have such short life spans.
I don’t think pets did live longer back when we were children. It just seemed that they did, known as a false memory. In my childhood there was no money for Vets and pet insurance was unheard of. So if a dog or cat had a serious illness or required expensive surgery, it was usually just allowed to die. Often crawling off somewhere to hide when it knew it was time. A 17 year-old cat is incredibly old in comparative human years, a tribute to modern veterinary care, good living conditions, adequate nutrition, and devoted owners.
Best wishes, Pete.
Yes 17 isn’t bad. Kina,the cat I gave up, lived to be 21. But we have lost many cats much earlier, often with cancer or kidney disease. My aunt in England took in a stray during the war and it lived a very long life on not much at all.