*Edited to include another friend's important comment ..which I will mention to the potential adoptive parents when I see them today.

LOL
I got this email from a dear friend of mine this morning...

But, as a true friend and animal lover I had to respond ... as follows

Are you seriously thinking of bringing 4 new members into your household?  

What kind of dogs. Big dogs relieve themselves BIG TIME. Landmines.. so to speak~
Short haired dogs shed unbelievable layers of hair and both dogs need daily attention, not just tossed out in the yard.. (or worse, chained)  and neglected.
 
Having a dog you will need to fence your yard and know that your planting selections will change for several reasons. Some plants are toxic. Dogs are known decorators and will change the looks of that yard as the whim suits them   
 
Dogs can be barkers, require grooming and require regular baths... not to mention those professional hair cuts and dental care.

* Into this mix, add neutering / spaying and the costs that the responsible pet owner takes care of.   

Birds squawk loud enough to wake the dead..some squawk and talk constantly.
They do not own watches so those early morning screams are a particular endearment that will be driving you and your neighbors beyond rational thinking.
Their their nails, beaks and flying feathers trimmed if they are out of their cage and put them on your shoulder .. not to mention the relive themselves at whim all over and spray seed everywhere, attracting rodents. Unless their cage has a measured empty space around it, are able to destroy everything they can reach.
IF you are serious, get serious that you are going to spend at least an hour a day for each animal/critter.

Cleaning and Vet bills will be an ongoing and forever thing costing what will have paid for your children's college education.

My own Daisy and the kitties that have adopted us... are  the forever things in our lives. .

A few months ago, while having one of those absence of common sense moments, I got a Beta. He is THE most beautiful red Beta fish ever.
 
What was I thinking???? .(Obviously I was not thinking) The drill started immediately... there was the new bowl, followed a few days later with a newer prettier one, the bottle of anti-chlorine/coat treatment that must be administered to the new water along with the space it requires to be allowed to let sit and out-gas overnight.

The tiny bits of his food stick together and have to be separated or it is too large and hard for him to eat it. While there has been no vet bills there is the constant daily bath for the the fish, the marbles and bowl.
Currently I am thinking  he really needs more space. I am searching for a small tank to add to my cleaning/more things to do list. Will it really cut down on my work time?
 
BTW, how long to fish live? No, I am not wishing him gone, only looking at the reality of how long he will be in my life. .. vs how long do I have?  and not pass on my responsibilities to my heirs. 
He is darling little guy..., smart even... when he wants extras, he goes to the feeding corner and flares until I drop in a few more bits for him.

Now don't let me frighten you away from having the most delightful friendship known to mankind.
Just do it with your eyes open to what the entire costs are in Time, $$$ and Responsibility...

Good news for ChristChurch NZ, in spite of that horrendous earthquake.

A court will decide this month on the fate of Hawaii's elderly homeless woman "Josie May", who turned out to be a lost but treasured kuia from New Zealand.

Hawaii Family Court is likely to confirm the identity of Ethel Helmbright, 83, and hand guardianship to her Melissa, her daughter in Christchurch.

Miss Helmbright, suffering dementia and known on the streets of Waikiki where she lived for a decade as "Josie May", has been in care since her health failed.

Last year she was admitted to Honolulu's Queen's Hospital, where she stayed for nearly 12 months. She was never able to say who she was; the only clue to her identity was a Kiwi accent.

The state of Hawaii appointed a public guardian, Peter Petticord, who earlier this year released pictures in a bid to identify her.

Within a day, the Helmbright family of Bay of Plenty recognized her as the last of a line of kuia, descendent of a chief who signed the Treaty of Waitangi and customary holder of a large swath of Tuhoe land.  It was thought she died in Alaska years ago.

Although her Bay of Plenty relatives were keen to bring her home, it is her daughter, who is estranged from this side of the family, who has legal rights. According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, she wants absolute privacy.

In Hawaii, the Family Court sits behind closed doors. The only public comment has come from Mr Petticord, in an interview yesterday with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

"She's confused," he said. "She doesn't understand what's happening."

The Hawaii Office of the Public Guardian has handled "Jane Doe" cases before. "This one's unique. She didn't know her name and her birth date."

Mr Petticord's office took over guardianship of "Josie May Bright" – as she was called – last December. Once her health improved, she was transferred to a foster care facility in June. When family members came forward, fingerprints taken at Queen's Hospital confirmed her identity.

"She is Ethel May Helmbright. `Josie May Bright's' actually pretty close in some ways. Her middle name is May. And Bright is part of her last name.

"Her people there want her and are proceeding to set things up to take her. It looks like it'll have a happy ending."

We went to a Garden Party this week-end. It was an elegant extravaganza.. The pupus and wine just kept coming... I tried everything.

I had already decided to try everything at least once. Instead I sampled at least three times. I tried both the white and red wines and decided the red was going to be a favorite. Excellent choice, both. lol

I am writing all the pupu's down before I forget any of it. ... not that I'll ever have a garden party as this one ..

I'd move into that place tomorrow.. no buts or ands.

The hostess that owns this paradise does all her own maintenance. These are all her own ideas. We even matched bandini manicures lol

Immediately, I had inked her into my 'most interesting' people list... She is about my age, been ALL over this world, collects everything. She says her friends are her real treasures. She laughs readily. I knew where she was because the crowd around her seemed to be having the most fun. Everybody was having a good time.    

There were hundreds of people congregated everywhere inside the house and in outdoor rooms that might seem private because you could not see others unless you were looking for them.
The bar/beverage area was set up on one of the outside patios. Huge sliders opened the entire  home in all directions. Every room was one or two steps to the outside.
 
Just to show you a snippet.. here are some red Ginger, red Ti, Orchids
and fern along one of the paths.
There was the grotto room, the jacuzzi room and the citrus room seating on a higher elevation. I have no idea how many more. 

This one in this photo went to an Exercise room and even it had it's patio.

It was not hard to find a place to be seated to sit and chat with interesting
people.

 There were peaceful waterfalls and Heliconia.
      Delightful surprises everywhere.

This grotto with huge carp ...Magic!

 With shade from an open cabana, the
over story of Palms just added to the magic

 Secret paths to rooms that always led you back to the main house
 This one  had an oriental seating space.. with teak benches and tables.

 What a wonderful time.
 Epic!

It is Thursday already with a Friday the 13 scheduled for tomorrow...

I wonder why They had to make the Friday's 13th  a day when Murphy and mischief reigns.
Who are the THEYs? and who gave them that power?

All this time, I have faced these days with some modicum of dread.. I admit to a superstitious tendency.  Why would anyone tempt fate?
If you believe in good there is the opposite

Rational thinking would still find me with projects and chores to do.. but I'm at the bottom of my hot list so they are ones that are going to be difficult, messy or I'll have to make a decision that will not be popular or or one that does not have clear lines.
Most of us hate to make a mistake or misstep even though it's not life threatening.

Left to me and my new efficiency planning ideals,  I'd just leave all that negative stuff and celebrate it all on Halloween.  Might be the best idea yet.    

 I have some fabric I have had for years. It is the remnants of a window seat project and I recovered my dining room chairs and made drapes. That was several homes ago. It turned out gorgeous. Pat! Pat!

I need a new dust ruffle... the one I did not make then.
It is not that the fabric was expensive, but it was the 'perfect fabric' and cannot be replaced.  I want THAT dust ruffle for my bed. I am excited and apprehensive. It has rotated to the top of my list... what am I waiting for???? 
 
Stand back! I'm cutting fabric here~

 Grrr!
Sorry, there is no accompanying pix... Grrr!

 My vacation to the mainland was great, but, all to short! 
....and I brought back many things, Pix, treasures, great memories, even the inspiration to get to some deep cleaning.

Before leaving, I was forced by a crash (not of my doing) to  move into a new computer. It is mighty noisy and totally distracting. Makes me hate to turn it on !!!!
 
Now after trying to add a reader and a player, my original software to download pix off my card is not functioning and no where to be found... Big time Grrr! 

 
              More projects are getting crossed off the list. Awesome!

This time it was lanai shades.
We already had some up and they were functional, but, once down, they literally close off the outside world.

It was always our plan to get the screen pull downs. This week was it!

         Ladders and tools are all at the ready... and so is Steve!

       
  
                         We got three to cover the area. 
                  

                 
                             What a clean looking installation.

      
       Here they are in the 'down'  They can go almost to the floor

                    We got to keep the party lights up.
         

        They look nice and will not let the sun bake our guests... or us.
 .
They are 8 foot X 8 foot long, easy to install and change out the pully system from a left to right side pull. The manufacturer even sends along a little disc for a quick show and tell.

We have had so 'doozy ' nightmare-ish projects but this one was NOT one of them.
 
Things went unbelievably smooth.
It took us longer to drag out and replace tools that the install time took. 

Tools?  I think it was two ladders, measuring tape, a screwdriver and masking tape for holding the template in place.

 YES! YES! and YES!  We have grass!!!!

Finally, after more that 5 years, we have grass. It is like a dream.
      

After all the problems getting the grass in out front, we decided to go with sod. We have been having the same (high) devil winds again and El Nin~o draught conditions as then.

After Cale left us with nothing to do, (LOL) we called for 30 yards of 'Hawaiian Supe-rsoil' .   
It's a mixture of ground lava cinder, Macadamia nut husks and somewhat aged cow manure. 

Our friend Ivan brought over his BobCat and made short order of the twin 'Bandini mountains'.
        

The next day Steve was the guy on the BobCat and I have to say, he loved playing with that.
It has a motor on it so it is written somewhere  that....

On day three, Curt came with the 1000 square feet of sod.

It only took us three days to lay it down and fill.  We took our time and Steve had races to watch.
Steve did all the heavy work while I got one really nasty sunburn.  He was two scoops of tired! Steve had set in the sprinkler system a few months ago, so that was in our favor.
 

The 'Red bed' in the pea gravel beach.

 The' tool trees' in the composer area.. The MIL is going to hide
  that and the garden area fairly nicely. Seedling are coming up.

The trail along Black River

... takes us to the garden/work area and Pele's (rock) garden
for a little ' time out'.

.....and the work area between the Lanai and the Citrus trees
 
    

 I am home.... well, I am presently at the home '20', but I will  go back early in the afternoon to feed and sit with the dogs.

Steve wants to go play at JC's so he will go pick up the guys ( at 7:30) from there.
The guys? ....our friends, Kevin and Matt, (and the owners of the Girlz) are returning from a visit to their family on the East Coast.

Freckles is the Beagle and Molly is her Cocker Spaniel.... aka 'The girls'.
 

I always miss the girlz when we all quit 'sleeping around'.  We have bonded many years ago and they are like my own...  we know what each other is up to and communicate.

Daisy is still a bit confused at me coming and going but still readily welcomes me home each day, even with the other doggie smells on me.

The Girlz tell me when to get up and when it is time for bed...time for treats, time to sit so then can have something warm and comfy to rest against.  I am sure they a getting creative about the times the treats are being passed out, but that is what 'Auntie's are for. 

My personal laundry is in my washer.. and I have the sheets in the washer over there.
I chuckle to myself that I have two washing machines going at the same time.. lol

Tonight, we'll all be sleeping in our own beds. Everything is back to 'normal'.

Yesterday, we, Steve, Daisy and I had been pulled up short with what sounded like a cat screeching in terror.
Daisy set up barking and ran to me. Seeing her, I felt she was okay, I ran for Dat Buggas' hang out.. ( the swing).
He was sleeping peacefully.

Daisy was still running at my side, watching my face, trying to figure out what was going on.
We ran around the house thinking two ferals had met.. no cats. Birds were still fighting over territory.

Gang confused, we all met in the kitchen and by that time, joined by Sister. When Steve leaped into action, he had been reading the morning paper and Sister was sleeping on a chair next to him .

I had never ever heard it before~  This was history, I thought. I looked over at the clock. 5:08 is today's crack-a- dawn. 

I could not sleep, Daisy wanted to play. Did that, then my stretches, headed for the kitchen and turned on the coffee pot. By this time all critters are queue-ing up at one door or another.
 
While the coffee pot noisily ground through a new batch of bean, I busied myself gathering the ingredients for the 'gourmet' critter meals. Some of the formula was in the microwave being heated. .... When the world went silent. Everything wound down. My first thought was about how nice the silence... . the world was quiet and for the moment, peaceful. 
(I love those quiet moments. I get up early and share them only with my dog and my cuppa coffee.)

Reality ... the lights are out again, my coffee is not yet brewed. The home cooked ingredients are warmed. I opened fresh canned basics. Voila! 
Critters had their meal prepared by candlelight..

All too soon the world was noisy.. equipment humming and the roads got busy, too.
The winds stirred 'up' pretty strong when the lights come on. It restarted but I had to kick start my computer. I sat down at the keyboard and something started rattling and scratching beneath the keyboard pull-out, very near my nekked toes.

Even though I was still unnerved. I settled back into my chair... and started typing away.

It had to be a cat. When I returned to the desk this time I looked. I found nothing and was really getting concerned, but then  the winds came up and blew the paper copy that I had printed out and it rattles and made scratchy sounds.

I shut that door so fast. Mystery solved! 

Duh!