I’ve Been Used

Hot Mess only comes around sporadically now.  That’s okay.  This evening on my walk around the neighborhood, I spotted Hot Mess.  He was cruising up the street.  I tailed him to see where he was hanging out.  He scored.  He scored big time.  He’s hanging out at the cat lady’s house up the street.  Oh, there’s a couple of houses in the neighborhood that could be a cat house.  This one is at least occupied by a clean animal lover.  Hot Mess will blend in with all the other cats that hang out under the year round holiday lights on the front porch.

Hot Mess Returns

Hot Mess returned this morning and again this evening.  He now has two doses of antibiotics in him.  He has a young “meow” and let’s me get a bit closer; but not too close.  What tore him up?

As Hot Mess was finishing up dinner, I noticed a familiar sound and sight that might explain his wounds.

Can’t see it?  Let me turn on the light.

An old hooty owl was watching every move Hot Mess was making.  There’s a pair of them in the neighborhood.  They hoot back and forth to each other.  It gives me goose bumps when they fly low overhead.

Hot Mess finished his dinner and was off.  Hope he takes cover.

Hot Mess

There are many stray cats in our neighborhood.  There have always been strays; but it seems to really be noticeable now.  There is one particular cat stands out.  He is all tore up with scabs and soars all about his head and face.  His tail is bent and must have been lopped off at some point.  It’s not bobbed.  It’s more like a 3/4 tail.

This morning he was out front; but wanted nothing to do with me.  This afternoon, he returned while I was working in the flower beds.  I put out a can of food for him to try to earn his trust.  He was more hungry than cautious.  If he comes around again (and I believe he will), I try putting some antibiotics in the food.

 

He’s a hot mess.  So he is named Hot Mess.

Hot Mess with a cute bunny behind!

Happy Valentine’s Day

Be Mine

To one particular person that needs a Valentine’s lift, I present this no-cal visual pleasure:

Make sure to pick the ones with the most frosting!

Don’t forget these classics:

I like conversation hearts and I’m not 50 (yet).  Pink, white and purple are my favorites.Happy Valentine’s Day Eddie.

Road Trip Part II – Huntington Library

After a day at the races, we moved on to visit the Huntington Library.  There’s a mansion that houses fine art.  And I mean fine art.  Not the kind of art where someone gathers garbage together and fancies themselves an artist.  They continue the charade by convincing others that the garbage is art – similar to the the naked emperor I suppose.  This stuff was fine and there was loads of it.  The docents were interesting to listen and learn from.  I took photos inside; but with the “no flash” restriction the photos are less than remarkable. All the beauty isn’t indoors.  There are acres of botanical beauty to explore. 

 This is the biggest hydrangea I’ve ever seen.  Isn’t that crazy?  Remarkable.This is impressive.  What must the dog that uses this look like?Visiting the green house was more than we could bear.  The heat and humidity was nothing we wanted to experience in February.  Our summer is coming soon enough.  Out we went. You need to make sure to allow plenty of time (all day) to explore.  Make sure to wear sneakers if you go.  You can thank me later. See what I mean?Prepare to walk and walk and walk and walk….Here’s what the grounds looked like in 1924 (courtesy LA Public Library). And here’s what the place looks like today.  Sheesh!  Take some sneakers.

The contents of the library itself is pretty remarkable.  Interestingly, a book I coveted at Hearst Castle was on display in the Huntington – Land of Little Rain by Mary Austin (1903).  The debate between Lincoln and Douglas with surveying books from George Washington were on display.  There were loads and loads of cases containing many interesting works.

It cost $20 to enter and explore.  Admission to The Huntington is free to all visitors on the first Thursday of every month with advanced tickets. Hours on Free Day are 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.  Reserve enough time and wear sneakers. 

These sneakers are not recommended for comfortable touring.

Road Trip Part I – Santa Anita

It was time to get out of the garden and do something fun.  Farmer M and I decided the garden could last one day without us toiling.  And it did.   On Saturday, we went on a road trip to Pasadena.  I’ve never been to a horse race an wanted to go to Santa Anita to experience the atmosphere and admire the horses.  It was an easy driver up the Grapevine and over the ridge.  There was only skiffs of snow up in the higher elevations and traffic remained smooth all the way to Pasadena.  Finding the track was a snap and so was parking.  While standing back at the ticket booth to determine what we needed to purchase, a gentleman came up to us and gave us tickets and a few words of advice and direction.  Very nice.  I bought a program and we went to explore the facility and admire the horses.

The track opened on Christmas Day 1934.  There’s a ton of art deco.  Up high on some buildings are these metal cutouts of horse racing. Pretty cool, huh? As the horses came out to be paraded in the paddock prior to their race, I noticed they had their tongues wrapped with tape or plastic wrap.  Most were annoyed.  I had never seen that before.  We were told this was done to prevent the horse from swallowing its tongue.  I had never heard of such a thing.Farmer M decided that he liked the looks of #4; so this was the horse we watched. Dud.  We went back to take a look at the horses for the next race.  I thought #6, Alabama Boy, would be the one that I would watch.  He was dead last! We had some expensive lunch.  Corn beef sandwich, turkey sandwich, potato chips, bottle of soda, and a bottle of beer totaled more than $30.  Preposterous.  Not only that, but the beer was in a plastic bottle.

Now I wanted to learn about betting on the horses.  My mother requested that I pick the 3rd horse in the race and bet the minimum amount to win.  Gato Go Win was that horse that I invested $2 on.  He won!  Yahoo Mountain Dew.  I went to collect my winnings of $16.80. Since the sight of the thoroughbreds was disturbing to Mr. M, we said farewell to Santa Anita Racetrack and moved on to the Huntington Library.

Here’s the 4th race ending:

Here’s more racing action:

Note:  I’ve been told that the horses have their tongues tied during the race to avoid damaging their mouths and the help with breathing.  Research continues.