It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood....

Well a beautiful day anyway :D I'll not discuss the neighborhood!

Many of my friends are doing a Thursday Thirteen. I'd love to join in, but I don't think I will for a while yet.
I'm juggling so many things at once, my mind has sort of given up and started looking for butterflies in grassy fields to play with. Not Good.

I need to be paying close detail to my house- I don't know how long I'll be taking care of my mom, so I"d like to have it in perfect shape so it won't be so bad (hubby + 3 kids - how long can that last?) when I can pay attention to cleaning again. :P

I am worried about leaving RD. I know I'll have time to pop in, but it'll be the first time I can remember that the root admins will not really be there. BUT I'm confident in the other Admin and Mods in place. Divas is in good hands and I'm proud of the staff.

Then there is of course my writing. Oh how I mentally WANT to, and I write crazy little things like this cause my poor little brain is just searching for my outlet! Yet, I can't be creative to save my life at the moment. Go figure.

Well and then my children. I love my children they are bright, wonderful little monsters :D
I love their cute little antics, I just wish they'd not close their ears off when I talk LOL

And confession time. I STILL don't have my story ready to send to Woman's World. I don't understand it.
I get it out many times, and no matter how much I work on it, I still have to change something. I have to find a stopping place and bite the bullet. Wish me luck!

Life and Death: the separation so fragile

Well while Virginia was getting shot up I was playing nursemaid to four brand new kittens :)
The VA students lives were fragile and timing was everything today for who lived and who died.
It breaks my heart to think of the fear some were in, some maybe didn't know what was happening.
The shooter, an obviously severely troubled soul, caused heartache to spread across the nation.

My little kittens hung in the balance to go either way today as well.
The mother hid (as cats often do) and being a new mother didn't do so well with the afterbirth.
I found the kittens because I happened to be close and heard them crying. So all excited I of course sought them out and found them-- tangled in afterbirth and umbilical cords.

Had this been a stray momma cat I'm sure the kittens would have perished. As it was I got out my trusty tiny scissors, sterilized them and set to work. Disposing of the afterbirth freed one little kittens foot. The circulation was completely cut off and the foot tiny. I feared it may loose it. moments after freeing the foot from someone's umbilical cord (four tangled kittens equal 16 wiggly legs, four tails, and four umbilical cords!) Try saying that five times fast! ;) ) One buy one I separated the little babies from their previous supply of nourishment to a family of smiling faces; my three kids and hubby.

Momma and babies are doing fine. I'm having to watch her to see that she nurses them. So far she hasn't but would you with five faces staring at you? LOL But if she doesn't nurse them or they seem puny I will of course take upon myself to bottle feed. The little ones foot is now swollen from the blood rushing back into place you may can see in this picture.


For anyone that lost someone at VA Tech today: My deepest sympathies, heartfelt sadness and prayers are with you. For those that were in the line of fire and yet you survived: I'm glad for you today the balance swung your way. For whatever reason, some unknown purpose, my kittens survived today. You, too, have a purpose. We don't always know what it is, but it's up to you to find it. May God Bless You and Kept You All The Days Of Your Life.

Life and Death, so fragile and so close it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.

Enjoy these kitty pics and thank God for life.

Take the Girl out of Harlan, but Never Harlan out of the girl!

Well I've took my mom out today. In the car the DH had a Patty Loveless tape (yes I still use cassettes!! so sue me! ;) ) in the deck.
So I was very happy to find that one playing. We bought the tape specifically for "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive".

Harlan is so rich in history and lore. I miss it terribly at times. I long for the day to go back. Although on some days I suspect I may never get back. The mountains call to my blood like no other place on earth. I remember climbing around the hills as a girl with my dogs and cats. I had a pony too that I rode around the hillside. We had all the water from our pump we needed, but no one else would have it. ROFL it was SULFUR water. And I'll tell anyone anywhere it's the best stuff in the entire world.

The mountains are so dark it's surprising. I think that helps give it the richness that can't be found anywhere else. It's dark because of the coal. The trees are a dark green where anywhere else I look most greens are bright and vibrant. I'm going back soon. It's spring and I need new mountain pictures. Time has lost the many I took before when I lived there, watching the sunset daily. So it's time for new ones I think.

So I'm posting the lyrics to You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive in honor of Spring and a wonderful area of Kentucky. I think it's true, that once touched by those Kentucky Mountains you'll never leave Harlan alive, because once you leave, part of you dies missing it. My dad didn't leave Harlan alive, and deep down neither did I.

(listen to it on this website buy the CD and support our folk singers!
sung by Dave Cantrell
by the way - I've never heard Dave Cantrell until I did a search on the song- He's does a Marvelous job!)

You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive

In the deep dark hills of eastern Kentucky
That's the place where I trace my bloodline
And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone
You will never leave Harlan alive

Oh, my granddad's dad walked down
Katahrins Mountain
And he asked Tillie Helton to be his bride
Said, won't you walk with me out of the mouth
Of this holler
Or we'll never leave Harlan alive

Where the sun comes up about ten in the morning
And the sun goes down about three in the day
And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking
And you spend your life just thinkin' of how to get away

No one ever knew there was coal in them mountains
'Til a man from the Northeast arrived
Waving hundred dollar bills he said I'll pay ya for your minerals
But he never left Harlan alive

Granny sold out cheap and they moved out west
Of Pineville
To a farm where big Richland River winds
I bet they danced them a jig, laughed and sang a new song
Who said we'd never leave Harlan alive

But the times got hard and tobacco wasn't selling
And ole granddad knew what he'd do to survive
He went and dug for Harlan coal
And sent the money back to granny
But he never left Harlan alive

Where the sun comes up about ten in the morning
And the sun goes down about three in the day
And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking
And you spend your life just thinkin' of how to get away

Where the sun comes up about ten in the morning
And the sun goes down about three in the day
And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking
And you spend your life digging coal from the bottom of your grave

In the deep dark hills of eastern Kentucky
That's the place where I trace my bloodline
And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone
You will never leave Harlan alive.