“You are still such a temptation . . .”
A single saturnine brow is raised.
“Oh–am I?” A husky purr from deep in his throat.
“Ummmm-hmmmmm.” Her lips curved into a teasing smile.
“So many of us ready to fall at your feet . . .”
A flash of white teeth in the semi-darkness.
“Including–you, my lady?”
A soft sigh slowly exhaled. “Always . . .”
A velvet chuckle. “Well, then—I shall see you on the dark side, my angel.”
Happy Halloween!
Need a cute blue tee bearing an important message? Want to help seven furry orphans in the storm? Check out my newest “Musings” blog post! đ
Itâs a long-sleeved Gildan unisex tee in a lovely shade of Carolina Blue from Boosters.com, thatâs what! Super comfy and perfect for cooler weather, the Crick Bank Kitties tee comes in all sizes from Youth Extra Small to Adult 5XL.
Each Crick Bank Kitties tee is $25, with profits going to cover medical expenses of the seven new (formerly abandoned) feline mouths we are feeding, vetting, socializing and eventually spaying and neutering. We want them all to have a happy, healthy life full of love.
Take a look at the back and youâll see it ALSO has a special message, because cats DO multiply like crazy and spaying and neutering is the most humane way to decrease the surplus pet population. Too many kittens are born into situations where they are not wanted, many ending up abandoned like the Crick Bank Kitties or surrendered to shelters where the overwhelming odds are they will beâŚ
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Update on my real life activities with the Crick Bank Gang and this weird bacterial infection . . . Happy, Sad and Scabby. That’s me!
The beautiful and regal Midnight, the eldest of the Crick Bank Kitties (who came from various assorted and sundry litters, it seems).
In this past week, weâve gained three new family members and said a final goodbye to another.
It all happened on the same day, in fact. Benny, who is, Iâve decided, the cat whisperer of Butler County, took the TNR trap we borrowed from Annie and managed, one at a time, to capture Midnight, Smokey and Marmalade and bring them to the house. Finallyâall of the Crick Bank Gang Kitties were residing on Pecan Ridge. Hooray!
Punkin decided to cuddle with Marmalade, Smokey and Midnight on Friday night. Benny alerted me to this âKodak Moment.â
However, our happiness was tempered by the loss of sweet, curious, gentle Spock, he of the alien-looking ears and unusual blue-green eyes. Unlike the other kittens we had already rescued, Spock never seemed to gainâŚ
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I don’t have the extended edition of the BOTFA yet (maybe for Christmas if I am a very good girl). However, I have certainly appreciated getting to see the clip of  the preparation for Thorin’s final scene and the numerous screen caps from various bonus videos people have posted.
Seeing these various images–some solemn, others light-hearted–touched off a wellspring of emotions inside me. How could I not fail to be moved seeing Richard’s preparation for Thorin’s death scene? Seeing how he lay there so quiet, so still and deep in thought, as the crew members moved around him, shifting snow, adjusting his costume, saying very little themselves as if recognizing the solemnity of the occasion.
And then watching Martin and Richard acting that scene–absolutely heartbreaking. I remembered my husband reaching over and squeezing my hand to comfort me as the tears flowed freely down my face watching that scene in the theater. And I cried once again as I watched it unfold on the screen of my laptop.
Richard Armitage, I am not sure there is anybody who can die more–beautifully, poetically–than you onscreen. I might be prejudiced, of course–but you do have a tremendous capacity to move me with your artistry.
I was also very touched seeing the little shrine the crew created on the spot where the death scene took place.
It was a fitting way to honor this larger-than-life character and the rather extraordinary man who brought him so vividly, unforgettably to life. Here’s to Thorza!
Seeing the smile on your face as you talk about it makes me believe you were also touched by the tribute, both proud and humbled by this gesture.
Seeing you in full concentration mode–the dedicated, focused actor who is always on task–and in those lighter moments when Richard breaks through the Thorin guise and we see the grins and laughter, the humor, sweetness and genuineness reflected in those eyes–well, I am once again impressed by that dedication and drawn to the man I perceive you to be. Unpretentious, good-humored, attentive, discerning.
And huggable. Huggable is very important.
Oh, those eyes. That smile. I won’t even get into how impossibly sexy you also are here (ah, there goes that head bob as you murmur a self-deprecating remark). Beyond the obvious attractions of grey-tinged beard (growing older ever so gracefully, you are), glimpsed chest hair, lovely crinkles and that plaid shirt with its tempting snaps, there’s that aura you exhude. Yes, even in a screen cap of a candid moment. Especially in such a moment.
Richard Armitage, after more than eight years as a fan, you still move me. Move me to tears, to smiles, to giggles, to that funny little flutter in my heart and in my stomach.
I did a few photo edits of Face in Hole graphics of Richard as a pirate a while back and posted some of them on Twitter and FB. I ended up playing around with some more while trying to take my mind off the pain, itching and ugly blisters all over my body.
So as I fight something called Erysipelas and mourn the passing of one of our kittens, I still take comfort in imagining a lot of Tall, Dark and Toothsome with a cutlass and gold earring or two . . . Arrrrrrrrr! Arrrrmitage is good for what ails ye, wenches!
I am beginning to wish for that boring and normal life . . . but it’s more like Roseanne Roseannadanna, “It’s always somethin’!” Update on my health, the kitten rescue and local trolls
As Forrest Gump, a fellow (if fictional) Alabamian said, âLife is like a box of chocolates. You just never know what youâre gonna get.â In some ways, Forrest was a very smart man.
I thought I had gotten a bad case of ringworm from my newly adopted furry babies. I was slathering on antifungal cream like mad. I even used diluted bleach on one of my arms, I was so desperate for relief. It eased off the itching for a couple of hours but thatâs about it. The red lesions just kept spreading and itching and weeping and bubbling up and driving me nuts, keeping me awake at night and feeling miserable all day.
So I went to the doctor yesterday. Turns out itâs not ringworm, but a rather widespread case of staph, and most likely, MRSA (I should know for sure on Monday). If you get spots on your body that lookâŚ
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We’ve had a unexpected increase in our furry family with more to come–if you can help us with medical expenses, it would mean so much. Thank you. â¤
One evening last week, Benny came home and said, âDo you want to go on a kitten rescue mission?â
I think he already knew the answer to that one.
Weâd had a lot of rain the night before. So that particular morning on the way to work he decided to go a different route and avoid the more slippery and treacherous slopes of Joe Killough Road. As he traversed Junkyard Road he spied a cardboard box by the road this side of the little creek and bridge. People are all too apt to take the roadâs name to heart and toss out trash, so he didnât think much about it until he saw a kittenâs head peep around.
He stopped briefly to check and sure enough, there appeared to be a whole litter of kittens scattered in the woods on either side. The box had no food or water inside it. Benny couldnâtâŚ
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Final post for Invisible Illness Awareness Week~I hope to leave you laughing đ
This is the final blog post of my week-long effort to support Invisible Illness Awareness Week. And I thought I would try to leave you laughing. My dad had a favorite saying: âA little laughter in life.â His own life was often not easy, and telling jokes and sharing funny stories was a way for him to lighten his load and brighten some of his pyscheâs darker corners.
My daddy, Fatherâs Day 2001, I believe, âsetting a spellâ outside Cracker Barrel.
Another saying I heard growing up was âYou gotta laugh sometimes just to keep from cryin,â child.â Developing a sense of humor about everything you go through when you are battling a chronic invisible illness helps. It helps you retain your sanity, de-stress a little and just simply feel better. Here are some of my favorite memes and graphics that allow me to chuckle, giggle and simply laugh to keep from crying.  âŚ
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Invisible illnesses can sure make you feel guilty. I know first hand! Blog post 6 in support of Invisible Illness Awareness Week.
Yesterday, I said that the bad flare daysâwhich can sometimes stretch into weeks, if not longerâcan make it difficult for us to keep appointments, make long-term plans, keep up with our household chores, social/church/civic obligations and other things we used to do with relative ease.  There is life before the invisible illness and life after itâand yes, it is a game changer. I am quite sure itâs the reason why in most of my dreams, I am never older than my early 30s, reasonably strong and healthy and confidentâthe final years before my diagnosis of FMS/CFS. I miss those days and I hate how guilty I feel that the âoldâ me isnât around anymore. I know I am not alone in this.
When I was working full-time after my diagnosis, I always ended up using all my sick days and being forced to take additional days off without pay. Other times I worked but feltâŚ
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“You’ve added to the family, I see. More orphans in need of–what do you call it?–a FUR-ever home, Ladywriter?” Sir Guy raised a single brow as he gave her a lopsided smile.
LW glanced over at the three kittens cuddled up next to her. “Benny saw them on his way to work the other day and asked me to go on a kitten rescue mission after work.” She shrugged and added sheepishly, “You know I’m a sucker for furry little baby animals.” Ladywriter’s mouth curved into a besotted smile as she looked at the threesome playing together. “And these babies are so—SWEET.”
The dark knight gave a chuckle. “Apparently that’s not what Scarlett thinks. I believe she said in Katteese they were ‘The Spawn of Satan.'”
LW sighed. “Yeah . . . jealousy and the whole territorial thing’s been rearing its ugly head since we brought off the deck and into the house yesterday.” She grinned up at Sir Guy, a mischievous gleam in her bespectacled eyes. “You big cats can be very territorial at times, you know.”
Sir Guy sniffed and shot her one of *those* sideways glances. “If your heart wasn’t so divided amongst my CReAtor’s ChaRActers, both living and So Not Dead, perhaps we would have no need to have those feelings, my lady.”
“Sir Guy—you know perfectly well that you are THE number one ChaRActer for me, I just happen to have a big heart with lots of room for compelling  ChaRActers and cute little furry creatures, ” she replied in a chiding tone. Ladywriter spun her laptop around so that her raven-haired visitor could see the screen and tapped its edge with her finger.
“Look–I even worked on some new edits of you last night!”
The flash of white teeth was dazzling as he gave a deep, rumbling laugh of approval.
“Well–wait until Soldier Boy and Chewy Man hear this!”
Chewy Man?! Oh, riiiight.
Happy Guyday Friday!
The fourth post in my blogging for Invisible Illness Awareness Week. Ways you can show your support & things we want you to know about dealing with these conditions.
(The story broke while I was composing this post re the horrific shooting at the community college in Roseburg, Oregon. My thoughts and prayers are with those injured and with the friends and family of those killed in this senseless act. )
POST FOURâInvisible Illness Awareness Week
First of all, let me say this: what we donât want is your pity.
What we DO want is your acknowledgement our illnesses are real and legitimate.
Believe us when we say we are in pain, feel completely exhausted or find ourselves badly befuddled by a serious case of brain fog. Try to âwalk a mile in our shoesâ so you can see why we get irritable, frustrated, depressed. Know that when we sometimes snap back at you, itâs not about youâitâs the invisible illness talking. Cut us a little slack, OK?
Understand when we have to cancel plans or canât participate inâŚ
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the armitage effect 