It was one of those teaser Spring like days. Kind of warm, kind of light, where you wake up motivated and Ready for Action. I had eight different plans in place before I left my bed (which turns into a couch) and made myself tea.

After making Tea I remembered I was possibly still not QUITE well, and recovering from BRONCitius, and scaled the Plans back a bit.



I did manage to open all the windows (as one does on the first day it FEELS like Spring) and make the Sunroom with my new couch (which turns into a bed) and coffee table (which turns into a desk) all nice and new again, ready for summer with easy access to the windows..

I shall now call it The Transformers Room.



I've been operating on a Plan I like to call "Lob It Out The Back Door" when it comes to the garbage bags these past couple weeks. Hey, it's been COLD and there is about 8 feet of snow between the door and bins. No one but me can SEE this travesty of garbage pile...At any rate, Dealt with that little embarrassment.

(Why am I telling you this??? Confession?)

I cleaned out ALL the cupboards in the kitchen and got rid of everything I didn't like, or that bothered me, or I didn't use. (Been listening to AFP's Assistant Beth moan all month about her accumulation of STUFF and what happens when you have to move. Not that I'm moving, but why wait?) And I made food for the next several days, for me, and five Bengals. (Not as hard as it sounds, we pretty much eat the same things, only I have veggies with my meat.)



I took off all the blankets from my bed of the past week (which turns into a couch) and re-sheeted all the upstairs beds (which don't turn into anything and aren't in fact anything BUT beds) Vacuumed (yes I do know HOW, I'm just not very GOOD at it) Took out the rubbish (TO the bins, thank you very much, no more lobbing) AND did all the laundry. Even the weird bits. (you know, those leftover things one always seems to have after laundry is DONE. Pillows, odd towels, things you've never seen before and don't recall having worn)

And I bathed.

And put on my Jammies.

It's nearly six.

And I'm done.

Love and Spring Cleans,
Lorraine

I think I may live, which is the big good news for the night. I wouldn't say I'm WELL yet, but I sure do feel a lot better. Thank you for all the love, stories and good wishes. Really looking forward to getting some energy again, and getting back to riding. Not coughing. All that good stuff.

Can you tell the Exploding Fireplace is now fixed?



Yes. Mim has been enjoying the Olympics. Big figure skating fan. Doesn't much like hockey. Jury is still out Curling. We like the concept, pretty wacky sport, and sure, I'd be up for trying it, but I am not SURE it is a spectator sport. Even on as many drugs as I was on.

Speaking of which, my remarks about watching Taboo: Nudity in Religion and learning the term "Skyclad" were not meant to denigrate any religion. The show had segments on several sects of several religions that like to, well, do their thing naked.

Go for it, whatever makes you happy, feels good and hurts no one. What people do in private is their own business. How we find God/TheGods/Goddess/Insert Whomever, is between each person and their own beliefs. The remarks were meant to convey my personal surprise at seeing these private things on TV while on enough drugs to make everything just a wee bit weird anyway.

I still maintain, it was definitely unexpected. Should have stuck with curling.



Venus, of course, thought both Taboo AND the Olympics equally entertaining....

Love and Health,
Lorraine

See? I'm in my new couch that turns into a bed, and tho you can't see them, I do have my newly fixed fireplace going, and some lovely tea. My friends came over for just exactly long enough and cheered me up and I have a variety of Drugs to make me well.

I've had saunas, showers , steam and baths. And lots of Bengal love. My new coffee table even turns into a kind of desk, where the top comes up so one can sit up straight. More pics tho will have to wait, anything that I need to sit up to shoot can remain un-shot.

Still working in that e-mail pops up and get answered and the phone rings and I say hello (Which is usually followed by OH MY GOD ARE YOU SICK????)

I've had hot water with lemon and honey, ginger tea, red tea, plain water. I may be floating.

Feeling the love from you out there, bronchitis is really, really no fun. I'm no longer dying (that was yesterday) but still feel horrible.

This is the report from the couch that turns into a bed. (Which is WAY cool for the record.)

Now, for your part, entertain ME! Your turn, jokes, poems, cool likes, stories, anything you want...

I'll be in my bed. Couch. Whatever.

Love and Coughing,
Lorraine

Here's Dimil, called Dim for short, my own personal horse in his new Blankie! Dim is a 4 year old, pure Arab, gelding. ("Gelding" is to a horse what "Neutered" is to a cat.) Dim lives outside, tho the horses have several shelters to go for warm. Outdoor horses don't get shaved either, so with a blanket, they are quite warm.



I've wanted a horse since I was four, and still can't quite believe I have one. Riding is the best. It's helping me with my quest for FIT (anyone who says the horse does all the work does not RIDE) and I can sleep at night. If I ride, I am out like a felled Ox (no, no idea where that came from) in about 60 seconds. If that. And it feels really good to be working at a sport again. Getting good at something, not that I am not good at many things, mind you, but this is a new game, which I think everyone needs from time to time.



Like owner, like horse. This is the EXACT same face I make while playing violin. I've seen the pictures people take. Serious here.



Before riding come lunging. Let's the horse run and stretch out a bit. Gets you and he used to each other, and working together. Can get kind of adventurous. Dead gallop with bucking is not uncommon.



I had my first ride on Dim on my Birthday! He was hurt before I got him, and has been in training with my amazing Horse Whisperer Trainer friend Melissa. He's getting stronger, learning to use his back again. And I've been learning to ride, so that when we start together, it will be done RIGHT. There's a LOT to it.



I ride English, for preference. Dim has a Western saddle on here. Didn't complain. The riding styles are a bit different, and my friend Jen, who has been riding him for me, rides Western, so that's what he had on. Apples and Oranges, just what you like better.



Not sure when I am going to ride Dim again, up to Melissa. In the meantime, I have a lot of work to do. I want to get GOOD at this. I want to look good doing it. I want to ride a piece of the wind and be a part of it. I want to push myself and see how far I can go. I want muscles that scream and are grateful, and grow stronger.

I want to chase this dream around the ring until I am living it, the way I see it in my dreams at night, as I have since I was four.

I'll catch it too. See if I don't.

Love and Dreams,
Lorraine

Bengals 101. Pets 101. Fail.

This Bengal girl is in MN and needs a foster home, or a forever home. She is clearly in a situation where the people, however well meaning, do not know how to take care of her, or her needs.

I am rarely harsh, especially when I do not know the full situation, but this seems to me the height of idiocy. You DO NOT get a pet if you cannot spay or neuter, and you do not get rid of them because they have problems. YOU FIX THEM.

She can be fixed. She can be helped. I would love it if we could help her live the life she was meant to. Great Lakes Bengal Rescue has no foster homes in MN, nor any open in WI.

Her biggest problem is she is in a place she does not want to be. She needs someone who will love her, understand her, and BE with her. If she gets it, she will love you forever, and the problems, which from reading the ad on Craigslist, are mainly emotional. They will go away. She can be helped.

If you think you can help, write to me, if you like and I will make contact for you, and help you with this.

Read about her HERE

Love and Thanks,
Lorraine

My Birthday is tomorrow, which is always nice. We had the Party last night at my gig, where Paul also proposed to his girlfriend Nicole, one of the most beautiful things I have ever SEEN (she said yes) -I- nearly cried too. Paul's parents, whom I also adore, were there, and it was a lovely family, band family, new family moment.

Nicole, I am so glad you are with us! I love you dearly too.

I think it has reached the point of Winter where I am done. I want more light, I want warm, I want to change my entire house around and have it in ORDER from bottom to top. I cleaned out the basement this morning. (no small feat, kind of proud of that one) I am going thru cupboards and getting ride of, well, CRAP is the word I am looking for.

I want to be in my Spooky House and see new things. I want to move all my art around, something you should always do once or twice a year, you learn so much seeing it in new places. I was space, and change.



To that end, I decided to switch my Romance Room and Dinning Room. The Romance Room is lovely, but it just sort of SITS there, I am not IN it much, or enjoying all of its lovely Romantic Things. I want to look up from my Sunroom, where I work mostly, and see my new Kelli Bickman Art, I want to come in every evening, or down in the morning and be a little surprised that it is all different.

I want to mess with my little Leopards brains. They need shaking up too. I watch them, and listen to them, and they are also tired of IN and dark.



I have decided that the Piano and the Organ are in the exactly perfect place, and there is no need to move them. (wise move on my part, if I am going to talk anyone into HELPING me make this switch.) The bathtub may have to move. (Who HAS this problem in a dinning room???) The Coffee Table Fish Tank will move and be newly re-stocked with BIG fish. Magic will get a Scream Door on his room, so he can look out and see things, in hopes that eventually, he will be able to come out and be with us.



These are all Before Pictures. The Big Move will not happen for another couple of weeks. These things need to be Planned for. The couches in the Sunroom are going, I will have a new Couch that turns easily into a bed, so I can sleep downstairs when I like. And I'd like a proper desk in there too, so I can sit up straight when I type, as opposed to a computer on a coffee table, sitting on a couch.



I want my corners cleaned out, I want things to shine, I want to sweep away all the spiderwebs (ok, maybe not those, kind of like those) but I want NEW, light, and perfection.

I want to open Windows, both in me, and in my Spooky House.

I want Spring to be here.

Love and Change,
Lorraine

I woke up really early this morning (about an hour after my Boss went to bed, apparently, if Twitter is to be believed) and got all the morning chores done (amazing what you can do waiting for water to boil in a POT on your stove because you have no fast boiling electric Tea Kettle) and thought I might continue with this energy and take the pictures of the new bathroom that I have been promising you.

King Lear the Huge, and Little Queen Mab were all for this. They live up there and are always interested in such things. Or steak bits, hard to say.



I wish I still had a picture of the OLD bathroom. It was dreadful. Kind of pink, with flowers, bad faux Tiffany, a horrible tacky shower and a really cool, tho useless for bathing, Claw Foot bathtub.

That's Lear in his water dish. Bengals LOVE water and it doubles as a small pool for him.



I am not the BEST one at picking colours for things, but I am liking the way this turned out. Mary Housekeeper did the painting of the bathroom, as I am really not the best at such things.

You can see on the shelf of the stand there is a Blow Dryer, that Miss Kitty bought for my house a year ago, so she would have one when she comes to visit and I would be able to use it the other times. Next time she is here, I will get her to teach me how it works. Not sure I GET it, as the two times I tried, other than DRY, it did not improve the appearance of my HAIR in any way, like it does her.



My bathroom, unlike any other room in the house, has TWO heating vent things, neither of which will close. But they look good. Functional or ornamental. Either works for me. It is the warmest room in the Spooky House.



My bathroom has one cupboard. The Victorians were not much on closets, or cupboards. They had Wardrobes for things. Or maybe they didn't have many things. I looked in my cupboard this morning. It seems to have paint in it. Not being that sort of artist, this seems wrong to me. My toiletries are in the Butlers Pantry. Need to work on this one.



The bathtub was the BEST, thing ever to come into this house, and I include myself and the Bengals in that. I can't have candles, simply not safe with all these Leopards, but I do have Bubbles. Best end of the day in the winter I ever came up with.



I still need more art. Can't have original art in a bathroom, so I have to sort of find it. That's a lovely Tasmanian Devil print. Nothing screams bathroom like a Tasmanian Devil.

The old cool, but useless for bathing Claw Foot Tub? Of course one does not dump a tub that cool! The choice seemed clear to me.

Dinning room. With a Skeleton.



Love and Bathrooms,
Lorraine

Rode Horsie AnnaMontana tonight and got cheers from my trainer. I am using my BUTT and sitting back so far my abs are challenged. (this is a good thing) You wouldn't THINK so, but the further you sit back, the more in control you are. It's way easier.

I also have the hang of sort of squeezing my BUTT on the way up, and legs on the way down while trotting. Between the abs, and legs, I believe I have discovered the origins of the Thigh Master AND the Ab Cruncher. (very good thing)

Then I did ground work with my own personal Horsie, Dim, I am taking it over now, and doing it all. (this is also a good thing) That has to do with a thing called lunging, where the Horsie sort of walks, trots and canters (and in Dim's case, bucks a bit and goes wild, like his desert ancestors, we're working on that) in a circle around you. You also have a Really Long Whip, which Horsie THINKS could smack him at any point. Interesting sport.



The trick to it is to stay in control of the horse, keep him from tangling himself in either the Really Long Lead or the Really Big Whip AND as you are sort of spinning around in a circle, to do this and not get so dizzy you fall to the ground and watch the room spin. (pretty cool thing)

On another note, remember a few weeks ago when I drank a LATTE before going out to the stable, and my head nearly exploded? Well, tonight I made an interesting discovery. I really wanted something yummy, as I had neglected to recall I would, say, want DINNER, and there was no time. I kind of, oddly enough, had liked the taste of the LATTE thing, but not the head exploding effect of all that caffeine.

Here's the secret: They can make this stuff DECAF!

No. Seriously. Decaff Skim no sugar vanilla au lait.(My new favorite thing) You just, apparently, have to know how to order. All the lovely indulgence, with no calories OR head exploding caffeine. Won't have it often mind you, but sometimes a girl has to let GO.

And finally, I have been on my new Plan, of Eat Less-Move More (more or less, more like eat RIGHT move more) for nearly three weeks now. I have lost eight pounds.

This is the best of the Good Things.

Love and Sleep Now,
Lorraine

My Bengal painting came today from Kelli Bickman! I know you have seen this painting but it made me so happy, we are having a second showing. I need to get it framed, and then decide where to hang it. It's really them, all together in a tree. And it is perfect.

I was thinking we might have pictures of the new bathroom (Finally!) but my camera is out of batteries and the charger far away, alas. Perhaps tomorrow we can go touring the Spooky House. Especially if my Cleaning Teen comes, looks WAY better when she has been here. I have NO housekeeping skills.

Don't have much more to say, been a long week. It's Friday, I am home, and content with Bengals for the night. We've eaten well of Fancy Feast, played Featherstick and cooked some steak. (ok -I didn't eat the Fancy Feast. Or the steak.)

I am thinking tea, bath and bed.

Sounds pretty good.

Love and Home,
Lorraine

Coraline has gotten an Oscar Nomination this morning!

Days don't get a whole lot better than this one......

Not sure I have a whole lot more to say...

Love and Oscars,
Lorraine