I have today and tomorrow off, plus I was up kinda late (for me, anyway), chatting with my eHarmony guy after I got home from my shift last night!

So after the many, many cats and I had breakfast this morning, I went back to bed for a while and it felt FANTASTIC!

It wasn’t too hot (yet). The windows were open and the birds were singing. Most of the kittens and cats were downstairs somewhere, or otherwise being peaceful. So it was great.

And I’ve already had my chat with Sandra regarding the play — I won’t have any real work to do on it until August 1st – 15th. But some of the things Sandra wants to add to the script are terrific. I’m really excited. This play (which I love) just gets better and better and better, gang.

The carpenter is coming to give me a quote today, but that’s not until the day is basically over. (When the heat should be at its hottest and a thunderstorm should be underway!)

So now I have the AC on, the laundry is almost done, and the day is wide open in front of me!!

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Okay!

For those of you who were not able to get me a gift in time for my birthday last week [HINT: That was every single one of you…] —

The Summer Sale over at Cave Things is still going on until TOMORROW morning at 10AM, UK time!

So there is still time to get me this! On sale! And help feed my addiction to dishes! I only have SIX creamers in the house, so clearly I need one more!!

Up Jumped The Devil Milk Jug — $39 (plus shipping to the USA).

“An immediate sellout when it first appeared on Cave Things in 2021, the Up Jumped The Devil Milk Jug finally returns in a slightly updated form. A delicate glazed ceramic milk jug with blue watercolour painting, it echoes a refined Victorian teatime object, but carries a disturbing motif – the Devil himself.“

Hurry! Time is running out….

And lest we forget!! One of my all-time favorite songs by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, “Up Jumped the Devil”, 1988:

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Yesterday’s shift was yet another easy one with the retired Minister and his lovely wife! After we were able to persuade him to do his Physical Therapy exercises, we spent the rest of the evening watching old reruns of “The Love Boat,” Daniel Boone”, and “The Andy Griffith Show”!

And, yes! I got PAID to do that! So what’s not to love?

But seriously, it was a very pleasant shift. And as always, I am super glad to be back home.

I think that’s really it for now. I wish I weren’t under an ironclad mandate to not write about my new friend, but such is life. I can at least tell you that it continues to amaze me — the things we have in common. And how considerate he is. And unpredictable. And straightforward and funny.

I will say that he said, when he sits out on his porch, he can hear the train when it’s passing through Crazeysburg! That gives you an idea of how close he is — and also how LOUD that fucking train is! (You wanna see cats & kittens scatter? Wait ’til that train starts approaching!!)

And here’s this!! Because I love it and WHY not??!!

“Folsom Prison Blues”

I hear the train a comin’
It’s rolling round the bend
And I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when
I’m stuck in Folsom prison, and time keeps draggin’ on
But that train keeps a rollin’ on down to San Antone

When I was just a baby my mama told me
“Son, always be a good boy, don’t ever play with guns”
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head and cry

I bet there’s rich folks eating in a fancy dining car
They’re probably drinkin’ coffee and smoking big cigars
Well I know I had it coming, I know I can’t be free
But those people keep a movin’
And that’s what tortures me

Well if they freed me from this prison
If that railroad train was mine
I bet I’d move it on a little farther down the line
Far from Folsom prison, that’s where I want to stay
And I’d let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away

c- 1955 Johnny Cash

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And that’s it for today!

Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Wow!

Not only an actual day off, but the bearable weather continues — which means my brain is still working! Yay!!

AND — the Summer Sale over at Smashwords starts today, gang, and continues through the month of July.

All the info and direct links are on my substack page. The sale includes free downloads of Freak Parade and The Muse Revisited: Volumes, 1,2, &3.

The sale is for my eBooks only. And these books, as always, are intended for ADULT READSERS ONLY. Thanks!!

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In other great SALE news!!

Cave Things started a summer sale today, too!

All kinds of cool things are on sale over there to help you beat the heat, or whatever it is you’re trying to beat….

Yet again, some of my favorites are on sale!! Including, but not limited to;

The Hotel Girls Notebook — $12.00 (plus tons of shipping to the USA) (Only adults can look at the image below, thank you very much for your cooperation)

The fantastic Happy Tea Set, the whole set, or separate pieces of it! The Happy Tea Pot, $68.00 (plus all sorts of overseas shipping fees!)

Up Jumped the Devil Milk Jug! $40.00 (no shipping Oops! Tons of shipping there, too!)

That milk jug commemorates one of my absolute favorite Nick Cave songs of all time!!!

“Up Jumped the Devil”, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, 1988, from the incredible album, Tender Prey.

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Here’s this!

Not only because I love this photo so much, but also because my great-great grandmother was a full-blood Blackfoot Indian, and judging by the date listed below, she very well might have known Chief Two Guns White Calf! I think that is so cool.

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And speaking of guns…

I am really, really thinking I will have to cancel my monthly membership at the shooting range, gang. I am only getting one day off a week these days, and it is going to continue for the rest of the summer.

I’m going to call over there today and see if maybe I can just temporarily suspend my membership until Fall. We’ll see. I hate to do it, but I have` absolutely no time. And I just keep paying and paying and paying…

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Okay, well. have I had some intense shifts the last couple of days. In a good way, but still intense.

I saw the retired Minister and his wife on Sunday evening and it was great. He is making such great progress. He was lucid the entire time I was with him, and he talked a lot about his ministry, as well as when he first decided to become a Christian when he was in his teens (he is 80 now).

It was an amazing evening, but as usual it sort of wiped me out emotionally.

Ditto, my shift with my favorite client who is back from Florida. For different reasons, although she is a retired Chaplain, so it was all in the same vein.

I still don’t understand WHY ON EARTH I decided to return to this type of work, but clearly, all of this is on my path right now for a reason.

Oh, and oddly enough!! In my novel-in-progress, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder, that I am working on after a 26-year hiatus… the father in the story is a retired Minister. And the upcoming remainder of the novel is primarily about HIM.

Hmmm…….

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On the home front —

I downloaded all the forms I need to fill out in order to apply for that USDA home-improvement loan/grant for low-income seniors living in rural areas.

We’ll see if I can get those filled out before I leave for NYC, but something tells me it would be pushing my luck. I have some stuff I need to do on the play today, and today is my only day off.

But at least I have the forms!!

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And I think that’s it for now!

I have to finish doing the laundry then get focused on “The Guide to Being Fabulous”!

Have a terrific Tuesday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Yes, the Annie Murray kick continues around here!

How can you NOT love this one, gang??? One of her first hits — “Snowbird.”

Anne Murray, “Snowbird”, 1969. From her album, This Way is My Way. Enjoy, gang!!

“Snowbird”

Beneath this snowy mantle cold and clean
The unborn grass lies waiting
For its coat to turn to green
The snowbird sings the song he always sings
And speaks to me of flowers
That will bloom again in spring

When I was young
My heart was young then, too
Anything that it would tell me
That’s the thing that I would do
But now I feel such emptiness within
For the thing that I want most in life’s
The thing that I can’t win

Spread your tiny wings and fly away
And take the snow back with you
Where it came from on that day
The one I love forever is untrue
And if I could you know that I would
Fly away with you

The breeze along the river seems to say
That he’ll only break my heart again
Should I decide to stay
So, little snowbird
Take me with you when you go
To that land of gentle breezes
Where the peaceful waters flow

Spread your tiny wings and fly away
And take the snow back with you
Where it came from on that day
The one I love forever is untrue
And if I could you know that I would
Fly away with you

Yeah, if I could you know that I would
Fl-y-y-y-y away with you

c – 1969 – Gene MacLellan