Another Slow Day

Good morning, my friends. It was a beautiful day weather-wise. There was no wind, and so it was very still and peaceful. We listened to the birdsong and sat outside. Even Smitty got outside to enjoy it.

Our neighbors to the north moved on and took their stupid woofie with them. Smitty could munch on his grass without having to look over his shoulder.

My morning was spent slow-stitching. I stitched enough of the kitten to decide to move my hoop.

Next, I was ready to finish off the leaves and the right side of the branch.

I was still in my pajamas at around 11:00 a.m. When I got dressed, I took another peek at the condition of my tick bite. Oooh. The red area was twice the size it had been the day before, and it appeared to be spreading upward. I've been consulting Mike about it. He took one look at it and said, "You need antibiotics." Sigh.

So, as much as I hated to head for an urgent care clinic for the second time this trip...off we went. Happily, there was no waiting there. The doctor took a look at it and reassured me that the risk of disease was low, but she was going to start me on a round of antibiotics just the same. I was glad we went. It was good to have someone with some expertise take a look. From there, we got some lunch, and then went to the nearby Walgreen's to pick up the medicine. Even though an hour had passed, they said it would still be 20 minutes before it would be ready.

Just down the hill was a Petco, and so we spent our 20 minutes shopping for cat toys. We found this little lamb for Sadie. She likes small soft toys that she can get in her mouth and then kick the daylights out of them. This lamb would do perfectly.

She's already killed it a couple of dozen times.

Resuming our slow day, I sat outside while I stitched up the leaves and the right side of the branch.

Now I'll start working on the tail end of the kitten.

When I moved my hoop aside, I noticed a big cicada had taken up residence on my knee. Ick.

When they come out of the ground, they shed their exoskeleton. These husks are littering the ground around our campsite.

Also, a woodpecker has been happily pecking away during our time here. Yesterday I was motivated to see if I could find it. Its pecking got louder as I walked toward the sound, and I finally spotted it up high in a tree. Just about the time I'd get it focused in my camera lens, it would fly to another branch. Eventually it flew away, but I was able to get a good look at it. It's a red-bellied woodpecker. I found this image online. He was very pretty.

(Image credit: "Red-bellied Woodpecker" by AcrylicArtist is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)

It's our last morning here. We'll be moving on to Hamilton, Missouri, today. We have a spot in a nearby RV park that will mean I can walk to the quilt shops. We're expecting rain today, and I'm hopeful the weather will improve by tomorrow. If not...well, I have a rain parka and an umbrella. I am an Oregonian. Rain doesn't scare me. Tornadoes and ticks...that's another story.

So it's time to get myself around. It'll be a relatively short drive today. I'm way behind on laundry, having been without a water or sewer connection for the past four days. When your laundry is done in a small RV combo washer/dryer, four days is a long gap between washings. That'll be at the top of my list when we arrive at the new spot. So buckle up, my friends. Day after tomorrow, we'll be in Kansas...our 49th state. Try to contain your excitement until we get there.

Just now, I noticed this guy sitting just outside on our picnic table. It's one of those faster-than-lightning fox squirrels.

He'll be happy when we take our cat and get out of here. Okay, Mr. Squirrel. We're going.