"Z" as in ZOOM for Alphabe-Thursday

Welcome to Alphabe-Thursday.  It's hard to believe we're up to the last letter already.  How time flies!

Fortunately, I have a cat named ZOOM.  I believe I've used her for the letter "Z" in the past, but since I have nothing else prepared I'm going with ZOOM again.

ZOOM is a killer.  Thank goodness!

She came into our lives shortly after Hurricane Ike in 2008.  I was shopping at my favorite resale shop when I was approached by a man in the parking lot.  He was holding a tiny bundle of gray fur and told me he had found her behind the shopping center.  He asked if I would drop her off someplace for him.  I started to walk away and then I looked back and saw how sick she appeared.  I just couldn't walk away, so I took her from him and drove straight to my Veterinarian's office.

She sat on my lap and attempted to play with the seat belt.  Both of her eyes were runny and the one was covered with a white film.  She had a respiratory infection and an infection in both eyes.  She weighed less than a pound.

They thought she might lose the one eye, but slowly both eyes improved.  She ate like she was starving (and she was), and she quickly put on weight.  Her respiratory infection improved, but then she relapsed and had to go back on the antibiotic for a second round.

She still has runny eyes, but they say she must have picked up a cat herpes infection too.  She'll always have the runny eyes, but they're not too bad.

She's become a holy terror.  We joke that normal people never would have kept her.  I have to warn people when they come in the house not to touch her.  She'll come over and roll around on the floor by their feet.  She looks adorable, but watch out!  If anyone tries to pet her she'll attack.  She's a terror.

Fortunately, we're not normal people.  We love ZOOM and she's here to stay.

There's never a dull moment. (She must have mistaken the roll of paper towels for a roll of toilet paper.)

Now please head over to Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent" for a list of this week's participants.

Hurry back Ms. Jenny!

Thank you for visiting.

"Y" as in Galveston YARDS

Last weekend I went down to Galveston for the annual Historic Homes Tour.  It runs for two weekends, so I'll be going down again this Saturday to finish the tour.  However, I managed to take pictures of some of the pretty YARDS I saw last weekend to share with you for Alphabe-Thursday.   I'll try and share the homes another time.

Here we go.  "Y" as in pretty YARDS for Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent."  (Hurry and get well Ms. Jenny!!!)

Most of the yards were small.  These people stole my idea.  I plan to hang some boards on a tree with the mileage to all the places we've lived.  I believe these are places they've visited.  It's a very colorful backyard with a tropical feel.

I was all excited about this garden.

Everything seemed to be growing so well.

So I took a picture so I could Google the name later.

I thought the plants were in soil, but they're not.  It's hydroponics and the whole set up cost over $500 plus shipping.  I guess I won't be getting one any time soon.  I'd have to eat a lot of tomatoes to justify the expense.

There were even pretty chickens in one YARD.

And another kind of vegetable garden.

This looked relaxing.

I thought this was kind of cute.

The round thing in the front is actually dishes made into a yard decoration to match the flowers.

There was also some new construction on the tour. These homes were built to look like the older homes.  They face the beach and are built to withstand winds of 150 mph. (If a hurricane was coming I don't think I'd hang around to see if that was true.)  This was the view out the back.  I guess this is called a marsh?  I bet there's good crabbing there.

This can also been seen from the backyard by looking to the right.

Can you see the ships in the distance?

And if you look in the other direction you can see downtown Galveston.

And this is the view to the front.  Behind the condominium is the Gulf.  There are more houses similar to this one to the left and more under construction.

This particular home has been sold.  Otherwise the 2,500 sf  home and YARD with a view could be yours for $1,250,000.

I'd rather have one of the historic homes anyway.

Now head to Ms. Jenny's blog for a list of this week's participants.  Thanks for visiting.