Sheila, I never gave it much thought until Sassi slipped and re-hurt her leg. I have tile everywhere except the bedrooms. The new house has all hardwood and tile. I will probably use runners and rugs there. Sassi, by the way is wearing her bandage til Monday. I cried this morning at the vet's and I'm crying now. I thought of all of you that have cats and especially our precious KJ. A lady brought in a beautiful little black kitten that had fishing line wrapped so tightly around one little leg I couldn't bear to look at it. No telling what damage had been done. The lady had rescued it and indicated that the fishing line was a deliberate act. Why on earth would someone hurt a darling little animal like that. It just makes me sick to my stomach.

Andie, It's not too bad tonight, I can actually see sky and yellow sun - the smoke is not nearly as heavy. We are experiencing a great relief because the Fire Fighter's staging area is right here in our town, about 2 miles from my property. On the large field across the highway there is a tent-city, porta-potties, trailers from food-providers. I am sure they would not set up this big a facility if there was danger. Three miles or so north of here there is the Kate Wolf Memorial Concert, about 2,000 or so attending. All that makes us fell pretty secure. I am coughing and sneezing and my eyes water, I think the days of smoke are really hitting home now. My animals all are a bit under the weather, smoke gets to them, also. My Taffy and Joann's RocCat - both very independent - have not checked in today, usually nothing noteworthy, but because of the fires, there are more coyotes heard and I'm sure there are many hungry and upset beasts around, driven here by the fires, so that's a concern, even though those boys are pretty wise and careful. Taffy just may not have noticed yet that the house guests have gone; he tends to be invisible if there are strange cars around. All in all, right now it is all much more positive, and the T-storms have not materialized. Maybe the worst is over and pretty soon we can breathe again (with relief, that is)

You are probably experiencing a form of urticaria. I had this too (in the form of exercise urticaria) and it is seriously painful once the itching starts. I also experienced it in the spring and summer months, sometimes in the fall. Getting gluten and dairy out of my diet helped so much to quell the histamine release. It rarely, if ever happens to me anymore. I started to experience it in my late teens (20 years ago) up until the last two years when I eliminated these foods from my diet. There is a video called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead - the producer had the same condition. It is on Netflix and maybe even youtube. It may be worth the watch for you. Good luck with the doctors because my "causes" were always dry skin, detergents or improper clothes while exercising. Wrong.

Oh, Dotmom. What a story. I know it wasn't funny at the time but the visualization now, I couldn't help but laugh! God bless those women who went into the lake after Alice. This particular pond is so grungy, there was no way I was going into the pond after my clubs. I'd buy new ones first. Two of the ladies in my foursome had ball retrievers and we were able to hook them through the handle of the pull cart and pull it close to shore. The third gal drove back a hole and grab the maintenance guy who was working on the course. Except for the GPS, I thought it was pretty amusing. marie cate...thanks for the advice. One of the gals in my foursome suggested the same thing and when she did, I remembered someone on this forum giving that advice. It sits in rice as I type this. I called Callaway technical support immediately after I got home and they said to remove the battery and give it at least 24 hours to dry out and it should be fine though they couldn't guarantee it so my fingers are crossed. sleeperblues and lindakathy...I , too, think of it as painless exercise. I attribute my stamina to Georgy. She has so much pent up energy, I began walking here three miles a day this winter and worked up to five miles every day. I've always walked 18 holes but the last two years I resorted to riding because I had bursitis in my right leg. All the walking with Georgy has left me pain free and with a great deal of stamina. Now if I could only figure out how to deal with the hands. They're pretty good by the evening but oh so weak and hurting in the morning.