Grandma Life

The Phoebe June Diaries: (Stolen Entry #3) “Phoebe June on Babies” – Part 1

~ Midwest Storyteller

My “job” keeps me hopping and a bit too busy to come up with new ways to sneak into Phoebe June’s diary without getting caught.  The grandma life is sweet, but with my Sweet Boy here almost every day, I have to be sure that Phoebe June gets the attention she demands.  That’s right – demands!  She’s fully aware that she’s grown into her title of “Queen of All Cats”, and still prefers to spend plenty of time practicing her hunting skills (even if she has to do it by murdering catnip mice, leaping onto house flies and basement crickets and slamming me with surprise attacks).  In Phoebe June’s mind, I am the other kitten in the barn loft, just waiting for the next big surprise as she spikes up her fur and advances toward me with “Let’s rumble!” written all over her face.  I have the scars to prove this.

You can imagine my concern over introducing a baby to such a needy cat who thrives on rough and tumble human interaction.  Should I expect jealousy?  Fury?  Or, perhaps most worrisome, an attitude that if Mommy loves this new critter, it must make the perfect plaything!

Well, she’s had over a year to adjust and I think Phoebe June’s handled it fairly well, considering.  I thought it might be time to take a peek at some of her observations on those first days.

Monday, February 10, 2020

It arrived not long after Christmas – The Snookie.  I was familiar with Pookie and she’s all right by me as long as she resists the urge to tweak my nose, but after all these months and months of talk about Snookie coming, I started to wonder if Mommy intended to trade me in for it, whatever it was.  Then came the socks.  They looked just my size, but Mommy stuck them on her thumbs the other day and (she’s done strange things before) massaged my cheeks!  They smelled funny.  She said I could expect Snookie to smell the same and that I would just adore him.  Well, he showed up today, socks and all, taking up a large portion of Mommy’s lap that I required for other purposes.  I jumped in and tried to be sociable even though he does smell funny.  He’s got to learn – the red furry thing is mine! 

Sunday, March 1, 2020

Pooh Bear is Ready www.midweststoryteller.com

Mommy says tomorrow’s the Big Day.  Snookie will be all ours – all day!  She got excited and fixed his cage.  He must be pretty puny if he can’t jump out of that.  After festooning it all over with soapy-smelling soft stuff, she put a critter inside, smiled at it and called it Pooh.  She pulled the thing on its head and the minute I heard the noise, I knew that the Pooh varmint must die. I hunkered low and went in for the kill, yanking him through the bars.  Just as I was showing him what real cats are made of, Mommy said I mustn’t and put him back in the cage.  She just doesn’t understand some things.  I tried my best all day to murder that thing, but finally she stuck him on top of the wardrobe.  I can jump up there, but she’d take it personally.  I’ll bide my time.

Thursday, March 12, 2020

Phoebe June teaches Self-Soothing www.midweststoryteller.com

Sometimes the noise is almost unbearable.  How Pookie stands it in the middle of the night at her house is beyond me.  I get a strong feeling that Mommy wouldn’t like it much if I just popped him on the snoot when he makes that racket, so when Snookie got all fretful today, I decided to help out.  I jumped up next to him and demonstrated how to self-soothe. Cats know these things.  Step 1:  Find the furry thing.  Step 2:  Give it a thorough stomping, giving care to exercise the toes and claws.  Step 3:  Purr very loud.  Step 4:  Curl up on it and konk out and stop making noise!  Did he listen?  No!  Did he make the slightest effort?  No!  And so I suffer.

Friday, April 10, 2020

He isn’t always noisy. The endless snuggles Mommy gives The Snookie can really get on my nerves sometimes.  She thinks he’s darling.  I suppose he’s tolerable.  He still smells funny, but she doesn’t seem to mind, even when he spits.  I’ll forgive her for acting goofy over him today.  She’s been telling him how it’s his Great-grandma Emmabelle’s birthday today and how she’s looking down at him from Heaven and loving him.  All pretty drippy stuff, but that’s how Mommy is.  I’ll just be glad when she gets back to snuggling me and calling me all my sappy nicknames.

 Monday April 13, 2020

Snookie All Smiles www.midweststoryteller.com

I have to admit, The Snookie has his moments.  I’m starting to see why they take such a shine to him. Of course, he’ll never be as cute as me – he’s far too furless – but he has perked up and started to act like something I might want to play with someday.  He also looks like something that’s going to try to pinch my fur.  Those fists clutch at everything, including my tail if I let my guard down. There is a twinkle in his eye.  He does stuff now.  He moves, but I can move faster.  If I stay a couple of feet away, I can study him without getting nabbed.  I have a funny feeling Mommy would take his side if I had to pop him one.  What worries me is that he learns a new trick every day.  It’s such a relief that walking is never going to be one of them. And note the absence of any teeth – the advantages are all mine!

That’s only the beginning of Phoebe June’s observations on babies.  More to come in the days ahead, so subscribe now so that you don’t miss out on what she has to say about crawlers and toddlers!.

Our Phoebe June – lovable and opinionated!  “Share”, “Like” and “Pin” her thoughts and adventures with the cat-lovers in your life.

If you missed the first installments of “The Phoebe June Diaries”, you can catch up by clicking here and here.  Check out everything on her page here!

Of Course, You “May” Have a Freebie!

~ Midwest Storyteller ~ 7 Comments

I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later.  There would come a month that I would go straight from First Friday to First Friday with nary a post in between.  All I can say about this regrettable situation is that this is what happens when your daily charge is 16 months old, walking and talking and it’s also weed pulling/planting time.  I had loads of fun this week, but most of it was spent as being Lil’ Snookie’s on-demand playmate.  I didn’t bother to count, but today it felt like we played 4,672 games of “Pi!” (his way of saying “Surprise!”).  This involves running around to opposite sides of the bed, ducking down, popping up with hands in the air to say “Pi!” and then ducking back down to crawl/toddle around the end of the bed where we meet to giggle and tussle. 

One of us is thrilled to no end with this and the other is overwhelmed by the cuteness but not getting to the computer to be much of a storyteller.  My apologies, but I’m not gonna quit my day job.

Oh, well, as my mother used to say, it’ll all come out in the wash.

I love the sayings people have that serve as a reminder to shrug off worry.  The Scriptures tell us not to worry about tomorrow because each day has enough troubles of its own.  How true!  Worrying today about tomorrow only piles more troubles onto a day that already is bound to have its own share of ups and downs.

At various times when I listen to the Trim Healthy Mama podcast, I’ve heard Serene and Pearl share that their mother often says, “Things come and things go” when asked about life’s difficulties.

Perhaps it’s weed-pulling season that brings these sayings to mind, for it does give me time to ponder and pluck up not only the weeds from the ground, but weedy worries from my mind.  The beauty of spring helps with that – everything’s starting over.

That’s why this month’s First Friday Freebie caught my eye.  I thought it might serve as a great reminder to one of my special readers who needs to pluck up some worries and toss them out.

Everything is Figure-out-able www.midweststoryteller.com

This inspirational table or shelf décor will help you do just that.  While I’m not sure that absolutely everything is figure-out-able (because there are just some things we are not meant to know), I love this saying.  It’s another phrase that will stick in your head to remind you that your sticky situation is going to go just as it came, or come out in the final wash or you’re going to be granted a solution.  The wood block from The Spring Shop is one of my Hobby Lobby finds and measures 4” X 3”, so it will tuck in perfectly amongst your other décor.  The white lettering and painted floral accent bring the message with a hint of summer.

To enter to win the “Everything is Figure-out-able” wood block, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “This may be the best day ever!”  You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, May 7th, 2021!

NOTE:  There seems to be an occasional problem with subscribers not receiving r confirmation emails.  If this happens, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know so that I can report it and have the issue resolved.

First Friday Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so you’ll want to subscribe over on the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page where you can subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so.

Help me get the word out so that more people can enjoy the stories, recipes, laughter and, of course, the FREEBIES here on the blog, too, so share with all your friends and family through all your social media. If you like an idea, recipe or story you see here, be sure to hover over the photo and “pin it”.

Subscribers win every single month!  On the “Freebies” page, you’ll be able to see what they’ve been winning.

A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight, May 7th by leaving a comment which says, “This may be the best day ever!”  After you do that, you can go out and have fun, smell the flowers, pluck a weed or two and toss them out with your troubles. It’s spring!  Sow a little positivity.

For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, click here. 

Those four steps are simple and quick! Why not subscribe and confirm right now before you forget?

How are you enjoying this most beautiful month of the year?  What new things and old favorites are you growing in you garden? I’d love it if you’d share in the comments. 

The Happiest New Year!

~ Midwest Storyteller ~ 3 Comments

Perhaps you’ve been wondering if Midwest Storyteller has fallen off a cliff or something – but no, what I have been doing is falling in love.

I’ve been a little too preoccupied to think about blogging for the last few weeks because we’ve started off the new year oh, so right!

The Grandma Life is SWEET! www.midweststoryteller.com

This 9 pound, 9 ounce bundle of love managed to squeak in at the tail end of 2019, leaving Smuffy and me changed forever. We can’t get enough of staring at that fresh, sweet face and twiddling those precious fingers and toes. And the squeaky little noises and the smiles – don’t be telling us that’s just gas – every one is meant just for us.

We’re new at this grand-parenting thing, but we’re convinced that we’ll have no trouble falling into the groove. This boy is a miracle and his mommy and daddy are amazing us with the the natural way they take to parenting. We knew they had it in them all along!

Look for more at Midwest Storyteller in the days ahead – just as soon as I can tear myself away from the nuzzling and the head kissing.

If your 2020 is as blessed as mine, your world is going to be fabulous!

May you be blessed in each and every day that lies ahead!