text: A week or so ago, I was reminiscing about how my sister would torment me when she wanted to really get my goat. First, “Tommie” is a pet form of “Thomas” and means twin. I don’t have a twin but my sister used to torture me by telling me I did have one when I was a baby but it died.
  She’d also tell me she was going to leave home because I was so mean but she’d come back when she was an old lady. I’d be out playing with my little friends (I guess time stood still for me) and we’d make fun of her and throw rocks. The one I threw would hit her and she would lay dying. That’s when I’d realize who she was and I’d cry and hold her in my arms while she sang in a mournful voice, “Will you be kind to the little lost sheep when the little lost sheep comes ho-o-ome? When the little lost sheep comes ho-ome.” I’d (actually) be crying and pounding her with my fists and yelling, “Shup! shup!”
  Well, you know me. I started wondering about the song and where she’d learned it. Since Google is my friend, I used it and found it’s from a circa 1922 gospel songbook, New Songs of Praise and Power 1-2-3 Combined. By searching for “when the little lost sheep comes home song”, it not only found it, there it was right on the screen! There were several options for obtaining the book in various conditions of wear.
  On closer inspection, I found that I could access the online ebook for nothing! I clicked on the big red button and there the song was. Going into full screen with f11, I dialed the size back with my Ctrl key and the mouse wheel so the whole song would show up. Then I used Greenshot with Prt Sc to get a screenshot which I sent to the printer. There it was! I have sheet music for the song that gave me so much grief when I was young. I haven’t played it yet but I’ve read the words and it’s not so sad, after all. And when we were older, we were good friends.
  I’ve felt better today. Not so much that I could fight bears with a switch but I got the carton of cashew milk out of the fridge and tried a sip. It had been open for a couple of weeks and was just getting an edge to it. There was a generous cup full so I added enough to make three cups and cooked up some tapioca. And then I forgot about it at supper. Oh, well. There’s tomorrow.
  The dishwasher got the lower rack unloaded and I’ll get to the top one tomorrow. The dishes in the sink keep accumulating but they should have a home soon.
  My roommate collects hearts. Not the kind that beats in a person’s chest — pictures of hearts of many kinds. There may be heart-shaped rocks, pieces of wood, clouds, flowers, you name it. Today, there was a video of a cat that has a perfect heart in black on its chest. (Black hearted?) She said she couldn’t add it to her album because it was a video and not a photo. Well. I used Greenshot (it’s ever so handy) to grab a screenshot, then opened up my new PaintShop Pro to crop it just a teensy bit.
  When a person installs a Corel product, it badgers said person with offers for all manner of other programs and add-ons. This time, it was for Aftershot Pro. I thought I’d installed Aftershot 2 and I had. The difference is, it’s more limited because it’s a standard program and not “pro”. I opened it up and decided I’d play a bit. The picture I selected was the one of Gray.
  After I’d tried a number of presets, here’s what I ended up with.
  It looks like a black cat, right? That isn’t all. It looks eerily like THE black cat DD and I had when we moved from Alabama to the mountain. He was a gorgeous tom cat and my father-in-law fell in love. Both my cat and my dog (a Rottweiler named Kat, short for Katrina von Klaus) were allowed in the house. DH’s oldest brother was incensed. “They would have never been allowed in the house when I was growing up!”
  The cat followed my father-in-law out to the garden where they spent hours together. It’s no wonder that my FIL was heartbroken when my cat got hit by a car. He and my mother-in-law took him to the vet (which was a big step for them since they were very frugal). They were both in denial when the vet told them his injuries were too severe and he wouldn’t make it. Rather than have him put down, my FIL gathered him up and brought him home. He rested on my MIL’s lap for much of the afternoon, then jumped down, fell to the floor and breathed his last.
  When DD and I were at the mall, we saw some black cats at the pet store. I bought one (who buys alley cats?? Me.) and brought him home for my FIL. That cat ended up being one of the most ornery creatures known to man. Get too close and he’d hiss and strike out with his claws. My FIL didn’t care. He had another black cat. He’d try to hold him and pet him and would end up with long scratches on his arms and hands. Finally, my brother-in-law hauled him off to his place to be a mouser. The last he saw of the cat was when it took off through the woods. He didn’t follow.
  Tonight’s going to be a Test. My small pillow came today so I’ll put it on one side of the bed as an armrest and see how it does. If it does well, I’ll order another for the other side. And yes, having my arms raised up makes that much difference. Bless the person who suggested it!
  I think this is enough for tonight. I’m already over my length limit (DD says my posts are too long) so I’ll stop. Here.
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  Lila June 24, 2016 at 7:00 am #
  I never knew about the twin you didn’t have, nor the fact that the rock you threw had killed your sister…and the rest of the story. Mother told me the first part, and that was mean enough! But you two became very close, at least to my way of thinking, and I trust all was forgiven – but obviously not forgotten.
  Reply	
  Tommie June 24, 2016 at 10:56 am #
  She had her favorites when it came to “gicking” at me. Those were her two. Yes, I forgave and we were close but it was an indelible impression that will never go away.
  Reply	
  merry June 24, 2016 at 7:42 am #
  Tommie, good morning. Awesome picture of Gray.
  Amazing things you can do with a little knowledge…of computers and Google.
  Google is my friend too…answers a lot of questions for me. lol
  Reply	
  Tommie June 24, 2016 at 10:57 am #
  Thanks, Merry. If you are using Chrome as your browser, you can highlight text, right click on it and search Google from there. You probably already know that but I think it’s pretty neat.
  Reply	
  Mary Jane Graves June 24, 2016 at 9:05 am #
  I got a laugh out of your reminiscing, I can just imagine how the sister sounded! But, yes, it was not kind.
  You can do all that with a computer and I can’t even get my flash drive to do what it’s supposed to do!
  Hope the pillow helped last night.
  Reply	
  Tommie June 24, 2016 at 11:01 am #
  We were ugly to each other in our younger years. I wasn’t 100% innocent but she got me back in spades.
  It’s the program that does it. I just click. Flash drives aren’t always the most reliable things. Maybe you need to hold your mouth right?
  The pillow did help but I need the same for the other arm. Off to Amazon!
  Reply	
  abbylynn June 24, 2016 at 6:19 pm #
  neat picture of Gray. I like the original best — it fully shows off his/her gray-ness!
  Reply	
  Tommie June 25, 2016 at 6:08 pm #
  I shared the other one for fun and because it looks so much like my long deceased tom cat.
  Reply	
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  Tommie passed away in November 2016, but we are keeping this blog online as a virtual legacy. Here is how she described herself: My name is Tommie, and I have been vegetarian my whole life. For several years I was 100% raw, but now consider myself vegan with lots of raw food. This website chronicles my journey, gives advice on how to live a raw food lifestyle, and shares recipes, both raw and simple cooked.
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