55 thoughts on “Weekend Open Thread

  1. Gigi The cat lady March 17, 2018 / 8:17 am

    I haven’t been commenting a lot this week because I’ve been busy doing my Spring cleaning early because my husband being of descent Irish we’ll be having our big annual Saint-Patricks Day diner party tonight. The house is all decorated in green and I’ll be making Guinness beef chuck roast with Irish Champ for 10 people!

    Éirinn go Brách! ☘️?

  2. N. Fritz March 17, 2018 / 8:25 am

    Kitty looks like I feel! Relieved that it’s the weekend but still messed up from the week! It was a rough one! But we’ve got a 3-day weekend (St Joseph’s Day is on the 19th) and I’m speeding towards Vienna on the train as we speak. Have a Happy Saint Patrick’s (and St. Joseph’s Day), everybody!

  3. dubravkamcvmd March 17, 2018 / 8:44 am

    It appears that kitteh”s hind quarters have liquefied?

    • AJ March 17, 2018 / 8:51 am

      He’s doing his best Salvador Dali (a la The Melting Clock) impression. Melting Kitty?

      • allein ? March 17, 2018 / 10:20 am

        The Purrsistence of Memory

    • 6rabbits March 17, 2018 / 9:40 am

      Further pictorial evidence that cats are actually liquid! (How the feet are is very confusing to me?)

      • allein ? March 17, 2018 / 10:22 am

        I, too, was confuzzed by the feets. Looks uncomfy, but then again, I’m not a cat.

        • Murray C March 17, 2018 / 11:06 am

          Anyone remember the Peanuts cartoon with I think, Frieda holding a cat and Snoopy thinking “They’ve invented a boneless cat? I looked for it but can’t find it.

          • allein ? March 17, 2018 / 11:11 am

            (Sorry it’s so tiny.)

          • Meleo1 March 18, 2018 / 2:16 am

            They come that way.

      • dubravkamcvmd March 17, 2018 / 11:44 am

        The feet arrangement is what made me think Kitteh had liquefied.

      • Duckie ? March 17, 2018 / 12:13 pm

        Feet status determined by selective indifference.

  4. Birdcage March 17, 2018 / 9:23 am

    Soap and taxes! That’s my plan for the weekend – making homemade bastille soap and doing my income tax return. Weather is supposed to be nicer, for a change, so maybe a walk in the fresh air. I hope Spring arrives soon. Feeling a little anxious to have open windows and to turn off the furnace and to see my garden start to come alive again.

    • Murray C March 17, 2018 / 11:04 am

      Beginning to do yard work – waiting ’til it warms up a bit – it’s only about 35 or so right now. Going up to 50 this afternoon. Taxes this morning. And, of course, Cutetropolis, Weekend Thread Division.

  5. Nancy March 17, 2018 / 9:23 am

    Oh! May I have a double scoop please?? I am currently without a fur baby but hoping in a month or so to see if the local awesome rescue place has mine ready and waiting.

  6. AJ March 17, 2018 / 9:24 am

    Slainte! And Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone. It’s a cool and at the moment, wet start to the day.

    We’re all moved into the new place and loving it. Not to brag but I now have a 10 minute walk door to door to my job. And I can come home at lunch time. It’s finally getting me away from the desk and some exercise, both much needed during the work day. Still trying to unpack stuff and figure out where to put it but it will get done. Went shopping the other night to get stuff for the house and came back with a car full, lol.

    Had hockey last night (we won!), hockey tonight with friends, and celebrate our team’s founder’s day tomorrow. I said I should just set up a cot in the locker room since I’m pretty much living at the arena this weekend. Other than that, haircut today, and sometime I have to go grocery shopping.

    Have a good weekend everyone!

    • Murray C March 17, 2018 / 11:03 am

      Excellent news all round, AJ – it was all worth it!

    • dubravkamcvmd March 17, 2018 / 11:47 am

      Walking to work is great, though I found, the one time I had that situation, that I was late more often than when I commuted.

  7. allein ? March 17, 2018 / 11:09 am

    Happy St. Paddy’s Day, everyone. My friend invited me over for corned beef and cabbage, which I’ve never had and am not sure I’d like, but I might go just to get out of the house, and also she has my Girl Scout Cookies (her niece is selling them, but it’s her last year for scouting so unless my friend’s daughter joins Brownies I don’t know what I’ll do next year!). She’s had them for weeks but her kids had been sick so we haven’t been able to get together.

    I mentioned on a thread last night, but it seems to be nearing the end for my aunt (my mom’s sister). My cousin said she was “in ‘terminal agitation’, one of the phases of the end. They won’t give us any idea of how long…she’s pretty out of it…sounds horrible…but she wakes up & asks to talk to certain people every so often.” Sounds like she probably has pneumonia again, and they’re giving her antibiotics and pain meds, but not her other meds for various conditions she was being treated for. Apparently my uncle decided he didn’t want to put her in the ground, so instead of the plots they have at the military cemetery, he bought two spots at the mausoleum where my other aunt and cousins are. Gonna be a family reunion in there. Yesterday was six years since that aunt passed, and it might not be too long before her husband (my mom’s oldest brother) joins her as well. I guess time will tell about that.

    On a lighter note, my purse-shopping quest has thus far been fruitless, but I’ve been looking at a couple on Fossil’s website. The only problem is I can’t find them anywhere in the area so I can actually look at them and decide if they would work for me. They’re pretty pricey so I would really like to be able to see it before shelling out the money, but the closest store that I can find the one at is Macy’s in Brooklyn, and well, I live in central NJ. I kinda feel bad about it, but I’m considering ordering from the Macy’s website so that if I don’t like it I can just return it to a store rather than have to deal with shipping it back to Fossil.

    I need it to be able to hold a 10.2-inch tablet, my wallet, sunglasses, and phone/tablet charger, plus a few odds and ends, but not so big that it’ll start collecting a ton of other junk.

    I think I’m leaning toward this one:
    https://www.fossil.com/us/en/products/ryder-satchel-sku-zb7412p.html

    or this but I’m not sure if that has enough space and it doesn’t seem to have any pockets except the one zipper pocket inside (the one I have now is about the same width, but it has outside pockets on both sides, and a zipper pocket and two small open pockets on the inside, and the center divider is also a zipped section, though I don’t use that much except occasionally to hold something small that I want to be sure not to lose).
    https://www.fossil.com/us/en/products/finley-shoulder-bag-sku-zb7453001c.html

    (or gray but that’s not available at Macys)
    https://www.fossil.com/us/en/products/finley-shoulder-bag-sku-zb7456055c.html

    I suppose I could order both and then return one (or both) but that’s a lot of money to lay out.

    I did, however, find a new tea mug to replace my broken one. So there’s that. 🙂
    https://www.surlatable.com/images/customers/c1079/PRO-3710845/PRO-3710845_hopup/main_variation_Default_view_2_715x715.

    • allein ? March 17, 2018 / 11:17 am

      Oops, don’t know what happened with that last link but it’s too late to edit.

      • N. Fritz March 17, 2018 / 12:18 pm

        Yay!

      • Faye March 17, 2018 / 12:56 pm

        Allein! Look on Zulilly! I just bought a bag almost exactly like your first pic for $50. Marked down from $240ish. Gorgeous bag. Classiest one I have owned. Brand name MKF I think.

    • debg March 17, 2018 / 12:37 pm

      Allein, have you ever considered making your own purse? I started doing so maybe 5 years ago and would never go back to buying them. It took several rounds to fully tweak the pattern, but now I’ve nailed it.

      I use ultrasuede or a patterned ultrasuede for the outside, and inside there are dozen pockets, compartments, and even credit card slots to keep things organized (ish). When I made myself a new one in January, I just sewed a new outside, took the inner part out of the old one, and reattached.

      • allein ? March 17, 2018 / 12:42 pm

        I dunno…I’m not much of a seamstress..

    • Boo'sMom March 17, 2018 / 1:57 pm

      Guess you really want a leather purse, but, when the leather purses became too heavy for my fibromyalgia to tolerate, I switched to Baggalini. Lightweight, durable, and professional-looking enough for me, and, multiple styles to suit anyone. They have a website and are also sold on Shoes.com.

      • dubravkamcvmd March 17, 2018 / 4:23 pm

        I went to their site and the bags look great. I don’t buy leather bags anymore so this is perfect.

        • Nancy March 17, 2018 / 10:18 pm

          Baggallini bags are regularly sold at bargain prices at TJMaxx, Marshall’s, and Ross stores. Happy hunting!

    • fkaWaldenPond March 17, 2018 / 2:28 pm

      Hey Allien, have you checked out Roots bags? I am including the link here. I swear by them– I have bags from 20 years ago that people still compliment. I get them relined etc but you will have a Roots bag for life. They have great organizers inside too.
      https://www.roots.com/us/en/leather/new-arrivals/

      • allein ? March 17, 2018 / 4:36 pm

        Never heard of them; will look later. I do want leather, I think, and I want something that’s going to last. My current bag I’ve had about 2 or 3 years and the strap is all cracked and falling apart, and the bag itself has a bunch of loose threads sticking out. I have some gift money and I’m willing to splurge a bit (which is not something I do often), but I haven’t seen anything in stores that I liked enough, so far.

        • fkaWaldenPond March 17, 2018 / 5:20 pm

          Roots is a Canadian ‘institution’ so to speak. They designed, provided the Canadian Olympic teams uniforms for years. They are all across Canada. I checked the US site and they deliver for free to you.

  8. Duckie ? March 17, 2018 / 11:48 am

    Happy weekend to everyone.
    I am vowing to be positive this weekend, so…
    Yesterday I set up our sundeck and got pots ready for planting. I will do peas, tomatoes and cucumbers this year. Oh, and some carrots that are apparently the size of radishes. I also have silk flowers and a hummingbird feeder set up.
    Hubby’s new work schedule starts today. I am soooooo happy to have our weekends back. I miss going to church with him on Sundays.
    I went grocery shopping yesterday, and made a steal on pork tenderloin. The store staff had underpriced the roasts, putting them almost two dollars a pound lower than they should have been, and they were already on sale! I redeemed my store points and got eight.
    I began to viciously down size my things this week. I did not realize how much stuff, especially old magazines, I had just “put away until later”. And , for some reason, I had been hoarding loose leaf paper by the pound. Since I will not be going back to school, I will give it away.
    I’m also going through my fabric. Anything I have definite plans for gets folded with the pattern pinned on top. Anything else, I am going to be brave, turn into quilts, and give them away. If there are any fabrics I bought “just because they were so beautiful” I will make myself a lap quilt with small pieces, and sew up the rest.
    This will allow me also to see what I can use for sun dresses. Based on the weather right now, we may be skipping spring and going straight into summer. I think I’m going to need several.
    Happy feast of St. Patrick, everyone, and, to those who have it on Monday, happy feast of St. Joseph. N. Fritz, where exactly do you live? I think I want to live in a country that allows saints’ feast days to be holidays.
    First day of spring is next week, peeps. ?
    ☘??????????

    • N. Fritz March 17, 2018 / 12:32 pm

      Duckie, I live in the province of Styria, “the green heart of Austria.” Austria is predominantly Catholic so we get a day off on All Saints’ Day, All Souls’ Day, Immaculate Conception, Christmas through Epiphany, two weeks at Easter, and three or four days for Ascension, Pentecost, and Corpus Christi.

      • Duckie ? March 17, 2018 / 8:20 pm

        Can we visit you?

        • Faye March 17, 2018 / 9:39 pm

          Road trip!

        • N. Fritz March 18, 2018 / 9:07 am

          Absolutely! If any of you are in Europe and want to plan a sidetrip to Austria, I will be happy to meet you in Vienna or Salzburg or any other convenient location!

          • Faye March 18, 2018 / 9:46 am

            ❤️

  9. debg March 17, 2018 / 12:15 pm

    Happy Caturday, everybody! Really busy week at work so I’ve lurked instead of commenting. Many good things in my life that I’m trying to enjoy to the fullest.

    – Fully healthy again! Spent last weekend doing lots of cleaning and organizing, and wow does that make life better. When I let stuff go, and then get sick, I feel much worse.
    – Job has definitely become permanent–confirmed with my boss this week at my 2-month mark. I’ll have health insurance starting April 1.
    – Now that job is permanent, I have started my research on relocating. It can’t happen before late July, so I can take my time. Fixing up the current house may take that long! Then there’s figuring out how to time things with 7 cats (impossible to rent, tricky to show this house, etc.) Fortunately, I’ve got lots of good people to rely on for advice.

    It’s quite likely I’ll end up in a smaller space. Since I’ve currently got lots of stuff packed into 1600 square feet and a single-car garage, this may mean tough decisions about possessions and hobbies. (Many of the possessions actually go with the hobbies.)

    Duckie, I love your idea about fabric divestiture. While I don’t quilt myself, I know quilters. I know many of you Cutetropolitans have downsized and may lean on you for advice about letting go of hobbies and things.

    Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all! I’m so happy for people’s successful moves, trips to Vienna, and other things that you’re celebrating. And I’m sending virtual hugs and purrs to those who need it.

    • Jenniesgirl March 17, 2018 / 12:46 pm

      When cleaning out my late mother’s fabric hoard, I kept only those pieces
      I knew I was likely to use. Sorted the rest by color family and gave the
      SIX boxes of quilting fabrics to a quilting guild I knew of. The extra
      sewing machine, along with various good usable notions and gear
      I gave to a nice seamstress from Turkey who did alterations, etc in
      my town. Find deserving recipients, as well as an appropriate charity
      shop for what you can’t use. Everybody feels good.

    • N. Fritz March 17, 2018 / 2:24 pm

      DebG, congratulations on the full-time job and the health insurance! I’m sure that’s a load off your mind. Live long and prosper!!!

    • dubravkamcvmd March 17, 2018 / 4:24 pm

      What N. Fritz said!

    • 6rabbits March 17, 2018 / 7:32 pm

      Yay job! Double yay health insurance!!?

    • Faye March 17, 2018 / 9:41 pm

      Yay! Job + Medical + Happy Boss = Congratulations

    • Emsthemonster March 18, 2018 / 12:08 pm

      Congratulations, DebG, I am happy for you!

    • fkaWaldenPond March 18, 2018 / 9:55 pm

      Wonderful news! Congratulations!

  10. Faye March 17, 2018 / 1:19 pm

    Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

    I did a bout of straightening/organizing yesterday. One transcription of passages from my most recently read Psychology book and I can begin drawing again. It’s been at least two months. I took a long break to process big breakthroughs with shrink.

    I attended my first book group. Very tight arm muscles during the drive there. But I did not have a panic attack or space out. Once I parked I was good to go into the restaurant. I said hello, got food, participated and stayed an hour and a half. I will definitely go again next month.

    Book Group book #1: Karolina’s Twins a fictionalization of a true Holocaust memory.
    Next Book: Americanah by Adichie.

    I also brought up one box of art/craft stuff from basement. Like others here I bought more than I could ever use. I am giving as much as possible to my housemate to sell on eBay. We are going to use any money for the two dogs Vet care. That’s the most important money item we have trouble covering. It was very easy for me to hand it over now that I am focused on drawing. The first box should bring $100-150 easy. I wasted my money thinking I was going to do ALL THE CRAFTS at least 8 years ago. Sigh.

    Hugs to all. Faye

    • dubravkamcvmd March 17, 2018 / 4:26 pm

      This all sounds like things are going really well!

      • Faye March 17, 2018 / 9:42 pm

        Yes! Very happy.

  11. Alice Shortcake March 18, 2018 / 4:49 am

    A nice little animal-related story from my forthcoming book, taken from “The Era” of 30th January 1876:

    ON the 22nd inst., at the Thames Police-court, a poor-looking man named Jameson was charged with driving five sheep along a public thoroughfare at illegal hours. David Markham, a constable, 139 K, said he was on duty in the Commercial-road when he saw the defendant driving five sheep at prohibited hours. The defendant said he was engaged to take the sheep out for exercise. They performed at the Pavilion Theatre in the Pantomime “Little Bo-Peep has Lost her Sheep”. “Little Bo-Peep” was marked on one side of their backs and “the Pavilion” on the other. He had no idea he was doing wrong in giving them a little recreation after their performance, or else he should not have brought them out. Mr Paget said the defendant must find some other place to exercise Bo-Peepʼs sheep, and must not drive them up and down the road. He was inclined to think it was an advertisement for the Pantomime. He should not impose any penalty in the present case, but the defendant would have to pay the cost of the summons.

    • debg March 18, 2018 / 11:51 am

      Lovely on so many levels–the cynicism, the innocence, and best of all the sheep!

    • Duckie ? March 18, 2018 / 11:09 pm

      Wait! Alice, are you saying that, back then, there were LEGAL hours for driving five sheep along a public thoroughfare?
      ?

  12. allein ? March 18, 2018 / 6:46 pm

    I just came from my aunt’s; my mom was able to get over there for a few hours this afternoon (I stayed with her for a few hours this morning while my dad was out, then went to my aunt’s, and my parents came over later). She told my aunt that if she was waiting for her (the only sibling who hadn’t been able to get there in the past week), she was there now so she could let go. I kinda felt like maybe she was either waiting for someone to get there, or waiting for everyone to leave. Her breathing and temperature are a little erratic; she sounds like she’s breathing through water. So it’ll be soon. I don’t know if she’s aware of anything in there, but she must be so exhausted.

    • fkaWaldenPond March 18, 2018 / 9:54 pm

      Oh heavens. My thoughts are directed there, for her and your family.

    • Faye March 18, 2018 / 10:18 pm

      ?

    • Duckie ? March 18, 2018 / 11:05 pm

      Prayers for you and yours, Allein.

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