Happy weekend! Let’s hear from reader Sandra in Stuttgart:
“This is a picture of my cat Milli taking up the whole couch (big sofa mind you) all for herself. Because the lady needs to stay comfortable. And warm. And cozy. She will only rise if food is served. Otherwise, you’ll find her under the covers of some blanket. Did I mention that it is really cold in Germany currently?”
ADORABLE!
Oh she’s beautiful! And a perfect example of kitty superiority!
Such a beautiful, smart, and well coordinated kitty!
On a side note: Hello Stuttgart! My father was stationed at Patch Barracks, Stuttgart-Vaihingen in the late 1970’s. We didn’t live on base, but in a little German town called Darmsheim. Beautiful area; love, love, love, Germany!
Good morning Sandra and Milli!
I’ve been stuck home with a head cold all week (ugh!), but Lily has been her usual Fierce and Fabulous self. The sub-freezing temps have let up thankfully and there’s been some intermittent sunshine. Lily likes that because it brings all the squirrels to the yard and she can practice her laser-like Gaze of Doom!
Fierce and beautiful at the same time. ?
Gorgeous pic! If I were a squirrel I’d be heading for the hills.
Jan, I’ve also had that cold this week, but not too bad – hope you feel better soon!
Hello, everybody, especially cat star Milli and her hoomin. Lily gets props for doing her job well–she’s really focused!
My finger is healing nicely and I’m moving ahead on sweaters 2 and 3 of 2017. I’ve also got a textured cowl project going on. Remember, it’s NEVER too late to join the Cutetropolis Crafters group on Ravelry, where you can show off your yarn creations.
Diving into my income tax prep today, before I pick up the knitting needles. If you don’t hear from me in, say, 5 hours, please send the Mounties.
I just joined Cutetropolis Crafters! Ravelry is my second fav website after Cuteropolis.
Good morning! My parents got home yesterday so I went after work to pick up my stuff and we ordered pizza and then I slept in my own bed for the first time since January 11. But I missed my morning kitty snuggles. :-/
I forget. Can you not have your own kitty?
I could but I’m not home all day and I don’t really have any good place to put a litter box. If I were to get a pet I’d rather have a dog.
Ahhh. Small dog small poop. And easy to take everywhere. Just saying but I’m biased.
Definitely a small one. One that also needs minimal grooming. We used to plunk Pablo in the sink and trim his nails every other week or so and he was good to go.
Good morning! Off to the V-E-T this a.m. with our kitteh. Recheck on her hypercalcemia, and she’s a couple months past due for her rabies booster. We live in a rural town so her vet is a half hour drive away. A very loooong half hour, punctuated by loud “Mrooooooowww!!”s every few seconds. All. The. Way. There. There may be sedatives involved. I might even give some to the cat. 😛
Ha ha ha!
Ooo, sound like our cat but we have only about 15-20 minute ride.
Now we have a Milli cat to go with a Millie dog! How lucky can we be. And Lily is, indeed, very intense as she watches Station CATTV.
I joined Ravelry back in the beginning but not sure what to do now. Are there notifications? Or do I just put the address somewhere and check it out?
I’m getting ready for my “Gang of Angels” party tomorrow – all the people who made food for us while I was incapacitated after my shoulder surgery. I don’t think one thing has got right as far as the food. I’m made mistakes every step of the way – non irreparable, mind, just a pain. The biggest one was the cake – a pound cake – it turns out that my Turk’s Head pan isn’t big enough for the amount of batter. I thought there was too much but I didn’t listen to myself (remember Disney’s Alice in Wonderland’s song “I Give Myself Very Good Advice But I Very Seldom Follow It”) I had a lava flow in the oven but it wasn’t too bad to clean up nor was the subsequent carving away of the excess cake that overflowed the pan in situ. I have to get moving now – cleaning, off to buy some flowers. Maybe I’ll be back later this evening. Yawn – I’m tired.
Go to ravelry.com, sign in, click on groups, anf search for Cutetropolis Crafters. Then you can join the group.
I’ve already joined, I was just wondering if one got notifications from time to time or is it necessary to remember to seek out posts.
I added the group to my Forum boards and try to visit daily. I’m signed in to Ravelry all day long for work, though.
That kitty was me all week, except I had 2 cats and a dog snuggling with me. I was getting over the bronchitis (but not the laryngitis) finally, when suddenly I had a stomach bug. Needless to say, stomach acid on inflamed vocal cords is not a good thing. I was feverish, dizzy, and nauseous. Finally, today, I can walk without bumping into walls. I still can’t talk much, but hopefully now I am on the mend, my vocal cords can heal. If my voice doesn’t come back soon (it’s been over a month), the doc said, “If your voice isn’t better soon, we should think about tests because hoarseness can be caused by, you know, polyps or…other things” (imagine the ellipse is replace by an ominous dun dun dun).
The sun is shining, and it is not too cold. I am craving sitting on the front patio soaking up some sunshine, so I fully intend to do that in my pajamas, robe, and slippers.
My daughter posted this on her facebook the other day, and it’s just too funny (and so true) not to share:
Me,10:30 pm: I love these cats so cute I want all of them to sleep on me.
Me, 1 am: (when the cats are sleeping on my head, playing on me, and waking me up) I hate cats! *rolls around til all cats fall off of me* Repeat this process every couple hours through the night.
Me, 545 am: Don’t wanna get out of bed… there’s cats here. I love cats.
Me, the rest of the day: Golly gee, why am I always so tired?
Patty, everybody in my house sends virtual hugs and/or kittykisses for a speedy recovery.
Vocal fold polyps are generally not dangerous, I dimly remember from my undergrad degree in speech pathology. They affect vocal quality only.
Your daughter is 100% right.
Ugh Patty – this sounds awful! Sending healing thoughts too.
Re: vocal polyps – don’t fear the polyps. As far as “problems” go – these really aren’t it. I had a bunch removed when I was a sophomore in college. Too much yelling from cheer-leading and life-guarding. The worst part of the whole thing was I couldn’t talk for 10 days. And that wasn’t even so bad. It was interesting how people reacted. Some people just took it in stride, no big deal. Other people (who, by the way, knew me very well and knew I was having the surgery) would ee-nun-cee-ate ve-ree care-ful-lee when they would talk to me. sigh. There was nothing wrong with my hearing! No pain though from the surgery – no problems since. That’s over 20 years ago. And anyway – in my completely ignorant opinion, I doubt you developed polyps in a month. Did you have hoarseness before?
I do hope you feel better soon!!
I did not have hoarseness before. I am not too worried about it, since it all started with the bronchitis. I think I’ve just contracted every bug that came along this year, one right after the other. I knew the vomiting from the stomach bug would affect my voice. I usually don’t get sick, but between one daughter with her sick kids, the other daughter working in a day care, the foster baby going for visits with his family, there’s me right in the middle, hanging out with a lot of germs. Flu is rampant in KS right now, and next year I WILL remember how sick I was this year, and I will get a flu shot.
Quick disclaimer: I’m not a doctor or anything like one, but I am a total alternative health nerd who’s done a LOT of reading, and black elderberry extract (available as a liquid syrup and as dry lozenges, sort of like cough drops) is another option, if you can’t/don’t want to get a flu shot. Lots of research done on it–mostly for flu, but anecdotal evidence suggests it works on colds and other viral stuff as well. It’s also very safe and well-tolerated, even in children; the only caution I’ve ever heard is not to give syrups containing honey to infants under one year, and that’s more of a problem with the honey than with the elderberry itself.
Anyway, you can take 1 tsp. syrup dissolved in an ounce or two of water (or 1 lozenge) per day as a maintenance/preventative dosage for the entirety of flu season with no problem at all, and up that to 1 tsp. 2-3x per day if you know you’ve been exposed (such as from a sick family member or co-worker). And if you do get sick with something, starting an intensive dosage (1 tsp. syrup every 4-6 hours, even overnight) within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms will decrease both symptom severity and the overall time you’re down with whatever it is. You can look all this up on Google if you’re interested in more of the details, but elderberry basically works by disarming the protein spike that viruses use to pierce the walls of your cells and then hijack the machinery inside to make more copies of themselves. So taking frequent doses on a regular schedule makes it harder for a virus to reproduce itself and helps your own immune system clean things up much faster, and since the mechanism of action is pretty general, it tends to be effective even against recently mutated strains of different viruses.
You should be able to buy elderberry syrup at your favorite natural-health or organic grocery store, or anyplace that sells vitamins and other dietary supplements (or order it online). Just try to go with something that’s ONLY elderberry, especially for all-season preventative use; many companies add zinc and other herbs and things to their syrups that you really don’t need, the elderberry is plenty effective all on its own. Oh, and while the lozenges are handy for on-the-go use when you don’t want to have to mess with measuring out a liquid syrup, just be warned that they should be left to dissolve in the mouth rather than being chewed for maximum effectiveness, and they will turn your tongue a rather vivid shade of purple for a bit. 🙂
Waterdragon – fascinating! And you explained it really clearly. That’s good info to have.
I’ve been getting the Flu shot for the last 20 years or so (started when my father was in nursing home and they urged all family members to get the shot, to help protect the residents, and I continued after he passed away) and thankfully I’ve never had the flu during that time. I only had it once before then, but I remember it was really horrid.
You are very welcome–this is one of those bits of info that I try to pass along whenever I get an opportunity, just because it’s such a simple and cheap thing to do for yourself during flu season (and one you’re unlikely to hear about from a regular doctor).
And yes, flu is awful; I’ve only had it once that I can recall, back in the early 2000’s when my hubby and I were first married, and it was no fun AT ALL. This might be a bit TMI, but I happened to be in the middle of my monthly cycle on top of it, yikes–the flu is bad enough by itself, but try having it while you’re hormonal as well! NOT an experience I ever care to repeat!
Anyway, after I learned about black elderberry, I started dosing the hubs and I both with it during the fall and winter, and we’ve not had a problem since, even without flu shots. (Although to be fair, we don’t have children of our own nor do we deal with anyone else’s on a regular basis, so we probably don’t get exposed as much as some.) Still, I’ve also taken elderberry on the odd occasion when I’ve caught a regular old head-cold or somesuch, and it definitely does help–I’m warding off some kind of creeping crud my husband brought home from the office with it even as we speak, actually. (And apparently with success; he’s been sick for 3 days now and I still haven’t show up with a sore throat or anything.) So, worth a try, certainly!
It has been a long weekend, I’m tired, and because some wise soul said laughter is the best medicine, this can only help.
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.
🙂
While getting a flu shot is really important, especially when you’re around a lot of kids, it won’t guard against the noro virus, I’m sorry to report. That twenty-four hour visit from evil demons is a wholly separate thing and I think it’s really common when you’re in close proximity to those little germ vectors we call children!
Murray, I was really hoping no one would mention the “n” virus. It caught me last week, and I’m still having negative reactions to some smells. Poor hubby didn’t know what to do with me.
Oh yuck! Sounds like you were a magnate for every possible germ. I’m so sorry.
I’m also an alternative medicine health nut – so I’m interested in what Waterdragon687 says above.
Bottom line – I really hope you feel better soon. Silver lining – you are now immune to anything that comes along in the next 6 months!
Gosh, Patty, you are going through it STILL! Hope you have your day in the sunshine.
What is this “sunshine” of which you speak? I vaguely remember something from the old days in the greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area that old-timers called “sunshine”, but it exists only in pictures of the past!
The sunshine didn’t last long, but the 15 minutes I did sit in it was great. Closed my eyes, and thought how great it would be to sit on a beach just soaking it in. Wish I had money for a vacation to visit my son in FL, I bet they have some sunshine going on. Oh well, hopefully there’ll be more sun here tomorrow.
Wishing you good health, and, the sooner the better! And, a little sunshine to go with it would be welcome too.
Hi All,
Oh Milli is beautiful! She looks like she IS in charge of that couch. 🙂 Who owns whom!?
Happy Saturday. I’m teaching a class I haven’t taught in six years this semester, plus a workshop over President’s Day so I am a lesson planning maniac this weekend. I am also going to take my first bee keeping class tomorrow! I am very excited. A friend kept a hive in my yard for a few years with moderate success. Then he disappeared and I thought I’d try my hand at it, but I missed out on the class. So the hive last year died. 🙁 It was very sad. I found the poor little queen wandering around in there all by herself. Talk about feeling guilty! I don’t want that to happen again this year. So tomorrow, bright and early at 7:30 am – I drive an hour+ to take this class. I really hope it is inside this time of year. Otherwise it’s gonna be cold! I’m driving north.
Jan – Lily’s Gaze-of-Doom is looking stellar!
And Bananaheadbread so glad you joined the ravelry group. Welcome!
DebG glad to hear your finger is healing! It must be a relief!
xo to all!
Good luck with the bee keeping – we need it!!!
Tara, so sorry about your ‘foster’ hive – I hope the class tomorrow goes well! My physical therapist is also eager to start beekeeping – she and her husband have a mini orchard of fruit trees, so it’ll be good for them and for the environment generally. The more bees, the better!
Thanks y’all! Will report on progress.
😀 My Milli is on Cutetropolis! Thank you Mike for posting her picture! She really is adorable and the best bossy kitty <3
Thank you for sending her picture and story! 🙂
Milli is a pretty kitty and it is only the natural order of things that she clearly is bossy. Not so large, but still in charge!
Got an email from my sister who lives in Michigan. She has a good friend in Seattle who is now in hospice with only days to live. My sister and brother-in-law made an agreement with her quite some time ago that, when the time came, they would adopt her dog. I hope it’s a comfort to her to know that her fur baby will be in very good hands.
I’m sure it’s a comfort. That’s honestly one of my biggest fears–who will care for my kitties when I’m gone? I don’t know 7 people who would be willing to take one apiece, plus several are, um, difficult.
So sorry for the coming loss. Your sister must find it difficult.
I haven’t posted all afternoon because my Internet sucks but I’ve been reading all your comments in my email on my tablet (which is connected to a Hotspot somewhere outside). And I didn’t have a picture or gif ready this morning so here’s eleven pages of happy stuff.
http://www.boredpanda.com/all-time-positive-tweets/
Thank you, Allein, that was a wonderful. And there are some other lists that are truly uplifting as well – I needed that – some good news to restore my faith.
From there I clicked on a funny wrong number texts link. A lot of them were kinda inappropriate but I love this one. Guy gets included on a group text baby announcement because he had someone’s old number…so he and his brother visited and brought the baby a present. 🙂
http://www.today.com/parents/texting-mix-over-new-baby-results-hilarious-hospital-visit-strangers-t81661
These are marvelous – thank you! I can’t pick a favorite b/c there are so many.
I love the pup who brings presents to cheer Mom up
I know! He looks so happy, too!
Allein – This was SPECTACULAR!!!! I read through all 100!!!
Hi, I’ve been enjoying today’s thread. Everybody who’s healing from something, keep it up!
Ani the rabbit has long since healed from her operation and her belly fur is starting to grow back in. That’s good, because temperatures are low tonight. Her cage is on the porch and on cold nights I cover it with sheets and point a space heater at one end so that it fills up with warm air.
But in a few days that’s all over with, because I’m cleaning out and rabbit-proofing a room indoors where she will live from that point on (I also use it as an office). This is the only room in my house that’s carpeted, so she can roam it freely. The other rooms have slippery wood floors that give her trouble walking, so I’ll lay down a path of rugs and towels that will let her run from her new room all the way to the porch.
You’re a good Daddy! (No surprise)
So will she get a little desk and a plaque with her name on it? 😀
Awww.
Good Sunday morning, Cutetropolitans!
Another lost weekend for me: yesterday was our Open House at school (trying to drum up new recruits for the fall). It was the first time students have actually volunteered to help me with the English room (English is a required subject at our high school for mechanical engineeriing – and students treat it like a required subject instead of seeing it as a practical means of communication for travel and for their future career). The students were awesome! We had a tea party and played Ellen DeGeneres’ Heads Up. Potential students could win sweets (homemade chocolate chip cookies, homemade cranberry scones and store-bought Oreos) or prizes by participating in English games. It was great – aside from the fact that I have no voice left because I talked five hours straight!
And another good thing that came out of it: I have an interview Monday with the local newspaper to discuss the Super Bowl – as an ex-pat I am considered somewhat of an expert (although my expertise is more in the direction of Super Bowl parties – mmm, Buffalo wings and beef on weck, even if the Bills aren’t playing – and critiquing the Super Bowl commercials!)
Have a great week, y’all!