The not-dressed-yet kitty is back and bundled up for Caturday! Reader/submitter Squiddy writes: “This is the same kitty as in Wait, I’m Not Decent!, this time all dressed up and cozy for winter. She looks so snug and… normal.”
Weekend Open Thread
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We had out first snow storm this week and it’s actually snowing right now, it’s pretty but all the shovelling is hard on the back. I started putting out suet for the birds and of course the squirrels take their share of it.
Today’s plan, buy boots for my husband and I, we haven’t bought boots in 4 years, we are really due for new one. We’ll also be shopping for a new home phone (yes we still have a land line ?) since ours died yesterday, another thing we haven’t bought in a long time, I think this one lasted us 12 years or so.
I hope everyone has a good weekend!
Went for a “hike” yesterday. Only about a mile round trip, but I wanted to test the knee out on uneven ground and a mild slope. Amazingly, I can walk this morning! It sure felt good to be out in the woods even though it was raining. I have my sights on the Delicate Arch trail, but I have a lot of stamina to rebuild first…
About an hour ago hubby and I got in from a day in New York City. We went up by train to visit with my husband’s niece, her husband and one year old, niece’s parents visiting from England and hub’s step brother and wife. That part was all well and good, we had a great time just sitting around, eating, drinking champagne, etc. But New York is beyond me – AJ, you said you had a problem with crowds – well, so do I. It’s especially bad right now with Christmas shoppers and tons of tourists. It’s so grubby and little of what you might call natural. I know there are fantastic things there – the museums, the restaurants (if you can afford them), the theater, etc, but the whole place just makes my skin crawl.
THEN! – I had just settled down to the computer, looking forward to seeing how everyone was doing and – NO CUTETROPOLIS! I almost went into my post CO depression! And the only way I can access a comment box is to reply to someone else – there isn’t one at the end of everyone’s posts. I use DuckDuckGo when I search for things but Safari is, I guess, my main – what is it, a search engine? I get those phrases mixed up. Anyway, at least if I search I get here, but I didn’t get anything all day in my inbox. We’re talkin’ tragedy! (does anyone recognize where that phrase comes from??)
As for the problem with crowds, this is exactly what turned me into a Grinch in the past few years. This is not NYC, far from it in every respect, it is just a small town, which is the centre of the region. Still it is impossible to run any errand from the beginning of December, because it is crowded everywhere and even grocery shopping takes hours. And now the roads are in good condition because it is warm (35F) today. People just pour in from the surrounding villages, they drive in town traffic twice a year and one accident follows the other. So basically there is a month of sucking for 2 days of festive spirit for those who have it, before the great Christmas crying commences.
TLDR: yes, I feel your pain about crowd Murray!
I was pleasantly surprised at the relative lack of crowd when I went shopping yesterday. I waited until dinnertime. Got a few Christmas gifts and a pair of pants and a belt for myself.
I am glad to read you were able to go for a hike Jan and the new knee works! I am going to look up the Delicate Arch trail now.
I wasn’t able to do it last year when I was in Arches, but next time… that sucker is MINE!
Glad the knee is cooperating with you, Jan. It does take a while – my shoulder still isn’t 100%, may never be, but it was oh. so worth it to have it done. I hope you’re feeling the same about your surgery.
It’s Wrapping Saturday at Casa Birdcage – will sit around all day in front of the TV watching movies and trying to get as much of the Christmas wrapping done as I can. Last night, I saw The Last Jedi. No spoilers but I loved it – fresh, funny, surprising. And the porgs!!!!!! So cute!!!!!!
Kinda busy weekend ahead but feel like I want to crawl back in bed and cover up like cutie kittie here. First cleaning apartment this morning, then lunch with a friend, then hair cut and finally hockey game tonight. It’s also teddy bear toss and we’ve got stuffies galore plus one HUUUUUGGGGEEE bear to donate. Right now Mr. Large is sitting in my closet cause there was no where else to put him, lol. (sorry for the sideways pic, couldn’t figure out how to switch it around.) The other stuffies are keeping with the theme of the year, Star Wars – mini Darth Vadars, Chewies, Yodas, Storm Troopers and BD8s. All bears etc tossed go to the local children’s hospital to cheer them up.
Then tomorrow we’re off to see the latest Star Wars movie and finish up errands. Can’t believe it’s almost Christmas. Then it’s New Years, wow! Actually planning a trip up to the Rose Bowl Parade right now but decided trying to see the actual parade was gonna be too crazy – both me & hubby have a problem dealing with large crowds – so we’ll go the post Parade float viewing. We’ll drive up the night before then take the metro train to the parade area so we don’t have to deal with driving and parking. Should be fun!
Have a great weekend everyone!
It snowed yesterday and it took me two and a half hours to get home. An hour and a half of it on a stretch of road that, without traffic, would normally take about 5 minutes, 15 at rush hour when I was leaving work. After I turned out of the road my building is on, it took me half an hour just to get past the building itself. There might have been an accident somewhere (I didn’t see it but a police car and an ambulance came through while I was sitting on the road) but mostly it was just snow + rush-hour-getting-to-the-turnpike traffic + trucks (I work at a warehouse surrounded by warehouses right near a turnpike entrance). Not fun.
Today I need to do some chores and go Christmas shopping at Kohls (which I was going to do last night after work; had no idea it was supposed to snow). I don’t want to go shopping but if I wait it’ll just get worse, so I may as well just get it over with.
I loved the snow on Friday – it was really cold so when we went out to shvelit was almost dark and the light on the snow make it look like acres of diamonds. anbdif you looked closely you could see the individual shapes of the snowflakes. And shoveling was relatively easy since it was powdery and light. Heaven.
I’m sure I would have felt differently if I wasn’t driving in it. (If you can call sitting in my car moving an inch at a time between sitting still for extended periods of time “driving”…) 😛
I remember that kind of snow once when I was a kid. All glittery!
Between sessions with cast members and a runthrough today, am thoroughly enjoying our very own Alice Shortcake’s Fairies in Cabs. There are some sad stories, but many more amusing and charming ones. I recommend it!
Those of you driving in or shoveling snow, stay safe! It’s been in the 40s and 50s here in northern Colorado, so the ground isn’t even frozen.
I’m doing some valuable things today. I still have access to my previous employer’s Employee Assistance Program, which offers life coaching, so I’m writing down my priorities for my next career. These priorities have been slowly coalescing in my brain all week as I talk to various connections. Since I’m a listmaker, I’ll make a list!
Making one last batch of candy. I bought all the ingredients well before losing my job, and it would be a shame to waste high-quality couverture chocolate.
Also composing candy cards for my truffle shipments. It seems wise to describe each item and list its ingredients so nobody has an allergic reaction. Then I’ll package everything up, which takes a surprisingly long time, and drop off at the post office on Monday.
yay, a fellow listmaker 🙂
I survived the week with my students – woo hoo! Actually, I learned a lot from the tours we made (atomic institute, power plant, technical museum, television studio) and I discovered that a lot of my students are smarter than they let on in English class! But a week of herding nineteen 15-16 year olds through Vienna and trying to grade tests during down time took its toll. I am so tired, and have miles to go before I get on a plane on December 24. Wish me luck!!
I wish you a nice long rest in the winter holiday, you really deserve it.
I am also facing a brutal last week of work for the year 2017 next week, thankfully all weeks end after seven days 🙂
N. Fritz, congrats, EmsTM – good luck in the coming week. I hate to think of people having to expend so much energy at work when they should be partying like mad!?
Thank you, Murray 🙂
SAPocalypse has just taken place here (system breakdown) so I have some precious Cutetropolis time until the IT people work like heroes 🙂
Sounds like everyone is busy, busy, busy with holiday plans. We’re going to have another quiet holiday — not as quiet as last year, when Christmas was framed by our mothers passing away, but since it’s just the two of us, we probably will just relax for the day. Like we do most other days (or at least my retired husband does). Plus I still haven’t quite figured out how to get in the real Christmas spirit with (a) warm weather and (b) no kids in the house (and no grandkids, alas). At least I have baby nieces and nephews to knit for, which is pleasing me mightily! I finished all the squares for the blanket for second niece to pop some time in February, and now I’m working on a sweater till I get the energy to block (wash and pin out to dry) all the squares before sewing them together. I knit both sleeves at the same time, which turned out to be kind of a pain since I was working off the same skein, but it certainly helps keep them even!
Otherwise, we’ve just been relaxing a lot. The dogs are enjoying their therapy work; Sebastian just LOVES it, although every single room he goes into, the first thing he does is check the floor for anything edible that may have been dropped. Hey, he’s a dog! 😀 Fortunately, the nursing home where he’s being introduced to therapy work keeps the floors squeaky clean, so he’s had no luck. Yet. And even at the new dog-friendly mall nearby, mean ol’ Daddy won’t let the dogs have extra snacks — Melody it doesn’t matter so much, but Sebastian would weigh 75 lbs (34 kg) if we let him, and a 75-lb cocker spaniel is a cocker who will have a very short, unhappy life. (Now we need to do what we’re enforcing with the dogs, maintaining a healthy weight!) Fortunately, dogs are also eternal optimists, so he always thinks he’s going to get the next free snack to come along, which he’s wrong about, but hey, try to convince him of that….
I’m a very happy camper today: We found a refurbished office furniture store last month, and both got new chairs. Mine had to be ordered, unfortunately, since it was actually a new chair — I tried every chair in the place, and the only one my back really liked was the one belonging to the store manager, of course! And they wouldn’t sell me his, even though I tried hard. So anyway, they contacted me yesterday morning and said, “Come pick up your new chair!” It really is as lovely as I thought it would be, and is the first chair I’ve had since my back surgery that I can sit in all day, if necessary, without extra pain. Which is fortunate, since I expect it to last me basically forever, at what it cost! But it’s sure nice to be comfortable again when I work.
Everybody have a good week, and those of you with snow, please be careful out there! I know you all know how to handle it, but there’s always some idiot that speeds or weaves in and out of traffic and causes all kinds of accidents. So watch out for the idiots, and stay warm!
You made me curious about warm weather in Christmas time, so I googled Florida weather forecast and found 68/80F for Orlando 25 December, I mean wow 🙂 Is it the same all through the year, or will the summer be even hotter?
Yes, Emsthemonster, one answer from Florida: It is hotter in summer – 80 is kind of nice…
Well at least people there don’t have to spend a fortune on heating 🙂
Hi All!
Still organizing. The project is almost complete in my bedroom. I cleared enough table space to treat myself to a professional four-draw storage for all my colored pencils. I can finally have them all at hand while I work. I have plans for abstract color drawings in marker and pencil.
I solved a health problem by no longer eating corn niblets. I figured out it was making my hands swell up and ache to the point I could not make a fist with my right hand.
I did research and some people get arthritis type symptoms, muscle weakness and fatigue from corn. I have had all three. I’ve been cornless for at least two weeks. This week I can close my fist and have had less pain and stiffness even while doing the reorganization.
I’m just spreading the word on corn. It can be as serious a problem as problems with wheat.
I have also felt health benefits from two bunches of trimmed, rinsed and chopped Italian Parsley sautéed in olive oil with salt, pepper and garlic. I toss it into pasta and just eat it. Vitamins and anti inflammatory.
Thinking of eating a modified Paleo diet. Beginning with cutting out white potatoes and going for sweet potatoes and orange squash and root veggies. Will update.
I find your comments about these food issues very useful. I will make this Parsley and pasta dish for my Mom who loves root veggies. Thanks a lot for them, Faye.
I looked up parsley. High vitamin C and vitamin K.
I use two bunches of flat leaf parsley. Lots of olive oil so it goes on the pasta later. Lots of garlic powder and pepper. It all coats the pasta. I use 1/2 box of pasta because I want the ratio of parsley to pasta to be high.
Testing
Test passed, I hope.
Yes! Cutetropolis always passes The Test!
Mike, things seem to be working now for some reason. Thank heaven! After last night when I searched for the site all the day’s mail came in – I do not understand but I am happy to report.
I saw two MASSIVE coyotes on my walk about an hour ago. Holy smokes, they were so big I thought at first they were wolves, then shaggy german shepherds.
I have a somewhat regular route and know a lot of the pets and people along the way well enough to stop and make quick conversation or nod hello. I was about a block away from the goldendoodles house when I heard the doodle barking like crazy, so loud I could hear him even with my my earbuds in, music playing.
After asking him what all the racket was about I carried on further for 6 minutes or so when they appeared, silent, trotting across the road. I am still amazed at how big they were– and they didn’t even give me a glance.
I need to apologize to the goldendoodle next time I pass by and tell him what a very good boy he is.
I am glad they didn’t even give you a glance and you got home safe and sound.
I am sure Mr Goldendoodle isn’t offended. In fact, he has just written on Puptropolis (the site Mike’s secret pup runs for fellow pooches) that he wanted to warn that nice lady, but the only word that came to his mind was woooooof 🙂
Awww 🙂
Depending on where you live, they were probably coywolves – coyote/wolf hybrids…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coywolf
Thank you Jan for your interesting point but not likely in my area (maybe a bit more north?). I live in southern Mississauga, Ontario and there are a lot of coyotes around here. I think they appeared so large as they had their winter coats grown in- plus they were in mid-strides, stretched out as they trotted. They were whitish, very puffy furred, silent and striking in broad daylight ( well 3pm that is broad daylight at this time of year.) Here I was thinking it was a postman on holiday Sunday delivery causing such a ruckus from gdoodle– and then– wow, magical, majestic, scary they glide by without a nod to me, so truly wild. Squirrels, birds, bunnies even stop to size you, nope not this magical badass duo.
Opp what the hell do I know?! 😉 Yup, you nailed it Jan! https://www.mississauga.com/news-story/4961585-coywolves-kill-small-dog-in-lorne-park/