Welcome to the it’s-almost-Christmas open thread. We have lots of Caturday cuteness, thanks to reader AB:
Sleeping in a yin yang is cute, but sleeping in a trefoil is 50% cuter! Legolas with his long time girlfriend, Phoenix (tortie) and her bestie, Methredhel (tortie).
I feel an owerwhelming urge to leap through the screen and join them on the penguin blanket!
I’m just about recovered from the farcical events of last Thursday, when a much anticipated trip to London to see the stage version of “My Neighbour Totoro” ended in disaster. Early that morning I was awoken by Storm Pia blasting through the neighbourhood, which made me feel some anxiety for the Shortcakery’s roof tiles, but things seemed to have calmed down by the time I set off for the station.
Alas, the train had barely left the station before we luckless passengers began hearing about fallen trees on the track, a reduced speed limit, and “objects” stuck on the overhead power lines. By 12.20, when the train should have been pulling into Kings Cross, it was 100 miles away in Grantham and I had no realistic chance of reaching the theatre in time. Given a choice of finishing my journey and spending the day at a museum or art gallery – the train back didn’t leave until 6.15, assuming it wasn’t delayed or cancelled – and admitting defeat, I chose the latter and paid £45 for a ticket from Grantham to York. Because the train was delayed by over an hour I should be eligible for at least a partial refund, but that won’t make up for missing the show!
However, all is not lost. A few weeks ago I used a credit note left over from the pre-Covid era to buy a ticket for “Robinson Crusoe and the Pirates of the River Ouse”* at a local theatre on Christmas Eve, so there’s that…
*It’s a pantomime, it doesn’t have to make sense.
I know how bad I feel when stupid weather wrecks my plans! So sorry that happened! Where I live train travel is nonexistent. I think it would be cool to travel by train😁🚂
So sorry you didn’t get to see the show, Alice. And have fun at the pantomime–that curiously English holiday tradition.
Glad the house is still intact, after all your work on it.
So sorry that you missed your show.
At some point you just want to go home and be cozy.
Going to dinner at a posh place (my Dad used to take us) tonight with my sister’s and brother’s family. Today would have been my Dads birthday—86. First Christmas without him. 💔 We will celebrate Christmas and our Dad, who we miss very much. It will be a good time😊
Tomorrow I’m all alone and will be wrapping the rest of Christmas presents, making stuffing and trying to make more Chex Mix! I will watch It’s a Wonderful Life in the evening and crochet😁 Then I’m off to my sisters early in the morn for Christmas!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!🎄❄️🕯️
Hugs to you and your family.
Thanks!😊
Keep on, keeping on, 6R….hard Christmas indeed.
Tonight’s dinner was great—a lot of laughter and wonderful memories☺️
Hope that you’re able to share some good stories and memories of your Dad.
Something bout Christmas that brings up the memories. Growing up Christmas was a mad rush for a minister but when he retired we’d go to the Brethren Church at Christmas Eve and then enjoy the brass band concert outside by the Moravian Stars.
I believe that Christmas trefoil is also known as “tinsel.”
Happy Saturday, folks! I’m just glad the days are getting longer. Darkness at 5-ish does nothing good for my mood.
Bibi has started shivering, even in a coat over a sweater, at temperatures in the low 50s (F). So I have bought her a Kelly Green union suit, and a Fire Engine Red snowsuit, and these seem to help. A coat over a union suit keeps milady warm enough to walk out in sub-40s temps, though she’s not usually in a mood to go for long.
She is very cute and stylish! Is there such a thing for dogs as feet protection?
I would think their toes would get cold?
Yes, there are all sorts of dog boots and paw covers out there, but not every dog will wear them. I think it must be easier to get them to adapt when they are puppies, but both Ricky and Bibi were adult rescues. Bibi’s very patient with getting dressed, which is lucky, as she does need climate protection. (Not every dog will tolerate a coat or sweater, either. It’s a very individual thing.)
Pablo would allow a sweater to be put on, probably because he needed to go out and knew it meant he could go pee, but as soon as we got back inside he’d wriggle right out of it.
Bibi is adorable and oh so stylish. But of course, she lives in NYC, a fashion capital. Val shivers even when the house is in the 60s, such a SoCal girl, lol. I do have a sweater to put on her but usually that only last for a few hours before she starts shimmying out of it. I feel like I should start playing the old fashioned strip tease music for her 😉😁 when that happens.
She’s rocking those union suits! (A sentence I never thought I would type.) Such a cutie.
I think it’s safe to say union suits are only cute on dogs and small children.
😂😂😂😂😂😂
I approve of the Christmas Kitty Trefoil.
Oh, Alice, that sucks. Sorry you missed your show. We had a big rain/wind storm on Sunday night. Monday night after work when I was walking back from the mailbox I saw there was a piece of siding missing from the top of the wall outside my unit (above the level of my ceiling); the piece was on the ground under the stairs. I sent the office an email and they replied Tuesday that they put in a work order; they fixed it Wednesday morning. Hopefully there isn’t any other damage I can’t see. I also took the highway to work that morning because it generally feels safer than my usual route when the weather’s bad (though the wind had calmed down by the time I left for work, at least) and ended up driving through a flood. Not sure why the road was even still open (traffic coming from the other direction had to turn off at the light) but by the time I got there I didn’t have any other choice.
This weekend I have to make salad for dinner on Monday (went shopping after 8pm last night…when I got to Target there was a long line at the self checkouts but by the time I was ready to leave there were only a couple people ahead of me; then the grocery store was pretty quiet, so that was nice. I definitely don’t want to go today or tomorrow.) I wanted to get red pepper to make it Christmassy with the Romaine lettuce but Wegmans had one single red bell pepper, which looked kind of pale and sickly, some yellow ones, and lots of green peppers but they didn’t look that good (and I don’t like them as much). They had bags of red and orange but there were six in the pack and I don’t need six peppers. So I’ve got green lettuce, white cauliflower, and red radishes (plus rainbow carrots and purple cabbage). There are only six of us this year; my aunt is doing Italian again (though I don’t know what, specifically). Usually Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner are basically the same in my family, but last year she decided to do lasagna rolls..
Also need to do laundry and wrap presents and listen to Neil Gaiman’s reading of A Christmas Carol (that’s tomorrow while I wrap; this might be the last year for my fireplace candle). And clean my kitchen again after I spilled chocolate milkshake all over the place last night. I thought I got it all but I noticed a couple dried spots on the edge of the counter, so I’m gonna wipe it all down again and now that it’s dry I want to vacuum before I mop the floor again.
(Looking for that Gaiman link the other night I discovered that he actually did two readings earlier this week in NYC! I wish I could have gone! If I had known about it earlier I actually could possibly have arranged it.)
So lots to do and of course I’m sitting in the armchair checking for The Cute and drinking cocoa.
Just realized I didn’t get tomatoes (I don’t like tomatoes so I didn’t even think of it; my parents usually have some cherry or grape tomatoes in the house so they can throw some in if they want).
His eyes are definitely bigger than his stomach!😂
Gaaa Yoda! Good luck, buddy!
I meant to ask which reading of A Christmas Carol you liked best, and you volunteered the info! Just watched the Patrick Stewart movie version last night. If he does an audiobook, that would be fabulous–he used to do live performances of the whole book, playing all the characters EVEN THE PUDDING himself.
I love this one in part because he’s reading from Dickens’ actual prompt copy that he used for similar readings (as a former English Lit major who took a whole class on Dickens, I have to love it 😉). Also I just love the way he reads. I just wish there was a video of it. It was 10 years ago; I discovered it a couple years later, I think, and have listened to it every Christmas Eve since, while I wrap presents (well, last year I was making brownies).
Yes, that’s what he did live, read from Dickens’s prompt copy; though as I recall, he pretty much had it memorized. Stewart’s live performance is my second favorite—right after Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, which has the best Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come ever. (And Razzleberry Dressing.)
I’ve just finished listening to my favourite version of “A Christmas Carol”, the Naxos recording narrated by Anton Lesser. The voice he gives the thieving charlady (the one who prevents Scrooge’s best shirt from being “wasted”) cracks me up every time I hear it.
That’s my favorite version!!!
Would’ve loved to have seen his one man show. Seeing him finally laugh, that’s why you get an actor from the RSC. Plus one of the few Tiny Tim’s that wasn’t so obnoxiously cute like Nermal that I didnt want to drown in the flaming bishops punch
Happy Christmas Eve eve everyone. Love the trefoil/cuddle puddle. Sitting here with my own cuddle puddle of puppies to keep me warm on this dreary Saturday. Supposed to rain but it looks like it won’t be as bad as predicted. Sorry that your plans for the theatre didn’t go to plan, Alice. The Robinson Carusoe pantomime sounds like a hoot. 6Rabbits, first year celebrations after losing a loved one can be tough, but it sounds like you’re planning a lovely remembrance for your Dad. We’ll be having a low keyed Christmas over here. Me and hubby have reached the stage where we have pretty much everything so no presents this year. Plus with him still out of work, trying to be financial prudent as much as possible. We’re planning to see the new Wonka movie on Christmas followed by a buffet at a local restaurant. Might visit some friends too but it’s a go with the flow kinda day. Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!
I, too, wish I could join that cuddle puddle.
Good heavens, what a week!
Covid is in our building (but not in our suite).
Hubby had hideous chest cold.
Both Duckies have slight colds.
I got to stroke Little Duckie’s tummy.
It rained gift cards on us at hubby’s work place.
Family gathering confirmed for Christmas Day.
BFF starts partial retirement.
Stormy weekend.
Duckie doesn’t trust Christmas tree.
Decided New Year’s resolution is to completely pay off line of credit by next Christmas.
Did all Christmas baking.
Discovered Duckie likes banana bread.
Having a low key day today. Working Christmas Eve until it stops being stupid at the mall, then working Boxing Day for lunch.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
That trefoil is just gorgeous! Beautiful kitties with beautiful names.
I just got back from errands, which went surprisingly quickly. Now I don’t have to leave the house until Wednesday!
No special holiday things for me, which is typical and desirable. I’ll make myself a nice dinner after a day playing with yarn and fiber. Will call a few family members over the weekend, just to check in. And I took the day off for Boxing Day, so I might even have time for dyeing! There’s a kitty on my lap as I type, and I just upgraded to the latest iPad. I’m content as can be.
Happy holidays to everyone celebrating.
Sorry to be late to the party but I spent most of the day zonked out on pain pills because my back decided it would be fun to act up just before Christmas.
ALICE SHORTCAKE I’m sorry you missed your show but at least you’re getting to see a pantomime on Christmas Eve. Those are not a thing here and I would really love to go back to England one fay and experience a pantomime.
We have no snow at all here and it just doesn’t feel like Christmas without it, maybe that’s why I just can’t get in the spirit this year, I haven’t even watched one of the many A Christmas Carol/Scrooge movie and that something I do every year.
Well I do anticipate seeing the whole family on Christmas Day, it’s the first time my niece is in charge of the party, I just hope my back will cooperates.
Glad to hear that Magoo isn’t forgotten! Definitely my favorite, and very true to the original. Sir Patrick chews the scenery so much in the conversion scene, it’s almost too much for my old heart! Well, back to sorting things for goody-baskets.
Well,
today was PANIC SATURDAY and I could barely get past the mall to the grocery store.
Alone this year for Christmas, part of me didn’t want to deal with traveling and showing up at family members. Did get some lamb chops and some other goodies, spent way too much at the cheese counter and the Chinese bakery near me.
Have some leftover Christmas candy, may give that out tomorrow night if I’m out and see people working. As a child on the army base my chaplain father dragged us out to give cookies and stuff to the guys on duty.
And for those who havent’ finished shopping, maybe you can tell people that you’re following the orthodox calendar (Jan 7, 2024) this year?
My only “shopping” left is making donations. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Disabled American Veterans for my parents, National Park Conservation Association for my brother, and World Central Kitchen and my college. Then I have to wrap stuff and make salad for dinner tomorrow.