Cold enough for ya? Today’s cat got tired of waiting for spring and decided to take matters into her own paws.
Rena, the Retriever, by Bennilover
Bonus Cosmic Cat!
Thérèse B. found this celestial being.
Weekend Open Thread
44 thoughts on “Weekend Open Thread”
Comments are closed.
A frozen hello to everyone.
It’s -24C at the moment here that’s -11.2F so there will be no going out for any reason today. Also I’m worried for the stray cats I feed, I haven’t seen any of them yet and the kibble I left last night hasn’t been touched.
We’re not getting any snow but I saw on the news that part of the U.S. is going get a lot of it and also some cold temperatures so you guys be careful and try to stay warm.
P.S. I love the Cosmic Cat!
Does that work? I’m sure I must have some springs around here…
Cosmic cat is very cool.
It’s 11F here right now, feels like -3; high today is 20. Tomorrow’s actually supposed to be warmer (though “warmer” is relative, of course; high around 30). I don’t have any reason to go out except to check the mail (and often I don’t bother but tracking says I should get a package today and I doubt it’s big enough that they wouldn’t just leave it in the box (though it also says it’s still in North Carolina, so who knows).
Hoping this storm isn’t as bad as they say. Also hoping it still gets me out of having to go to work on Monday (I can work from home but I don’t want to have to worry about driving; I’d rather they close so I don’t have to wonder if I should go or not; they already told us yesterday that they’re closing tomorrow). Also hoping my parents’ neighbor will plow their driveway for them.
The snow is supposed to start around 5-6am, turn to wintry mix in the afternoon, then freezing rain through the evening until around midnight. Brought in the ice scrapers and the small shovel from my car last night (if I didn’t I know I’d forget to go out and get them before I have a foot of snow to clear off my car). I got new gloves that cost more than I wanted to spend but I can move my fingers easily, they’re waterproof, and they have a lining that supposedly “amplifies” the warmth from your hands so hopefully I will not have painfully cold fingers. If they work it will be worth the money. (Now that I’m all prepared, does that mean it won’t be so bad?) I wanted to get a different type of snow shovel but those are all gone (despite Home Depot’s claim of “limited availability”; the guy at Lowe’s said the computer says they have negative-26 shovels). The one I have is more for pushing which works fine if it’s only a few inches but it’s not great for lifting/throwing snow; I will have to get one after they restock so I have it for the future.
Anyway…doggies. (And if that’s Matt’s house…I’m jealous.)
Does that work? I’m sure I must have some springs around here…
Cosmic cat is very cool.
It’s 11F here right now, feels like -3; high today is 20. Tomorrow’s actually supposed to be warmer (though “warmer” is relative, of course; high around 30). I don’t have any reason to go out except to check the mail (and often I don’t bother but tracking says I should get a package today and I doubt it’s big enough that they wouldn’t just leave it in the box (though it also says it’s still in North Carolina, so who knows).
Hoping this storm isn’t as bad as they say. Also hoping it still gets me out of having to go to work on Monday (I can work from home but I don’t want to have to worry about driving; I’d rather they close so I don’t have to wonder if I should go or not; they already told us yesterday that they’re closing tomorrow). Also hoping my parents’ neighbor will plow their driveway for them.
The snow is supposed to start around 5-6am, turn to wintry mix in the afternoon, then freezing rain through the evening until around midnight. Brought in the ice scrapers and the small shovel from my car last night (if I didn’t I know I’d forget to go out and get them before I have a foot of snow to clear off my car). I got new gloves that cost more than I wanted to spend but I can move my fingers easily, they’re waterproof, and they have a lining that supposedly “amplifies” the warmth from your hands so hopefully I will not have painfully cold fingers. If they work it will be worth the money. (Now that I’m all prepared, does that mean it won’t be so bad?) I wanted to get a different type of snow shovel but those are all gone (despite Home Depot’s claim of “limited availability”; the guy at Lowe’s said the computer says they have negative-26 shovels). The one I have is more for pushing which works fine if it’s only a few inches but it’s not great for lifting/throwing snow; I will have to get one after they restock so I have it for the future.
Anyway…doggies. (And if that’s Matt’s house…I’m jealous.)
Don’t know how this posted twice…and it took so long to get the confirmation email for notifications that I can’t delete it. Oh well, ya’ll can watch doggies twice.
that was my thought exactly – “great! I’ll just have to watch all the sweet doggos again” 🙂
Double Doggies!
I double dog dare you!
😄
After seeing the latest news out of Minnesota, I need all the doggies I can get. 😔💔
Boro. OMG.
I’ll try not to rub it in but I’m in probably the only region that’s not in the path of the storm. Before I moved I was on the East Coast of the US so I remember well these storms. Stay safe and stay warm everyone.
Come over to my place kitty, it’s warmer and I have plenty of blankets. Cosmic cat is too cool!! Perfect photobomb timing.
Not much going on this weekend. I’m trying to recuperate from a very long week. Hubby was gone all week for work so I had to do everything – work, dogs, and keep myself fed. By yesterday I was stick a fork in me done. Hope I rest up quickly because he leaves again on Tuesday for a few days. It also didn’t help that the arthritis, especially in my hands, decided to flare up. So besides tired, I’m just sore and achy. I think the only thing I’m doing today is going to look for a hand brace to see if it helps. Maybe hit the hobby store and see if I can find some fake plants for outside (I’m a serial plant killer so I gave up on the real ones). I also want to look for a new mattress but I may put that off til next weekend. Tomorrow will be the usual errands and I have a craft workshop at one of the local museums. There will be a local furniture designer in to share his expertise while we make a miniature wood chair. Should be fun. Fingers crossed that the storm isn’t as bad as they say.
I need a new mattress, too…I need to clean up enough to get one delivered before I can do that…also need carpet, and do something with my kitchen. Those probably best done after winter is done.
Have we ever seen Pet Portraits by Hercule here? This one cracked me up.
Happy Saturday all!
I’m in the same boat as Allein, 11F (!!!) oooof! and waiting for the storm. Philly public schools already called a snow day for Monday so I have the day off. Yippee! I think I’m going to drag myself out of the house soon to see if I can get to the grocery store for some more libations. The cold is the perfect time to cook involved things. I stopped at Aldi on the way home last night and the place was pretty much cleaned out. The only milk I could get was a full gallon. I’ll need to make some things that take a lot of milk so I can use it up, like béchamel! And then a lasagna.
I will knit and watch as many of the Oscar nominations as I can. My electrician was supposed to come today to fix the motion sensor light in the back. But it is so cold. I just texted to see if he didn’t maybe want to postpone his visit. Tonight we have Father-Daughter Book Book Club. I didn’t do my homework for last night, so we’re meeting tonight. We are reading The Future of the Book edited by Geoffrey Nunberg.
https://www.ucpress.edu/books/the-future-of-the-book/paper
It was published 30 years ago, 1996, and the panic of the “demise of the book,” because of computers and internet, is palpable. There was also technology they couldn’t imagine, such as smart phones. So far it’s fun to talk about.
Oh little sweetie with your spring, unless you are secretly Professor McGonagall, I don’t think much will happen.
Update: have finished KPop Demon Hunters. meh. On to choose between Sinners and One Step at a Time.
Have also decided the lasagna can wait – I have plenty of food and ingredients to make other involved things.
And Electrician just called and canceled. Good. It is too cold for him to use bare fingers outside.
I think your electrician made a wise call.
By the way, if you have a freezer safe bottle, you can freeze some of your milk in it—assuming there’s room in your freezer. Or just put it on a windowsill!
https://www.masters-of-photography.com/photograph/milk-bottles-spring-edward-steichen-1915/
I remember when I was a kid way back when, the milkman would leave the milk bottles outside in the winter and if it was really cold the cream at the top would freeze (that was before homogenize milk) and you could eat it with a spoon if mom didn’t catch you doing it. LOL!!
Whoa, that brings back memories of free school milk back in the 60s!
Oh, I missed this comment yesterday – sorry! Thanks for the suggestion. Someone else told me that Béchamel can be frozen, so it stands to reason so can milk. Great ideas both. 🙂
The “feels like” temperature is below 0°F. Yesterday people were lined up around the block to go grocery shopping; you would think nobody in NYC had experienced a couple of snow days before.
It will take me much longer to bundle up Bibi and myself for her morning comfort walk than we will actually spend outside. I’m not looking forward to it, but if I can steel my nerves, it’s better for her to not break routine. Fortunately, now that she’s all well again, she takes care of business very efficiently.
Glad Bibi is doing well. Bundle up good! It is so cold out. Does Bibi have a jacket and booties?
Bibi has a fleece union suit, and a fleece coat that goes over that. Somewhere I have a down coat for her, but it doesn’t fit over the union suit. Her Majesty refuses to wear boots. We actually took a slightly longer walk than we have in days—not that it was long, but we did get a bit farther than the nearest corner, which is actually very near. Anyway, today she trotted happily across the avenue and over to the drugstore, where I picked up a couple of frozen pizzas to supplement my groceries.
The latest forecast has downgraded our projected snowfall from two feet to up to one foot. So I may feel very silly about the pizza, but what the heck; it will keep.
I’m so glad she’s feeling better! She must look adorable in her fleeces.
There’s a guy on the other side of my complex I sometimes see walking his dog, a little apricot mini poodle, looks like. The dog always wears shoes no matter the weather. Last time it snowed enough to have to move my car so the crew could clear the lots, I decided to take a walk around the complex after I found a place to park (the crisp post-snow air felt good…for a little bit, at least, but it was probably in the low 30s, not single digits, and not windy), and I saw them out walking. The dog had a little puffy jacket, which I’ve seen him wear before, but this time he also had little gray sweatpants! 🥰
Bundled her Majesty up this morning and took her out. She took the world’s shortest pee, then turned around to nope on back home. Gave up, stood on her hind legs, and waved Pathetic Paws at me. She refused to put her paws back on anything solid till we’d traversed the lobby and taken the elevator up to our floor.
I think I’m going to be cleaning my floors daily for another week. It’s supposed to get even colder.
Not that I blame her for going on strike.
Would she use a litter box?
If she has to pee overnight, she’ll use a pad. But she prefers to poop next to the pad. Is it ideal? Hardly. But it isn’t that hard to clean up. I promise it doesn’t look like anything on Hoarders around here! It’s no worse than changing a diaper, and usually easier.
Let’s face it; human child or fur child, life is poop.
Oh, to answer your question—I doubt it. She’s a stubborn little cuss. She certainly made sure I knew where she wanted the pad to go.
The weather here in York is quite mild for January, so I feel for those of you enduring Arctic conditions. It’s been a bit wet but not dramatically so, which is a good thing because the roofers who did a sub-standard job at the Shortcakery last March took TWO MONTHS to come and fix a row of leaking tiles! Now I can look forward to the job of re-painting water-stained ceilings in the loft and back bedroom.
In other news, my re-imagining of ‘Peter Pan’ is going well. I’ve written a prologue, re-written Act One and the rarely-performed Epilogue, and am working on the back-stories of Captain Hook and Tiger Lily.
Glad to hear the re-imagining is going well.
Lurking.
Happy Caturday, everyone! Sweet spring kitty, it will get warmer someday. We hope.
We got a little snow yesterday, and it’s in single digits here on the Front Range of Colorado. But it’s nothing like the Snowmageddon regions. Stay warm and safe, everybody. Some of you might find this amusing:
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/god-punishes-trump-by-turning-us
I’m going to stay in all weekend and have my groceries delivered. If I schedule delivery for late afternoon, the driver will at least get out in the warmest part of the day.
My big project at work got approved this past week. The relief has affected my whole body, just like the good news about Fred.
Congratulations on the project approval.
lol…I do subscribe to God’s substack. Not surprising. 😉 I could reconsider my position but I still wouldn’t worship him if he freezes me.
My parents asked if I want to go there tonight in case the power goes out. They have a gas fireplace, at least. I need to take a shower and wanted to do a load of laundry. Then figure out what food to take with me. And how many clothes. At least the milk I just bought so I can use some of it. Storm is supposed to go late into the night so I’ll be there until at least Monday. (And now the hourly forecast has it starting an hour or two earlier but still ending at the same time.)
I hope all my fellow Qte-watchers stay safe and warm with this big storm. I’m from the midwest and I love the cold and the snow! But, living in NYC I also don’t have to shovel it or drive in it. But, this week may even be a little chilly for me…. a woman of a certain age *cough* *cough*… who is always hot!
Did anyone else watch Leslie Jordan’s IG videos during the pandemic? His “howdy, my fellow hunker-downers!” seems like a fitting greeting for the next few days.
Late update on Mutz (rhymes with “puts”)
He hasn’t been eating and has some behavioral issues involving his litterbox or lack of use thereof. We took him to the vet again who did bloodwork and is amazed that an 18 year old cat is so “healthy” (no red flags *at all*). Mutz has a sore throat which is why he hasn’t been eating. The vet pumped him full of antibiotics, cortisone, and pain killers. He goes back to the vet on Monday for a follow up.
Oh sweet Mutz! I hope the antibiotics kick in quickly! I’m glad to hear on paper he is in good shape. Hugs.
The veterinarian gave him the highest praise – it’s always nice to hear that your vet is in awe of your special kitty!
I hope Mutz feels all better soon. Also that litterbox issues clear up!
We took the hood off and he’s used the litter box once this afternoon for its intended purpose. Fingers crossed.
Hugs and kisses to sweet Mutz. The antibiotics should help a lot–they did for my Fred.
Still waiting for them to kick in 24 hours later. I think maybe his sense of smell is also impaired. He still hasn’t eaten, but he is sitting in the window watching the world go by like normal.
On a side note, it always makes me smile that his name is always written as “Mutz (rhymes with “puts”).” Sore throats suck; hope he’s feeling better soon. I guess cats can’t just eat ice cream…
Mutz has undergone three name changes. First he was Luzy, but then it was determined that he is a tom. So my bf and his ex changed the name to Luzifer. Then they just started calling him Mutz. His vet card still says “Luzy” and the vet still calls Mutz “she”. And yes, I wish there was a kitty popsicle he could suck on!
Our first cat was officially named George, but the vet was the only one who called him that. At home he went by Kitty. He was a stray who adopted us (when he started showing up in the driveway my mom said, “Hi, Kitty” whenever she saw him and it stuck); we named him after my dad…whose name is not George* 😄. Because my dad “hates cats.”
(*My brother and I called him that when we were kids; I have no idea where it came from. We even got him a mug that said George for Christmas one year. Partly because you don’t really see Gene/Eugene on stuff like that.)