Happy Caturday, and welcome to the open thread. Today reader Tara O. shares her beloved Butch taking a colorful catnap:
My new mattress arrived on Sunday afternoon. I had just finished putting the sheets on when Butch decided to take the new mattress for a test drive. He absolutely approves.
Since nobody has commented yet today I’ll get things started with some interesting news: My washing machine caught on fire last Sunday. I called the fire department, which showed up quickly to put it out.
The fire never spread beyond the machine itself but it filled the house with smoke. I replaced the washer and the dryer as well for good measure with newer models from Craigslist.
I couldn’t access the site before now, it’s probably the same for many people that’s why nobody posted. I’m glad the fire didn’t spread but that must have been a scary experience!
Oh no! That can’t have been fun. Glad you’re all right.
Ugghh! Smoke damage sucks large, sorry, Mike. Hope the clean-up is not too labourious. Happy birthday, R& B’s mom!
Yikes, Mike! I’m glad things were no worse, that sounds scary as all get out.
I’m searching for a new washer-dryer set myself, as my washer’s spin-dry cycle is no longer fast enough to do the drying part. It came with my apartment and has served me well for 14 years. It’s probably 27 years old altogether! I don’t think it owes me any money. I just have to check in with building management to make sure whatever I get works properly with existing plumbing and power sources.
Tara O, you and Butch have excellent taste! Do I spy Ikea linens? I love those colors.
Ahem-ahem! Hippo birdies two mee(rkats).
Hippo Birdies Ricky & Bibi’s Mom! I hope you have a fabulous day today!
Happy day! Make the most of it! And many happy returns of the day.
Happy birthday I hope you have a great day!
Wow what an exciting week Mike! Glad everything is ok. In my good news, I finished out Federal jury duty and after 2 weeks of calling in, I did not have to report. Now, I’m done for the next 2 years.
Butch looks so cosy, and I love your colorful bed linens Tara. I have a new fancy Sleep Number that he can come test drive, it gets harder and softer plus I sprung for the adjustable base. Adjustable bases are a godsend when you have a cold and need your head elevated. Plus if I throw on the heated mattress pad, Butch will never leave, lol.
And many happy returns to ewe, Ricky & Bibi’s Mom!!
Quiet weekend on tap, it looks like. Breakfast out, then I need to do some yard work. Later today I have my painting class at the library. We’ll see how I do. Between my hand issues flaring up (tendonitis, carpal tunnel, arthritis??? combo??) and losing my creative spark, I haven’t really painted in a couple months. It’ll be nice to try again, maybe this will break my block.As for my hand, I’ve had xrays, and a MRI plus I’m heading to the hand specialist next week to see what he says. Fingers crossed (no pun intended), it’s nothing too major. Hope everyone is having lovely spring weather and for those in the US, don’t forget to spring forward for Daylight Saving Time tonight.
Hi All – I kept trying to refresh DuckDuckGo – to no avail with loading the site. I tried Chrome and got in quickly (with no comments), went back to DuckDuckGo and voila! Also got the Hana and Miri post along with three comments. So weird.
Mike, I’m glad you caught that the washer was on fire! And so glad no one was hurt. What a pain to deal with though.
Happy Birthday Ricki and Bibi’s mom! Many happy returns!
Yes, Butch completely approves of the mattress and has slept with me all week. That’s a first in the over 11 years he’s been here. I’m not sure If I approve yet. It’s very very firm. And while that was good the first few nights considering my other one was a pit, now I have new aches and pains. It might be too firm. I have 120 days to exchange it. I’m going to give this 30 days and see how things go. I spent a mint on the mattress (not at IKEA) so I don’t mind being fussy about it. I do need new sheets. And yes, those on the bed are IKEA. Old ones. But I love the colors! They make me very happy. IKEA’s current colors are so drab! I do not like them at all. I’ll have to think where else I can get some sheets.
I’ve taken the week off for spring break. I’ve got errands to run today and it will be a busy week. The biggest pushes will be grades and taxes. Wish me luck on both.
Have a wonderful day all!
Tara
Those are beautiful bed linens, and a beautiful cat, of course!
For my own technical issues, yesterday I was forced to switch from copper-based phone and internet to fiber optics. Copper was good enough/fast enough for me, even when I had to work from home full-time during covid. But my phone company has decided to cut services to copper so I had to switch. The technician came over in the morning to set things up, but had to leave before everything got switched over. Because I’ve been on the same service for over 20 years, and who knows how it was originally set up, it seems there were issues on the phone company’s end with moving all the data from copper to fiber. The technician came back around 4pm to finish. They finally got the internet working, but not the phone lines. Since the technician couldn’t do anything more, he left around 6pm. About 15 minutes later, they finally got the phone working. (To be fair, I don’t use my landline much these days, except that it’s hooked to the building intercom system.)
On the plus side, this will be the last time that BC has to change the clocks! I’m so happy about that. I so think that we should have had permanent standard time instead of daylight, but as long as we stop changing I’m happy. Besides, when I looked it up, we already have 8 months of Daylight time; they even extended it a month back in 2007. So maybe it makes sense to keep to daylight instead of Standard.
I’m so jealous but happy for you that you don’t have to switch back and forth anymore. And congrats on your phone service upgrade. They’re always a nightmare–you never know what they’ll find. It’s like trying to make small home improvements: rip up one thing, and you find what lies beneath.
Blazing washing machines! New mattresses! It’s all go!
We’ve had weeks of almost daily rain in my part of England, but last Wednesday was dry and sunny so I decided to slap a coat of wood preservative on my backyard trellis fence. It really needs replacing but I’m hoping that the ivy growing on it will hold it together.
I’m still waiting for the British Museum to release tickets for the Bayeaux Tapestry exhibition, which is supposed to begin in September. Rather than going for the day I’d like to stay in London for three or four nights and see a couple of shows – the last time I stayed overnight was to see Philip Glass’ “Akhnaten” at the Coliseum, a venue I attended many times in the 80s and 90s when I lived much closer to London.
Say hello to the Bayeux Tapestry for me. My academic life in history began with the Normans, but I never saw the tapestry in person.
Years ago, I did have a hilarious tee showing a panel from it, with Harold of England pierced by an arrow in the head. The caption read “I spy with my little eye.”
I was lucky enough to see the Bayeux Tapestry in Bayeux France when we visited 10 years ago it’s really impressive.
Seems we all had technical issues this week except for Butch who seems to not have a care in the world.
My issues were with the fridge, we found that water was pooling in the bottom and in the lowest drawers so we unplugged it and left it to thaw for most of the day. Fortunately the temperature outside was still cold enough so we could put the food in bins outside on the balcony.
I used the opportunity to do a deep clean and throw out stuff that had been in there too long like half empty old jars of mustard etc. After we plugged in the fridge and put the food back everything looked OK for the first 2 days but then it started to leak again. My husband found the instruction manual and says he wants to take it apart and try to fix it.
To be continued ….
Such an eventful week for so many of us. But I can’t help wondering if the Dogs Were Good? Or just Dog Tired?
No, just me… 😴🥱
One of those days I just couldn’t seem to wake up. Now I am having a late breakfast of brown sugar cinnamon Pop Tarts and Tiger Eye tea from Adagio.
🦛🐦, Ricky & Bibi’s Mom!
Now I’m really gonna be paranoid about my washing machine! My dad suggested running a couple cycles with washing machine cleaner (I got Tide’s because that’s what Wegmans had) but I haven’t done it yet.
The dogs were good again.
Note the time stamps on Button…his moves all happen within about ten minutes. 😄
Fantastic as always. The hamper about killt me.
Bru is too ridonkulous in his dino pjs plus him hiding socks. 🤪🤣🤣🤣 How did they not realize there were 20! socks missing??? Guess they thought the washer ate them? And the hamper video! Reminded me of a Star Wars droid. OMG, Duke’s pep talk. Just awwww, then the fist bump and hug. Let’s hope he understood and is a good boi.
Butch has the right idea! Also the colors in that room really set off his beauty.
I started to reply to everyone individually and then lost steam. Sounds like mattresses and large appliances have united in a general strike for Cutetropolitans. Good luck with these expensive items, everybody.
My big adventure of the last week: a 3-hour county caucus for my political party to nominate candidates. Imagine nearly 1000 people, many of them olds who had never used Zoom before. The party organizers did the best they could to keep things moving–they opened the virtual doors an hour early so people could log in and follow simple instructions. Constant interruptions, because people would raise their hands to ask a question that had already been answered 10 times. I finally turned off my camera so people wouldn’t see my facial expressions. But I did finish processing some raw fleece during the meeting!
I’m trying to get my day started before it’s time for the afternoon nap. Three sewing projects, two inkle weaving projects, and of course knitting (Melt the ICE hats and a sweater for my nibling) are all calling this weekend. Plus errands, chores, and finally finishing up my will now that I’ve got all the data I need.
Hugs to you all.
Thanks for the birdie wishes, everyone! And best of luck to all who need new appliances and home furnishings. It does seem to be a theme today.
You’re so right, Tara! Ikea’s colors have become very boring lately. The only cute sheets they have are for kids’ beds only, and even those are mostly not colorful. What a sad, beige world. Phooey.
I’m taking myself and some friends out to dinner tonight to celebrate Moi. Trying to decide if I want to risk doing laundry today. I don’t mind keeping it low-key. I don’t have the energy for hilarity, a little warmth and friendship (thanks again, folks!) will do me just fine.
Very short here.
Flattened by norovirus.
Sorry about dying appliances.
Loving bed.
Loathing Daylight Saving. Wish for standard year round.
🙁
Hope you feel better soon.