OK Here Is Some News For You

Hello again. I'm sitting here on a so-far rainy day that is supposed to turn into a 5-day heat/humidity wave which annoys me greatly. Yes, I know we have been lucky enough here in Philadelphia to have a nice long string of lovely days and perfect nights. But that only makes the prospect of having to go back to ick weather even more depressing.  

I've decided I'm done with this summer. I know there is still plenty left, and things to do, enjoy, etc., but it's all been a lot, personally and in the universe, as it were. I'm sure we'll all survive, but you have to admit, this whole universe part of things is more than exhausting, right?

Anyway, on to better things and some news I think you'll enjoy. 😉

Say hello to Katie (aka Katie Potatey)! Even shortly after we had to return Angus to the rescue where we got him, The Tim said he thought we should still try to get a dog. After a bit of thought, I figured it was worth another try, though I am still heartbroken. But as he pointed out, you don't want to close yourself off just because of one bad experience, when there could be other good ones waiting. So we thought that we would look for another dog to add to our family this fall, when the weather would be nicer, and our house - whose a/c is questionable at best - would be more comfortable.  

Then a friend who knew the story of what had happened, mentioned that an acquaintance of hers told her about a great dog who had been at a rescue about an hour out of Philadelphia* and was looking for a family. The owner of said dog had to give her up because they had a terminal illness, and no longer had the strength or the finances to care for her. 

Well, we certainly understand how hard it is/was to give up an animal, even when you are in good health; I told The Tim and we decided it was worth looking into. I filled out an adoption application for the dog, and the woman at the rescue called me first thing the next day to tell me that a) we'd been approved, and b) to talk to me about the dog. So as the Magic 8-Ball might say, All Signs Pointed To Yes.

That was all on a Tuesday morning. Since the dog was far enough away to be a bit of a drive for us, I asked the woman if we could wait until the weekend to come to meet her, since it would work better for us. She said that was fine. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Katie is 6 years old, half Wheaten Terrier and half Golden Retriever. She is pretty well-behaved - unless she sees a squirrel and then good luck to anyone with her - and she is also quite ridiculous.  Milo loves her - we haven't seen him so happy since before Pip died. You may remember that we got him for our first dog, Dug. So Milo has always had and loved having a dog buddy. And after Pip died, he was kind of bereft, since they were buddies. And even though he gets along with Alfie and Esme, they are pretty much glued to each other most of the time. Katie is not 100 percent sure what to do about Milo's friendship, but she is fine with it. 😊 Alfie, who used to love dogs, growled at Katie first thing. So she is afraid of him, and Alfie takes full advantage of that, 24/7. Esme would clearly like to get in One.Good.Sniff of Katie, but of course is too afraid to even really try. So cat-wise, things seem to be working out fine. We always tell any dog who joins the family that there are only two rules in our house:

1. The kitties were here first.

2. You have to be nice to the kitties.

Katie is doing fine on this front.

She is unexpectedly cute - I mean, her face is cute enough, but she is kind of a low-rider, which is amusing in itself:

The woman at the rescue told me that she LIVES to play ball! And she wasn't kidding! Other than squirrels, Katie's philosophy is that Ball. Is. Life. Her favorite kind of ball is the kind with spikes on it, but any ball is a good one.  The woman at the rescue also told me that she carried around one ball all of the time, and the woman said she thought it was an Emotional Support Ball. 😃 

It's true - Emotional Support Ball (aka ESB) is a constant now in our household. The Tim mentioned that ESB was looking a bit worse for the wear, so we'd best make sure we knew where we could find another one. I took a picture and asked Google Lens where we could get one, and fortunately they are $3.99 at PetSmart! So when this one heads to the great ball pit in the sky, we can easily have another on hand - phew!

(ESB in its current condition)

Katie hasn't been here very long, but she seems to be a real keeper. She weighs about 35 pounds, so she is not very big, and we've had some success getting her to obey some basic commands. I suspect she already knew them, but during the time she was at the rescue, had a large field to be outside in, and so didn't need to understand walking on a leash anymore. One thing interesting about her is that she is not really food-motivated, which has never ever been the case with any of our other dogs. Not that that's a bad thing! 

She seems to be happy to be with us, especially The Tim, who if you have not intuited before, is always the Good Cop. She enjoys going to the dog park, not for the other dogs, but to play ball of course! And we took her to the vet who said her previous owner clearly took good care of her. 

I recently sent the woman at the rescue a text with the picture of Katie above, telling her that she seems to have settled in well and that we are loving having her. I said I wished her former owner could know that - not that it would make things better, but that maybe it would be some small comfort. The woman said she was going to forward the message, so I hope it was some comfort to the person who had to give her up, and who seems to have more than enough on her plate. 

One thing funny to us is that Katie is from Scranton, PA - home of both Joe Biden, and Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company in "The Office." The Tim says he just hopes she didn't live before with a character like Dwight K. Schrute. 😂

So that is the latest news from here, and the story of Katie joining the family. 

I will never stop loving Angus, and I still cry missing him more than words will ever be able to express (I'm crying now), but she is a wonderful distraction. ❤️ And I hope with every part of my being that Angus is as lucky now as she is. 

*An hour outside of Philadelphia = The Wilds/Terra Incognita to us! 🤣🤣

And Then Monday Morning Arrived ...

In the last post of Bridget Tries to be a Responsible Pet Owner, we had the story of Alfie, who enjoys a trip to the vet every time he goes. Today's post is called Milo the Koodle and the Visit to the Vet.

Well, it almost didn't happen, because I could not find said cat. I tried several ruses, and then decided as a last gasp to give all the cats some wet food and see if he showed up. Which he did, so I grabbed him mid-meal (which made me feel terrible, but desperate times and all that), forced him into the carrier, and we headed over the vet's office. 

Fortunately, we were one of the first appointments of the day, so we didn't have to wait. The vet tech took apart the carrier, pulled him out, and they wrapped him up like a Koodle burrito. They managed to do a thorough check up, take blood, and give him two shots. Fortunately for them, he was so scared and so wrapped up, it happened without incident. And then we came home. Total time from when we left the house: 40 minutes.

And then, once out of the carrier, he gave Alfie and Esme a good whack, and disappeared again. The rest of us went on with our days.

I was reading, and about 3:45 p.m. he reappeared and jumped up onto the armest. 

I went to pet him and he growled. So I left him alone, and by about 8 p.m. he was letting me pet him again. And since I woke up this morning, it's clear he didn't kill me overnight - phew!

And so now we are safe for another year, unless something terrible happens, which hopefully will not. Everyone made it one more time.

The End. 

*****

Today is our 47th wedding anniversary. We are planning to go out to dinner tonight, but since The Tim is working today and tomorrow, we have no crazy plans. Our weekend plans to go look at chairs for our TV room didn't happen, because I had a serious reaction (as usual) to my Covid vaccine, and was completely out of commission. But the chairs are going to be our anniversary gifts, and we are both anxious to get new ones, so it will happen sooner rather than later.

And that, my friends, is the excitement around here. I have an FO post for you, but want to be sure to wait and be certain the item is received before I write about it, so it will happen soon. First though, I need to mail the package. I find that helps with the person receiving things ... 🙄

A Birthday Post

Things have been rough so far this year, so it's especially nice that we have a little more than a week of various happy things starting today.

Happy Birthday to Milo the Koodle!

This stinker turns 13 years old today! Life is never boring with the Koodle, I have to say. He definitely keeps us on our toes, and keeps the other cats on alert a lot of the time. He's still missing his best Pip buddy (as are all of us), so we are hoping to make this birthday an extra good one for him with lots of attention and treats. 

He is actually a very good boy overall, and cuddly - as long as it's when HE wants to cuddle! He doesn't miss much that happens around here, and every morning he sits right next to me when I have my breakfast. If I'm having cereal or oatmeal, he insists on having the very last bit of milk in the bowl - and if I am not forthcoming with said bowl, he will tap me on the arm with his claws in the event that maybe I have forgotten he's there.🙄

Nothing is as much fun to him as a game of Kitty Tease (the fishing rod with a bit of fabric at the end) - he LOVES playing that! The biggest problem is that he is not happy to share it with anyone else. He'll "catch" it, and then hold it in his iron jaw until something distracts him and I can pull it out so the others can play. 

So we'll have some Kitty Tease time today, and there will be treats. I bought a can of his favorite wet food to split among that cats for his birthday dinner, and I bought him a catnip toy which I'm sure will be the cause of much hilarity for all. I'll stop at a local place and buy a cupcake so we can have a candle and sing "Happy Birthday" tonight. 

We could all use some reason to celebrate. 💖

Birthdays, Train Trips, and Weekends

Hello! I just wanted to check in before we leave our house to walk to 30th Street Station here in Philadelphia for our overnight trip to New York. I didn't mean to be gone for so long, but this week brought more things going on than I had originally planned, and this was my first chance to write a post.

Milo the Koodle had a wonderful birthday on Monday - and has loved being spoiled a bit extra all week long. He is my Birthday Buddy, and it's fun to celebrate with him.

I had my birthday party (just us and the kitties, as usual) last night, and we had a good time. I also had a lovely day, since it was much warmer than March 14 usually is, so I was able to get outside and have an extra enjoyable walk. I was also doing some things in preparation for today and the weekend, but it was all stuff I wanted to do, and I was not on a tight schedule, so it was a lovely, quiet, pretty day.

Once we arrive in NYC later this morning, we are planning to visit the American Museum of Natural History for a couple of hours, since we can't check in to our hotel until 4 p.m. So we'll spend some time there, and then have a late lunch/early dinner, check in to our hotel and freshen up, and then head to the theater to see "Merrily We Roll Along." Talk about a full day! Then tomorrow, we plan to just head out for a nice long walk wherever our noses take us before making our way back to the Moynihan station to come home.

Of course, the combination of a change to our usual routines, and walking around outside for longer than usual will mean that we will need the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday to recover, LOL! But Sunday we will celebrate St. Patrick's Day altogether, without anyone having to be at work, so that will be the best. 

I hope your weekend is a good one, whether you are traveling, staying home, or even just staying in the house being cozy. I can't believe that Spring starts on Tuesday! After days of 60s-70s (F) degree weather, they are saying here that the first day of spring should have a high temperature of 45 degrees (F) - so I'm sure a lot of people will have a shock to their system. (Face it, we all know people who think that once the first day of spring shows up, they can put away all of their winter gear. As if.)

So enjoy, and hopefully I'll have some tales to tell about our trip the next time I show up here.

Monday FO Report

Hello all! I hope your weekend was a good one. I'm starting this week by sharing a recent FO with you.

Back in 2020, I knit these "house socks" for The Tim:

He LOVED them! About a month ago, I pulled them out of the washing machine and saw that the heel on one of them was completely gone. The other one was fine, but the missing heel was not even something that could be repaired.

We were getting ready to head to Baltimore overnight a few days later, so I gathered some yarn and needles and got the cuffs started on another pair. While The Tim drove, I knit, and got a really good amount completed:

Between the ride there, the ride home, and some early morning knitting while waiting for everyone else to get up, I got the chunk of two socks knit.  Once we were home, it took only a couple of more days to get the pair finished.

Project: Replacements Slipper Socks

Pattern: Plain vanilla, with some stripes thrown in 

Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted in Burgundy and Kelly Green

Needles: US size 5

Notes: I have a ton of Plymouth Encore in my stash, because it's a good workhorse yarn for baby and kiddo things, as well as these kinds of projects. In my opinion, there is enough wool to make things comfy and warm, but the acrylic content makes it hard-wearing. 

I just followed the regular vanilla sock pattern that I use and added in some random stripes and I'm pleased with the results. The Tim was thrilled and immediately put them on to wear when I handed them over.

And then he said, "Even if it doesn't perfectly match, will you make me another one to go with the one sock that made it out of the laundry?"

Sigh. So yeah, he'll get a single similar sock so he'll have that "pair." Just not anytime real soon. 😉

**********

Milo would like to thank everyone for their birthday wishes. He had a good day on Saturday, with lots of cuddles and treats, some special food for dinner, a mini-birthday cake with candles and singing, and a catnip mouse gift. 

"For the record, I didn't share with Pip and Alfie. Mom and Dad

gave them treats too, but *I* did not share any of my goodies!"

The Week That Was

Hello again and Happy Spring!  I didn't really plan to be AWOL, so to speak, but I was. I have to tell you, last week was absolutely magnificent!  I enjoyed every single moment of my time off, and it was so nice to sleep well, not stress-eat all of the time, and be able to enjoy getting some exercise.  We all had a good week, as the kitties enjoyed having someone to serve their needs 24/7, and The Tim enjoyed the fact that I wasn't bitching and moaning about work every single freaking day. 😊 (Who can blame him??)

The only annoying thing that happened was that on Saturday, I decided to finally get my act together and respond to the comments on my last couple of posts.  Well, both my e-mail and Blogger worked together to make sure that nothing like that happened!  When I responded via e-mail, I got "Message undeliverable" for every single thing, and when I thought I would actually decide to respond on Blogger, each time I was told "Comment cannot be processed."  So rather than become a raving maniac before I had to go back to work (because I wanted to enjoy those last couple of days), I just decided not to get worked up over it.  To any who commented, thank you for your comments and good wishes, I promise I wasn't ignoring you!  

So let's do a quick recap of the birthdays.

Milo the Koodle enjoyed his birthday celebration very much.  Even though they don't get any cake to eat, Milo and Pip both enjoy the lit birthday candles and the singing.  Though they don't want to get too close to the candles thankfully!  But Milo loved the special attention, and was quite pleased with some catnip and some treats.  Then he made sure to get a TON of attention for the rest of that day and all weekend.  Thanks for the kind wishes you sent his way.  I read them to him and he purred quite loud.

My birthday was really lovely.  It was a beautiful day, and though I had to stick close to home for most of it, because the tree trimmers were there, I was a) home, b) completely left to my own devices, and c) knew I had the rest of the week if I wanted to go anywhere.  The guys from the tree trimming place were really nice and efficient, and by the time they were finished on Tuesday afternoon, not only were the trees trimmed and pruned and the ivy gone from the side of the house, the garden was cleaned up much better than any of my efforts, ever!  Now I just hope I can do a decent job of maintenance.

I got a couple of real-life, lovely cards from friends which was such a treat.  One of my online friends (who shall not be named here because I'm not sure if she would want to be named, also you might be jealous if she never sent you anything!) sent me a lovely card and note with this needleminder tucked into the package:

It's like the people who made this have met me, right?  It was so exciting to see a little treat in the card, and then when I pulled it out, it just cracked me up, it's so perfect! (The Tim: "Wow, she nailed that one.")

After I sent a link for this, The Tim bought this for the kitties to give to me:

When you undo the zipper, and open it up, there are dpns from size US0 to US6!  (Also - HOW is there already cat hair all over the case??? This was set up on a shelf away from them!  Sigh.)

These are Knitters' Pride Zing needles, and though I haven't used the dpns before, I love the circular ones.  I sent The Tim a link from Webs, but he told me he bought these from Amazon because they were a lot cheaper there.  Which is somewhat sad since we both try not to use Amazon if we don't have to, but then again, he said they were more than $10 less there, so I don't blame him.  

Anyway, we had a yummy dinner, and homemade marble cake with chocolate frosting, so it was all good.

That's it for now.  I'm finishing this at work since I arrived half an hour early, but I'd better sign off now before my time runs out.  Thanks again for all of the well-wishes, both for me and for the Koodle!  I'll fill you in on the rest of the week in a later post.  

Have the best week possible. 😀

Ten on the Eleventh

Good morning and Happy Friday!  I for one am especially happy that this day has arrived, for two reasons, which I will discuss later in this post.

Today is March 11, and I want to talk about the number ten.  It's a nice, round number, introducing double digits to the string.  How many lists of "ten" have you come across?  Top Tens are a big one, as are Ten Ways To _______ (for good or for bad).  In a football game, ten yards gets you a first down on your way to the goalpost.  The British Prime Minister lives at 10 Downing Street (as does Larry the Cat!).  Everyone's favorite musical Founding Father - Alexander Hamilton - is on the ten-dollar bill.  One of the first ways we learn to count in groupings is doing five, ten, fifteen, twenty, etc.  

But today, on March 11, 2022, the very best thing about the Number Ten is this:

Milo the Koodle is ten years old today!!

Yep, on this day ten years ago, he was born in one of The Tim's former co-worker's backyard, where she took care of some feral cats.  He had 4 other siblings.  

The Koodle is definitely one of a kind, and honestly I think if just about anyone else had adopted him, he would have quickly been returned to a shelter or left out on the street abaondoned.  Because some of his "unique" features and behaviors are, shall we say ... troublesome.  But The Tim and I decided he was part of our family, and even though it was possible that he was possessed by Satan, we would never give him up.  

It helps that he is a cutie pie, and that when he is not peeing on things or destroying things or shredding your skin, he is a love bug.  He loves to cuddle, he loves to play - needless to say, all on HIS terms.  He and Pip are best buds and occasional mortal enemies.  He adored both Dug the Doodle Dog and Hamlet, and is somewhat lost without them.

But when he sits on your lap and purrs like a truck, or cuddles up next to you when you are lying down, he is the kind of kitty everyone wants to have.

So tonight, we will have birthday cake, treats, and presents to kickoff his birthday weekend. 

The second reason I'm glad that Friday is finally here is because it's the last day I have to be at work for a week!  I had marked next week off as vacation back in November, when our dept at work was still at full staff.  Of course, now that there is just myself and one other person (She The Terrible), my taking a week of vacation is being seen as the equivalent of eating a baby or something.  Now keep in mind that last month, She The Terrible took 2 weeks of vacation, and it was to be commended because she "works so hard."  (And she is the terrible boss' favorite person in the place, next to himself.)  But my vacation week is SUCH a problem, you know???

As my mother would say, TDB (too d**n bad).  I'm planning a week where I do my best to forget all of the people at work, where I don't check e-mail or attend Zoom meetings, and where *they* can be the ones to sign for packages, give directions, answer all of the phones, etc.  

I plan to do whatever I feel like doing on any given day, within reason of course (no stabbing annoying people, etc.).  I have a couple of dr appts, The Tim's days off are on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we'll probably have some adventure then, and there are a couple of days where I have to be at home anyway because some workers are coming to take the ivy off the side of our house, and do some pruning work on some trees in our garden.  

It would be nice if someone contacted me for a job interview, but I'm not gonna count on it.  That would just be a bonus.

So join me today in wishing the Koodle a happy birthday, and have a wonderful weekend doing whatever you are planning to do!

*****

I thought you might enjoy these outtakes from the birthday boy's photoshoot.  They prove that the sweet, innocent face above is as much a ruse as anything else.

*Just* as a snapped the photo!

A typical photo attempt, on any given day not just a birthday!

Random Things That Are Pleasing Me

Hello!  If you know me at all, you are not surprised that I'm starting with this reminder from Chemistry Cat:

I have an alarm set on my phone for 2:22 p.m., so I can text The Tim to wish him happy 2:22 on 2-2-22.  Which will amuse him, but also further convince him that I am a weirdo. Ask me if I care. 😉

BUT - the numbers fun doesn't end there - for the rest of February, all of the dates are palindromes!  (Yesterday was too, but I got distracted and forgot to post.)  As Kermit would say:

Being that today happens to also be Tiny Needle Tuesday, I wanted to show you the result of my Stitchy Saturday work:

There are two mistakes, regarding spacing but I am choosing to ignore them.  I managed to finish the "Winter" on Saturday, and though it took me longer than it should have, I am happy with how it's going.

Yesterday afternoon, I had a dr appt and walking home, I took this photo from the Walnut Street bridge:

It was such a clear day, and the water on the Schuylkill River looked like glass.  It's not a glamorous view, but it pleases me because I can identify nearly everything in it.  

Then there are these two:

They are having a hard time, because they miss their Hamlet (as do we all, but you can't explain what happened to them).  They have been spending much more time than usual curled up together on his bed.  We love them so much!  And lest you see this photo and think they are a couple of angels, please know that at some point during every sweet scene like this, one of them wakes up and randomly bops the other one, leading to a hiss fight.

I took this picture of Pip on his birthday, which is Valentine's Day.  We postponed our Valentine's celebration until this past weekend because we had picked up Hamlet's ashes on February 14, but no way were we going to skip Pip's birthday, that wouldn't be fair.  He is such a sweetie, and really enjoyed his treats and the toy he got as a present.  Of course, Milo the Koodle has enjoyed it as well ... because nothing in our house belongs to anyone on their own!

*****

I wanted to say thank you for all the comments you left on my post from last week.  I got a bit carried away cleaning out my e-mail inbox, and accidentally deleted them before replying.  Then I tried to respond on Blogger, but those responses disappeared into the ether, so who knows what is going on there?  Whereas for a while, I wasn't getting any notifications of comments, now I get multiple notifications for each comment - so I guess it's feast or famine as far as that's concerned.  

That's it for now.  I hope you have some random things that are pleasing to you as well.  Take care.

So Long 2021

Just like always on December 31, here we are on the last day of the year.  I always see it as bittersweet, because you can't help but think of what was, what wasn't, and what could/should have been.  Much of life is that way, but I think New Year's Eve brings it to the forefront.

The past year has been good in so many ways.  Everyone in our house is first of all, still alive, and that overtakes anything else both good or bad.  We all managed to stay fairly healthy, with a few bumps along the way but nothing serious.  That first and foremost makes it a good year as far as I'm concerned.

And I managed to get a fair amount of knitting done, a lot of reading, a good spell of exercising and working out before something put the kibosh on that for a few months; I've done pretty well on keeping up with the house and to some extent, our garden.  

We were able to take a trip to WV for Memorial Day, and then a weekend in Baltimore in the fall, so we saw some of our family in person finally - whoo hoo!

WE PAID OFF THE MORTGAGE ON OUR HOUSE.  That is something I never thought happened to anyone, much less to us!

But as you likely know, and as I don't mind telling you, I have struggled mightily this year, mental health-wise.  It hasn't been good that way.  Even on my a best days, the darkness is only about an inch away, but most of the time I'm used to it being there and can just tell it to stay there and move forward with my life.  

Unfortunately, this year that was not the case.  And 99.999999% of it had to do with my workplace.  As I have mentioned, at the beginning of the year, our CEO decided to take over direct supervision of our dept when our previous supervisor took a sabbatical.  That meant that a tenuous situation took a serious nosedive.  He has no idea what any of us actually do, and more to the point, doesn't care and doesn't want to know.  Yet he is the one in charge of us and the one who evaluated us at the end of the year.  There is only one person in the dept he likes, and well, he likes her a bit too much.  Out of the four of us, there are two left - me and Little Miss Favorite.  She doesn't even speak to me (no one has ever figured out why), and for the near future I'm stuck with the two of them.  This is the same person who told me I was stupid in a meeting with other people, and who regularly finds ways to harrass and/or criticize me.  I've reported him to HR, but nothing has happened.  

I did learn before the holidays that one of the managers lodged a formal complaint about him with HR, which will lead to an official investigation, so that small amount of misery-loving-company made me feel a bit vindicated.

But it's been hard to get up each day, go to work, and repeat.  And even though I have tried really hard to leave it in the building once I walk out the door (something that I am usually able to do), it just hasn't been the case.  Even over this past week, the spectre of the holiday week being over and having to go to work has just been there, laughing at me.  Ugh.    

I really hope I can find something - anything - in 2022.  So far, I've been lucky enough to get interviews for 2 part-time jobs, and then failed to be the person chosen.  That's gotten harder each time.  So please keep a good thought for me, since being able to leave where I am would be a huge help.

 ...

But - I'm still lucky, because I am surrounded by love and ridiculousness that can make me laugh, even when I feel the worst.  For instance, this photo:

This is an official Koodle selfie.  Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting on the couch reading, and Hamlet was being a real goofball.  So I grabbed my phone to take a picture of him.  Just as I got ready to snap the photo, the Koodle jumped up, bumped me on the elbow, which apparently changed the setting to selfie mode, and here he is!  It's not a great photo, but frankly it's a heckuva lot better than any selfie *I've* ever tried to take ... 😀

So let's all hope for more of this in 2022, and less of You-Know-Who.  I have been telling myself that it just has to get better, even if it is worse right now.  I'm not a Pollyanna by any means, but with a brand new year around the bend, I want the good parts to outweigh everything else.  

So long, 2021 - you weren't easy, but it wasn't all your fault.  Let's hope that the new year will brush off some of your dust so we can just be ourselves again.

Here's to 2022 - hopefully a new job, more vaccinated people, more goodness in the world!  Let's normalize the pandemic as a thing of the past, right?

Letters to Santa

Dear Santa Claus - Hello, this is Pip.  I hope you are doing well, and that this year has been good to you.  Is the North Pole still in a pandemic?  I hope you will be careful on your trip, because I would hate for you to get sick with Covid-19, and also I would not want you to take it back to the North Pole with you.  But now that I think of it, you've gone through a lot of these things, haven't you, so you know how to stay safe.

My year has been pretty good.  My parents spent LOTS of time at home with us and even though for a few months they've been going back to work, they still spend evenings and weekends with us because they are very careful and don't go out places unless they have to.  We like it that they are home and that they are not sick, and I especially like it for cuddling but also because it gives me a chance to tell them even more than I usually do!  (I do love to talk, Santa - are any of the reindeer that way??)

Anyway, you probably are wondering what I might like for Christmas.  Well, a catnip toy is always a good choice, and it would be nice to get some treats.  We ran out of treats about a month ago (a MONTH AGO!!!), and our Ma keeps saying that we should just wait and see if you bring us some treats before we go and buy some.  I don't agree with that, and I have said so many times, but I don't think she is listening.  

Anyway, last summer my cousin Amanda gave us some Soups, I think they were from Friskies, and I LOVE THOSE.  My parents think they look like ... well, vomit, but they are wrong, they look like yumminess, and they are!  So if you think I have been extra good, one of those would be nice to eat on New Year's Day for dinner.

I guess this is a lot to ask for, and maybe some of these will be wrapped up from my parents, I guess you would know if that is the case.  So I'll leave it in your hands.  Please give my best to everyone at the North Pole, and I promise to be sleeping when you arrive!

Love always, Pip.

********

Dear Santa - Hi Santa!  It's Hamlet!  I love you!  I can't wait for you to come to our house!  I love Christmas!  I love you (I know I just said that but it's true)!!  

I love Christmas presents!  I hope you will bring me something fun, or even a treat!  I love it when I can chase a ball!  And I love it when my parents give me a treat!  My Ma bought me an Advent calendar, and every evening she opens one of the windows and there is a treat in there and it is yummy and it is so fun to see what it is, sometimes it is a gingerbread man, and sometimes it is a snowman, and sometimes it is a decoration, and every time it's a surprise and I eat it because it is so yummy and then I can't wait for the next day to open the next window, and what do you think the chances might be that maybe in these last couple of days one of the treats will look like a SQUIRREL??!!!  

I wish I could stay up to see you when you come to our house!  I would give you all kinds of kisses and cuddles and also I would kiss and cuddle the reindeer too!  I love you, Santa, so I promise to be asleep when you arrive, but please know I'm sending kisses and cuddles to you!

Merry Christmas Santa!  Don't forget about the animals who need some extra love and attention, maybe give them something special too!  I love you!

Love and sloppy kisses, Hamlet.

********

Hello Santa, I see that the others have already written their letters, so of course this is Milo the Koodle.  I have been very good this year (as far as Koodles go), and so I think I truly deserve something special.  Treats are always good.  I see that Pip has already told you about the lack of treats in our house for approximately one month.  I have tried to take legal action but it is difficult to do so when you can't use a telephone and are afraid to leave your house.  Plus, I've asked around and apparently there are no cats who are qualified attorneys, which when you think about it isn't really that surprising because cats have better ways to spend their time.  Anyway, please bring treats.

Also, I promise to try and be nicer to my parents because I know they do love me, but can you blame me sometimes for getting irritated with them (see treats problem, above)??  Maybe you could bring them a handbook on caring for your cat, because I'm thinking it could only help.

I hope you have a safe journey on Christmas Eve.  I will do my best to be asleep when you arrive, though if you could come either before 2 a.m. or after about 3:30 a.m. Philadelphia time, that would be best, because I do need to have my middle-of-the-night running and yowling session, and I'd hate for that to mean you skipped our house.

Thanks, Santa, and a Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Lots of love, Milo the Koodle.

********

Note from me:  Dear Santa, Good luck!  😊

********

Have a good day, everyone, and an extra special wish for a happy Christmas Eve Eve to Kym and her sister!

An Inside Weekend

Ugh.  Here we are, in everyone but me's favorite season, summer - even though it's still spring, technically.  This past weekend was a miserable one in Philadelphia, weather-wise, with temperatures in the 90s (Fahrenheit) and the added humidity.  All of the weather reports told people to stay inside if at all possible.  Well, other than taking Hamlet for short walks, and a couple of errands early Saturday morning, we did just that.  The only improvement there was that we didn't have the sun beating down directly onto us.

On Saturday, I decided that I was tired of waiting to block the sweater I finished, just because there wasn't room currently in our bedroom.  So I soaked it, and blocked it in the back room of the third floor, figuring that if the Koodle decided to revenge pee on it, I would just wash it again.  I always block garments I've made inside out, so that even if someone walks on them, or the cats rest on them, any resulting marks or fur are just on the inside.  

The ONE good thing about the weather was that this dried overnight, so it was not "available" so to speak for very long.  And though it got some interest from everyone, I think it was just too hot altogether to make anyone want to make a bed or nest on a wool sweater!

So now, I just need to wait for some cooler days to take some photos of it all finished and blocked, and then I can put it away until next fall.  It fits perfectly, which makes me really really happy!

The cats and Hamlet did a lot of dramatic lounging.  In this photo, the Koodle looks like he is already done with summer (me too, Milo!).

Before I got too sweaty to knit on any project, I did cast on and start something new:

This will be a summer top for me - that is, if it is ever comfortable to knit, and I'm not so sweaty that I can't hold the yarn easily!  I also have a pair of socks going, and am very, very close to being finished with my Advent Throw - but once again, need either some cooler weather or some air conditioning for that.

On the plus side, I did spend time reading, and finished two books - one a perfect "summer read" and the other a more serious book, but very readable.  Now to decide what to read next ...

Most of the week here is supposed to continue with heat and humidity, which is depressing to say the least.  So it looks like reading, drinking lots of water, and staying inside will be my plan for the next few days.

I hope you can stay comfy, whatever is happening where you are.  Take care.

Still Here

Hi all - you may have noticed I was MIA last week.  It wasn't really planned, but it happened, and I'm still here.  

Our weekend was ridiculously hot, so not a lot got accomplished inside or outside.  I did manage to get the package ready to take to the post office containing the socks I knit for the woman who raised Hamlet as a puppy, and who we had a meet up with last month.  I'm going to walk it up to get it in the mail today, once I finish this post.  The socks turned out really well, and I think/hope she'll like them; if nothing else, I know she will love the idea of them, and that's fine with me.  That is an FO post to come.

Not a whole lot is new here.  We're getting ready mentally and physically for our trip to WV for Memorial Day weekend.  We always like to make sure we take some things to contribute, food and drink-wise, so we went to a couple of places over the weekend to stock up.  There will just be the six of us (The Tim and I, my sister and brother-in-law, and Amanda and Pat), so we don't need as much as we would normally take, when there are a lot more people.  But all of us enjoy similar things, and the holiday weekend is a treat, so it's fun to buy things we don't generally have around the house.  And I wanted to get ahead of laundry since we will miss our usual day to catch up.  So there has been stuff going on, but not the kind of thing that makes for really exciting blog content. 😉

  

Yesterday was the hottest it's been so far in 2021 in Philadelphia, and since we had our grocery/liquor store adventure on Saturday, we just stayed put and tried not to melt.  What really killed us was that for as hot as it was, apparently Pip still needed some warmth:

That's him, lying on top of the laptop as it's plugged in to charge.  Causing us to ask ourselves for probably the millionth time, Why do we have a Pip??

But perhaps most amusing of all, was the artistic design of Milo the Koodle and Pip doing some dramatic lounging in the heat:

Cats, right?

Anyway, that's it for now.  I have the aforementioned FO post coming up for you this week, as well as a post with some photos from a walk around the neighborhood that I took with Hamlet this past Friday.  I thought it would be fun to share some of our nearby streets, and things to see around here.  So stay tuned for that in the next few days.

In the meantime, I hope you are having a nice day so far (it's much cooler and more pleasant here), and that you are all well.

Oh Excuse Me? You're Upset That the Clocks Moved Forward an Hour??

Well, imagine what it feels like to wake up and realize that for you, it wasn't just an hour, but a YEAR! 😉

Overnight from Saturday to Sunday, a lot of places in the U.S. turned our clocks one hour ahead ("spring forward").  This always causes a lot of whining and hand-wringing, and frankly it really doesn't bother me one way or the other, just the same as in the fall when we turn the clocks back ("fall backwards").  But this year, *my* clock sprung forward a year overnight from Saturday to Sunday!  I went to bed at the age of 64 and woke up at the age of 65!

Yep, yesterday was my birthday - YAY!!!  On Friday, this card arrived in the mail from a friend of mine; when you press the little sound button at the top right, it plays a meow version of Happy Birthday, which is hilarious.  

It was a lovely day, and I really enjoyed every bit of it.  The Tim, the kitties, and Hamlet helped me celebrate and though it was my second Covid birthday, that did not mean it wasn't a good one.  And I heard from friends and family with good wishes, so even if once again we couldn't really go anywhere, it really didn't matter. 

It was especially nice, since on Saturday we had worked on cleaning up the house and because it was in such a state, it really ended up eating most of the day.  So having yesterday to purposely relax and just do whatever we felt like doing was extra luxurious.

And after last week, where I spent a good portion of the week fighting with a migraine, I was happy that it happened earlier in the week rather than later.

Of course, this guy turned 9 years old last Thursday, so we also had a little party then:

I told him that this whole coming week was Koodle and Ma Birthday Week, so we can keep celebrating.  I'm continuing my celebration today by heading over to Penn very shortly and receiving my 2nd dose of the Covid-19 vaccine - and trust me, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that getting a vaccine would be considered a continuation of a birthday celebration!  

Strange days, indeed.

I hope your week goes well.  Mine should be good, because I took vacation all week, and other than a meeting I *have* to attend tomorrow morning for about 45 minutes, I don't have to think about or deal with work at all.  That in and of itself is another gift ... 

There Was a Lot of Relaxing

No one will ever be able to say that anyone in our house did too much this weekend.  Other than getting dressed, feeding everyone, and the necessities of Hamlet's "toilette," no one did anything requiring effort.  Which is fine, but the addition of really really really nice weather all weekend took it to a new level.

Though Milo the Koodle started early, on Labor Day weekend.  My houseplants live in a space where they are across from a window, but don't get a ton of sun.  So I try to remember to place them on the windowsill on extra nice days to soak in some extra sunshine.  Labor Day weekend was another nice one, so I set the plants out to enjoy the holiday.  Then someone else decided that *they* wanted to sit in the sun too ...

This piece of nature art is entitled, "Koodle in the houseplant jungle."

He was surprised when I took the photo, because I'm pretty certain that he thought no one could see him.  😏

Anyway, this weekend relaxing was taken to a new level.  We have Pip doing some extremely dramatic lounging.

Though he does look comfy, doesn't he?  He stayed in this position for a couple of hours.  (Why do cats never seem stiff from sleeping in weird positions??)

Not to be outdone, the Koodle decided to play "Why don't you try to figure out how many paws are in this picture?"

Seriously, it looks like more than four, don't you think???  He is sleeping on Hamlet's bed, which of course meant that Hamlet was unable to use it at all.  Because even though Hamlet is about ten times the size of the cats, he will never ever challenge them about anything!

We were able to spend a lot of time outside in the garden, and I got a lot of reading and knitting done both inside and outside.  I managed to finish the last hat in my group for Christmas gifts, and just have the toe to finish on the first sock of a pair I'm knitting.  I finished one book and started another.  I enjoyed watching the Notre Dame football game, and was happy they won; otherwise, it was a PITIFUL weekend for any Philly sports fans - the Phillies and the Eagles both lost in the kinds of showings that should be used forever as examples of how NOT to play!  

Me:  Well, at least the Union [Philadelphia Union, pro soccer team] won on Saturday night ...

The Tim:  I don't care about them at all, but I'll take it.

(Things are really bad when The Tim takes it to heart!)

Sometimes it just goes that way, what are you gonna do, right?

This morning I hope to finish the sock, and start the second one.  Then I want to spend some time thinking what/if/how I can make any other gifts for this year.  I'm kind of at a loss, because I want quick gifts and the others I want to make them for are knit-worthy, but not with a lot of variety, if you know what I mean.  So we'll see what happens.

I hope you enjoyed the weekend as well, and that the coming week is kind to you. 

Furball Friday

Pip and Milo wish you a relaxing weekend.  

See you in August!

Just Go Along With This for Now

This was one of those busy weekends when I actually did a lot of stuff not just for myself, but around the house, and none of it is noticeable.  You know what I mean - you put things away, or spend some time on an ongoing project, and you're happy that it was done, but no one else would ever know?  Oh well, I know and that counts!

One thing I did "accomplish" that I can share with you is a couple of photos.  On my previous laptop, I used Irfanview to edit photos, and it was fairly straightforward and we got along very well.  Turns out that Irfanview doesn't work with Chromebook (of course it doesn't why should it, right?), so I had to find something else to try.  So after a ton of trial and error, I have these two photos to share, and though they are fine, I'm not completely happy with either of them, based on how I could have done them before.  I'm sure I'm the only one it bothers, though.

First up, do you remember the counted cross-stitch of the honeybee I finished last fall?  We got a frame for it, and nothing happened with that right away, and once the holidays arrived, forget it.  I finally got myself together enough to frame it a few weeks ago, and early last week The Tim hung it for me.

The reason this photo is at an angle, is because it is hanging above the stairwell where you go from the second floor down to the first floor, and this was as good a shot as I could get.  The closest that this comes to the actual gold shade of the frame is near the top left corner.  But I love the way it all turned out, and it makes me happy to see it whenever I'm heading downstairs.

Next up is one of the photos from Hamlet's birthday party.  One of his gifts was a new bed (the one we had belonged to Dug, and between the two dogs using it as well as the cats, a new one was in order).  As you can see, it was quite a hit.

Hamlet has even had the chance to use it once or twice since then ... actually for about the first week, he was only lucky to get next to it.  We keep telling him that he doesn't have to do the cats' bidding, that his head is bigger than both of their bodies put together, but nonetheless, here we are.

(Both of these photos took HOURS to get to look like this.  Sigh.  Good thing I have a lot of time to spend these days!)

I also spent some time starting to wash my winter sweaters to put away.  Though we have had some cool nights and early mornings, and there were a couple of days last week where the mornings in the high 30s/low 40s, I've decided that since this coming weekend is Memorial Day weekend, we're not likely to get many more - if any - of those.

This week I hope to get to work getting the garden more cleaned up.  The Tim got started with some of the big stuff, but I want to finish and we want to get some plants for there and the planters in front of our house.  That's the big thing I'd like to accomplish, but there are also a bunch of smaller things that are on my mental list as well.  Needless to say, we won't be traveling this year for Memorial Day, but I'm hoping that if we have some nice weather that we could have a little picnic in the garden if things are enough in order.

That's really about it.  My knitting projects continue, a bit slower than before since one of them in particular makes my one elbow uncomfortable, so I don't spend as much time knitting.  I'm hoping once that project is finished, the discomfort will also be gone.  I've done some reading, and am also catching up on some movies and TV shoes that we have had hanging around but never got around to watching yet.

I hope your weekend was OK, even if not exciting.  Don't forget to wash your hands, wear a mask, and stay home!

Here's What I Have for You Today

This boy.

This is Milo the Koodle, who turns 8 years old today.  In my entire lifetime of having pets, I have only ever known the exact birth date of Milo and now Hamlet as well. 

Milo was born to a feral cat mother in the South Philly backyard of one of The Tim's former co-workers.  After a while, all of the other kittens were spoken for, except for him.  We had adopted Dug the Doodle Dog just a few months before, and I convinced The Tim that Dug needed his own kitten.  And that is how Milo came to be with us.

It's also how he became the Koodle - he was the Kitten of our Doodle dog.  :-)

Celebrations will be had at home this evening, with treats for everyone and lots of cuddles.

Happy Birthday to our boy - we love you Bud-Bud! 

In Which I Did Nothing Socially Redeeming

Not a single thing for the betterment of the world.  Or - maybe by sticking to myself, I did in fact do the world a favor?  Food for thought.

The Tim had to work both days this past weekend, so I was on my own, which was 100% fine with me, because I was especially not in the mood to interact with others.  I had a couple of really excellent walks with Hamlet, as well as *two* games of Blue Ball (TM), which wore him out.  I finished a book I was reading, and fixed the messed up cable mentioned in an earlier post.  

As a matter of fact, I fixed that cable several times.  Spoiler alert - if you actually read the pattern instructions, this will not happen - who knew?  Here is what I finally have so far:

Now, I have to tell you that I had a lot more knit on this originally, but when I was convinced I had memorized the pattern, I managed to knit the cable incorrectly THREE MORE TIMES after I "corrected" it.  Then ... I looked at the pattern.  Oh.  Well that made a difference.  But now it really is seared into my brain, so as long as I don't get too carried away with thinking I'm a genius.

The yarn doesn't really show up too well in this photo, but it's some Black Bunny Fibers yarn that has been in my stash for years.  It's kind of a celadon green, with the occasional light blue flecks, and some stellina thrown in for sparkle.  It's very pretty.

But in any case, I'm on my way with this pair and hopefully they will not take too long to complete.

Other than that, I watched some knitting podcasts, and just enjoyed not being at work.  On Saturday, I did walk up to J Crew, since I had a coupon for $25.00 off if I spent $25.00 or more.  I wanted to see if they had any of their stuff on sale at all.  Well, I lucked out because they had a new shipment of some very nice t-shirts and they were 30% off the price.  I managed to get a white one, black one, and turquoise one, and with the percentage off and my coupon, the grand total came to $17.00!  Not bad for three basic, really nice, t-shirts that I will likely wear until they fall apart.  That was my big outing into the world for the weekend.

This week, we will be celebrating the 8th birthday if Milo the Koodle on Wednesday.  He has been particularly well-behaved and sweet lately, which The Tim says means that he (Koodle) thinks he is getting a pony.  Probably when he does not, he'll go back to his usual self.  :-)

And that's that.  A nice, weekend even if not thrilling to most people.  Now I am just hoping that this coming week at work will be a big long bore, since the other only other choice seems to be Sturm und Drang.

Have a good one!