Gobble, eh? A Metric Thanksgiving MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Back from Food Lion. I went into CVS only to discover that my meds weren’t actually ready - they’d asked me if they should contact my doc for the refill. My own fault for not reading the text. At least they’re right across the street from Food Lion so I didn’t make a long detour.

And I forgot the cole slaw dressing, dammit! I’ll get it on Weds when I shop the new sales. Plus I’ll do Aldi on Weds. I think I’ll change my credit union appointment to the Charlotte Hall office so I can do all that in one trip.

Now, tho, I suppose I should get back to tidying the studio. Maybe.

22

Good! Hoping for thumb relief, too.

T-cat is evidently cold, and is curled up in a lump inside my fleece vest (which I’m wearing), purring and purring. Meanwhile, S-cat is ek-ek-eking at a fruitfly or dust or invisible alien.

Here are random photos from the recent Camino. I’ll distribute them across several posts.


Alto de Perdón, west of Pamplona


Morning in a mountain village


Excellent tattoo


One of many bird species


Camino

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Camino


San Anton


Chapel of Santiago in Roncesvalles


Plaque commemorating the XIIth c. Battle of Roncesvalles (where Basques ambushed Chsrlemagne’s troops, which was later blamed lon the Moors in order to whip up anti-Moorish sentiment)


Up in the Pyreenes


Breakfast, more or less


A nice albergue/hostal/pilgrim hostel. Do note that someone (not me) has used their hiking pole to mark their bunk, a no-no what with the mud and manure on the trails.

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The Camino in the area of Zubiri. This is the improvement–it used to have several-inch “dragon’s teeth” sticking up.


European robin. There were many this time!


Camino


Kitten attack!


Inside a cathedral, of which there are many.

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Vista


A grotesque from a church


Mural


Excellent paella


Sunset


Restored dry stone shelter


Fruit/veg store


Detail of Game of the Goose plaza in Logroño


These enormous bulls used to be billboards (bullboards?) advertising a bodega (?) but there was much hue and cry when they started to remove them, and now they’re considered iconic artworks of northern Spain.


Road-walking


Vineyard


Pomegranate

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I’m currently fighting the temptation to run away to Spain for a week… these pictures ain’t helping.

I have soooo many jobs to do instead, though I have cut the handrail down to almost the appropriate length and now it’s not in the way- so that’s 1/4 of one job done. Now I need to trim it properly, stain it and actually put it up.

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Marian grotto, Nájera


Caves carved into red sandstone, Nájera. Some 3,000 years old.


A rollo (old town or jurisdiction boundary marker, sometimes used as a gibbet.


Camino

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And then you can take a long weekend in Bilbao!

29

That looks like a lovely trip, lily.

The trip to Aldi has been made, so now I have coffee beans, knockoff Splenda and treats for Nelson. Now for studio time.

30

susan, the pic.s are amazing.

i love the “bullboard”! how fun!

i am now very green with envy. how beautiful. it looks so calming.

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And you don’t even have to walk the Camino to enjoy Spain! Plenty of buses and trains.

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I remember seeing one of these on the highway between Toledo and Madrid. They are huge!

Thanks for sharing the pictures. I want to try to convince hubby to go to Spain next spring - before it gets too hot. Or maybe the spring after that.

Went to the gym for my first complete (not sure if I get more exercises on Friday or not), workout. It’s been a while since I’ve spent that much time at the gym. Should probably settle down, but it seems like I just got home.

33

First day off. I successfully did nothing. Well aside from doing the incoming forms for my Dr appointment tomorrow. Hoping the doc can give my back some help.

susan Wonderful pics of your travels! Pomegranate…I used to live in a house with a pom tree in the front yard. Made a huge mess in the fall. Some guys came by one time to ask if they could pick fruit. Yes please.

34

Lily, those are wonderful pictures and I need to spend more time in Spain, Barcelona has been my only spot so far. Much thanks for the visible travelogue.

At the gym after car repair. Trying to time things so I can go straight to the soccer game I am refereeing at 5:30pm, may end up with some sauna and whirlpool time to relax once sweating is done. Car tire has been fixed and for less than $40, so that will hopefully gete another 15,000 miles before the new car tires wear out and I buy some longer lasting ones.

More once home from chasing both 9 year olds and the early setting sun.

35

wonderful pics, thank you so much!

Flyboy, I’m happy the Mrs recovered so well. Drinking too sweet drinks usually makes me regret it for at least a day.

Our drive was nice and we ended up at a decent mexican place in Fayetteville. They now have Margarita flights! I love them, four small differently flavored drinks is better than one any day in my mind. Of course, I don’t drink to get drunk. I just want a mild buzz while exploring different flavors.

I’ve heard more about the cousin’s house and am now willing to touch the sale. It won’t be a sale, it will be transferring family assets to another generation which is much less expensive, even though it is more complicated. I still have my training book and there is an entire chapter covering this sort of thing so I should be OK.

I"m happy, I did like being able to gate crash open houses even if I don’t drink the mimosas. We will be heading up that way on Thursday to hammer out all the details. As long as the folks exchanging property and whatever are in full agreement, it will be a piece of cake. If they don’t, well dang. I can’t afford to renew my license in this economy, nobody is buying now.

I planted one two years before we moved. Of all the things I miss about AZ, my baby trees are the ones I think about most. (Of course I miss a few things, we were happy there for many years and carry the memories with us.)

36

Heyla, all. I’m back and stinking up the joint again. :slight_smile:

It’s wonderful to be back in the land of mid-60s Ferrets for daytime highs and overnight lows of low to mid 40s. I suffer in Arizona!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving – I know you have more to be thankful for than we do this year. I’ll feast tonight on chicken and fixin’s in solidarity.

I won’t try to catch up with all I’ve missed since last week, but will gradually reweave the MMP threads back through my fingers and respond as I can.

The visit was… enlightening, difficult, gratifying in some ways and troubling in others. I’ve got a lot to think over about how best to help my parents through their final years.

My Dad is doing great – nearly 95, climbing up and down stairs many times each day, cutting and selling lots of stones, preparing meals and has his wits around him. He carefully avoided political discussions and I appreciated that.

My stepmom loves me more than anything, and I love her, but there are troubled waters ahead. She is forgetful, twice during my visit walking away for extended periods while leaving something on the stove. She is gullible to woo. Her aphasia is getting noticeably worse. She picked a totally unnecessary fight about politics with me out of the blue, and that didn’t go well. We smoothed things over, but the whole thing was a bafflement, as I studiously avoid discussing anything political when I’m there. I am frankly more worried for her than my Dad at this point.

Anyway, I’m back and gradually getting caught up with all the stuff that got postponed due to the trip. Should regain my equilibrium this week. There are still prescriptions to pick up, my guitar to reclaim and friends to touch base with – including you all!

Ollie fared decently well at the kennel, though he developed a marking habit that necessitated him being moving to a space adjacent to a hose to clean up after his efforts. I am pretty sure it is because he prefers his crate, which they don’t let him have (for understandable reasons), and he feels insecure when left in a more open space. He decided it was necessary to define his boundaries. He was overjoyed to be back in his own space – as was I to have him! We’re back to whatever passes as normal for us. I’ve spoiled and treated him to excess. He’s fine with that. :wink:

More soon. Hugs all around for thems that want 'em!

Oh, and Lily, thanks for posting your pics here! I don’t do the Book of Faces, so I can never see any photos that are linked from here to there. Your pics are marvelous and likely as close as I’ll ever get to the Camino. I really appreciate seeing snapshots of your travels!

37

Johnny L.A. ia a schmuck.

I’d been wanting to take out the Canon Canonet QL17 Giii, but there was nearly a full roll of film in the Olympus OM-1n. OK, I’ll take them both. I loaded some B&W into the Canon. First I went to a small beach in Bellingham. I wanted to go to the old pier, but I didn’t know how to get there. I asked someone, and she told me. I got back into the car and found the small parking area, then decided the trail was too steep for me today. Better to go walk around Fairhaven. Which I did, taking photographs with both cameras. I shot the roll in the Canon, and then I knew I only had a few more frames in the Olympus. Yep, just a few more. … A few more… Wait a minute. That roll I wanted to shoot up? There wasn’t one. I’d been not-making photos.

At least I got some walking in, and I do have the B&W roll from the Canon.

38

I gave up & switched on Coolio for a few hours. It felt so nice sitting in my chair in front of the cool air that I fell asleep, sitting up, while my cat comfortably occupied my bed. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

That sounds great!

I was so happy to get the hell outta Texas, but I knew even before I left that I’d miss mockingbirds.

I love how you phrase things.

39

Lily Thank you very much for these amazing pictures!!! I have wanted to hike the Camino for about a decade. But Covid interferred then Hubs health issues. I did do a fair amount of research so am familiar with the locations and some of the stories. I’m grateful to be able to cyberhike a bit. Also, the pics are keeping me from getting morose. The dermatologist thinks the little bubble on my arm is basel cell carcinoma. She took a biopsy that will be sent to the lab. I’m to return in 2 weeks for results and either a scrape and burn or sent for mohs surgery, depending on what the lab results are.

40

Doesn’t anyone make a baguette anymore? All I’m finding is these “ciabatta” things. Dense horrible attempts at bread. Or “Italian loafs” that are basically wonder bread. Where I grew up there was always decent bread at the grocery store, granted I grew up in an area that was predominantly French-Canadien immigrants.

But that ciabatta crap needs to go. Try to make a sandwich and all the fillings squish out the other end, cuz the bread is too dense. Maaaybe it would make an ok crouton. It is not good at becoming garlic bread.

shoe Coolio is back in the picture? I took out the ACs a month ago. "Tis a rousing 62 ferrets outside now.

Flyboy Ooopsie on the flim. But good on a nice hike.