I’m sorry, but you’re probably using good judgment.
Getting excited!
Good morning.
It’s 35°F, and cloudy outside. The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies in the morning and cloudy skies for the afternoon, with a daytime high of 45°F.
Red, yay for finally getting sprung. I’ll bet you’re about doing the Tigger springy tail dance!
VanGo, I don’t blame you. A wintry mix can quickly turn hazardous.
Metal Mouse, I’m wishing you safe travels!
Nellie, I’m sorry you’re in so much pain.
Yesterday, I unwisely decided to go to Costco. The store was predictably crowded, but the check out was smooth and fast. The parking lot, however, was another story entirely. At any rate, I picked up some things that I needed there, along with a couple of extra gifts for my son. After leaving Costco, I decided to bypass the mall.
I stopped at Safeway on the way home to check my previous lottery ticket. Not even four bucks! However, I did spring for another one, and once again, no one has won.
I’m picking up the prime rib roast in a couple of hours, and I’ll have to stop at Safeway again to pick up some spuds and other odds and ends. Then I’m done with being out in public until after Christmas. I need to clean and saute some chanterelle mushrooms so they’re ready for the gravy on Christmas Day. Between the trip to the butcher and grocery store, and sauteeing the mushrooms, I don’t have much else on the agenda. Some tidying, of course, but I’m not feeling particularly ambitious.
Okay, time to finish my coffee and get ready to face the chaos that is the butcher shop and grocery store. You all take care of yourselves, please.
Nellie, so sorry you’re in pain.
Final Christmas shopping finished. Did make it to the good wine shop, but half the roads in town were closed- blocked by police cars- so I got diverted right through the pedestrian area in the centre, which was less than ideal. I thought I’d better show up with a bottle to my brother’s place, cos I do plan to drink… plus got an interesting beer for the student who said he can pop in to feed the rats.
Also did a last minute switch with part of mum’s gift- I’ll keep the book I got her for myself, having thought it through a bit more.
Am now back, just doing the last tidy round so’s I don’t come back to a pig sty, and hopefully getting a little bit of slobbing in before bed. Early train tomorrow, so it’ll be up, essentials and run for the bus to the station.
Hope everyone’s sucky days improve and the good ones get even better!
The days are getting longer now, here’s hoping more sunlight means less sleepy during work hours.
Last night I learned that Hubs called those things on the front of the train engine a snowplow. I always heard them referred to as cattle-catchers, probably because I was raised in the West. What do folks on your side of the world call them?
Kitchen timer just went off and something is going wrong in the mixing bowl. I’ll be back later.
Feeling very tired and achy today. I hope it’s not the onset of some sort of crud. We’re hosting a brunch tomorrow for some of the wife’s relatives and right now I’d be happy to ditch the whole idea. Maybe an afternoon nap will help.
Much milder weather today at 30F. I even opened the blinds, which have been closed for at least a week to help keep the warm in and the cold out.
Got the monthly rent bill yesterday. I can’t figure out why the parking garage charge goes up $5/year. They don’t clean the place or do anything else down there, so I guess it’s just a money grab, much like the cable, which also goes up $5/year.
Just popped [sic] into the Christkwanzmakah thread to report a holiday story with a sad ending…
(Not all that sad.)
I walk at the local Mall on many days throughout the year depending on the weather (too hot or too cold). At the Mall, usually just after Thanksgiving, the first welcome harbinger of Christmas routinely and inevitably appears: the Hickory Farms popup store.
There used to be a full HF store at this Mall in Days of Old, and it was a great place to go when you were hungry but low on cash, because there were tons of samples throughout the store-- salami, jerky, cheese of various kinds, shortbread, chips, candy. You could really fill up.
Then that store closed–okay, things change–but you could still count on the HF popup kiosk around Thanksgiving. First, one day the shelves would appear, covered with a huge canvas drop cloth–was this the HF popup, or the calendar popup? You’re clever and nosy and you could see a few boxes with the HF logo under the edge of the canvas and, salivating, you knew… Eventually, the whole ministore would be there in all its smoked, salted, high-fat, high-carb, hickory-flavored holiday glory.
This year: No Hickory Farms kiosk.
Thanksgiving came and went. None. Pretty much the whole month of December. None.
Not this year at all, I guess… 
Is this our lives from here on?? Beloved holiday institutions dropping and splintering like Christmas ornaments that the cats have gotten ahold of?
It was a light Festivus loading. I stopped at the likker sto on the way home, since Spot drank all my gin again. the had Yellow Chartreuse back in stock so I grabbed a bottle(apparently the Green sold out the instant it hit the shelf). I was not almost murdered my a Honda this time.
Avoiding pain is smart, not wimpy.
C4 is easier and less stressful.
You hire Dr. Herbert West as a Pastor or something?
A wise choice, I think.
Mine is still open. But I avoid Crabtree Mall even in the off season.
Quick check-in. At Wendy’s about 125 miles out. Weather has been warm (60F), but cloudy and a little rain and fog. Tired but this is my third break and plan on one more before arrival. Still not feeling 100 percent but better than previous days. Have read all but will have to wait until tonight to respond. Take care all.
Grandma should be proud - she’s definitely cooking (cheese) with gas!
It’s called a rail clearer (Schienenräumer) and it also works on cows, but normally the cows shouldn’t be on the tracks.
This one is called a snow slinger: Video
Won’t be catching many cows with that style.
Computer keyboard is being weird. And I need to go call the bank. Fun times.
The spawn are gone and it’s quiet here again. Otis has been trying to dig to China - he’d dug a few holes in the yard, but this one is deep! Like his head and shoulders were invisible as he dug. Idiot.
The kids made their ornaments - Tobias got bored pretty fast, but he did some for his parents, his grandma, 2 cousins, and me plus 2 friends. Roxy did a lot more. I’ve kept the ones that go to my brother’s gathering and they took the rest with them.
FedEx still claims I’ll get my t-shirts by 2:30 today - that’s 6 minutes ago as I write this. The last update is from 2 days ago when they got the package in NH. So the kids will get them after Christmas.
I think I’ll go chill and enjoy the quiet…
I only have a minute because Ms. Dog and her person are due here any minute, but I wanted to say thanks for all the sympathy and support re: my back pain. It doesn’t hurt all the time, just when I’m walking or doing housework. My poor mom had spinal stenosis and was in pain unless she was lying down. She never complained, though.
Which reminds me: swampy, I read my daughter your reply about the problems of Episcopal cats. She said to tell you, “Catholic cats would tell them to offer it up to the poor souls in Purrgatory.” Such a kidder, that one.
I did some laundry and the daily household tasks. I’m hoping I can stay awake until bedtime. I woke up at 4 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep.
MetalMouse, I hope you can rest up when you get to your brother’s place. Dog therapy should help!
Hurrah for going home, red!
Whoops. I think they’re here.
I’ve seen pics of that thing, but that wat the first video I’ve seen. Mildly terrifying. Looks like a good way to get rid of a body, if one were so inclined.
Feel better nellie, back things suck. My sciatica jumps up every so often. Like if I forget to take advil.
Glad I didn’t drive today, ended up with 4" of slush, and watching the weather maps I would have been driving in that mess the whole way.
Made it to brothers house without much difficulty and we’re awaiting the return of one of my Nephews before going out to dinner. Have a movie on with Antonio Banderas as a Mall cop protecting a young girl from mobsters led by someone I know but can’t remember… pretty standard fare.
Voice is slowly coming back but still not talking much. Will be an early night tonight.
Howdy Y’all! The chawklit pee-kahn I got from Sam’s is hyuuuge! We felt it necessary to do a taste test for quality control after sup. It was declared fit for human consumption. Laundry got laundered and put where it stays until it gets dirty again. Nappage and day drinkin’ were accomplished as well. Sup got fixed and et. I make a dang good beastloaf if’n I do say so myself.
VanGo I say you made a wise decision.
MetalMouse glad you feel better and made it safe and sound.
Nettie please tell your daughter I said “good one!”. I had a good friend whose last name was Purks. He acquired a kitten, or rather a kitten acquired him. All of his friends immediately insisted that she had to be named Purrks. Thus it became true.
MOOOOOOM RoxStar is a comedian in the makin’! Comedy gold!
red I trust you are now at your sis’s abode bein’ smothered in Nelson kisses.
Boo Fae, enjoy the holiday respite! How’s Muffin doing these days, by the way? And I agree with you about the stupid crap your gym is putting you through just to get through the door. I mean, security, sure. But good grief!
It’s great when they’re crate trained, isn’t it? It’s always my first order of business when training a new dog. They need a “safe” space. Lewis used to crate himself all the time, even when there wasn’t any need of it. He just liked his crate!
Roxy is so adorable, by the way, and her bag a total success! I hope FCD’s nosebleed issues turn out to be nothing, as they almost always are. It just seemed like a whole lotta blood, and that’s what concerned me.
red, you have a date and time certain to be home (well, sis’s place is close enough, right?)! Merry Christmas, indeed!
Safe travels, metal mouse. Thanks for checking in, and I hope by now you’re at your brother’s place, resting up and being literally dog piled. 
And… I see you made it! Yayy!
taters, I miss Christmas goose. It’s what I always made, too. Food paradise is potatoes roasted in goose fat. 
Conga-rats on completing your briefs, Piper! Enjoy the down time!
Nellie, aren’t the equinox celebrations when day and night are about equal, twice a year? I always understood the shortest day of the year to be Solstice. I hope there is a resolution for your awful back issues soon. You can’t live your life with such pain. 
Good job on the flu jab, nut! And yes, you deserve all the treats for getting same!
My mother held a Russian Orthodox funeral for my Ukrainian grandmother. This was back in the years when Ukraine was part of the USSR, so I guess she deemed it appropriate. I don’t remember my grandmother ever expressing an opinion about the Russians one way or the other. But I do remember that funeral service was a humdinger! They like their incense, that’s sure!
And happy Festivus to you.
JtC, I love hearing that you get lost in needles and shiny threads. What else is being an RDOS for, anyway? Hope you got past the tricky spot ok!
Van Go, good call, methinks. Seven hours of driving is bad enough. In slush with a bunch of crazed holiday drivers is a suicide wish. Enjoy your quiet holiday!
cookie, I hope you feel better before your brunch tomorrow.
It’s an overcast day but not terribly cold, mid 40s. I restocked the wood supply so I’m ready for whatever comes again. I need to clean out the ashes before it gets dark, so I have about an hour. Scratch that. I’m out of time, will have to do it in the morning. We have another wind advisory in the forecast for tomorrow, so we’ll see how that goes. Another power outage is likely.
Clients are handled till next week, so I’m going to enjoy this stretch of quiet time.
I can’t decide what to make for a holiday meal on Thursday. Probably a London Broil done on the grill. I grill year round, rain, snow or shine, and it just sounds good.
Happiest holiday wishes to everyone!
It was 44 today. A good thing. Church Guy brought me over a spaghetti & meatball dinner. I am never tired of that food. Had some, saving the rest for tomorrow.
I went for a short walk with Ms. Dog and her person, then iced my back, which does help. Then I remembered I was out of bread. Horrors! And here I just shopped yesterday. I didn’t want to use the delivery service for one loaf of bread, so I took the bus and got it, along with a couple of oranges. The store was PACKED. No surprise there.
On the bus home, there was a couple with an adorable baby. I couldn’t tell what language they were speaking, but the bus driver spoke with them just before they got off. He told me it was Swahili, and he said to them, “Goodbye, your baby is pretty.” He said he knows smatterings of a whole bunch of languages that he’s picked up over 16 years of driving a bus.
My nephew called–the one with severe OCD. He had a lot of questions about the Holocaust. It was almost like teaching history again.
swampy, she’ll love the Purrks story! I’m starting to feel like I’m passing notes in class. Boy, there’s a dying art form!
VanGo, I’m sorry you deal with sciatica. Is it from a lot of heavy lifting?
MetalMouse, I hope you’re drinking a lot of liquids. You’re wise to rest that voice. One time I totally lost my voice and so couldn’t go into work. I had to phone the sub caller so my classes would be covered, but…no voice. I tried yelling, but it just sounded like an obscene phone call. They eventually figured it out.
Which dog is on your lap?
I placed an order on the 18th from a Unique & Thoughtful Facebook ad. I downloaded the Shop app this morning about 07:00, and it said ‘Delivered two hours ago’. I checked, and there was nothing there. My email to them was rejected as ‘suspected spam’. Left voice mail, and they did not return my call. Left message on Facebook, and it was not answered.
I really should know better than to order anything from Facebook. It’s only twenty bucks or so, but I’m staring at unemployment. I did get a couple of presents for The Missus, but nothing ‘grand’. (Not that this was, but it was very cute.)
That was a very interesting vid, thank you. Thanks also for the word, I do like words a lot.
Sweeping and mopping just kills my back, but I’m not like your mom. I complain a LOT!
I actually motivated myself the last couple of years by reminding myself that once I get past working, I could stitch as much as I wanted. I did really good too, I only lost a couple of dollars a month by walking out three months before full retirement.
So, today was spent learning things.
I didn’t do a lot of bread baking in the land of always summer but thought that maybe I should try making sourdough bread. I let it be known through the family grapevine that I wanted to learn and was given some starter AND a recipe for crock pot bread.
I really want the crock pot method to work so I can have sour dough rye bread whenever I want, but I’m not getting the results I want. I’ll give it another try tomorrow, while I don’t know what I’m doing, I have identified a lot of errors and have made notes about correcting them.
(I do NOT want to buy another kitchen appliance and I have heard that bread machines heat up a kitchen just like an oven.)
Be sure all of your tech toys are charged! Hubs is secretly disappointed that we didn’t lose power during the last storm (almost 40,000 homes lost power overnight) because he really wants an excuse to run his genny. We’ve never had one before and the new hasn’t worn off yet.
Enjoy your quiet time!
Its good that people are thinking about that horrible time, may it never happen again.
Can you do a charge-back?