(Old) Stone Cold Vacation A 4/20 MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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We had help :slight_smile:

We are both so happy that everything worked out so quickly. She was a really sweet lil girl but Jolene was very clear about her displeasure. Ginger kitty will be happier if she isn’t living with an enemy.

As an aside, we are both shocked at the price at the vets office here compared to AZ. Today would have been at least twice as much back there and the front desk people would have been ruder.

This vet is slightly more expensive than the one we were using, but this is a cat only clinic so the waiting room isn’t nearly as noisy and chaotic as our last one here. The staff were great, but five or six unruly dogs in a room half the size of my sitching room gets really noisy really fast.

That’s super encouraging, I’m glad you were well enough to go out.

I hope you wake up feeling much improved tomorrow.

Very nice.

You can get a plug in switch for not a lot of money. I know this because I am super lazy and don’t want to constantly be unplugging things I will be using tomorrow.

Very impressive, churches do the best pomp!

So after ginger kitty left, I picked up all of the evidence and let the fuzzbutts see the now empty bathroom. George looked around for a few seconds, said “No friend, bummer”. Lil miss swishy tail investigated every corner and even pulled open the toilet paper cabinet door to be sure ginger kitty wasn’t hiding there.

Laundry got washed and chicken noodle soup got delivered. (I used to feed James’ roommate because I like to pretend to be nice, but the roommate got really rude about my cooking once (I use spices instead of sugar) so now he pouts when he sees me show up with a bag of food.) I still make and leave four loaves of bread for toast making, I don’t seem able to just feed one person/critter ever.

It rained most of the morning but got up to almost 80 in the afternoon. Everything is looking good in the yard and I pinched some bell pepper flowers off the plant because it needs to grow a little more first. Gardening with magical sky water is just amazing!

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Laundry 90% done. I had held off a load so Mrs Magill and Squeaky could toss in their (presumably) sweaty clothes from today.

It’s now quarter 'til ten and time for your regularly scheduled Mollie self-pity party. Oh sure, I may have have a bit of affirmation this morning, but can that compete with (dun dun DUN)… my brane?

At least my toes looked good… until I dead-headed the roses, and some grass clippings fell on them. Obviously, twenty minutes of drying wasn’t enough.

I’ll never get the hang of all this.

Number one thing I’ll never miss about North Carolina: State run ABC stores.

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Well, I made it onto the first train of the day, just left Nice to Marseilles. Then onward to Nimes and then Barcelona. This train is a double-decker (all passenger) and I scored an upper-level window seat

So about 10 hours from now I should be in Spain for the last visit before finally coming home.

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Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off today. Last day of vacation, so I shall do morning cleaning and afternoon sloth. It’s currently 62 degrees Ferret Height(16.667 Centipedes). It is supposed to rain.

enjoy!

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And on train 2 after changing in Marseilles. Might be due to its being Sunday but the stations have been overflowing and my first train was 90 percent full. But I have some ham sammiches and Pringles in my belly so doing ok.

But why does using the bathroom in the train station cost 1 Euro? The line for the women’s room was near crisis proportions. Free toilets for all!

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Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN 'Tis 63 Amurrkin out and cloudy with a predicted high of 84 and cloudy. We also have a DENSE FOG ADVISORY in effect until nine a.m. The big item on today’s agenda is deheathenization in which I have Verger duty. This means I get to do both services. After that it will be back to da cave for sammiches, nappage and general sloth. Any need to feed today will be via forage.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then purtification for deheathenization must commence.

Happy Sunday Y’all!

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Our vet has expanded to include farm animals. In fact, at one point, they were saying they wouldn’t take on new pet clients, just large animals. But apparently they hired a passel o’vets so we can still take Otis there. And as for farm animals, no worries about cows and sheep in the waiting room - they’ve got a large barn-like structure out back where trailers can pull right up. Plus I assume they go directly to farms most of the time, a la Dr. Pol. Not that anyone asked… :wink:

Oh, and they’re much more reasonably priced than some other places. The only thing this county lacks is emergency critter services - that requires a trip into Waldorf - 20+ miles from us.

MetalMouse - do you speak other than English in your travels? I do OK with French and Spanish and I can sorta noodle thru reading Italian and German, but Portuguese stumps me, as do pretty much all Scandinavian and eastern European languages. We’ll not mention any Asian languages with their alphabets…

We were told to have toilet money on hand in Norway and Iceland. It felt like a blast from the past when you needed a dime to pee in the states.

Today started at 46 Ferrets and we might get 10 more before “sunset” - overcast all day, so any appearance by big ball of fire in sky is highly doubtful. But the car show is still on and I’m going to suggest we take Otis. There are always dogs there and he can use some socializing. With a harness and a short leash, he should do fine. I hope FCD agrees. And on the way home, we’ll stop at Food Lion for 'nanners and milk.

And I’ll probably need to lay a fire downstairs for when the kids come - there’s quite a chill in the air. But maybe it’s warmer down there. We shall see. That’s pretty much the plans for the day.

Happy Sunday!!

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“Spend a penny” is an old fangled phrase for urination, as in, “Excuse me, I have to go spend a penny.”

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Afternoon, mumpers! It’s currently 16c/61f with a predicted high of 18c/65f and partly cloudy. Weather app says “Beware of the fucking Goldilocks zone. Soon it’s going to be super fucking shitty again. Don’t get too comfortable.”

Go, girl! Give yourself a gold star for bravery :glowing_star:

She’s quite right, that’s one pretty kitteh! Jolene will be happy that her crown remains firmly on her own head and is no longer at risk, and you know that the shelter people will find little kitteh a good and loving home. Good for you, paying for the treatment etc, the Cat Distribution System will be smiling on you.

It’s Tyketto - I have been a fan of theirs since I first saw them on 5th June 1991 :slight_smile: I was a fan of the singer from a previous band (Waysted) he was in. I have seen them more times than I can count, and have also followed Danny’s solo career through the years.

How fabulous! I’m glad you enjoyed it and they squeezed your favourite hymn in there too. It’s almost like they knew you’d be there :slight_smile:

I love the double-decker trains in Europe. Sadly we don’t get them in the UK so it’s always a treat when we get one overseas.

Helps to pay for the cleaners :slight_smile: It often depends on which country you’re in, and who owns the station premises. Also, charging for the toilet discourages drug users from going in there to dose themselves up.

Yesterday was a most awesome day - I had a really good session in the gym with Amrit firs thing in the morning, then went home to put some colour on my hair. We had lunch early and went into town to do some errands. One of mine was to get a new battery for my wristwatch and while I was there, I asked the jeweller about a valuation for some stuff. My mum left me two antique pocket watches that belonged (I think) to my paternal grandmother, I don’t know if they are of any value but if they are then they should be noted on our house contents insurance. He said he could take a look at them but he was no expert, and said he’d find the details of someone else who might be able to help.

After errands and old geezer-early dinner, we got ready to go out for the night. We have a fabulous time, favourite band in our favourite venue - what could be better? We met up with lots of friends, chatted to random strangers and then sang our way through the most incredible performance. We popped to the Posada afterwards and saw a couple of other friends there before heading home in the early hours.

I had a lovely surprise this morning too - one of my friends had been unable to get to the show because of health issues, he’d contacted me to ask if I knew anyone who still wanted tix, I didn’t know anyone but I bought the tix from him anyway. I put a message on a couple of fan groups and a lady contacted me to ask about them so I passed them on to her. She’s just turned up on my doorstep with a beautiful plant as a thank you. How lovely of her! I’m just glad she and her husband had such a great night :slight_smile: Now I’m off to be a sloth for the rest of the day!

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We are well aware that all rescue groups everywhere are chronically low on money and had already planned to spend that money on her so why not? Plus, now that her spay is pre-paid, the only thing stopping it from happening today is her mastitis*. Once that’s cleared up, she will be spayed and put up for adoption. They show the cats on the weekends in the same city that hosts my fav thread shop so trip might be made next weekend.

*her poor boobs were swollen and hot, plus two nipples were cracked. we didn’t pick her up as much as we would have liked to because we knew that had to be painful. I’ll bet she’s feeling much better today

I’m glad you had such a good time watching your favorite band an dhow lovely of that woman to bring you a plant. Cat safe I hope!

Back when I was sitting at PetCo every weekend, our rescue vet not only did large animals, he was the zoo vet. He liked to share stories of wearing fireman’s gear and using a garbage can lid as a shield so he could get close enough to the big cats to trank them. They were intact males and had very good aim.

Our new vet has weekend hours and someone on call 24-7, we would have to go to our old vet for more complicated emergencies if needed. New vet really is new, she only opened her office about 9 months ago.

Fog or smoke? I’m hearing dire things about Georgia and Florida sharing a big fire. I hope it isn’t close to da cave.

Safe travels!

So not much is planned for today. Hubs has requested charro beans so I’ve done all the prep and will toss them together when I get home tonight.

Temps are going to stay low which is nice, the capital is right next to the river and when it warms up the mosquitos come out in full force. My Handmaid uniform covers most of my skin, but some of my fellow unpaid protesters just get chewed up something fierce. I’m not bringing James with me until he’s off the oxygen. He’s fretting about that but his medical team agrees with me so he was overruled. We will discuss it again on Saturday, he’s recovering steadily.

In the garden, everything is doing very well. I dug around one of the very happy looking garlic plants but didn’t feel a bulb forming. Of course I don’t have a clue what I’m doing with it so maybe that’s normal. The posies I planted in the ground aren’t as happy as the ones I planted in the big planter so this fall I will need to move some dirt around.

I feel that so much. Cis females don’t get an instruction book but at least we grow up experimenting and learning with our friends. Things keep changing, though.

Well, I should probably get my day started. Have great Sundays everyone!

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Mornin’ all.

It’s 39F and sunny. The day will be mostly sunny, but clouds are supposed to move in by late afternoon with an expected daytime high of 68F.

JtC, you and the hubby showed such kindness to lil’ Ms. Ginger. I hope her mastitis heals quickly and she finds a loving home. Vets are expensive here. They all seem to charge around the same amount, and the specialty vets are even more.

Lily, I’m glad you felt well enough to get out of the house for a little bit. I hope you’re feeling even better today.

I ended up going to one of my favorite nurseries yesterday. Their flower baskets were in. All the prices have gone up at this particular nursery, which makes me sad. I didn’t purchase the baskets I really liked because I just couldn’t make myself spend that kind of money for a basket. Last year and the year before, I bought huge baskets there for less than $100. This year, that size basket is halfway and 3/4 of the way to 200 dollars (depending on the pot). That’s ridiculous. They’re calling the largest two sizes commercial baskets, and it’s true that these baskets line downtown streets. Still, since I was purchasing other plants, I just wasn’t going to do it.

I may go to the Alpine Nursery up here on the Hill today. It’s also one of my favorites. I did buy some plants, and they’ll need to be planted, but some are frost-tender, so I haven’t planted them yet. Temps dropped to the low thirties last night.

I also need to call the vet and see if we can board the dogs on Tuesday. My son kept the original U-Haul reservation date. He plans to start moving smaller stuff over tomorrow, and once again, I’ll ask if he needs help. All the same, I’m not sure we’ll be able to get the dogs boarded, so they may get dinner a little later than usual. We can’t leave food in the bowl for grazing as we did with Cap’n, Brandi, and Polar.

Alrighty, I think that’s it for today. Please take care of yourselves.

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And I am on my last train of the day, TGV to Barcelona. Nimes gave me a nice surprise, they were having a “Roman” day and there were lots of pavilions and other stuff. I will try to get this up on the book of faces during the train trip, it was neat stuff and totally unexpected.

Take care all and will catch you on the next MMP.

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Happy Sunday!

Up, caffeinating, breakfasted and fixing to do KP. The only thing on the agenda today is mopping :frowning:

The folks next door were at it again last night. About 0330, I heard a loud argument and the baby screaming (more like a being upset scream, not like a pain scream), something smashing, then someone with the screaming baby slamming car doors and leaving. This morning, there was a smashed speaker beside their door. Something’s gotta give here.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

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Or we just don’t bother, letting our natural beauty speak for itself. :grin: I can’t imagine how much time I haven’t spent on makeup and mani/pedis and hair stylists and whatever else girly-girls do. None of that ever appealed to me. The few times I tried cosmetics, it was, well, less than impressive. The only beauty routine I have is using a generic oil of olay on my face after I shower. I guess it works - hardly any wrinkles so far.

I skimmed too fast - I read this as breastfeeding!

We opted out of the auto show. It’s still below 50 Ferrets and drizzly and just unpleasant. They should have postponed the show. But I did take one bag of trash and 3 of recycling to the convenience center (it was CROWDED!!) Then I went to Food Lion for a few things.

FCD has gone to the boat to organize his tools because he couldn’t possibly wait till tomorrow when I could help him. That man is a hoot! I just got a message from a guy who’s coming over to get a grow light I listed on Marketplace. So goes my morning.

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Good (still) morning! We slept in until 7:30 this morning, then let Chloé out of her crate to do some pent up business. There was much lounging for an hour. Mrs Magill requested a Waffle House breakfast (Cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, and raisin toast with apple butter), which I provided except for the apple butter - I couldn’t find any.

Then it was time for Chloé’s haircut for summer.
Before:

Haircut time!

Look at that skinny leg!

After:

She also got a pedicure, then I took her on a short walk to dull her claws.

After showers, Mrs Magill and I need to find a new birdfeeder. The old squirrel-proof one was nasty after eight years of use. We had another one in the basement, which I pulled out. It was nice, was easy to fill, and had a large capacity. Unfortunately, its top was not designed for said large capacity, and it fell some time yesterday. It did not survive the twenty-five foot drop to the ground, so now we need another one before the finch family is in open revolt.

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Cloudy and windy this morning as a rain front moves in our direction. We’re supposed to get an inch or so tonight.

Sadie is staring at me (she does that a lot) from across the room, and meowing occasionally.

Had a migraine aura this morning, so now I feel like I need to sleep. At least I don’t get the headaches that a lot of people get.

All puzzles have been successfully puzzed; even Connections, which often makes me want to hurl the laptop across the room.

Croissants stuffed with scrambled eggs and cheese for breakfast.

We had one of these in Portland that defeated all squirrels that tried to get into it. The bottom perch is adjustable for heavier birds, but closes the feed ports if a squirrel sits on it.

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Inspired by Mollie, I finally did my toenails. I bought polish in September, and never got around to it until now. This time I actually bought tiny bottles, which is nice, as I don’t really have to commit to the color, and I won’t feel so guilty when I throw out the bottles in 2 years.

Couldn’t find the color I wanted, so I did a layer of dark blue and then a layer of mermaid glitter. Still too cold for sandals, but I get to enjoy it. Hopefully waiting an hour before going to bed is enough time, but I have no clue. Growing up, I spent more time playing in the mud than applying mud masks. But pedicures are fun.

Printed out the ballot for the primary and I think I know who I’m going to vote for. Need to get that in the mail soon - it seems it’s taking longer and longer for mail to get delivered to the U.S. from Switzerland. The opposite direction doesn’t seem to be too bad. I mailed my friend’s birthday card and a Mother’s Day card for my mom - hopefully 2 weeks is enough time.

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I just got back from Great Clips, where the hair pro got my locks back to a reasonable dimension. I tried to use a “haircut for 11.99” coupon, but she said it was only $7.99. I was so surprised that I got halfway across the parking lot before I realized I had forgotten to tip her. I went back. Mrs. Nott ran the mini-vac over my head and shoulders when I got home, to reduce the itchies. I see Chloe got the same treatment.

I got nearly all the NYTimes puzzles done. I’m close to finishing the big crossword. Then it’s on to Code Words and a few more, while I watch the NASCAR folks at Talledega.

Right now, it’s lunchtime.

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mollie, Chloe was a cutie as both shaggy dog and all trimmed up. :heart: She looks ready for a mid south summer.

The mopping is done. It rained this morning for a bit. I turned the thermostat down and the ceiling fan up to dry the floors, but am about to switch back because I’m chilly.

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In my hotel in Barcelona. Train travel is interesting but I think I’ll take a plane next time, 13 hours in-transit can wear you down. Tour Tomorrow starts at 8:30 so suspect I will hit the sack early tonight.

All y’all take care and I’ll catch you when I can on the next MMP.