See any birds?
Plenty. I’m listening to ravens “cronk” outside my window as I type.
In the town of Bodega, up the road a little ways, a touristy shop has a mannequin sculpted amateurishly to look like Alfred Hitchcock standing in front of the store to welcome tourists.
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave. It’s 67 degrees Ferret Height(19.4 Centipedes), rainy, and there’s a Flood Watch.
Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 15c/59f with a predicted high of 23c/73f and sunny. Weather app says “It’s somewhere between fucking cold and fucking warm outside.” I that means it’s going to be hot!
Happy birthday, Cookie
That doesn’t sound like a bad idea! I hope you manage to survive the visit to your parents without too much trauma.
We’ve had some really good trips that only involved minimal interstates as they’re pretty boring, much like a bigger version of motorways here. Since I am used to driving on the correct side of the road 
it does give me a moment’s pause when I’m on a largely deserted road over your side of the pond because I have to remind myself to be on the wrong side instead!
That’s crazy! It does sound like urgent care would be the only way to get seen any quicker. I am quite sure I only managed to get a GP appointment quickly was because I filled in an online triage form and said my shoulder injury was impacting my ability to work. Perish the thought someone should not be able to earn and thus pay taxes…
A good home never stays empty for long, and I am sure the Cat Distribution System has had a close eye on you for a while
Nothing much of any consequence happened over here yesterday. I irked all day, got some useful stuff done and messed with spreadsheets all afternoon. Grocery shopping was done and the cats have treats. I gathered up all the recyclables yesterday and put them in the biiiiig recycling bin to haul out to the kerb and this time I remembered the little clear plastic bag of batteries to go with it. They have to be in a clear bag, tied at the top, and left on top of the bin to be collected. After that, I flopped on the sofa for some slothing, decided I couldn’t be bothered cooking anything for dinner, and settled for a cheese and pickle sandwich instead.
Today I was up an hour before the alarm was due to go off. I’d had a disturbed night, woke up around 1am convinced I’d heard what sounded like banging on a door inside the house. I got up and checked the front and back doors (both locked), and nothing was amiss. Came into the spare room without turning on the light and I am sure Muffin was sitting under the window (a long way from her comfort zone in the bookcase). Went back to bed, and came in here again at 7am to find she’d up-ended the litter tray so I had to get the rollsuck out to clear that up.
I emailed 'im indoors this morning and he said he’d also heard strange sounds in the night and attributed it to cats, I did think there was a possibility it had been Muffin attempting to get this door open, or one of the girlies trying to push it from the other side, and both of them banging the door against the modem box. Who knows?
Anyway, biiiiig bin was emptied at 7am and I went to haul it back to where it lives, cleaned up the mess Muffin had created, restored order to the house, and got breakfast for everyone. Today’s plans involve irk, a lunchtime trip to the pet store for cat litter and Muffin food as my supermarket doesn’t carry what she likes, then later I’ll be preparing campus food for the rest of the week.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 62 Amurrkin out and partly cloudy with a predicted high of 81 and mostly N.O.S. It’s laundry day. My rapture knows no bounds. Beyond that we shall engage in the usual RDOS inactivities. Sup will be grilled poke chops, lima beans, creamed corn and rolls.
And now this…
< AHEM > CLEARIN’ THROAT < AHEM >
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAY DEEEAAARRR CCCOOOKKKIIIEEE!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.
Happy Tuesday Y’all!
Happy Cookie Day!!
Rain rain rain rain rain! All night, and it’s still coming down. The rain gauge puddle in the driveway is maxed out. I’m definitely glad I fixed the plastic cover over the firewood the other day.
I may try to figure out the pleats for the cushion curve. We set aside a hunk of cardboard before we took the recycling - I’m going to cut it to match the curve and I’ll make a rigid form so my attempts don’t squash the foam and distort my efforts. I only need to figure it out for one, then the other three will be identical.
My car is in the shop and I expect to get it back later today. Fingers crossed that Paul doesn’t find some major issue. It’s been driving just fine and I don’t think the tires are worn down yet. We shall see. Then we need to get the truck over - I can’t recall the last time it was serviced. No, I don’t tuck the receipts neatly in the glove box, dammit.
Saturday is the welcome-back picnic at the marina. We’re going over and we make take Daughter and Roxy. SIL is taking Tobias to a b-day party. Those kids have a more active social life than I do!!
Anyway, Happy Tuesday!
Happy birthday cookie!
Up, caffeinating, breakfasted, exercises done and fixing to do KP. After that, I’ll get showered and sheveled, do some adulting (still doing the :snerk: STD fighting), then head to the market for some aigs and fruit. Such excitement!
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
Happy Birthday!
Good morning, everyone.
Happy Birthday, Cookie!
It’s 53℉ and cloudy outside this morning. There will be periods of light rain throughout the morning, but by afternoon, it will be overcast with a high temperature of 65°F. Yesterday afternoon was supposed to be cloudy, but it turned out quite nice, if a bit muggy.
The husband and I visited two nurseries yesterday. The first nursery is one he hasn’t visited with me, but I wanted him to see the neighborhood leading up to the nursery. The second nursery we visited is one I haven’t visited yet this year, but I only go there rarely because they’re kind of proud of their stuff. At any rate, we spent a good sum on plants and things there and then came home. I did forget to purchase seedling pots, though. I need to buy some more containers and raised bed soil, as well as topsoil and amendments for the slope behind the area where the majority of my raised planters and pots are located.
I need to get all the plants planted, as well as empty out a couple of raised bed planters that have become rootbound. I’ll pull out the plants, separate and relocate them, and start fresh in those planters.
I need to knock out some indoor chores today, but other than that, I don’t have much on the agenda. I’m thinking of purchasing the soil and stuff I need today, but the posies can wait a day or two.
teela, hopefully you can work through the phobia, but if you cant, hopefully, you and your husband can work around it.
Okay, I need to get going. Things to do and all that. Take care of yourselves!
Happy Birthday Cookie!!!
I am so sorry that happened to you. I do understand the feeling. I’m also sorry that Mr. Brown doesn’t understand that phobias can’t just be shaken off when convenient.
I hope you don’t see too many ravens, weren’t they the stars of the show?
Traffic signs are a good visual clue as to which side of the road you should be occupying. I’ve had to use them more than once, LOL!
Just leave a little bit of fud out while you are gone. When you get home, take a bowl of gooshy fud out with you and sit you your porch and talk to kitty while it is eating. You’ll be able to figure out pretty quickly where you stand with kitty.
Wiser words were never spoken.
Good for her, she’s trying to explore her world under cover of darkness. I hope it continues.
So it dawned drizzly and foggy. Everything is dew covered and fresh smelling, it is just beautiful when it’s like that.
The fog has mostly lifted and we are going to be heading to Charleston in half an hour or so. Hubs has a list of the stops I want to make which helps him plan for the day.
We have a rose bush in the far corner of the yard and I want to start cutting flowers to bring inside to enjoy, but my clippers didn’t make the move so we will be buying a new set if I can find one. (One bin, all of my hobbit sized garden tools would have fit in one bin. Probably the bin he used to pack up the open bottles of vinegars and sauces. Grumbles)
I need to take the vacuum to the kitty trees in my room and every time I touch the vacuum, GG runs into my room and into his Cavern of Solitude. I like him hiding there instead of under the sink, he’s much more accessible there, so I can’t ruin it by chasing him out with the noisy thing. Damnit. Tomorrow I’ll drag the trees into the hall and vacuum them there. No worries about kitty trauma then.
Rain continues with an occasional breeze. I’m showered and dressed. I loaded last night’s dishes into the dishwasher. And my car is ready - all it needed was an oil change. Huzzah!
FCD had a good sized breakfast instead of a banana and one piece of toast. Here’s hoping he’s going to listen to my nutritional guidance. I’m not an expert but I know more than he does. We shall see.
Severe lack of motivation today…
Thanks for the b-day wishes, folks. I’ve now lived longer than my father, stepfather, sister and brother. Next year I’ll tie my mother in years. I’m hoping I take after my maternal grandmother and her father, who both lived to 93.
Birthday dinner: I think I’ll make a pasta sauce for tonight with the hot Italian sausages I found in the freezer.
Temps are still cranking into the 80s around here, but we get some relief in a few days. At least the AC is keeping up with the demand, probably because humidity is low. We’re under smoke advisory from a fire to the west of us, and there are other fires up north. And it’s only May!
The 300 Table was non-FUBAr. The rest of the building was not so lucky. I ended up being pulled to load the Middle white set. Clean up wasn’t so bad, apart from the late start. I stopped for a lemon and some cat food, and petted the grey tux kitten at in the adoption cage at the pet store.
Also, Spot is apparently nuts for fried chicken.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY COOKIE!!!
< something goes bump in the night >
Non cat owners: “It’s an axe murderer!”
Cat owners: “DAMMIT MUFFIN, KNOCK IT OFF!”
Sorry for no morning report, got distracted (Squirrel!!!) and just now got around to the dope. Another cloudy day with a 40% chance of rain (and I just looked and it’s up to 80% chance now, so another soccer practice rain-out is likely). Nothing much on the agenda so will spend a little time at the gym and catch up some of my reading. It’s 68F heading to 73F, which is nice if it would only stay dry for a few days…
Now to play catch-up…
Been there and let others do the driving…that is crazy (but Cairo is noisier and almost as crazy).
lucky, enjoy the vacation. And hope the phobia doesn’t detract from the pretty countryside you’ll be seeing.
Hippo Birdies Cookie!!
FCM, kids these days seem to have more activities than I can remember having; it’s hard to schedule soccer practice on a day they all can be there with everything going on. And hope the car bill is heart-stopping.
Taters, happy planting time.
And time to get a bit to eat around noontime and then pack the old gym bag and go forth to sweat some more. Take care all.
Truth. Plus people with yappy dogs - if they’re quiet, there are no strangers in the house. Probably…
Got my car back - just an oil change. I attribute that to having it serviced there every 5K miles Paul said making 250K should be no biggie - assuming no one crashes into me. Our truck was there a year ago for oil change and transmission flush. It’s got less than 1000 miles since then, but I’ll still take it in for an oil change. It needs new wiper blades, too, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out how to change them.
I went to the Food Lion in Charlotte Hall since it was closer than Leonardtown after I picked up the car. It gave me a chance to check out all the construction going on up that way. A Sheetz is going in less than 2 miles from Wawa and Royal Farms - that’s 3 major convenience/gas establishments virtually clumped together. The Aldi is progressing nicely - the shape of the store is recognizable. Across the street from it, the strip anchored by Weis slowly comes along. And there’s a new traffic light. Progress, I guess.
Home now, having fed my face. I don’t know if I’ll get productive or not. I’m not feeling it. Must be the rain.
I binged all six episodes of Ludwig, followed by some episodes of “Would I Lie to You” and the Geometry episode of QI, which happened to have David Mitchell. It was a bit of a disconnect to see what the intervening 15 years did to David Mitchell’s appearance.
Next time I’m at the home improvement shop, I’ll see if I can find the local equivalent. Long hair seems to be a problem and I would prefer not having to budget so much money for a plumber. 
My parents got the Tuscon Hybrid about 18 months ago and they are fairly pleased with it. Somebody parked too close so my mom wasn’t able to get in the car. She used the Remote Smart Park Assist to back the car out, which she thought was pretty cool. Both of my parents are thrilled to have a car with so many bells and whistles, as they never had a car with a camera, etc. And they are glad they bought it when they expect to be using it for some more years. I presume other brands have something similar, as far as parking assistance. As our car is 10 years old, it’s also lacking in some of the newer features. But we don’t put so many miles on our car, so there’s no need to replace it at this time.
Interesting term. I especially like when the outline of a staircase is visible on the outside wall. There was one in town, where a newer building had been built against an existing building, and the builder had joined the two buildings via a few doorways. The newer building was removed (the older building is protected, so it can’t be) and another building was built, taking advantage of the existing doorways.
Happy Birthday Cookie! 
Feeling better than yesterday. Thanks to MS Office fun, I could work from home, even though my laptop’s in the office. Did about ¾ of a day’s work, but as I’m not hourly, no one’s going to worry about the “missing” time.
Made myself cooked Cream of Wheat (except it’s the local equivalent), which I haven’t had in decades. We always had the instant packets. I knew what I needed to buy here, but I hadn’t noticed it on the shelf before. So when I saw a box in Aldi, I bought it, and it’s been waiting for its moment to shine. 25 g sugar, 25 g Hartweizengriess (Semolina) and 250 ml milk, cook on the stove and eat. Supposedly semolina and cream of wheat are not quite the same. Close enough. Next time I’ll skip the sugar and add maple syrup at the table, which is how I usually eat it.
Still tired, and I plan to go to the office tomorrow, so I should make sure to settle down and get to sleep early.
When I was at TJ’s yesterday, I remembered that we only had one slice of sharp cheddar left, so I bought more. I got home to discover we only had one slice of provolone left. Now having a surplus of sharp cheddar, I made a couple of Vegemite toasties for breakfast.
Now it’s getting close to lunchtime. I’m only going to take half an hour, starting at noon, because I have a dentist’s appointment tomorrow. So 8½ hours yesterday and today means that I can take a two-hour lunch tomorrow (guessing an hour in the dentist’s office, and a half-hour drive each way). So I’ve got some chicken beast in the toaster oven. I’ll have another romain/chicken/fresh mozzarella salad for lunch.
FCMom, an IgNobel Prize was awarded to some Kansans who wanted to know if Kansas really was “flat as a pancake.” They cooked up, and laser-mapped a few batches of pancakes. Then they compared that to a topographic map of their home state. Kansas is much flatter than a pancake.
lucky I can understand that feeling of terror of possibly driving off the edge of the road into oblivion. I don’t know if there is any solution to overcoming this fear. I would hope that your husband would think about it and come to an understanding. I’m sorry you felt you had to apologize for your reaction to this situation. I hope that he will apologize for being pissed off and not being understanding.
Cookie wishing you a very Happy Birthday!!! 
A huge THANK YOU to FCM for this week’s topic! It prompted me to get off the you know what and do some research on potential cottage to rent. I went on vrbo and the first property that came up seemed to fit the bill. I texted daughter with the url and she checked it out and she said “looks very nice”. I confirmed that the dates I selected were ones that she could take vacation during and then I booked it. If it wasn’t for this topic, I’d still be wondering if we would be going anywhere this summer. It’s about an hour from Hubs’ buddy so they can go fishing together and we can host them to hang out and have dinner one day. I’m excited.
Well, Hubs went to to the movies to see something called Sinners. Didn’t sound at all like something I would enjoy. So, I’m going to take a break from the mmp and go clean the bathroom the shower walls particularly need it. (he’s not supposed to be around chemicals at all). Back later.
We are home and it was a beautiful drive. The trees are all fully leafed out and the forest is lush and overflowing with different greens and bushes with little white flowers (not dogwood) and the air smells amazing.
All of the Home Dept sand was manufactured for garden pavers, they didn’t have any regular sand so we got a bag of peat moss. Mostly I just want to do something to add aeration and drainage to the soil, so peat moss should work just as well.
Nothing will happen tonight though. The sky opened up just as we pulled into our driveway and I’m not in the mood to play in the mud tonight. I might go out and cut some roses to put in a vase, it’s almost stopped raining now.
We arrived with a trunk full of stuff that needed to be unloaded. Time was we could just back into the carport and use the door into the laundry nook. The door is still usable, but there is now a smoker and a motorcycle (plus side table for his grillin’ stuff and a chair to sit in while waiting for the meat to cook and another little table to hold his beer) so there really isn’t any room for a car anymore.
It’s all good, parking here is better than our last place and he’s happy. I can see him futzing around in the carport from the living room window and that makes me happy.
Yeah…I also felt like he deserved a smack upside the head. Phobias are defined as an inexplicable and unreasoning fear. You cannot reason someone out of that sort of thing.
I am afraid of suspension bridges. To the point of demanding Hubs drive half way across Kentucky to avoid crossing a really scary one. This was not a reasonable or logical thing to do, that bridge has held for decades and thousands of vehicles cross it daily. If I could have logiced or shamed myself into letting him drive across it, I certainly would have.
Good on you! Don’t you feel all organized and accomplished? I just love that feeling I hope everyone has a great time!
SNERT!!!
OK, I am going to have to cross Kansas on my way to Idaho just because. It sounds like I won’t have to worry about any scary double-decker suspension bridges which is a plus.
David Attenborough. It’s always a shock to be watching one of his old documentaries and then remember what he looks like now. (He was a real hottie when he was young and has aged very well in my old fart opinion.)
My last couple of cars lived longer than 250K and like you, I credit the regular oil changes and servicing.
Do they turn the AC on in the weight room? I haven’t been through the doors but I don’t see sweaty faces through the glass. I do see sweaty clothes and red faces so I’ve been kinda wondering. Not enough to actually go through the doors and make all of those well-toned, hard-working folks cringe at the idea of seeing me in spandex, but I do think about it once in a while.
It’s kinda sad when something is described as non-FUBAR. Makes one think the normal state is FUBAR.