A Doggy Day

I was trying to show one of my work colleagues a picture of my darling Margaret, and I realized (with embarrassment) that I had many pictures of Tobias, and few of Margaret.  This is not because I love Margaret less, but rather, because she doesn’t actually do much.  She is sixteen after all, and is slowing down.  Her favorite activity is napping, followed by following me around wherever I go.  She sobs at the foot or head of the stairs if I forget to carry her up or down respectively, she being too old to navigate the steps.   This, of course, is not a favorite activity, and not even a frequent activity, as I am pretty vigilant about not leaving her behind.  She naps in the bed if that’s where I am, under my desk chair when I am busy playing Bridge with my computer, in my reading chair when I am there reading – and that’s where we both are now - I typing, she snoozing.  When I am cooking, she stands by, giving sage advice, and keeps a sharp lookout for any crumbs or scraps that may drop her way. She is a real little Hausfrau, helping not onlywith the cooking, but with the ironing as well.  Whenever I get the iron out, she is there – with her little bottom pointed towards the heater in my sewing room and the rest of her keeping watch over …. I don’t know what.  But she always helps in exactly the same way, standing at my feet and giving moral support as I press those pillowcases.  In fact, she gives me moral support all the time, with her beautiful doggy soul and loving heart. 

Margaret helping with the ironing

Tobias, on the other hand, is a little short on the moral support, but he is always doing clever and amusing things – like sitting on the book I am trying to read, getting in the washing machine as I try to load in the laundry, lounging in the bathroom sink, stalking across the stove, walking up and down my back in the morning when he thinks I should be waking up to fix his breakfast, putting his hand on my nose when that doesn’t work, dipping his tail in my salad and getting dressing all over it, as he did this evening.  (Of course, I don’t allow him on the table to keep me company at dinner and to have the occasional bite of whatever I am eating!  This was just an isolated aberration.  Cats on the dining table! The very idea!  Disgusting!) 

They both help me with my knitting and reading, each in his or her own special way.  They are indeed my two little darlings.

An Important Birthday

Dickens is 200 years old!  And what a marvelous gift he was to the world and to us!  Truly a day to celebrate this amazing man!  And to commemorate the important event, The Twins had a Dickens High Tea Party.  

We each had a place card with a character most representative our inner natures, or perhaps what we would like our inner natures to be.

Corinna was Little Dorrit.  

This is very apt, as Little Dorrit was unassuming, but strong and saintly, carrying her family through every crisis, and nonetheless always underappreciated.  

Maria was Tattycoram.  

I’m not quite sure how apt this one is, as Maria is saintly too, and Tattycoram was definitely not saintly.  If you look closely, you may note the cross look on her face.  She was a self-willed, dissatisfied trouble maker, although she eventually recognized the error of her ways.  She was also one of the more interesting Dickens female characters, of which there is a sad dearth. 

My favorite, and the one whom I would most like to see myself as, is Aunt Betsy Trotwood, the true heroine of David Copperfield.  Fie on saintly, silly Dora and saintly, sensible Agnes!  Betsy Trotwood is where it’s at!  Kind, intelligent, far-seeing, loving, generous, but still a little quirky!  Does that sound like me? I guess not.  But I can strive.

A Beautitian's Day

Tobias in the salon chair

I had a big agenda for myself today, and I actually managed to do most of my planned tasks. One of the most onerous was the opening of a little beauty shop in my kitchen. The shop provided hair care, manicures, and pedicures.  I had two clients, one concerned about personal grooming – at least the hair portion of it, although not so much the manicure.  The other was enthusiastic about none of it.  One client was well behaved, and the other quite naughty.  I’ll bet you have ideas about which was which, and chances are that you are mistaken.  Tobias, although a cat, loved the initial part of his beauty treatment.  He purred and rolled around on the salon chair, made his nether parts available to me so I could brush and furminate them, and was, all in all, a good shop patron.  He even behaved reasonably well when I gave him a manicure.  He made clear that he did not think he needed a manicure, but even then, was slightly cooperative.

Margaret looking resentful after her ordeal

Margaret, on the other hand, was resistant to the whole procedure.  She needed to be plied with treats if she was to be even the tiniest bit obliging.  She particularly did not like her manicure.  It took a treat per fingernail.  Fortunately, unlike Tobias, she is quite motivated by the prospect of a morsel of something tasty.

They both looked good, he handsome and she very pretty, after their ordeal.  Margaret is vain, and does like to look attractive, but she is not willing to sacrifice much for beauty.  Tobias is a GQ cat, and will put up with much to look his best.

Here are the tools of the trade, displayed along with the fruits of my labor – if you can call fluffs of hair a fruit.  I guess you really can’t.

A kittenish day

No intriguing story today, as today hasn’t really happened yet, and yesterday was very humdrum.  But I was sure you would like to see this picture of my darling kitty with his new toy, a gift from his friend Peggy.  He loves it.  He grabs it by its tail and tosses it in the air, chases it, catches it, slobbers on it a bit, and then caresses it.  A few months ago, he had another one which he promptly lost.  I am awaiting the day when I move some item of furniture and find a little cat toy cemetery, as his favorites always disappear.  The time this takes is inversely proportional to his love for them.  Or perhaps the Borrowers get them?  I actually do clean behind most of my furniture at least occasionally, and I feel that I should have found this depository by now. 

By the way, when admiring the picture of Geoffrey Tobias, take special note of his exquisite grey lips.  And his cunning little chin!  Such an adorable fellow!

A Slightly Bizarre Day

Yesterday was a fun day, but it had elements of weirdness about it.  For starters, it was Tuesday, and, while on some level, I actually knew that it was Tuesday, I was convinced that it was really Wednesday.  (And consequently that today is Thursday.)  My work schedule has nothing definite about it, the only constants being that I work every other weekend, and never on Thursday. Other than that, it changes every week. This can lead to confusion, as there are some almost–but-not-always “not quite constants” about it.  One of those is that I usually, but not always, work on Tuesday.

I was having that delightful pair, The Twins, for dinner, and I must have checked the calendar at least three times to reassure myself that I was on track.  I kept telling myself, “Although you seem determined to have it be Wednesday, it really is Tuesday.”  At one point, I called Rebecca to confirm our movie plans for the next day (Thursday,) and then told her – “Oh, I forgot that it’s Wednesday and you’re working.”  Then this morning I waited and waited for her to call to tell me what time we were leaving, and finally called her. She said that she was at work, and had gotten the message about the Wednesdayness of that Tuesday, but figured that I had by this time figured out that it really was Tuesday. And that I was going to work, and not the movies.  Well, I hadn’t.  What a good thing it was that I called up a well informed person. I might have gone to the Family Kitchen and choir practice instead of work. Actually, at three ten, I would have gotten an outraged phone call from my job asking where I was.  I have gotten this phone call several times in the past, and I hate it. Once I had copied the schedule wrong and the other time, they had changed my schedule without mentioning it to me!!!!

On the evening previous, my kitchen light had been flickering, so in the morning I ventured out to Home Depot so as to be prepared when it actually did go out.  Not unexpectedly, I got lost – but only a little lost. Home Depot is near the Starbucks main office, and the mermaid can be seen for miles around.  This was a good landmark.  When I got home with my groceries and light bulbs, I was overcome with a nap attack.  I carefully calculated how long it would take to cook my dinner, decided I had time for a nap, set the timer for an hour, and then Margaret, Tobias and I settled down for a snooze.  I awoke an hour later, refreshed, and assembled my ingredients for the meal.  I was making Chickenless Pot Pie, and a jar of pimento is a sine qua non of this dish.  I knew that I had a jar in my pantry, but when I got it out, it looked strange.  When I opened it, the jar lid didn’t pop, and the pimento was a vermillion slime. Aaaak!  What to do.  I considered, and decided that there was time to walk to the store.  I didn’t think the closest stores would have pimento, so I had to go further afield.  The day was fine, and it was a pleasant walk.  I arrived home with my pimento and barely enough time to be ready when The Twins were due to arrive. I set to work chopping and stirring when, as I had feared might happen, the light went out.  Bummer!  Fixing it was a two person job and  I was only one person.  Also, it required a ladder and I was not sure where mine was.  This light event was sort of mystic because the very same thing had happened a few days ago when The Twins were preparing dinner.  Same sort of light bulb even.  We calculated that this bulb had lasted seven years.  So the odds were against both of our bulbs going at the same time.  I probably will be eating by candlelight for the next few days until I find my ladder and an assistant to change the bulb.  How many Joannas does it take to change an overhead kitchen light bulb? More than one!

Update:  Yay!  It's fixed.  A tall friend stopped by and did it.  

Another Conservative Day

Life has been fairly bereft of blogworthy events lately.  Humdrum has been the word.  But yesterday, Samos and I went to lunch and then to the Volunteer Park Conservatory, a favorite place, and one which I have mentioned before.  We enjoy going again and again just to say hello to our favorite plants.  When we got there, we headed straight for the warm, warm, dry cactus room, as it was a very cold day outside, and Samos loves the desert.  We basked a bit in the heat with the cacti, and then headed for the tropical room.  

A hungry carnivore!

This is my favorite, but not because I love the tropics. Au contraire! It was very hot and very steamy, (my most unfavorite weather) and is definitely not my chosen milieu.  But I do love the luxurious greenness and, like all ghoulish children, I always need to stop by the carnivorous plants.  Little Shop of Horrors is a movie that I always find terrifying, and always enjoy!

A television crew was making a news spot about the conservatory, and we got to be sample visitors – on television.  You can see us here.  Well, I guess you can't!  I can't find the link again.  But the above picture was from the King 5 news site.     

Me pretending there is not that big thing behind me.

 

A Post-Snow Day

Leaves in the melting snow

Some people are never satisfied!  My family well knows that I am always complaining that I never have a day to do nothing at all but read, knit, and sip tea, and then I had four such days, one after another!   Snowed in and no going anywhere, unable to do much besides read, knit, and sip tea. Wow!  I was really beginning to seriously whine about  having too many perfect days in a row.  Each  morning, I got up and told myself that today I would make my way through wind and weather to the store for provisions, and each day I would decide that tomorrow might be a better choice for the trek. (I did have to compel myself to stagger off to work one evening, and was quite happy about being forced out of the house!!)  Finally, the snow began to thaw, and I did voluntarily make the expedition to the store.  By this time, it was not such an adventure, but just a pleasant walk. 

Now that life is back in full swing, I am already pining for a day with just books, yarn, and tea.