Sending purrs today for a successful outcome to Auntie Deb's back surgery
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Menu Monday
Mom cooked dinner for Mr Karate and his friends Rhette and Sharon last night, and the meal was a big hit.Everybody ooh'ed and aah'ed and stuffed themselves silly. Did Mom spend all day cooking? Nope.
Did Mom make anything fancy? Nope.
Did Mom spend hours searching for the perfect menu, and then the perfect recipes? Nope.
Mom made:
- Chili, (Diva Kitty's recipe, to which Mom added beef, Bush's Chili Beans, and sweet potatoes)
- Cornbread, (Mom made it with buttermilk instead of regular milk, added 1 cup thawed frozen corn kernels, and 1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese)
- Broccoli and Celery Slaw. (I bet Roxy would have loved this.)
For dessert she made her special Mocha Chocolate Chip cookies.
Did she take pictures? Nope.
Did I get any?
Nope.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Easy Like Sunday
I think she did it. I think Mom actually did only the stuff she wanted to yesterday. She made this nifty little Hope Quilt. It's about 8-1/2" by 11-1/2".
She gave me lots of scritches.
She did all the dishes, most of the laundry and dragged the rug sucking monster all over the house. She went food hunting and brought back all kinds of stuff.
Just before she went to bed, she made these:
They don't do much for me, but she says Mr Karate is going to squee big time when he realizes what is in them. It is cookie dough. From the top these are dough for her Mocha Chip Cookies with Almonds, White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Peanuts and Dried Cranberries (Mr Karate's favorite), and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies with Apricots and Walnuts.
She'll bake them later today so they will be fresh and the house will smell good when Mr Karate and his friends visit.
Mom says that now that the house looks pretty good, she can do what she really likes to do today.
Fortunately, my life is far less complicated.
OH! Check this out:
My sweetie, Monty Q is an Honorary Hottie!
Is it getting hot in here? Mom... can you open a window...
She gave me lots of scritches.
She did all the dishes, most of the laundry and dragged the rug sucking monster all over the house. She went food hunting and brought back all kinds of stuff.Just before she went to bed, she made these:
They don't do much for me, but she says Mr Karate is going to squee big time when he realizes what is in them. It is cookie dough. From the top these are dough for her Mocha Chip Cookies with Almonds, White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Peanuts and Dried Cranberries (Mr Karate's favorite), and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies with Apricots and Walnuts.She'll bake them later today so they will be fresh and the house will smell good when Mr Karate and his friends visit.
Mom says that now that the house looks pretty good, she can do what she really likes to do today.
Fortunately, my life is far less complicated.
OH! Check this out:
My sweetie, Monty Q is an Honorary Hottie!
Is it getting hot in here? Mom... can you open a window...
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Whatever She Wants
Thanks so much for your kind words after yesterday's post. Last night Mom called Mombean and they had a nice long talk. I think they both felt better afterwards.
So today, Mom is going to do whatever she wants. Naturally I will make sure to get my pets and scritches, because I know she needs those, but otherwise, she's just going to sew, bake and generally enjoy the weekend. It is rainy out, so it will be good day to do something inside that makes her feel good.
Oh, she says she is going to wash the dishes and drag the rug sucking monster around. I tried to explain the "whatever-you-want" idea does not include housework, but she says she WANTS to drag the rug sucker around. Go figure.
So anyway. What does Mom WANT to do? She is going to work on a couple of small quilts for Tonya's Priority Hope Challenge to benefit The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Here's one of the ones Mom is working on. She's going to add a butterfly or flower in that big empty space under the letter "H".
Google is celebrating its 1oth birthday today. Mom uses Google as her home page because she likes to see the Google Doodles that happen every now and again. They are doing one today,
and you can look at the special Google Doodles designed over the years. So Mom will be checking that out later. She'll also be reading Google's own blog about it.
And tomorrow Mr Karate and his friends Rhette and Sharon will be visiting, so that will be nice.
So today, Mom is going to do whatever she wants. Naturally I will make sure to get my pets and scritches, because I know she needs those, but otherwise, she's just going to sew, bake and generally enjoy the weekend. It is rainy out, so it will be good day to do something inside that makes her feel good.Oh, she says she is going to wash the dishes and drag the rug sucking monster around. I tried to explain the "whatever-you-want" idea does not include housework, but she says she WANTS to drag the rug sucker around. Go figure.
So anyway. What does Mom WANT to do? She is going to work on a couple of small quilts for Tonya's Priority Hope Challenge to benefit The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Here's one of the ones Mom is working on. She's going to add a butterfly or flower in that big empty space under the letter "H".
Google is celebrating its 1oth birthday today. Mom uses Google as her home page because she likes to see the Google Doodles that happen every now and again. They are doing one today,
and you can look at the special Google Doodles designed over the years. So Mom will be checking that out later. She'll also be reading Google's own blog about it.And tomorrow Mr Karate and his friends Rhette and Sharon will be visiting, so that will be nice.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Fumbling Friday and Family
No picture of me today! I haven't been posing so much, and Mom's been, well, Mom hasn't been herself lately.
I am sure you have all noticed that I haven't been visiting as many blogs as I used to, and that Mom and I haven't been commenting much. We try to visit all our wonderful friends' blogs, but Mom just... well, I dunno. She isn't exactly blue, or grey. She isn't really sad... (except when she hears that Mombean is having a hard day). She just doesn't seem to have the extra energy she had before.
Of course -everybody- is worried about how hard it is going to be to feed the heating monsters this winter, and the e-conomy, the price of gas, global warming, the general state of the world, and the upcoming election (we won't tire you with political tirades, but please VOTE), and you know, all that big stuff.
Mom has had a hard time keeping up with the housework, and she tries to keep busy in the sewing room, and she works hard day hunting, keeping the bits and bytes flying around the net at her day hunting gig (don't ask, I don't get it either). She runs around as usual, doing the same stuff she did before, but it's not quite the same.
I think I know what it is. I think Mom has a tiny Sprout-shaped hole in her heart too. I know there isn't a day that goes by that she doesn't think of Sprout and her family. Our family. Sprout's family is my family.
So please forgive us for not visiting all of you and leaving witty funny comments. Please excuse my boring blog posts, or Mom's lame excuses for not posting an interesting Thursday Thirteen, or for posting a dull one. Mom's just not back to "normal" yet. Frankly, that old normal isn't going to come back. Mom needs to build a new "normal" and it's gonna take some time.
So if you'll excuse me, I have to go over and get her to give me some attention. I think she needs some purrs.
I am sure you have all noticed that I haven't been visiting as many blogs as I used to, and that Mom and I haven't been commenting much. We try to visit all our wonderful friends' blogs, but Mom just... well, I dunno. She isn't exactly blue, or grey. She isn't really sad... (except when she hears that Mombean is having a hard day). She just doesn't seem to have the extra energy she had before.
Of course -everybody- is worried about how hard it is going to be to feed the heating monsters this winter, and the e-conomy, the price of gas, global warming, the general state of the world, and the upcoming election (we won't tire you with political tirades, but please VOTE), and you know, all that big stuff.
Mom has had a hard time keeping up with the housework, and she tries to keep busy in the sewing room, and she works hard day hunting, keeping the bits and bytes flying around the net at her day hunting gig (don't ask, I don't get it either). She runs around as usual, doing the same stuff she did before, but it's not quite the same.
I think I know what it is. I think Mom has a tiny Sprout-shaped hole in her heart too. I know there isn't a day that goes by that she doesn't think of Sprout and her family. Our family. Sprout's family is my family.
So please forgive us for not visiting all of you and leaving witty funny comments. Please excuse my boring blog posts, or Mom's lame excuses for not posting an interesting Thursday Thirteen, or for posting a dull one. Mom's just not back to "normal" yet. Frankly, that old normal isn't going to come back. Mom needs to build a new "normal" and it's gonna take some time.
So if you'll excuse me, I have to go over and get her to give me some attention. I think she needs some purrs.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thursday Thirteen
One of the first things you notice if you were to come visit is that Mom has a lot of books.
A LOT of books. This bookcase in the dining room is filled with cookbooks. Only cookbooks.
Mom has big bookcases filled with books in every room in the house. There are Art Books, Quilting Books, Sewing Books, How-to Books, Reference Books, Travel Books, and of course, Novels.
Mom says she will read virtually anything that is well written. She isn't a big fan of a lot of "popular" writers, and she reads a lot of different stuff, including writers from Mexico, Latin America, Australia, China and India. There are some writers she likes so much she will buy and read anything they write. So Mom has several books by each of the following authors.
13 of Mom's favorite writers (in no particular order).
1. Jane Austen (well, Okay. Mom says she deserves to be at #1.)
2. Dorothy L. Sayers
3. Barbara Pym
4. Laura Lippman
5. Alice Hoffman
6. Arthur Upfield
7. Alexander McCall Smith
8. Tony Hillerman
9. Clyde Edgerton
10. Dick Francis
11. Anthony Bourdain (yes, him! He's a fabulous writer)
12. Jeanne Ray
13. J.K. Rowling (duh)
You should check out the new pictures of cats and their Gizzy Quilts over at the Bizzy for Gizzy blog. There are four new quilts.
A LOT of books. This bookcase in the dining room is filled with cookbooks. Only cookbooks.
Mom has big bookcases filled with books in every room in the house. There are Art Books, Quilting Books, Sewing Books, How-to Books, Reference Books, Travel Books, and of course, Novels.
Mom says she will read virtually anything that is well written. She isn't a big fan of a lot of "popular" writers, and she reads a lot of different stuff, including writers from Mexico, Latin America, Australia, China and India. There are some writers she likes so much she will buy and read anything they write. So Mom has several books by each of the following authors.
13 of Mom's favorite writers (in no particular order).
1. Jane Austen (well, Okay. Mom says she deserves to be at #1.)
2. Dorothy L. Sayers
3. Barbara Pym
4. Laura Lippman
5. Alice Hoffman
6. Arthur Upfield
7. Alexander McCall Smith
8. Tony Hillerman
9. Clyde Edgerton
10. Dick Francis
11. Anthony Bourdain (yes, him! He's a fabulous writer)
12. Jeanne Ray
13. J.K. Rowling (duh)
You should check out the new pictures of cats and their Gizzy Quilts over at the Bizzy for Gizzy blog. There are four new quilts.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sorta Wordy Wednesday
OH! My very own 'Nip plant... in the house, even...
Hmm.... what's this all about... Mom, why are you giving it a haircut?
That just doesn't look right.
Hmm.... what's this all about... Mom, why are you giving it a haircut?
That just doesn't look right.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuxie Tuesday
I didn't like being left alone when Mom went to Mary-land this summer. Since she's been back I have let her know that I want attention.
So when she sits in her recliner, I run over and get next to her so she can give me some pets and scritches. I don't always stay long. Maybe half an hour. But it's enough.
Frankly, I do it for her, because she gets lonesome sometimes. It's the least I can do.
And here is a little bit of what she was doing last night. I know these aren't on The List.
You know, they remind me of that song... "It's beginning to look a lot like....."
So when she sits in her recliner, I run over and get next to her so she can give me some pets and scritches. I don't always stay long. Maybe half an hour. But it's enough.Frankly, I do it for her, because she gets lonesome sometimes. It's the least I can do.
And here is a little bit of what she was doing last night. I know these aren't on The List.
You know, they remind me of that song... "It's beginning to look a lot like....."
Monday, September 22, 2008
Monday Quilts
Mom and Auntie went to a big quilt show yesterday. This was Mom's favorite quilt.
It is by Mary Transom, from New Zealand, and is called "Memories of Roses." It is machine pieced, machine appliqued and machine quilted. Mom said it was magnificent.
Mom liked this black and white one second best. It is by Ana Buzzalino from Canada and is called "On the Wings of a Dream."
But she still loves me best.
It is by Mary Transom, from New Zealand, and is called "Memories of Roses." It is machine pieced, machine appliqued and machine quilted. Mom said it was magnificent.Mom liked this black and white one second best. It is by Ana Buzzalino from Canada and is called "On the Wings of a Dream."
But she still loves me best.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Shattering Saturday
There is no picture of the event I am about to describe, so you are going to have to use your imaginations. But first, a little story.
These are the glasses Mom uses when she drinks. Mom says everybody has glasses. Our glasses look ordinary, but Mom says they are special. How special?
Mom says they are "Picardie" glasses, made in France and made by Duralex. Mom has had some for 30 years. Yes, that's right. Some of these glasses are 30 years old. Back when Mr Karate was in college and got an apartment with 3 other guys, Mom bought him a dozen and another dozen for herself.
How, you are wondering, does a glass last 30 years? Each of Mr Karate's roommates brought glasses when they moved into the apartment, but only Mr Karate packed his glasses when they moved out.
These Duralex glasses are tempered, that's why. Mom says they are made of the same stuff that windshields on metal machines are made from. This means the glasses are very tough and practically indestructible. They can get banged around, even dropped on the floor, and they won't break.
Unless.
Over time, if a glass gets bumped and dropped enough, the molecules inside rearrange themselves. And then one time, the merest little tap will cause one of these glasses to explode into a veritable army of squarish pieces that will fly everywhere.
Mom was emptying the dishwasher the other night, while she was making her dinner. She lifted one of these glasses out of the top rack, and bumped it gently against something. The glass shattered, sending little fragments in the dishwasher, on the counter, on the floor.... all over the place. Now these little pieces are not sharp like ordinary glass, and that's a good thing, but they are still glass and Mom had to stop what she was doing and clean it all up right away.
I, of course, ran like hell when I heard the sound.
Which is why you have to use your imaginations.
These are the glasses Mom uses when she drinks. Mom says everybody has glasses. Our glasses look ordinary, but Mom says they are special. How special?
Mom says they are "Picardie" glasses, made in France and made by Duralex. Mom has had some for 30 years. Yes, that's right. Some of these glasses are 30 years old. Back when Mr Karate was in college and got an apartment with 3 other guys, Mom bought him a dozen and another dozen for herself.How, you are wondering, does a glass last 30 years? Each of Mr Karate's roommates brought glasses when they moved into the apartment, but only Mr Karate packed his glasses when they moved out.
These Duralex glasses are tempered, that's why. Mom says they are made of the same stuff that windshields on metal machines are made from. This means the glasses are very tough and practically indestructible. They can get banged around, even dropped on the floor, and they won't break.
Unless.
Over time, if a glass gets bumped and dropped enough, the molecules inside rearrange themselves. And then one time, the merest little tap will cause one of these glasses to explode into a veritable army of squarish pieces that will fly everywhere.
Mom was emptying the dishwasher the other night, while she was making her dinner. She lifted one of these glasses out of the top rack, and bumped it gently against something. The glass shattered, sending little fragments in the dishwasher, on the counter, on the floor.... all over the place. Now these little pieces are not sharp like ordinary glass, and that's a good thing, but they are still glass and Mom had to stop what she was doing and clean it all up right away.
I, of course, ran like hell when I heard the sound.
Which is why you have to use your imaginations.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Meow Like a Pirate Day
Arrr.... Ahoy mateys! Let's aboard the Black Furball and sail th' ocean blue, looking fer Nip Treasure and Casks o' Temptations. We'll scratch and claw anybody that gets in our way.. Arrr!
My pirate name is:
Dread Pirate Flint
Like the famous Dread Pirate Roberts, you have a keen head for how to make a profit. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!
Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Thursday Thirteen
Here are 13 ways I get Mom's attention.
1. Lie on stuff when she's trying to pack a suitcase.
2. Lie on a quilt she is trying to finish.
3. Lie on a towel she left on the bed.
4. Lie on the ironing board when she's trying to iron.
5. Dig in her drawers.
6. Drink the water for the iron.
7. Help with a quilt design on the floor.
8. Mess with her stuff, push it around. Whap it on the floor.
9. Get comfortable on a quilt she wants to finish.
10. Lie on fabrics she is trying to sort.
11. Lie on fabrics she is trying to keep flat.
12. Lie on a quilt she is trying to work on.
13. Ignore her when she wants you to move.
Heh.
1. Lie on stuff when she's trying to pack a suitcase.
2. Lie on a quilt she is trying to finish.
3. Lie on a towel she left on the bed.
4. Lie on the ironing board when she's trying to iron.
5. Dig in her drawers.
6. Drink the water for the iron.
7. Help with a quilt design on the floor.
8. Mess with her stuff, push it around. Whap it on the floor.
9. Get comfortable on a quilt she wants to finish.
10. Lie on fabrics she is trying to sort.
11. Lie on fabrics she is trying to keep flat.
12. Lie on a quilt she is trying to work on.
13. Ignore her when she wants you to move.
Heh.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Easy Like Sunday
Mom took a "Me Day" and didn't work on any Gizzy Quits yesterday. She's making something secret for somebody, and all I can show you is the mess she made doing it.
Today she is gonna get back on the "straight and narrow" and work on the stuff she should be doing.
Fortunately, I am bound by no such restrictions. I will be taking it easy today.
I'm no fool.
Today she is gonna get back on the "straight and narrow" and work on the stuff she should be doing.Fortunately, I am bound by no such restrictions. I will be taking it easy today.
I'm no fool.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
What's Up?
It's supposed to be humid and rainy today. I won't be doing much, but Mom has a few Gizzy quilts she is working on, and one thing for a ladybug I cannot talk about. The Red White and Blue quilts have been delivered by Mr Brown, and the little boy quilt has been flying across an ocean and a continent and should arrive soon.
I haven't been posing for pictures a lot, lately, but I have been demanding scritches.
What's up at your place?
Friday, September 12, 2008
Fractious Friday
Do you know what this is? 
I don't either, and Mom's not telling. She says that's being "fractious."
I don't do much that's fractious.
Mostly I sit, relax, sleep, lie and wiggle around on Mom's piles of fabric.
I play slip and slide over the designs she leaves on the floor.
Heh.
I don't either, and Mom's not telling. She says that's being "fractious."I don't do much that's fractious.
Mostly I sit, relax, sleep, lie and wiggle around on Mom's piles of fabric.
I play slip and slide over the designs she leaves on the floor.
Heh.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Two
Mom is truly losing it. She made these two tiny quilts. She calls them pot holders. How these things hold pots I have no idea. Nor do I care to know.Makes me glad I am a cat.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Wayback Wednesday
For Wayback Wednesday I decided to show you this picture of Gizzy and me that was taken two years ago.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Tuxie Tuesday
Do you know this is my 900th post? Pretty amazing, huh?
Yesterday, while Mom was watching Roger, I was sitting next to her, purring, while she was petting me and giving me scritches. If she stopped, I'd meow, and get her to continue. I've been here just over two whole years, and I really think I like this petting business. I didn't used to.
It sure is a good thing I can change my mind.
I sure am gonna miss watching my pal Tom play with the guys named Pat. I am confident they will do well without him, but it won't be as much fun. I guess I have been spoiled by watching The Best (and it isn't your Steelers, Monty!).