It's begining to look atlot like Christmas...with no snow.

Yep. No snow. A bad thing for around here. Light snow years mean dry summers, which is bad for the crops and bad for the farmers and bad all around. I really hope we get hit pretty hard the rest of this winter to make up for it. I go to work this morning at 5am, work a shift, and then run a couple last minute errands. Then it's home, and outside in the warm weather to rake leaves. These are the ones I did not get to before the first snowfall of the year. Now that the show is gone I can hit a few of the thicker piles and haul them to the compost heap. It will make spring cleanup easier. Last year was a crazy amount of raking, and I really don't want to go through that again. And now, a couple of pictures before I head downstairs for breakfast.

So, to keep from tensing up to much on my drive home, I made a weather/season inspired song. I only have the first verse and chorus, but I think it will be a big hit this year! (Sung to the tune of Oh Christmas Tree) "Oh Wintertime Oh Wintertime You make Springs' mud seem so divine Oh Wintertime Oh Wintertime You make Springs' mud seem so divine You really blow-, and not just snow. My visibil- ity's zero. Oh Wintertime Oh Wintertime You make Springs' mud seem so divine" So, that's all I got, but not bad for creating between "oh shit"s and "where the hell did the road go???!!'s. This was my visibility (yeah, I drove AND took pictures in this shit. I am in New York. It's what we do) This is what I looked like after I got home. Fun times, fun times!

The Best. Song. Ever!

What more can I say?

So, this happened yesterday;

As I sit here this morning and watch the sun come up on the first snow of the year, I discover I am alright with it. I am relieved. It's been a busy year, and now Old Man Winter is stepping up behind me, laying a hand on my shoulder, and saying, "You've done well, you've done what you should, and what you can. Now come, sit with me." I am happy to spend time with my old friend and watch the this year ebb into next.

And Fall it is!

Well, Fall is here. I have been in deep denial, and the weather has helped some with that. We have had a few stretches of unseasonably warm days, but this last week has had the cold, hard bite of pre-winter. The leaves are almost all off the trees, thanks to the huffing and puffing of the wind, and the kitties are even spending shorter stretches of time outside, and longer ones inside. I walked down to the Purple Pirate (the shop in Henderson that sells my crafts) and kicked up huge sprays of gold leaves in front of me, just like a kid would. I love doing that! I have been quiet here because I have had my head down, working and crafting and sorting some issues out in my brain. I am almost done with Christmas stuff-cards and gifts, and really hope to wrap that up in the next week because I really want to relax this holiday as much as possible and only have to do things for me. Diana and I want to make ornaments for our tree this year, and I think that will be fun, but I want it to also be non-stressful. Thus, one of the reason I have really pushed to get all my Christmas stuff finished. Diana and I are planning a 2 day trip south-west of here to Eden and Laroy. There are 2 museums there I want to see, and they are open til some time in December. One is The Jello Museum, and the other is The Kazoo Museum. They are small, but unique and tiny, and bonus is we have to drive through Rochester to see them, and that means a 2 story Barnes and Knoble. w00t w00t!

This is the newest member of our family. We have been at 5 cats since we put Mama Kitty down earlier this year. This guy has been hanging around since Spring, and finally started coming close enough to get lovings. His name is Grey, and he is a sweet stray of about 8 years of age. He is loving his squishy bed on the heater in front of the window, and that he is feeling better due to a few not-so-fun trips to the vet. He will get neutered this month, and Micro chipped, and then it will be officially offical. Back up to 6 cats, and wishing we could take in the last 2 that seem homeless. Alas, all I can do is keep them feed and try to get them through the winter months ahead. As you can see, my computer Guru, Jason, fixed my 'puter up and now I can post pictures! SO, I will leave you with these. Toodles for now!

Whew!

Well, animal control came and took the Sheppard mix momma dog from down the street. I thought it had already happened, but she showed up on our doorstep Saturday morning, hoovering out the food dish. That she could even walk was amazing to me. I thought she was starved before...I called animal control and left a message, and then called them twice today to try and find out the scoop. Legally, they can't tell you anything about the case, but I told the person on the phone that all I wanted to know was if the dog was gone, or if I still needed to put food out for it. The response was that animal control had gone out and picked 'them' up. I assume from the wording that the6 puppies (who supposedly had homes and were to be gone by the end of last month) were still there and taken as well. Now, if there was only a way to keep them from ever getting animals again. Or having any more kids.

Random thoughts on Tiny Homes

I have been doing a lot of research on Tiny Homes and trailer living. I miss my small spaces, and really enjoyed living in one. I am curious as to how small I could actually go, and I really believe that nothing smaller than 200 sq ft would work for me. I have some things I am sentimentally attached to, and I do like decorating a little for the seasons, which means I would need storage. I need my books, or at least a small space for keepers and a space for rotators. And at this point, I would want a home I could travel with. However, I am not sure how travel-worthy Tiny Homes are. They are definitely not very arrow-dynamic, so hauling them down a road long distances might be worse gas mileage wise than a trailer. I don't know. Haven't looked into the details yet. I am enjoying pinning ideas and pictures on my Tiny Home board on Pintrest. Lots of great ideas even for everyday rooms. I loved the size of my 244 sq ft apartment in Snoqualmie. The thing I didn't like about it was that it had only one window, so I could not get a through breeze. I loved the high ceilings, and those allowed me to do a lot more with the space, making it very livable. My 350 sq ft apartment in Vernonia was like a mansion, and I would never need any more space than that. Especially if I designed the interior to fit my needs. That would be fabulous! Something else I have been wondering about is why trailers are so much more expensive than tiny homes, and why the people who design them have not caught onto the tiny home idea for interior design. What do I mean? Well, simply every RV and Trailer I have looked like is tacky colors and patterns. It's like something my grandma's mom would have loved, but not someone like me. Big, cheesy mauve and grey fabric with matching wall boarders and ugly draw pulls? No, thank you. Anyways, just something I have been thinking about.

When life gives you lemons...

Or children. Take them, because, hey! Free! I have to say that living with Sece is an experience, and as I have stated in Facebook, an experience that is reaffirming the correctness of my choice to never, ever, ever have one of those of my very own. Ever. Never. She is a watercolor of sound, an oil painting of emotions, a sculpture of habits (mostly annoying and bad because she's 12). She is smart and brilliant when you put a pencil and piece of paper in front of her and let her draw. She would be the first to die in even a semi-apocalyptic event. I would almost think she would walk right into the first round of horrifying death, simply because she refuses to condition and comb the mop of nappy, crazy hair out of her eyes. She is dumber than a door knob when it comes to street smarts, and is so afraid of everything- or pretending to be so afraid of everything because it is funny- that she is actually a danger to herself while standing still in a room made of pillow. So, she makes me laugh, and her Mom loves her. I had respect for parents before. I knew it was a hard, merciless, spirit-breaking job that I never wanted. I have an even more acute respect and awareness now. Lets take example A: pan burns on the counter. If you make eggs, you do not set a hot pan on the counter to load your plate. You take the plate to the pan. Unless you are Sece. Then you burn the counter 'cuz hot pans only stay hot when on the stove. They instantly get cold when you take them off the stove. *headdesk* Example B: For 3 weeks you are told multiple times a day to not kick your shoes off into the middle of the entryway when you come in. People will trip on them. People will hurt themselves. You explain this multiple times, show her 2 corners she can kick them into, and give her a shelf to put them on in the shoe rack. You start yelling when she does it. Then, one day, you simply take them. She can't find her shoes. When she figures it out, she learns she will need to earn them back(That was my brilliant idea(. What better way to get her to understand to respect her stuff and others, right? So, to earn them back she has to load up a pile of branches that had been cut a few days before, and unload them at the dump. At most, going slow, this should only have taken an hour. 2 hours later, I am helping her finish up because I have better things to do with my time, because I have been up in hot and humid conditions since 3am doing hard physical labor, and because she is the biggest whiner ever. And I mean ever. I can't help but wish it was winter, and that I had a chipper, and that I lived in Fargo. I kid you not(hahaha); 10 minutes into this she wants to know when we are breaking for lunch cuz she is hunger. She had an hour before we started to get ready. She could have eaten then. I point it out, and tell her I can cut her up some cheese and salami to tide her over. Nope. Not good enough. She wants something specific. I tell her tough shit then, let me know when you change your mind. There are many other versions of trying to get out of The Punishment during those few hours. I hold fast. I think of chippers, of hog boiling time, of bigger, prettier rosebushes. Finally we are done, and a few hours later I hear her talking to her mom about how making her do that made no sense because it had nothing to do with shoes, and she will never remember. THAT was pretty infuriating to hear, but I am willing to bet if she has to do more stuff like that to earn her shit back, she will make the association. I just don't know if I can do it. There have been many little trials and issues since she moved in. She is spoiled in the way that kids get when one parent is tired of trying to do it all themselves. Mary's husband was not a constant when it came to teaching and helping. Mary is all over it with Diana and I backing her up, though. However, there are 12 years of whining and laziness to overcome if she is going to live here with us. Fingers are crossed.

I will be heading to Boston Tuesday evening to spend a few days with the lovely Beth, dashing David, and Merry Madeline. She is attending some classes at MIT as a summer camp program, and while she is in class, the three of us are going to check out the sight. JB Monkey will be joining me, so watch for another Facebook album of his adventures!

I decided to paint the two mud colored walls in my room a nice white. Although the mud color certainly wasn't horrible, it really was not that nice, either. It will make it a little brighter in winter, and make it feel a little bigger. Of course, if I got rid of some stuff, it would feel bigger too. It SHOULD have been quick and simple, but when removing the corner shelves I put up a year ago, the dark blue peeled up. When the wall paper had been put down, the adhesive had not been primed over, so the paint came off like big blisters. Hmm... okay. I have a little of that paint left, so I will see if I can make it work without having to empty my entire room and repaint the other two walls as well. I guess this will be a good time to start another round of "Should It Stay or Should It Go". Le sigh. The yard has geared down from Spring flowers and exploded into the summer décor. The tea roses are out in full force, which means I have a small ocean of them along the front drive. The day lilies are now blooming, and the California poppies are up and waving their pretty orange selves around. My garden in in for the year. It is small, but I am watching to see how things do so I have a better idea of where to put them next year, and maybe what needs to be done to the soil. I also have mentally wandered around the outside of the house, making not of the little projects I need to finish up, and which I can do alone, and which will take a day visit from my friend Tom. Now that the garden is in, I need other things to work on so I don't get fat and lazy. Hahaha! Mom and Dad came a-visiting the last 2 weeks of May. It was wonderful fun to show them where I hang out, and explore the state with them a little. Dad and mom both helped with projects that needed doing, and it was nice to get and give hugs and kisses every morning! We are already planning next years' trip. I also figured out why I can no longer post pictures here. I would need to load another browser because Google has decided that explorer 11 will only be good for everything BUT loading pictures. So, you will be picture less here until either A. They get their act together and do an update or B. I get frustrated enough to upload Chrome. I am betting they can out wait me, but I am going to give them a run for their money. My photos are on Facebook if ya wanna see them. I have been letting Faith outside for supervised visits. She is one of our two blind cats, and it is hilarious to watch her outdoors! I am trying to establish the boundaries of her new realm in the same way I let her know her boundaries inside her old realm. She gets the loud "Nuh HUH" voice when she tries to go to close to the street, and a happy "Good Girrrl" when she immediately changes direction when hearing the Nuh huh. Lately she has been making me laugh at just how much like a child she is. She heads off and tries to cross the boundary I have set. I say 'Nuh HUH' and she either immediately lays down and whines like a 3 year old, or drops into low rider position, speeds up, starts her 3year old whining, and goes for it into Unallowed Territory. This gets her caught, scolded, and put back in the house (all the while I am laughing on the inside because it is so damn cute). Today she did great, though. A couple of Nuh HUHs made her drop to the ground and whine, and then she would flop over and 'stare' at me for a bit. Then up she would get, and start exploring in the correct direction. She even went back up to the house and in all by herself. What a wonderful, silly, funny little girl she is! Mamma Kitty was put down a week ago. She was in the last stages of kidney failure. She had been going thorough phases of eta/don't eat for a while, but the last round was turning into the whole 'I want to eat, I am hungry, but nothing you put in front of me will taste good' thing. Then she started having seizures. We made the appointment as soon as we could get one, and she is happily resting by Misty in the back of the shed, covered in Lily of the Valley. So, we are down to 5 cats again. Since 6 seems to be the magic average for this home, I am wondering what Mother god will deposit on our doorstep next. I know I already know which one I want, but hey, they are all kitties, and I want them all!

It rained yesterday. A beautiful long soak. Several, actually. We were really starting to need them, too. We had a tiny bit of lightning and thunder, too. What I like about the thunderstorms here are the long rolls. Last night, each roll of thunder was about 45 seconds to one minute long. You hear them move across the sky like a big truck. It's amazing!

I am sitting here, doing my normal morning routine. Get up, let in/out various kitties, check email and Facebook while being interrupted by various kitties for pets and loves, and then get suited up for work and head downstairs for the downstairs portion. It is time to suit up, and I don't wanna, Not because I don't wanna go to work. I am actually looking forward to that. I don't wanna because it's so freaking stuffy in the building that it is miserable. I need to read the dress code and see if I can come in with peddle pushers on that are made of jeans material. If so, I might convert a pair of pants so I can be a little cooler. Now that I am not management, I am enjoying my job again. Just wish I could get more hours every week. Le Sigh. I see the last post I made was before the parents showed up. I need to finish the photo editing portion of their visit and bore ya all with pictures!

Seven more days!!!

Yeah, I am counting. No, I don't care that I am counting. Mom and Dad arrive at The Crazy Cat Ladies House on the very late, late eve on the 18th, and I am counting. Wait a few more days, and you will probably get hours and minutes added to that. I'll spare you the seconds count, cuz I just can't type fast enough to keep that accurate.

Is that spring I see?

Spring had a hard time of it this year. Winter wanted to hog the stage as long as possible, and did. we had snow through the beginning of April. Yuck! However, it seems we are finally past that, and am I ever glad! I want to get out and do All The Things. Diana and I have made a super friend! Her name is Mary, and she has a hilarious daughter o f 12 years named Cese. They have been visiting us a few time a week, and it has been wonderful fun! It looks like I found a friend for hiking and exploring, and that makes me very happy! I just finished repainting the Dining room. It was a barn red color, and although it wasn't horrible, it wasn't what Diana and I wanted. It is now a fabulous cobalt blue, thanks to the help of Mary and Diana. There was a bit of concern that it would make the room dark, but it didn't. Next we will repaint the kitchen, but that will be a while. Mom and Dad are coming for a visit in May! I am so excited! This is the longest I have ever gone without seeing them, and even though we talk online many times a week, there is just no substitute for hugs and kisses. The are as excited as I am to come visit, and I have lots of places close by to show them and explore with them. It is going to be a wonderful 2 weeks! All the kitties are doing well. They are soooo glad to be able to go outside. Sad Faced Kitty, Smudge, and Pug head out in the morning and only come back in for a bite to eat. Then they are back out and exploring the world. I have been escorting Faith outside. Her lack of eyesight doesn't stop her from poking around, and she has grown quite fond of the outdoors. We have a kennel we bought at a garage sale last year that will get set up so we can put her and Justice outside and not have to worry about them wandering off. That should be exciting for all of us. As always, I am keeping busy. My list of 'Things to do in the yard and house' has grown from 3 things to many, many things. I am already tackling them, and hope to get most of them finished this year. We will see. Diana and I have another set of friends we spend time with and enjoy. The Horths. Jim, Kathy and Molly. We met them in the North Country Crafters Group over a year ago, and recently started spending Sunday afternoons together, crafting, eating and chatting. They are hilarious and fun, and also love exploring. So, I have another group to go play with, and plan on doing just that! I spent 3 days in New York City with a friend from High School. She goes on vacation there ever so often, and this time she spent a few days at my house, and then we took the train to Manhattan and explored. I walked my fee off, but had the best time! I would definitely go back with here, and hope I gat to next time she comes to the state for a vacation. I took JB Monkey with me, and had fun taking pictures of his silly adventures in The Big Apple. I want to add pictures, but BlogSpot is acting up, so I will try again later. Toodles!

Wow. What a winter! We have had a massive snow storm that closed the city of Watertown down for most of a day, as well as just the regular yearly snow. We have had an ice storm that knocked out power for days to thousands of people, weeks of below 0 temperature that has both delayed and closed schools because it was just to cold for people to expose any amount of skin to for any amount of time. We adopted two neighborhood cats. One had to be put down because he had feline aids and could no longer fight the own bacteria his body produced. The other had major mouth issues, but with some massive and expensive dental care (thanks to my lovely roommate), has recovered nicely, and melds in with our other fur babies quite well. Christmas was quiet and uneventful. To uneventful. Diana and I both decided that next year we need to start creating some holiday traditions, so that the passage of time can be marked a little better. Days and seasons tend to blur when you don't do anything to notice them. I finally got Diana to try Lord of the Rings Online, and now Mom, Dad, she and I play together. The cats are an endless source of hilarity and annoyance, and all of us cannot wait until it is warm enough to kick them all the hell OUTSIDE! God lord! They can drive a girl to insanity and back in about 2.3 seconds! Oh, and we had the house wired for internet. Just internet. Why is this important? I can now stream Netflix. OH. The. Bliss! I have been spending my January doing what I always spend my January doing: reflecting on the previous year and figuring out what I want to change this year. The people here in the North Country are friendly, but it's very hard to actually make friends. Sounds a bit contradictory, but it is true. I need some friends. I don't need a lot, but I need a small handful to explore this new place around me with. What works in the PNW does NOT work here. I have decided that I will combine my friend-making search with some volunteer work. If I can do things I like, I will meet some peeps that have similar interests, and maybe that will kick things off. If not, at least I will have some fun things to do. I don't plan on flying home to visit this year. I simply don't have the money for that. Mom and Dad are talking about coming out here for a visit, and I am now hunting around for things to discover with them. Like wine slushies. And Maybe the Cream Cheese Festival. who knows. With the help of the local friendlies and the internet, I should be able to come up with a fine selection. I might also get a chance to see Dave, Beth and Madeline this year. There is talk about a visit to MIT and other things. We will work it out as we go. I did finish my sketchbook for Project Sketchbook, and mailed it in. I will be doing another this year. I kinda want to do 2, but I don't want to over extend myself. I made a lot of my Christmas gifts for this last season, and plan on doing it again. It was fun, and challenging, and fun. Really fun. I'd love to encourage everyone to buy local and make gifts. Why? Because it's fun. What better reason? I don't have much planned in the way of home projects this year. I have some rock steps I almost finished last year that I will finish in the spring, but other than that, and retouching the paint on the porches, I plan on starting my garden this year. Growing here should be a challenge. The soil is shallow and mostly clay. I have been composting, but there is a lot of work to be done. I have a feeling it will be a very small garden this year. However, ya gotta start somewhere! Diana and I might get a canner. There is a lot of fresh fruits and veggie to be had, and I would love to have them for the winter. Off to start the day!