All Around The Spooky House...
I do recall saying at one point I would take you around and show you some Spooky House, once I had a camera, and so, while you won't get the complete tour, here's a preview. (Venus as you can see,thinks this very funny)
Here's the latest, coolest new Toy! The Water Thing! Mim remains un-impressed, but Venus is having some fun. Question: Why ordering Pizza seems like the best option....
Answer: Seems obvious. Kali, as you know is moving soon to LA. (She gets her Spay tomorrow, wish her well) We had thought to send her on the plane with Kitty, but she seems as happy in the box, so we are thinking Fed ex...
The new Fosters, Queen Mab and King Lear are going to reside, of course, in the Forest Room. It is the largest and so fitting for their Royal Highness's. The small couch will be replaced, of course, with a Cat Tree, suitable for their reclining pleasure.
The Cat Tree will be fun, but the Forest Bed also offers many opportunities for entertainment.....(Yes, that IS an Edamame Sushi Pillow.)
And just in case anyone wonders if I may have been exaggerating about the Poor Ficus....(if you look closely you can see the newly cleaned Poo-wheel in the corner)
Love and Spooky Home,
Lorraine
posted by FabulousLorraine @ 6:56 PM
173 Comments
173 Comments:
Wow...what a lovely new manse for their Highnesses! Lucky kitties (she said with just a TOUCH of jealousy *g*)
I cannot tell you, L, how much it pleases me to see where your life has gone. Good places, I think, and very good things (re deeds, mostly..:))
Livin' Large, Lorraine; Livin' Large...
I've heard of a cat on a hot tin roof, but cat on a cool metal stove? Ow...
Love how they investigate everything with you - what fun!
OOOHHH! Shiny!
Thanks, Lys, I am pretty pleased myself. You will have to come and visit us and sleep with Leopards....
SIri, they DO investigate everything with me, where I go, they go, always.
Ticia, Shiny?? Raven you are!
It's actually slang for, well Brilliant or awesome I guess. It's from the "Firefly" series by Joss Whedon.... I loved that series!
Anyway, I am a "bird with bright objects" **- So I guess I am a Raven. :-D
**(It's an expression I use at work when I have too many things pulling at my attention).
I love how everything has to receive cat inspection and approval. Tysie very carefully inspects just about everything that comes into our house. The dogs just want to know if they can eat it, and lose interest if the answer is no.
Oh, the new fosters will have a bedroom fit for love.
Crud - Sally's finally here, and I have to go to bed - just wait till tomorrow night - I'll be able to stay up until the bewitching hour.
if i take a nap first.....
Awesome to see the Spookyhaüs! Someday I want to come see it in person, please, pretty please? :) I will paint that mural... and, well, anything or anyone else in return for my keep. (Besides robots. No more #@!&#*ing robots for a long, long time.)
The Forest Room is really cool; I've always liked forests as bedroom themes. I once decided to make a jungle in my room out of construction paper. I made trees, big 3-D sets, complete with leaves and vines and tree trunks and branches. Used to her artist child by then, my mother just shook her head. In college, I did v.2 of this, when I was climbing a tree, and fell, taking a giant sycamore branch down with me. Feeling that the tree's sacrifice shouldn't be for nothing, I took the torn branch into my dorm room, started stripping off the leaves and smaller branches, and started filling up the holes in the acoustic ceiling tiles with leaves, and arranging the smaller segments of the branch, over my bed. I made a small bower. This was Not Popular with the authorities.
Why yes, I AM daft. I keep saying how eerily like Bernard Black I am, and I'm not quite sure you all understand the full magnitude of this. ;)
I saw some comment about drinking back there -- rest assured I am On The Case! I just opened a bottle of... hrm, oh, shiraz, that's what this is. Very long day here in LA. My work week is short, but my deadlines don't care about things like Thanksgiving.
Oh! I had to buy an umbrella today on the way home. My first ever umbrella that I bought. Yes, it really does rain that little, here. I also bought red leather gloves, because I hear tomorrow and Wednesday, it'll be cold and rainy. Okay, all you Fiends not from LA can stop laughing hysterically now. ;)
Now I'm looking at my elliptical machine dolefully... then looking at my wineglass. Exercise for the second time today? Or drink wine?
Can you eliptic and drink? Straw maybe?
Are we worried about mudslides, Val? It's important that we know what to worry about...
Ah Val, I can see you as the mad scientist Bernard thrashing Manny in the lightening and storm - perfectly fiendish (and one of the best episodes)
Val-- I think they tell us these horror stories about Cold to scare us. I'm pretty sure snow doesn't exist. I don't own a coat. Or an umbrella, actually.
Aw Siri, stay and play....
ah, shiraz.
The local grocery store has been running a sale on Penfolds Shiraz Cab. Not usually a fan of blends, but anytime I can get Penfolds ANYTHING for under ten bucks, I'm so there. Being unemployed and all.
Who is this Bernard Black of whom you speak?
Must go and google-cate myself....
Well, I had to leave for a minute to investigate the odd noises in my house.
It was the dishwasher I started a while ago, and then forgot that I started it....
This is why I must to bed, Sally - my brain is mush...
And, I get to start a new book tonight - I finished The Pinhoe Egg last night. What from the pile to choose????
the markings on venus and mim are just beautiful, how pretty they are - and kali has gotten much bigger too, and is lovely in her own right!. i am so lucky to have the rest of the week off from the real paying job! a glass of shiraz for me too, (clinking Val's glass, cheers!), tho tomorrow brings the accounting i did not do this weekend -still a shift in routine, always nice and welcome. and the weather for thurs and fri is looking more positive! whoot!
i saw the poowheel in the corner - read alot of the comments from last post, just astounds me that they can get so scared they poop in mid run. hope she poos pellet style. the bedroom for their highness' looks splendid - i'm sure they will settle in nicely!
"google-cate" BRILLIANT!
Lo-- I love the vines around the bed, and I'm sure they will make great cat toys.
adri. no coat? no umbrella? so. with 4 inches of snow to plow tomorrow i am. seriously. jealous.
i hate winter.
Mudslides... well, I am not worried about mudslides, as I live on top of a hill that did not burn. Though other places will likely be very worried about mudslides, the topography of these particular hills I live in means it'll be fine. Unless there's truly epic amounts of mud. Like, biblical plague amounts of mud. Fod getting up in the morning, cracking Her fingers, and saying, 'Right. Now, mudslides; haven't done those in a while, I should get in some practice,' amounts of mud.
Unless you mean the horrible-tasting girly drinks, and then, yes, I am quite worried, because that's a true travesty.
As for looking like Bernard throttling Manny in the mad scientist wine episode... oh yes. I must take pictures of one of my minions at work, as he looks eerily like Bill Bailey, who plays Manny. I dress in a lot of black, sit at my desk, and brood. And drink (though at work, it's coffee, followed by coffee, with coffee chasers). Let me see if there are any photos of my minion online...
Lys, Bernard Black is the central character in the British Comedy series Black Books, which is one of THE best comedies to come out in the last decade.
FODS!!!!! Lys! Get you you and rent you some Black Books DVD's! And do this NOW! I can't believe you haven't seen this series and I am giggling in glee that you are soon to! It is SO you.....
I know you were a BIT out of touch for while, and missed this one, but trust me (US!) when we say you will love it. I only wish I could be with you when you see it...
Val, uh, rain? In LA???? Go on..She's SUCH a kidder!!!!!!!! That Dread Val!
And as far as snow being real goes, I can't help you there, but SUe will no doubt be checking in soon...Buried tho she may be...And at some point this winter I will no doubt be in a posistion to take some pics.
So Val, all you'd need is a bottle of wine, a glass and a cigarette hanging out your mouth and it would be a Black Books clone eh?
drat, gotta go and hang the towels out - back in a minute, don't be too busy while I'm gone fiends
It's kind of weird, Sally, to think it is day there. I missed riding tonight due to a conf call from China, where it was midmorning the next day, whih I thought odd, and now you are dancing with dishtowls in the sunshine.
When does Nat-law get back from Amsterdam???? I am going into withdrawel here...
Right, found pictures of my chief minion. You can see him, looking very silly, here. (Yes, I worked Faire for ages. Yes, I hired Faire Folk. Yes, I probably should've known he'd be like Manny.) And yes. All I need is wine and a cigarette, and it IS a Black Books episode.
See, Mom's side of the family is Scottish and Irish. Dad's side of the family is German and Lakota. There might just be a bit of genetic propensity toward drinking and madness. Just a bit. Kinda. In that lovable scamp sort of way.
Well, Quiche, there were clouds in the sky today as the office manwife and I walked out. Being from New York, he apparently knows all about this rain stuff, and these clouds mean rain on his planet. So it was either buy the umbrella, or endure merciless teasing from the office manwife. And I can't have that, can I? Though if there is no rain, I will tease him. Mercilessly.
Elliptical machine + straw... I like the way you think. I'm going to go dig out my straws. And watch an episode of Black Books! Ha ha!
yes, lorr, i agree, seems weird for it to be sunny and midday for sally, when it is past bedtime.
i will send a nice snowball to those who do not believe in snow. i will send a whole driveway's worth. with some oak leaves because i didn't get them off the driveway either, just in case some do not believe in fall. likely dog pee could be blended in it - they love to turn every square inch yellow, and i cannot go to the woods as there are way too many hunters this year.
what is black books? will i be banned because i do not know?
It is odd Lorraine, sometimes it hurts my head to try and remember what time it is for everyone else, and what day.
You were so right about something else - we have sunshine today and it is delightfully warm after a weekend that blew up from the antarctic. seriously, it did. One of the ski resorts in NSW had the biggest dump of snow its had all year, a week out from summer.
You won't be banned Sue, but you gotta watch it!
The nice thing is even though I have to leave, I can catch up tomorrow, and anticipation is what it's all about.
That, and the hokey pokey.
Night fiends....
I wish I had some Black Books here. I am watchiing LA Ink and getting more sure every time I see it that this is where I am gettig my Tat.
I did Renn Faire for a good many years, but ours got kind of different. No funny accents, no costume standards. And we got kind of isolated when we started opening for Puke and SNot. (An expeiernce I in no way regret, leared a LOT about performing from them)
I only stopped as it was no longer fun, and way too much work for too little $$.
Sad thing was, not bragging stating fact, I made more than any other music type.
There is a stigma attached to doing music out there "Festival Band" mean ameature, not real good. Maybee if they would pay for good people, eh?
night, siri, sweet dreams! off to google black books
my dog is snoring. he is upstairs and i am downstairs with the tv on and he is louder than that. perhaps my husband is channeling....
Some one must jump in and do some good Black Books commentary...I can'think of how to describe it.
"Well there's this guy, who drinks a lot and he has this friend )Tamsin Grieg?) who owns the shop next door and she drinks a lot and he hires a Guy to work in his shop, who doesn't drink so much, and the book shop owner get really pissed (as it were) when ever anyone tries to come in and buy a book..."
Think really cool British Comedy.
Sue, unclear here, who is doing the snoring, husband or dog????
try this clip as a starter for black books
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=aaeeCV8eRr4
:) sounds good and kinda reminds me of good omens, where the one angel ran the bookstore (been a long time since i read that) will google and take a look, sounds funny!
dog is snoring, however, he sounds like the husband. eerily like the husband. husband was home a week and left yesterday, and dog did no snoring while hub was home ( hub did plenty on his own). now dog is snoring- really loud!, perhaps husband channels tank's soul? they are built the same - big, barrelly with very short legs, and very long torsos... will ck out the youtube link sally! thanks!
Yeah, the big faires don't pay much, and the smaller faires even less, for musicians. Somehow 'but you can pass the hat!' doesn't quite cut it. It's a huge amount of work for very little money. I think in all the years I worked as a street character, I rarely did more than break even for gas and food.
What made it worth it, really, were the friendships. That's why I kept going back and working... and now, going back and visiting.
dog thinks "awww, mom will be lonely, I'd better snuffle like dad"
what is it with me and nail polish.
Put the really pretty purple nail polish on my fingers an hour or so ago and it already chipped off in places.
ivenotime--no, no...we believe!!
Seriously, Quiche, you might want to look at my situation as having been essentially in the same universe and on the same planet, but rather "out of synch" say by six or seven seconds? I am constantly surprised by things that didn't make it through the veil...
But you have all helped educate me (plus I google-cated :)) and now I feel much better.
Except that, as a former independent bookstore manager, I *do* have some issues with the man re his attitudes towards people actually BUYING books!!
While meandering, I also found enough time to feel sorry for this bloke, as he has a few pages on the internet of his own and no doubt suffers from the comparison. Though anyone who could co-write Russian Privatization and Corporate Governance: What Went Wrong? probably has the ability to be misanthropic once in a while! :)
Finally, Val....wow. I'd swear I must know those folks. Or at least some of them. At least, used to know them....a decade or more ago. sigh. Agoura, Novato, et cetera...sniffle.....
:), hadn't thought of that sally! he is a love, very protective, umm, both hub and tank! hub is not home much these days, we've lost the day to dayness in our relationship, but value what little time we do have, when we have it - he can't get back for thanksgiving, so it will be christmas when he next comes home. maybe i should get tank breathe rite strips like i do for the manwife (love that phrase -was that Jess' coining?). just had a timtam, fods but i love those cookies...
Yes, rain. More or less. At least, this was the forecast for my little corner of L.A. for Tuesday:
Rain becoming likely in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 60s. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.
To the boy this means he gets to wear the Spiderman rain gear. He is pleased.
Beware the TimTam fairy. All of a sudden the whole packet is gone and you'll swear it wasn't you. Of course not. When I was a teenager I had a border collie, and for some reason I used to like to pick him up and carry him. I used to grunt whenever I picked him up, so he'd grunt too. It was so adorable.
Where would we be without our animal loves?
Heh, if I had cool Spiderman gear I'd be pleased to see rain too!
Tho (on the subject of RenFaires) I also LOVED visiting Minnesota Faire. And helping the Morris teams get started at Arizona and North Carolina was way cool too....
I *may* be able to get a Morris Team going here. Which means, of course, that I will have to get back up to snuff meownself. Yoiks!
Val; when you were a street character..who were you? Presuming your character was historically based as opposed to an actual individual--but please correct if that presumption is, well, presumptious!! *g*
Tim Tams????
just wonderin'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Tams
decadence. irresistable.
Cabals girlfriend is a Aussie Border Collie, they are the dog equal of Bengals!!!!!
Fods, I am tired Fiends, that is as much as I can think.
Chatter me some nice chatter to read in the night, yes? Have to be up WAY to early for Kali's Spay...
Lys, I remember Novato and Agoura! We probably know a few people in common. :) I have played: random peasant #5; a prostitute (shush, you); Lord Derby's cellarer; a camp follower of the Germans (again, shush); a down-on-their-luck mercenary's sister; random peasant #16; Mistress Fall; and wife to one of the Italian ambassadors. And a few others I don't quite remember -- it's been a long stint, since 1991. At this point, it doesn't even quite matter, since I can gig with the best of them. Do enough improv for 9 hours a day, 20 weekends a year, for 10+ years, and you, too, will be able to spout entertaining nonsense without thinking. Sort of like this comment.
Black Books could indeed be my day. I had a conversation very similar to this one, just last week:
"Bernard: (trying to figure out how to work the security door) Ok for the moment, just tell me the code.
Manny: There was a little man.
Bernard: There was a little man? That's the code?
Manny: No no, I didn't actually hear the code because... he had a little man in his hair.
Bernard: Well the little man in my hair is getting very, very angry. What are you talking about?
Manny: He had a Subbuteo player in his hair! I got distracted!
Bernard: So essentially, what we have here is a security system that doesn't let anybody in or out of the building...
Manny: Yes!
Bernard: Yes! Including us!
Manny: Yes! We'll get used to it.
Bernard: Oh right, ok. How will we get used to it?!"
Let's see... how best to sum up Black Books, without saying, 'Me, and my work day.' Hmm.
Lovable curmudgeon Bernard Black mismanages a bookstore in London, with his minion, Manny the aging hippie; and his only friend, Fran. Hilarity ensues.
How's that?
We have Jess to thank for 'manwife,' Sue. Priceless, that phrase. You should get the dog breathe right strips; see how those go and report back. I like my office manwife infinitely better than I ever did my actual husband.
I hope Kali enjoys her little op.
Rest well Lorraine
Cabal has a girlfriend?! And he did not tell the rest of his Cabal?!
*sob* I don't know if I can forgive him. I'll try to bear up somehow.
TimTams. Only recently available in the US. Australian friends used to send them to me as rewards (or bribes) for favors. Sally can comment more on them but, essentially, they're chocolate-coated, chocolate-filled, chocolate cookie chocolateness.
Pepperidge Farms is distributing them in the US, but only 2 of the many flavors.
That describes it pretty well Val.
Really, you're not missing that much with the other flavours, the original is by far the best.
Yes, he fell in love in agility class, and that was the end of that class, except for the humour of him running to her every time he got off leash, lol.
Kods's friend is now our dog walker and comes 4 days a week and takes them off into the woods for an hour or two.
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Someone sent us Tim Tams once, but they were all chocolate, I know I am weird but I don't like it, except as chocolate and then not often, and only if it is white chocolate...
I am going to bed, really...
let's try that again:
TimTamsUS
Well, no wonder the Bengal-Bee/Voodoo Wasp Alliance has been getting the upper hand here! Tell Cabal, from me, that he needs to stop mooning over this girl and get back to his Cabal's plotting and lying in the sun!
So, Fiends, IF you happen to be on an elliptical machine, wineglasses do not, actually, fit in the bottle holder.
Just saying.
Val, I canna talk. I was a Faded Rose at Dicken's Faire for several years running, up North.
Started Southern Fair in oh, 79 I think? As a Washer Woman.
Danced with Newcastle, did peasant guild stuff, hung w/everyone and sundry.... spent a season as the Captain of the Queen's Guard's younger brother (that was fun!) and another w/court as some Earl's wife because a) he thought he might want to date me and b) I supposedly looked exactly like a painting of said Countess in the Huntington Hartford museum. But that was all a long time ago.
Worked in a variety of booths..security..
Other hangouts: Toad n the Hole...Archery...Constabulary.
My last official Northern Faire was in 93..
Val, I think you're my new favorite person for doing that research for us. <3
Fiends, it's time for me to refill my whiskey and head to bed.
Chat with you all from the airport, and then the other airport, no doubt!
Val...
Bummer! I had such high hopes. But kudos to you for breaking trail on such an important issue!
I'd complain to the manufacturer about that. What's wrong with them? Don't they know that wine and walking go well together?
Lys, when I was playing Lord Derby's cellarer, I was in Queen's Guard. We DO, actually, know people in common. How scary is that?
So you will get this joke: How many Faire Folk does it take to change a lightbulb?
40.
One to change the lightbulb, and 39 to stand around the Washing Well and talk about how much they liked the old lightbulb better.
And Dickens Faire as well? Oh... we so know people in common.
Sally, Adri -- I'm here for all the Fiends' groundbreaking research needs. Bastard things, elliptical machines. Drinking and half-jogging should go together. I mean, what the hell are you supposed to do when your joints start hurting, besides drink, right?
Just have to laugh along with Venus there.
I can vouch that it does rain in LA. At least once a year. ;) And one time it even snowed, on the beach! Around 1979. Snowed about half an inch and melted an hour later. Almost enough time for a snowball fight.
Lys and Val - I remember the Agoura site fondly. Was Novato the one up the 15? I worked that Faire one year, after going for fun for many years. Getting paid just cannot be the point. I saw a lot of the same people at the Victorian Balls in Pasadena, too - have you ever been to those? (If they're still happening.)
Absolutely Val. Absolutely.
Oh, Snap!
So.....I'm going to whisper ONE name to you, and then leave this subject alone for the night. There are SO many folks I could ask you about..but let's just try this one
Gereg
Oh! It took me so long to complete a comment, I see...
Lys, my friend Aleta (not AletaMay) was in the Washer Women at Southern Faire for a time. ???
And Val, I was a water girl in the Queen's Guard, but just the one year. Too funny.
(Val...just cause you're SO his type.)
Na--lovely memories of Pasadena balls! I only went a couple of times, but there were other events with some of the same folks...
wow. Glory days, or something. I had HAIR then! (It reached my waist. Now it cannot reach my collar. sigh.)
Ah, Na, Devore was the one where the 15 and the 215 meet; Southern's new site after Agoura. Now Southern is at some park near a quarry off the 210. It's insanity. Just not the same. So Na and Lys... we really must trade emails to catch up on Faire gossip.
OMF GEREG! Last time I saw him, he was smoking weed in my bedroom!
(Wait, that's really not as bad as it sounds.)
And na, you were a water woman for Guard?! Drink it, wear it, or die! Sound familiar? ;)
I have this sinking feeling we all know each other...
Somehow I knew. hehehehe
And it's all good, as long as Weed doesn't mind. :)
Glug...
glug....
glug...
Well you fascinating fiends - to bed I must go! Good night all!
Devore, yes! Thanks. I did like the lake. The year I worked, they sent The Queen across on a raft each day. I think it made the actress very, very nervous.
Faire gossip = much fun. Protocol for email addy trades?
Although for the evening, I ought to sign off - my folks have arrived for the week, and I ought to be awake enough tomorrow to visit properly and play hostess.
Night, Ticia!
Ahh, this has made me ridiculously pleased, finding other Faire Folk here amongst the Fiends! And not only Faire Folk, ones from Southern! The most recent photo of me from Faire.
Damnit, I've finished my bottle of wine. Do I open another?
Well, FabLo has my email (I don't post it here anymore .... did that last week and I'm still getting strange stuff in my junk mail! :))
My connections are well, mostly non-existent anymore...but it would still be fun!
Gereg and I haven't stayed on the best of terms (or so I hear from others, as we've not really talked directly in ever so long.) But he is certainly an unforgettable character, so clearly the name to drop! hehehehe
You can get hold of me at vtrullin@pantagruel.net. And yes, I remember the Lakeside layout, and Gaylinn, the actress playing the queen then, very, very well. She taught me how to make proper gin and tonics.
Val...um, you're asking me? Now that you know I'm a Rennie?
Just let me refill my glass here..
Hey, isn't it nice that we aren't drinking alone?
Okay, but just ONE more comment -
Yes, that sounds verra familiar. :)
If we don't all know each other, then we may all know everyone else we all know. Er. I think that made sense.
And now the tune "It's a Small World" will haunt me in my sleep.
You're right, what WAS I thinking, Lys?!
How convenient that I'm sitting next to the liquor cabinet!
Huh, that's funny. I learned to make proper G n Ts at RenFaire as well. Hmmm... among the many skills we all developed!
OH, so sorry..
Night, chica!!!
Okay, just ONE more comment...
Gorgeous outfit, Val!!! How to link a photo so? I have a few somewhere I can scan.
Drink a sip for me ladies, if you will. Can't do so, so close to bedtime.
Val, sent you an email.
And now I really am going to bed.
Probably.
Thank you, Na -- I sewed it myself. ;)
How to link... email me, and I will send you the same PDF I sent Quiche and Kitty about how to make a link, when I get back into work, tomorrow.
Lys, we should start a list: 'What I learned at Faire.' I hope we are not boring the other Fiends.
I want to know (I am posting while sleeping, isn't that a neat trick?) how to make a proper gin and tonic?
I am so ridiculously behind here it's, well, ridiculous!
I didn't have time to read or post over the weekend or really today either.
We leave Wednesday for the North Coast to go mushroom hunting for the holiday weekend so may not be able to read or post then either.
I miss you guys!
I'll try to catch up sometime.
Now i'm off to bed, i have a scratchy throat--not good.
Nice pic, Val. Beautiful lights....
Unfortunately, I have to sign off now as well. Stuff to fix before Mum's birthday tomorrow.
But will send you an email to initiate the link.
not boring, intriguing.
Val, that is some brilliant sewing
So. I just got caught up. It's only nearly 1:00 AM CST, and I don't have much to say.
How's this for a trick: I can make people tipsy if they are within, oh, a 3'-5' radius of me when I drink alcohol, even when they haven't been drinking. I know one other person who does the same thing, and he's a Sagittarius, too.
Night. ;)
nearly 100 comments & it was just posted! ye fods! i'll catch up tomorrow. love the kitty pics. they are too beautiful & funny!
Ariandalen, that's a very good trick. Sagittarius, huh? Hrm.
Sally, thank you! It's all in the boning, really.
Alright, time to pay my obeisance to the household gods, then sleep.
Just popping in to say HI!
Welcome back Nathalie - how was Amsterdam? I meant to ask you, before youwent, whether you have ever visited the CAt Museum there?
You mean the Kat Cabinet? No, never.
Amsterdam was good fun but mostly cold and wet (yeah! snow storms!). The friend was just as crazy as I thought she might be and her film was hilarious. Am uploading the pictures on my camera...
Yes this place - I went when I was in Amsterdam a few yers back - nice place, with some very friendly kitties..
Nice Pics, Q - I'm not sure your ficus is going to survive the winter, though! Val - I love the sound of your jungle room (and the look of yours, Q)- I am so hiring you as my interior designer if I ever get the chance:-)
Black Books and Bill Bailey. Mmmm. (I don't have the DVDs myself but I'm pretty sure if I ask nicely my sister will be willign to bring hers, when we get together at Christmas.
I was in bed during the Dr Who conersation on the last post but had to say - I did like Tom Baker, but for some reason Dr Who wasn't a really defining show for me when I was a child, I only got really into it with the new version, so Christopher Eccleston is MY Doctor (although it sems strange, now, to think that I was dubious about whetehr it would still be worth watching after he left...)
I do hope that the rumours about Paterson Joseph (who was the Marquis de Carabas in Neverwhere) ebing the next Doctor are true.
Who would anyone else want to see as the new doctor?
Chatty, chatty! I don't have time to read them all this morning, as I appear to have to shovel several inches of snow before heading to work.
Today's government brilliances (I work for them):
1. I am officially on vacation today, so the office manager scheduled me for an essential meeting at 3pm this afternoon. Fortunately, I'm now not leaving town until tomorrow, so I was going to work anyway, but she did not know that.
2. We got quite a bit of sleet and freezing rain mixed in with the snow yesterday, making a complete mess of things. It looks like - I haven't been out yet this morning. When the weather is very bad, we can get a delayed start to give the road crews time to do their thing. But our official policy ties our weather delays and cancellations to Penn State's. That's fine, but what if we have horrible weather when Penn State is on break? Like, oh, today? There is no possible way we could have weather leave, no matter how rotten it is. Er, huh? (Fortunately it doesn't look _that_ bad today, but still.)
*grumble*grumble*
Phiala - did you comment twice? I got one in my inbox about NArnia and Puddleglum (must ty to find that movie, it sounds good) but don't see it here.
Sorry to here about the snowshovelling and general govenment fuckwittery. .
Bengals running
Voiding bladders
Better hope they
Don't climb ladders
At the
SPOOKYHAUS.
It's not quite Burma Shave, but it'll do.
Marjorie, the Puddleglum comment was on the previous post. I cheated on the shoveling - did the front of the house, and salted the rest. It's already over freezing, so it should disappear quickly.
I looked: it's from a BBC television serial of The Silver Chair, and there's an entertaining photo.
MOrning Fiends, what fun to wake up to! I loved the late night drinking at the Fiendish Pub with Lys, Val and Na, talking about Renn Faire, and it was fun to read it switching over to the waking up Fiends!
Always something going on here.
Just saw, for reasons unknown to me, shots of it snowing in MIchigan. That's Sue right? She is BURIED!!!!!!
We have none! This is starting to get weird. Too weird.
And then the news said: Sundown 4:36pm.
What a strange place to live. I will NOT give into this, winter sadness thing. Eating right and working out, and knowing, duh! It's dark all the time....
Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. Look. Bernard, look. Bernard. Bernard. Look, Bernard. Bernard. I'm a robot prostitute from the future!
Sigh. I love Black Books, me. Wish I could stay awake past 10:00 pm! You guys have good parties.
Lovely pictures, lovely kitties, lovely Spookyhaus! I love the edamame pillow. I love your eye for colour and room-themeage. I covet your granite countertops. Get a wall plate on that outlet! :D
Poor ficus. Property of the Bengals now, I suppose.
Great picture, Val! Very cool dress. :)
Hey! Morning, Quiche!
We have no snow either, but it's grey again. Argh. I have to fight off the winter sadness thing too. Seems to get worse every year. Eating right and exercise are on the agenda...just as soon as Thanksgiving's gone. Heh. :)
Poor Kali-Cat-- does she know she's off to the vet yet?
I NEED wallplates! All kinds!!!!! I want a different one for every socket and switch and combination there of. I get them as I find them, but I need MORE. I don't like plain ones you see....
The granite countertop is a rolling cart thing, I'd love all granite, but a little rich for me, this one was from amazon, cost very little, and if you have someone who can put it together...
And bite your tounge, Marjorie!!! The Ficas will live!!!!!!! It's been worse off...Kid you not.
I keep telling Kali about this, FOds,I have to go...
ART plates! Yes! There were some great ones at Three Rivers Arts Fest this year-- a couple of different artists had them. (I'll have to see if I can dig up links.) I didn't buy any. I should have!
Well I can't get caught up on all the posts but here is what I got so far:
All treadmill/elliptical things should have a wine glass with a straw and an ashtray.
Puddleglum, yes!
Black Books, by all means!
Forest bedroom is excellent and I must have an edamame pillow!
Oh and "shiny" from Firefly is goram great. ;)
I keep trying with Firefly, I feel like I should like it. I think I need to watch it with people who really like it...
I have new pics of Queen Mad and King Lear, sent by the Gentleman who has them! I will post them tonight when I get home from work and dog school....
Wow. Only just seen your picture Val and it is beautiful!
It is lovely isn't it?And she says she sewed it her ownself! I can make pillows cases. Maddy and I make them together. Last Sunday we made 4. Took us 5 hours.
(point of reference, someone who can sew would have done it in under an hour)
Did you do them with a machine or by hand?
Mrfle. Not awake yet.
Phiala, that is indeed vile bureaucracy. Might I suggest a shrine to Quirinus? He was the Roman god of bureaucracy. I've got one for him in my office. He likes myrtle leaves and fruit. In the mornings, I pray, 'Quirinus, smooth my path today; keep me safe from supercilious asshats, pointless paperwork, and stupidity.' Works well.
Nathalie, glad you're back! And thank you; that got taken by a very nice gentleman who likes to come out to Faire and get to know the people he takes photos of; very friendly and not creepy, like so many people out there who take photos of the workers.
Coffee.
He's got a good eye for lighting. and beauty, obviously.
Sadly, that is how long it takes with a machine.
Nice pillow cases tho.
Myrtle, you say? I wonder if he would accept a modern northeastern US compromise and find bayberry acceptable. No myrtle grows around here, and I much prefer local offerings whenever possible.
Today is not going to be my day.
The dress and you yourself are both gorgeous, Val!
I once ended up taping and stapling a hem. Can't sew. At all.
I bet they are, Lorraine.
its not just snow its sleety heavy slushy snow which is laying like a lump over the leaves i never got rid of. that will teach me! the snow leaf slop was too heavy for the snowthrower which meant i have just got back in the house after starting shoveling at 8 am. i am cold and damp. did i mention i hate winter? its extremely dark out today, i would be getting depressed but getting too much exercise shoveling. sigh
Nat! you're back! glad you had a fun time! Val, you and that dress are gorgeous, what a beautiful job, and what a ton of work that must have been!
It was snowing in Amsterdam too! Good excuse to drink chocolate with whipped cream on top and spicy Indonesian food.
Wishing happy and safe travels for Adri and to all who are traveling this week.
Firefly was a gorram fine show. Still breaks my heart that it was so unfairly cut. But - different strokes for different folks, right? Black Books didn't catch me, when a soul friend is nuts for it and told me I had to had to had to watch it.
I love the idea of sewing, tho it mystifies me. I'm good when there's lots of long straight seams - pillowcases sound do-able. :) I dream of making quilts and gift bags sometime.
Oof. Stayed up too late in the virtual pub. Time for a virtual coffee break.
Hey Dan, if you get on the pave the world thing it would make the shoveling a little easier.
Q, as far as Firefly, have you tried the movie, Serenity? I am happy to lend it to you.
I want hot cocoa and spicy food. Order up! :) Glad you had fun, Nathalie. And congrats again on all the words, words, words!
More Cotswold is in my immediate future.
Thanks Gayle. it felt weird not writing this weekend (apart from the odd haiku).
Still haven't read comments!
I have my friend's 2-yr-old over, he and ben are playing cars.
Then i have a playgroup "reunion" coming to my house at 2, craziness.
And i have to pack to leave tomorrow...eek!
Such a comfort to know that there are other people who can't/don't sew. I too could easily take 5 hours or longer to make 4 pillowcases using a machine. The only times I've tried to make my own clothes it's taken me so long I've been sick of the sight them before they were finished. So I have feelings of profound awe and respect toward anyone who can really sew.
Val - thnaks for the info about Quirinus - I think I shall have to get me a shrine....
I'm about to board the smallest class of commercial jet that they fly to backtack 500 miles to my final destination. Yay airport hub system! The important thing is, we didn't miss the plane!
*whew* horrible meeting with boss wasn't so horrible. (My boss with a lower-case b, not Boss - meeting with Boss wouldn't be horrible at all.)
I did a lot of service-type work last year - essential, but not recognized by the evaluation system I'm placed under - so I was expecting a bad annual review. This was that meeting. Turns out not so bad, though I did get lectured a bit on the things I should have been doing (I know! But I already work 50-60 hour weeks...) (I'm doing hard stuff with less help than just about anyone else...) Not so bad, and I even get a bonus. Hooray!
Still don't like my job (the government parts, not the doing interesting hard things parts), but somewhat less surly.
I have one of my marvelous stupid questions to ask, this one being: were you joking, or can you really FedEx a cat?
~Emily
Why my office is like Black Books:
Me, walking in from lunch with office manwife (OM): You know, I wish someone else in the office had a long umbrella like this one. Then we could have umbrella fencing. And then I could beat the snot out of someone. And that would rock!
OM: You should tell Minion to get one.
Me: Minion, I have a new decree: you need to buy an umbrella like this. (brandishing umbrella)
Minion: Okaaay.
Me: Then we can have... umbrella fencing.
Minion: SWEET!
Me: I expect one next week.
---
You see?
Nothing that funny happening around my office.
Great photos Q! Cat on stove seems... dangerous!
Love Puddleglum and Firefly. Would loved to have seen Puddleglum on Firefly. Fiendish Firefly Fest is in order I think!
Wonderful small world stuff going on last night. Makes sense really.
I am all confused about what day of the week it is this week. Each day seems like it is Friday. Weird.
Puddleglum ON Firefly? The mind boggles, but entertainingly.
And here it is, the doldrums of the day, but I'm caught up on comments. :)
The skies are blue, the sun is warm, SpaceX may just have learned their lesson, and "Robots" is playing on the television on DVD. Cleaning has been, slowly, occurring. Some cooking will ensue. Tomorrow I get to have a root canal.
Oh frabjous day! Calloo! Callay!
A half frozen face for part of a day!
But then I'll drink and chew and talk
Without lingering pain or shock!
Then cook and clean some more I'll do,
Then sleep, perchance, 'til morning's dew.
Once more the cooking to attend
Until the meal to the table send
All the children in the house
And one Fiend without a grouse.
For then will be a day for thanks
For health and hearth and planks
Of food and gentle hearts
To join together from all parts
In Joy and Friendship near and far,
Even if the bird has char.
We'll eat and laugh, and eat some more
Before we sit, and then we'll snore.
Thanksgiving Day is truly a feast.
Let's avoid Black Friday's beast.
The Intarwebs will buzz again,
Even though it's a silent din,
For neither sleet nor snow nor dark of night
Can silence Fiend's might.
Sure! I can imagine a colony of his decedents in the 'verse anyway. I'd love to see how he and Jayne would interact!
Love that poetry.
Ariandalen - sorry to hear about the root canal - you have all my sympathy. And I love the pome.
I want someone to umbrella fence with now, too. We could have a tournament!
Okay -- I am just now listening to the version of I'll Tell Me Ma from Mirror Mirror and it has made my day. So. Beautiful.
It is now repeating.
...needing to get google-cated on Puddleglum, so's I might guess what the Hero of Canton might do with him...
Thanks. ;)
"You can shine no matter what you're made of!"
Perhaps this is why I baked preproportioned Snickerdoodles after lunch?
Only the Shadow knows...
(Yes, I'm in a weirder headspace than usual.)
reading comments backwards -
dig the poem!
FabLo - each time I click on the blog, I stop a little longer to admire your gorgeous Jungle Room.
Puddleglum came in Narnia - he was, as I recall, a Marsh Wiggle - kind of human frog - deeply and constantly pessamistic about everything, but doing the right thing even after he thought there was no hope left. I was always rather fond of Puddleglum. (I seem to remember that he was critisized by the other MarchWiggles for being too optimistic...)
Ariandalen;
you so ROCK!! LOVED the poem. We will all think warm, fuzzy, painfree thoughts for you tomorrow. Good fortune!!
hugs
Lys
I've worked out how to comment on the comments...2 tabs. Of course, it might mean this comment is long as I go through the 55 comments that came in while I was sleeping. (Movie title?)
Marjorie, I agree, Paterson would be an excellent Doctor. Following Tennant will be difficult.
Jess, that is my absolute favorite ep of BB,everything about it cracks me up
Val - brilliant shrine and prayer. Must pass that on to fellow gov workers. Wish I'd had one when I worked for the gov.
Sue - I hope your day gets warmer, that sounds a revolting way to start the day
I didn't realise Serenity and Firefly were 2 different things. Hmmm
Val, I dub you Bernard in disguise, that was brilliant.
And a brilliant poem from ariandalen,despite a dentist visit.
And finally, I did a double take this morning when I saw this in the paper. I give you Boss's long lost brother.
Wow. That's absolutely hilarious.
~Emily
Ariandalen -- nice poem. ;) Loved the 'even if the bird has char' line. Good luck with the root canal!
Phiala, glad you survived the performance review. Those can really be anxiety-producing, so I'm glad you were mostly unscathed.
Sally, Boss' long-lost brother is a bit eerie!
swallow your drink before you clickyclick.
good one guys!
Dragonsally, you seem to happen upon the oddest things ...
~Emily
Oh Sal! Where do you find these things! We so need smarter agents! This will be passed around my offices in lightning speed; thank you!
Dear Venus;
My human underling has the nerve to leave me alone for a day with only food enough for a week and all the water for me to drown my minions. I did not authorize this and don't feel it's appropriate subservient behaviour. Any suggestions on disciplinary action?
Ms. Stella O'Houligan
Ms. Fablo, I would so happily come watch Firefly and Serenity with you. If I could, I'd be there like a shot (and may still do this someday).
Small, wimpy wave from me to all Fiends, nearish and way too far away. I feel icckk. Finally, last night, thought that this seemed like a real honest to goodness illness, and went to doctor. Yup. For the second time in three months, I've got bronchitis and a sinus infection (I think the first one never really died but merely hibernated) and am on some meds and just feel very very unfun. So y'all will be my fun for me, please!
Oh, and your house looks so cool, Q!! And the cat on the stove made me smile big, start to laugh, and then cough. :-)
Oh Bullfinch - get better quickly.
Stacy and Emily - I get most of the 'LOL' stable by RSS feed into my mailbox. I just loves em.
ariandalen - hope tomorrow goes painfree for you! great poem! val, i would love to fence with umbrellas too, it is never that much fun where i work. Phiala, congrats on the performance review, they can be nervewracking, glad yours went well. Grace!!! feel better!! i bet that did just lurke and hide for a bit and then decided to attack you again :(, hope the meds work their magic and your start to pick up quick! my cold is taking a break today, which i am hoping is permanent - i only sneezed 15 times today, down from fod knows how many.
and haven't sneezed since noon.
Home! Yes Home! Done with work and it was a DAY let me tell you! Tho not because of Boss or his work, he even made me tea at one point, and there is nothing as wonderful as NEEDING tea and having someone say "There there, let me make you tea"
Fods! I have some catching up to do! And a new post, oh yes......
Love the poem, Adriandalen!
Haven't seen Serenity, would love to...
Umbrella fencing!
Emily, well, not exacly, you can't really fed ex a cat. You can put one on a plane tho....
Venus says...Shred toilet paper, hours of fun, and if you can reach the breakables, knock them off, and when she gets home, poop on your poop wheel, but wait until she is settled and relaxed....
Grace, fell better! My house looks better tonight, SPooky Daughter was here and cleaned. She spent two hours. I could not do what she does in two, in ten. Not kidding.
Oh, I keep trying to remember to comment on this, someone asked abouthorse boarding and said it was like $2000 a month where they were. Not here. A tenth of that for non stall boarding. $400 a month for a stall, and that is in a REALLY chi-chi stable. That's how I can afford Rommy. I pay $300 a month, which includes lessons.
I should state this is the midwest and we are REALLY rural.
AH. Yes. I see. Again. I am home, done, ready for some chatter. Looking for Fiends. What ?? Do you have a lookout?? "She's home, vanish, vanish!!!!!"
Been taking lessons from Le Leopard you have. Tho h did reach out his head and sniff when I tossed him a bit of chicken.
Hurry for kind people to bring you tea!
Boo for whatever made you need it so!
Hello there. Welcome home. I am not afraid of you. Not REALLY ...
~Emily
Emily, you do not need to fear me, tho there are those that are wise to do so, but they are not Fiends...
I was going to say too, about the bedroom, I used to have a net canopy on it too, but it got a little shredded and collected dut, now I need more vines and grapes.
Aleta, the Post of this day is coming...
Yay for tea!
I'm driveblogging. 90 minutes, and I've gone 15 miles. 30 miles to go.
I love that I close the blog when I go to bed at night, and when I finally get back home and online there are over 100 emails in my inbox from fiends. I promptly delete them all, and rush to the blog to read the comments in order.
Val - don't use the bottle holder for a glass - use it for the bottle. REALLY long straw should work.
Quiche - look out, or people will be sending you wallplates rather than mangos.
Val - I'm SO stealing the prayer to Quirinus. Bureaucracies stink. (Been there, done that for almost 30 years - the rut I must bear. It does, however pay the bills so I can do the fun stuff I do.)
That's what I do too Siri! *high fives*
Val, how can you stand that commuting time. Oh wait, I used to do the same in a train, but at least I could read or knit...
Okay fiends, Sally is in Christmas card mode.
If you'd like to receive one, send me your address at dragonsally2atgmaildotcom
Oh yeah, and Sally - Love your links. Especially appreciate the warning to put down the drinks.
I usually take the Saltmine u. Vanpool, which I drive half the time. Today, however, I drove in. The traffic gods are very angry tonight. Must sacrifice something. ..
Hello Q! Hooray for tea! Hooray for being home! May your couch be extra comfy this evening, and all your wheels poo-free.
My excuse: I was here the whole time, but the Manwife was monopolizing the machine. What can a girl do, but sit patiently and wait? And now I'm getting sleepy, so I'll likely be off to bed in a bit. Curses. One of these days I'll develop insomnia again, and maybe there will be Fiends in the pub while I'm up.
Here you go: have some Pingu for your trouble. Pingu rocks.
Thank you all for the kind words regarding my poem. :)
Val, at least you're in a car you love. I don't miss living in a large city. You can still get across Waco, or Temple, in 15-20 minutes. When I lived in Dallas it took that long to get to the corner supermarket, and that was over 20 years ago. I hope traffic opens up soon.
Hey Jess, Pingu rocking is brilliant.
Ariandalen - is it today you had your tooth done, or is it still tomorrow? The bad thing about not being in 24/7 contact here is I sometimes don't know when the original comment was. If it's still tomorrow, here's a pile of good wishes ^^^^^, and if it was today, how are you?
Oh, bother it, how are you, either way?
::soft smile:: Siri, I'm in Texas, it's still Tuesday, November 25 around 9:17 PM. The root canal is tomorrow, Wednesday, November 26. I'm ready for it to be over with as I'm tired of chewing on only one side of my mouth, and avoiding anything cold touching my right rear molar. At least I don't have an abscess, so I'm not in pain all the time. It's not like I've never had a root canal done before.
Hey! I want light and socket plates! Even more than mangos....
Hope Val is home by now and opening some wine, I could use it!
Oh, new post of my day is up....
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