Broke down and took Sudafed today. Not sure if that's why I felt a little better or if I'm actually better; possibly both. Still didn't get anything done but I did manage to bring in firewood, take Banshee for a walk, get the utilities money from both renters, and write a review. Hopefully I'll get another one written tonight. Damn near froze to death walking Banshee and getting wood; now I am enjoying some hot jasmine tea (made with black tea instead of green).

The maple seeds arrived today; that was fast shipping! Now to look up what they need in the way of stratification. Have to keep them in the house to stratify and germinate them; there are so many mice in the greenhouse & hen house that they run around my feet when I go in. Today one ran across in front of me, then stopped and looked up at me for the longest time as if it expected something of me. I could swear it shrugged as it turned and ran away.. but that could be the cold meds talking.

Meaningless Yule tree ornament pictures

The tree is tilting badly because Silver keeps getting in it and he's NOT a small cat. A few ornaments have been broken. I've moved most of the vintage ones away from where he can reach them. This is the first year he's had a Christmas tree, even though we've had him a couple of years now.

The cats settle down for a long winter's nap

Banshee, Sideshow and Silver share warmth on the bed. Also, I don't get the bed made and the laundry put away. I have a theory that if I leave the laundry piled tightly in a warm pile it'll reproduce and I'll have more clothing!

Boxes of Interest

The cats are very interested in these boxes:

That's because the boxes contain these:

These aren't the horde that we ordered on the the internet; these are ones that the online place was out of, so we managed to find them in town. Five aruacanas and three gold laced wyandots. They are in our bathroom. Right now, they are cute and adorable and wonderful. In about four days, when they start smelling bad no matter how many times a day we change their paper, they won't be very cute any more.


This box is the biggest that the bathroom can hold; I really don't know where we're going to put the 26 when they arrive in the mail....

Dear Cat;

I thought that there would be *one* place in the house where you couldn’t get, one place where I could put breakable things without it ended up as a shrapnel bomb. As one can see here, I was wrong.

I realize that you’re gray like the gargoyle, and actually look rather attractive up there. If all you wished to do was sit there above the front door, I might put up with it. But I’m not amused when plaster gargoyles and 100 year old books come raining down. And further, now where am I supposed to put my alien-fetus-in-a-jar??!

Please restrict yourself to lower altitudes.

Thank you,

The Humans

Give a boy an easy chair and a remote controller and he's happy

Sideshow is considerably less pleased with the situation than Banshee is; Banshee feels that all love him. In this circumstance, he is wrong.

Yesterday I finally potted up the cuttings I took last year from Colin's privet and the mandevilla that the local ladies club brought to my father-in-law's memorial. They thought the mandevilla was a perennial- the tag said it was- but sadly, it's not perennial here. We tried to keep the big plant going in the house this winter, but it succumbed.

So, here are the young plants, with added cat! (Natasha)