Hello 2020

Pearls Before Swine - January 1, 2020

But seriously folks...

2019 Christmas Tree

So I'm starting off the year with the hope that 2020 will bring wonderful new things. 2019 was a beyond busy year at work, which ended with me being laid off after 8 1/2 years, less than 2 weeks before Christmas. I was definitely very bitter to begin with, for many reasons, but I have slowly let it go, with the belief that I deserve to be somewhere that I am valued, and at the end, I wasn't.

I had a quiet Christmas with the cats, and today was the same - but today we had some beautiful sunshine for the first half of the day, and I appreciated it, and hope that is a good sign for the rest of 2020. I will be able to take a little "me" time for a short while, and I am looking forward to spring and hoping that wherever I land next work-wise I will be able to enjoy more of the summer than I did last year, and really for the last 8 years to be honest.

Boo

Munchkin

Boo & Tommy New Year's Day 2020

Happy New Year 2019

Baby Blues - January 2, 2019

So obviously I don't post very often. I intended to do a thoughtful post reflecting on 2018, and looking ahead to 2019 on New Year's Eve, and clearly that didn't happen. So here I am after a long day of work, and running an errand after work, and it's now 12 hours after I left the house for the day.... and I'm posting a comic strip that really hit my funny bone because it was so relateable. 

After I got home, and started to get settled in, I had to move the couch to retrieve not one, but two toy mice the cats were playing with when I encountered a small pile of pine needles from the Christmas tree! I got a Christmas tree on the Saturday right before Christmas - this was the first tree I've had in around 20 years. I was kinda bummed that it didn't last longer, but I had to take it outside on New Year's eve because it was dropping so many needles. I thoroughly vacuumed the living room (or so I thought), but, well, you get the picture.

I really enjoyed the tree for the short time I had it. I really love the smell of a real tree, and it was nice to see ornaments that have been boxed up for what seemed like forever. Some ornaments from childhood along with some I got for myself or received over the last 30 years. This was the first tree that all of my cats had experienced and they actually did pretty good at not messing with it, but I did manage to find two small ornaments on the floor as I was cleaning up. 

So long story short, I'm alive, my days are just long with work, and so I'm not on the computer sharing stuff that much because it's a lower priority with the little free time I seem to have. I do post on my Instagram because it's convenient to do on my phone, it's where I do most of my web-surfing to get the news and entertainment. I am doing okay, and like everyone else, I'm looking forward to spring and working in the garden and seeing everything new that I planted last year.

The cats are all doing okay; they all got to the vet in September, and Munchkin was diagnosed with Diabetes, but he's doing much better now that he is getting insulin shots twice a day. Tommy is feeling older lately, but he's at least 16, so it's to be expected.

I hope everyone that reads this is doing well, and forgives me that I'm not a prolific writer.

Happy New Year! Maria

Munchkin

Boo & Tommy

Happy New Year 2017

Kitty Collage

2016 Wrap-Up

December 31st 2016

Boo & Munchkin - January 1st 2017

Christmas 2016

Munchkin & Tomcat

Sherman's Lagoon - December 25 2016

Catching Up

Boo & Munchkin

Boo

Munchkin

Here are some recent pictures of the cats and a squirrel at the back stoop from this evening. We have had some pretty sunshine this week. 

Tomcat & Boo

Catching Up

We had the Around the Corner picnic at Hovander earlier this month and the weather was good. It's been hot lately, but today was cool with crazy wind  - totally blew my plan to keep digging out the new flower bed.

I have Delphiniums and a few roses to plant,  and have more roses and some tulips on order from Zulily. The soil out here is really nice,  but I'm encountering rocks and other stuff that is slowing down the process. Apparently people buried and or burned and buried their garbage in the yard in the good old days. I've found broken glass, chunks of charcoal wood and even a whole brick! So I'm sifting as I go  (Hi Hoe, Hi Hoe).

Here are some pictures from this month.

Merry Christmas 2015

I hope everyone had a great day. Quiet one for me here - I took a relaxed approach to the day. We got a bit of sunshine later in the afternoon which was much appreciated after all the rain we've been having.

I roasted a chicken with stuffing and will have my pumpkin pie in a bit. I took these pictures of the cats all snuggled up last night. Boo & Munchkin snuggle a lot, but not usually in that chair. And Tom Cat always looks so sweet when he sleeps. Happy New Year everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving 2015

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

It's sunny and cold here in Bellingham. I am thankful for the sun, and the roof over my head and that I didn't lose my electricity with all the wind storms we've had this month!

I'm enjoying the day relaxing with the cats and my dinner is in the crock pot.....but I already had a slice of pie!

Crazy Busy June

The Day Lilies at the height of their glory earlier this month

One of my two mixed planters on the front porch

Oh man, what a crazy month it's been. Work has been very busy and it will get even worse over the next couple of weeks. I'm finally taking a few moments out to post a few pictures to let anyone out there know I'm still around ☺

I lucked out with some really healthy annuals that I bought for the front porch, and the fuchsia Geranium has actually been wintered indoors for a couple of years I think.

Tom Cat

Munchkin

Boo

Munchkin

I'm sitting on the bed reading today's newspaper and Munchkin came and curled up on my lap. He had been curled up under the covers - he loves to burrow. So I decided to throw my scarf over him, and I thought he looks like he's wearing a Bubushka, so of course I had to take his picture.

I imagine I'm not going to want to get out from under the covers tomorrow morning. It's supposed to be in the 20's by then, and it's the first day back to work after the Christmas break. I turned my alarm clock back on for the first time in 10 days I think. Ugh.

So Long Weekend-

Munchkin

I go back to work tomorrow after 5 days off, as usual it went faster than I thought it would. I made a whole chicken and stuffing in my crock-pot for Thanksgiving. It turned out pretty good, and it hit home that the stuffing really needs to be cooked with the bird. 

The temperature plunged overnight Friday to Saturday and the wind was really strong for most of yesterday. It was 23 degrees when I got up yesterday morning. I woke up at 2 o'clock this morning and it was 19 degrees! It's supposed to be below freezing for the next couple of nights, and then get back to normal by Wednesday. 

I have been working on my quilted pillow covers every day and am making progress, but am still cutting the pieces themselves as I go along. I am trying to be efficient and have somewhat of an assembly-line going so that I am ironing in one large group. It dawned on me when I was looking at this on the kitchen table a few days ago that the colors are the U of M colors ☺ Go Blue!

I watched the Thanksgiving Day episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee this morning. Jerry''s guest was a comedienne named Miranda Sings whom I'd never even heard of, but OMG it was hilarious. 

Sunny Sunday

26° when I woke up today. Our sunshine in the fall & winter here comes with the caveat of cold temperatures usually. It's been like this for a week,  but the weather is supposed to get back to mild & wet in a few days.

Life with Munchkin

Munchkin's First Day

It was 4 years ago today that I adopted Munchkin from Laurel Feed Store off of the Guide. I went in looking for a container to feed the deer, and I came home with a kitten instead.

He was in a cage by himself, apparently all of his siblings were adopted but him, and he was so full of energy and bouncing around I knew that he would make a great playmate for Boo. I debated with myself for 10 minutes about getting him, and couldn't bear the thought of him not going home with someone that day (I'm such a sucker for tigers). It was one of the best decisions I ever made, I love him to pieces.

Munchkin in the Italian Prune tree in 2010

It was super hot that day, and I ended up letting him out of the box in the car so he didn't suffocate. He explored the entire car by the time we got home. I wanted him to get assimilated with the other cats for a few days before I let him outside. Naturally the first day I did, he went straight up the Italian Prune tree 15 feet off the backdoor. My first thought was "Great!", thinking it would take me hours to get him down; he was about 25 feet up in a few seconds. But he surprised the heck out of me, and came down on his own within a few minutes. He doesn't climb trees as much now, but when he was little he did ALL the time. He was mostly chasing birds and squirrels thinking he could catch them, maybe he just is older and wiser now!

Munchkin July 2014

Gladiolus

Munchkin & Boo

I treated myself to some Gladiolus from Haggen this morning when I got my groceries. It was slim pickings in terms of the color selection, but these were beautiful, so it didn't matter.

It is a gorgeous day, warm but with a great breeze so the house has been cool enough to be comfortable. I had a really hard time getting to sleep last night. I'm not sure why, but I just woke up from an hour and half nap making up for it. A waste of the sunshine, but if I have the opportunity, I will give in, because I needed it. we are due for the whole rest of the week to be warm & sunny.

Munchkin