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Post by Phalon on Dec 15, 2020 9:02:19 GMT -6
I thought Little Hellfire B!tch was going to make an appearance the other day as I was working on my craft project (which is still not completed, btw. Urgh.). I have to admit with all the pieces spread out on the kitchen table, to a cat, it must have looked like a Smorgasbord of Things that Must be Destroyed. As I made more things to be destroyed, I see little black ears and big green eyes peering above the edge of the table directly across from me - nothing more, just ears and eyes, because to show more of herself would be to give away her invisibility.
Then ever so s-l-o-w-l-y a paw appears and starts sliding across the table toward the Things that Must be Destroyed. "Eh-eh-eh" I say in a sing-songy way, which is the polite way to say in Catspeak, "Don't you dare touch my *&^%$ing stuff!" The paw is withdrawn from the table as slowly as it appears. A few seconds later, Invisible Cat's invisible paw slides across the table again ever so s-lo-w-l-y. We played the "eh-eh-eh" game at least a dozen times before she gives me a "Meowrph" of resignation, curls up on the chair, and with Little Hellfire B!tch kept at bay, Little Beastie goes to sleep.
Oh! How fun! Maybe not for you having to run around looking for them (except scavenger hunts are fun), but what a neat little gift Steppette gives, and a fun thing to receive too! Mom always used to put a book of stamps in our grown-up kid stockings.
I know what you mean, though - I was looking for holiday stamps the other day when I was at the post office. Oh, I've got stamps that literally scream "Holiday!" - screeching cats, wailing ghosts, eeeeking bats, and whatever sound scary spiders make. But yeah, ghosts and bats don't exactly convey the same type of holiday message that a peaceful wintry scene does. That's the stamps I wanted - "Winter Scenes" of snow-covered barns, cardinals, bluejays, deer in a snowy forest type thing. They were sold out of them, so I got Christmas stamps...and it'll be summer and I'll still be mailing out things with bats and ghosts and santas and Christmas cookies.
A trail cam - yes, that's what it's called. Whatever I called it, it's kind of like describing something as a "thingie" when you can't think of its actual name. And yes, you should get one - it's been a lot of fun, and what a sweet thing for you to do for your neighbor! I mentioned Hubs got an inexpensive one, which would probably be enough to capture photos of the deer, but I kind of wish we would have went for a more expensive one - or maybe just a more sensitive one, because the one thing I've really wanted night photos of, the camera hasn't picked up - the owl that flies through the ravine at night like a ghostly shadow. I think it's too fast for the camera to adjust focus and snap a picture...a lot of times, there are photos with absolutely nothing that would move in them. Same thing during the day - I think a bird flies into the frame, but by the time the motion detector triggers the camera, the bird is gone. We did get some kind of interesting pictures recently though...of squirrel butt. Too shy to show its face for the camera maybe, a squirrel faced the opposite direction with its tail straight up, right in front of the camera - like maybe three inches in front of the camera, sitting on a limb of the tree on which the camera was strapped. It was kind of funny, and it's fun to see what goes on in your yard when you're not looking.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 17, 2020 8:19:03 GMT -6
TA-FFFing-DA!!!! I am done - finally! - with my craft project! I had decided I needed a wreath inside the house next to my front door, and on a whim, I decided to make one out of pages from old books - I've been wanting to do some kind of craft using book pages for a long time. I drilled and found gobs and gobs of ideas of how to use books pages for wreaths. This is the one I chose because it looked easier than a lot of the others, and out of the others that looked easy to make, I liked the way this one looked....sort of. www.diyncrafts.com/99331/decor/pretty-paper-rolls-wreath-made-from-old-book-pagesI only sort of liked it because too me, it looked skimpy - I like a more fffer wreath - fuller, fluffier, and frillier. And although I liked the contrast in colors, I also wasn't too keen on the wide striped look with the gold paper that's shown in the example. So...I ended up turning an "easy" "simple" project that was supposed to take a "total time of 30 minutes" to complete (Bwwwah-ha-ha-ha! <----insane laughter) into a painstakingly tedious and time-sucking "when is this ever going to end?" endeavor that took hours and hours...and more hours to finish. At least it was free - almost, I already had everything I needed except the wreath ring, which was only a few dollars in the craft section of the grocery store. But I have tons of old books, and a big pad of heavy cream-colored paper with a muted gold zig-zag pattern like Charlie Brown's shirt that I had purchased years ago on clearance, thinking it'd be good for some kind of craft yet-to-be determined at the time. To make this mother-fffing wreath more fffingly difficult, I cut the strips thinner, placed the pages closer together on the wreath ring, and because I didn't like the stripes in the example wreath, I alternated the cream and gold paper with the book pages by using two book pages to every one cream-and-gold band, so the different colors are all interspersed. The example says the project takes "20-25 pages". Bwwwah-ha-ha-ha! <-----more insane laughter. I ended up using 80 pages on the same size wreath ring. That's 1,760 strips I cut, and 1,840 strips I glued, before even putting them on the ring. At least I used a paper cutter, unlike in the example in which she uses scissors - I couldn't cut one straight line, let alone 1,760 of them! But it's finally done! And it's one big-@ss FFFing wreath that looks nothing like the how-to example; I don't even know that it would be recognizable as the same project. But I have to admit, it is FFFing gorgeous.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 24, 2020 9:29:01 GMT -6
Here we are – Christmas Eve! It’s hard for me to believe it’s here already. Christmas celebrations might a little bit – or a lot different this year, depending on one’s circumstances, but despite the craziness and uncertainty of this past year, December 25th still arrives, right on schedule. Doing most of my shopping on-line – and even getting it done early! - there was no last minute running around. Gifts were wrapped as they were delivered…if they were delivered. A book I ordered for LX has been sitting somewhere in a post office in New Jersey since December 3rd, “received” but never marked as “accepted” by the post office per the on-line tracking. I received an e-mail notification that a different book order was never processed, is in the process of being reprocessed and would be arriving late – strange since the book has been wrapped and under the tree since we put up the tree. Though there’s the glittered toilet paper roll ornament that I lovingly made for LX …and evidence of it spread throughout the house, because though I’ve vacuumed countless times since making it, I keep finding glitter everywhere…it is the only ornament wrapped and under the tree; the ornaments I ordered for each of the kids are still somewhere in the shipping chain. Hubs’ gift hasn’t even shipped yet.
Disappointed that I won’t be able to give these gifts to my family on Christmas Day, but not upset about it. It was kind of even expected – I know there’s an influx of on-line ordering this year, shippers might be overwhelmed, and the postal service is doing everything it can to get packages delivered. The gifts will come when they come, and I’ll still be excited to give them.
Not one to send out many Christmas cards, I sent out a few more than I have in the past few years, but my mailing list was different – the only cards I sent were to people who, because of their health issues or the health of their spouses, have felt particularly isolated this year due to the pandemic. This past weekend, I decorated the inside of the house. I hadn't put up any decorations inside except for the Christmas tree, the Paper Wreath from Hell, and the few bouquets of greenery and berries that I made earlier. I hadn't planned on doing anything more inside since this year, with everyone social distancing, there will be no friends or neighbors dropping in for coffee or drinks. But the heck with it I decided! I missed the festiveness of the decorations, and even though I didn't go all out, seeing what I did put up, makes me happy. Hubs too - he said it makes the house look all warm, cozy and "homey". The compliment made me smile because Hubs isn't one to notice stuff like that, though "homey" I think is a weird word to use - what else is a home if not homey? “Homey” I think of as a word to describe a place that isn’t home, but has the inviting atmosphere that feels like home - like a warm and friendly coffee shop, general store, inn, or bookstore. Basically any place featured in an idyllic small town in a Hallmark Christmas movie, in which all problems are solved in the 90 minutes it takes for the movie depict the week’s span leading up to Christmas. The same formula works for Hallmark in all of their Christmas cookie-cutter movies. Real life though, does not adhere to the Hallmark's formula, especially when a raging virus is out there, everyone feeling its affects in big or small ways. Though Hallmark Christmas movie plots are formulaic, with one movie pretty much indistinguishable from the next, and even though it’s kinda cheesy, their messages of love, hope, kindness, promises of a better tomorrow, along with a happy ending are maybe what we could all use a little bit more of this year.
Peace, love, hugs, and Merry Christmas to all.
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Post by katina2nd on Dec 24, 2020 22:09:19 GMT -6
Like to wish one and all a very Merry Christmas, not your usual Christmas day thanks to you know what, but still an excellent one hopefully.
3pm here so will have to start thinking about whipping up some vittles shortly, Turkey, Plum pud and a bottle of plonk sounds about right.
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Post by stepper on Dec 25, 2020 6:50:43 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 25, 2020 10:59:56 GMT -6
Merry Christmas 🎄🎁
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Post by Phalon on Dec 28, 2020 9:11:22 GMT -6
Not sure what a "bottle of plonk" is Katina, but it sounds fun...like something one would raise a glass of to cheer the day.
Hope you all had plenty of Christmas Cheer. We certainly did here, despite some early setbacks - the snowy roads that turned an hour drive for LX and the Boyfriend into an hour and 45 minutes, and a hot water heater that went out at BP and her boyfriend's rental that sent them here for showers and then back home to let the repairman in (I'd hate to see what the landlord was charged for sending out a repairman to replace the water heater on Christmas day!). All ended up well though, and we spent a wonderful Christmas together...
...and afterward, Hubs and I spent the rest of the weekend lounging around, not doing much of anything except being stuffed from eating leftovers!
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Post by Phalon on Dec 1, 2021 8:44:01 GMT -6
OMG! It's December 1st, and the Christmas clock has officially started ticking away.
HA! Ha, ha, ha! I took my porch lights and other decorations down the day before Thanksgiving - my Halloween lights. I thought about leaving them up to serve as Christmas lights, but figured orange and purple doesn't necessarily invoke a Christmasy feel....and because I didn't want to hear LX says - "Mom-um", ("Mom" is always two syllables when Mom is doing something weird), "I can't believe you still have your Halloween decorations up - it's Thanksgiving.
Not quite sure what I'm going to do as far as decorations inside the house yet - with BP and her cats living here now, it's kind of up in the air. One, stuff we brought home from her apartment is everywhere in the room where we normally have the tree...and still there's more stuff to bring home from the apartment, and honestly, I don't know where we're doing to store it. Secondly, along with her, and all her stuff came her two cats - a brother and sister Maine coon mix. They're still kittens really - 8-months old and into everything. They are sooo, sooo bad, especially the boy, and I'm constantly telling him, "it's a good thing you are so cute, because how can I get mad at that sweet, sweet face of yours?" Maybe this year, we'll just put up a lighted tree with non-breakable ornaments.
I'd say you were bragging....but knowing you, I'm surprised you're not completely done and have everything in the mail already.
I have a few gifts purchased - just little things I saw here and there, mostly stocking stuff. I went out to do some shopping yesterday, and added to the "little things" but struck out with most of what I was looking for - I have specifics in mind, and yesterday was one of those "I wish I would have bought it when I saw it" kind of shopping endeavors. I'll have to start in earnest online today.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 5, 2021 8:26:59 GMT -6
Whoo-hoo! Go Blue!
Hubs needs a new winter coat. Check. I got that earlier this week.
Basket of his favorite snacking goodies is a Christmas gift staple - I'll peruse the grocery store aisles and specialty shops closer to Christmas eve for that.
But what else? He is always the hardest one to shop for on my Christmas list.
The Michigan Wolverines solved the problem last night, winning the Big Ten Championship game against Iowa State.
Ordered Michigan B1G Ten Champions gear for him early this morning!
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Post by Phalon on Dec 10, 2021 8:26:24 GMT -6
Who knew cats like Christmas so much?
I was wrapping gifts the other night. All the cats decided to give me a helping paw or four. The Bad Boy was the most ever-so-helpful, letting me know I'd chosen the wrong wrapping paper for a particular gift by running off with the entire piece I'd just cut from the roll, and promptly shredded it with teeth and claws. One of the books I'd gotten for BP has teeth marks in it - I'm not sure if this is a sign of approval or disapproval.
I filled a big basket of various kinds of pine cones I'd collected at the nursery. Pine cones are apparently cat toys. The basket is noticeably less full, and there are pine cones scattered through every room in the house.
We've yet to figure out the Christmas tree situation yet.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 18, 2021 8:18:36 GMT -6
I was feeling a bit of holiday stress the other day. I had all kinds of stuff partially completed, but nothing was done...or even seemed close to being done for that matter.
I'd gone out to the nursery a week ago Friday to cut some evergreen boughs, red twig dogwood branches, and holly berries to decorate the front porch. There was an inch or so of snow that had fallen the night before, but the sun was shining, and I had the entire place to myself. Peaceful bliss.
I cut enough greenery to make three large urn arrangements and fill the wall basket next to the front door. Gorgeous! Lights went up on the porch railings, a huge basket of pine cones on the porch table, some fake-but-natural-looking garland twined around a finial statue at the top of the stairs, and it all was looking very festive. Then Saturday we had 50 mph winds. The decorations made it through intact for the most part except for one of the big urns out front had blown over. Hubs up-righted it after the wind calmed, but it got windy again, and the whole thing was destroyed. Minor setback. I just filled a smaller urn with the salvageable boughs and berries, all was good.
Until you came through the front door! Boxes of ornaments, wrapping paper, stray pine-cones-turned-cat-toys everywhere I looked - everything in just a general state of disarray, and I couldn't seem to get a handle on it. The Christmas tree has been a nightmare - or rather, the kittens in the tree has been a nightmare. We only put lights on it for the first couple of days, and when they seemed fairly fine with that, added some non-breakable ornaments. I only have a dozen or so that aren't glass - to include the infamous glitter covered toilet paper roll LX made me when she was three, and a gold painted macaroni tree that BP made at about the same age. Every morning, I'd come down the stairs and find half the ornaments strewn across the floor. The mostly naked tree was looking ugly, ornament boxes were cluttering the room, and I couldn't stand it. Yesterday I said the heck with it, and decorated the tree. Or at least 3/4 of the tree - the bottom quarter is nothing but lights and velvet bows that the kittens seem to have no interest in destroying. At least not yet. I only used about a third of the ornaments we have - none of Mom's are on there; I couldn't bare to lose those - and no garland (too tempting for little paws), so the tree is not as full as it normally is (Hubs always says we have too many ornaments anyway...until it's all decorated, and then he says we've got the most beautiful tree ever). It's still a beautiful tree. All the presents are wrapped, and the room is in order.
It's very weird to me that such a little thing can relieve so much of the stress I was feeling. I've still got a lot to do before Christmas, but have a different attitude now, and am back to enjoying the wait-til-the-last-minute holiday rush.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 26, 2021 4:25:26 GMT -6
There was an abundance of Christmas movies shown on T.V., of course - actually an over-abundance. I read that Hallmark was having a contest revolving around who could stomach...er, I mean watch and tweet (positively, I'm assuming) about all the new Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel; I didn't watch a single one. The classics though were missing, except on Turner Classic Movies, which is a channel we don't get. My all time favorite Christmas story is "A Christmas Carol", and every Christmas season, I catch as many versions of the story as I can, often staying up until 1 or 2am to do so, because they tend to play the older versions late at night. Not a single one aired though, at least, not to my knowledge. On Christmas day, the kids rented the Disney version with Jim Carey's voice as Scrooge, and even though it's not my favorite, except for that weird, extended chase scene in the middle, it does stay true to Dickens' story the most out of any of the movies, I think. I did watch the new version that FX did in conjunction with the BBC; I saw it one and a half times because the first time, I fell asleep about an hour and a half into it (it was a three-hour movie!), woke up to watch the last twenty minutes, and was like 'what the heck just happened?!!', so I had to catch the whole thing again just to see how the ending fit in with the story. I liked it, but it veered so far from Dickens' classic tale that it was almost like it wasn't "A Christmas Carol" at all. Did any of you guys watch it?
Well, I finally watched the three hour FX version. It’s been on my DVR, just waiting for me to make time to watch it. I enjoyed it. And I had wondered just how closely it had followed the book. I didn’t delete it just yet. Debating on whether or not I’ll ever watch it again. I might, but only once more. We shall see.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 27, 2021 7:39:29 GMT -6
I caught three versions of A Christmas Carol on T.V. this season - the FX version wasn't one of them, which was disappointing to me. Even though it's so different than Dickens' original story, I like the FX version...maybe because it's so different. I saw that it was airing on FXM on cable a couple of times this past week, but we don't get that channel. I think it's still showing on Hulu, and although Christmas is over, I'll have to try to remember to watch it.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 27, 2021 21:25:39 GMT -6
Maybe I should keep it on my DVR a little longer, and try to see if I can record it with my DVD recorder.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 12, 2022 11:10:39 GMT -6
Ah, it's that time again - the Holiday rush.
Taking little breaks posting here - from (what seems like) the hundreds of Christmas preparations I've got going on in (what seems like) every room in the house!
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Post by Phalon on Dec 19, 2022 15:12:26 GMT -6
Done!!! At least, I think I'm done. Pretty much. Kinda sorta.
Everything is wrapped and under the tree, the house is decorated (though not as much as usual, because I got such a late start), greenery and berries are out, and the front porch is all lit. Stocking are hung on the cabinet with care...because we don't have a chimney.
I went to the grocery store early this morning, got everything for Christmas dinner (and for grazing throughout the day), gift cards, and last minute stocking-stuffers. Even went to the post office to mail my niece's and nephew's gift - and was there early enough to avoid standing in line.
But I have yet to write a Christmas card - though I bought them weeks ago. I gotta get to that tomorrow!
And anything else that's slipping my mind. Any last minute things I have to do around the house though, I've got an extra day to do them. We're celebrating on the 26th this year; BP has to work Christmas Eve, and LX has to work Christmas Day.
Now, if I can only remember what's left to do that I'm forgetting.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 19, 2022 23:10:11 GMT -6
I've been working on small posters for my sister's kids and grandkids. I have their full name at the top left of the poster, and their birth date at the top right of the poster. Down the left side of the poster I have the letters of their name, and then a word that starts with that letter. To the right of each word, I have a quote I create. I was going to also print out copies for my sister to have as well.
Such as:
B is for Bold. -- May you have the strength to stand up for yourself and others. R is for Rage. -- May you only lose your temper when it is called for. I is for Illusion. -- May you always see the truth behind the lies. A is for Awesome. -- May you be the best you can be. N is for Normal. -- May you know that being weird isn't a bad thing.
I don't think I'm going to have them ready for Christmas. Well, I don't have the time to upload them to a site to print and ship to me before Christmas. I can print them out on Matted Photo paper I have though. Not as good quality as it would be if I had had time to order them.
I'm thinking I might do individual names to sell on Etsy. Printify can connect to Etsy, and print and ship them out. If friends ask me for full names, I'd create private shops where they could purchase the finished product.
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