Oliver's antics ...

Don't be fooled by his feigned innocence here.
(L-R Gracie, Oliver, Calliope, Lucy)

He somehow got an air fern out of this bottle,
in the kitchen window, without
knocking down or breaking anything else.

 I should have named him Houdini.

On top of the china cabinet.

Contemplating eating my
faux tree.

These are some of my house plants,
in for the winter months.

He ate HALF of my Copper Spoons succullent!
It was already struggling to come back after a late frost 
this past spring when I was too eager to get everything back outside.

On top of the kitchen cabinets!

Teaching Lucy bad habits!!!

Sunday ...

A practice in layering color.
Yellow, pink, purple and blue.
What looks like an orange house
is actually pink over yellow.

     Two interviews last week, one offer for a job which I accepted because "almost nothing" is better than nothing.  But I'm still believing that the something better offer is coming from the second interview.  It will still be a few weeks before I actually start training and get to work.

    It was cold and windy on Saturday when I volunteered again at the art gallery downtown.  Fortunately, the wind is gone today, but the cold has stayed.  I'm hoping that the weatherization program will call soon to start work.  I'm trying to prepare the house as much as possible before winter really hits.

    Diwali begins today, and Bipan remains on my heart.  I'm praying that the blue tsunami and the flip of parties in Texas will have him released before his birthday later in the month.  The horror stories that pop up in my social media feed occasionally of how the "detainees" are being treated are terrifying.  At least prisoners of war had the protections of the Geneva Convention.  Here, they have had no such protection.  War crimes against our own country's residents, legal or otherwise... should be a crime in itself.

    But I feel so much hope for the future of our country after Tuesday's election results.qa

A winter variation on the houses.

    In the week ahead, I have a long overdue dermatology appointment.  The foolishness of my youth, living in Florida, and hoping my freckles would one day become a permanent tan.

    Charlie has been gone almost two months which feels both like yesterday and forever.  Calliope has come out of her skitty kitty shell and is much more present and vocal.  I had a similar tortoiseshell cat (Cali) decades ago who did not take well to the dogs I got after we had moved from California to Florida.  Her fear eventually led to her demise (she became too afraid to eat even when she had her own food and water bowls in the closet where she preferred to hide), and I wonder now if it is a characteristic of tortoiseshells to be exceptionally sensitive to change.  

    Oliver is such a boy, I should have named him Denise the Menace.  I'm constantly squirting him to keep him off the plants now that they are in for the winter, and he has become a bit of a brush thief ~ whether makeup or paint it makes no difference.  I've had to get plastic boxes to keep him from getting to both of them.   The girls (Gracie, Lucy & Calliope) are mostly perfect angels.  Gracie spends more time sleeping than in the past, she's 14 now, and Lucy (10) is a pushy old broad who demands her head scratches and back massages.  Calliope mostly has her head in the clouds and reminds me a lot of Luna from Harry Potter.  But they leave the plants and my brushes alone.

    Until next week ... don't let the demanding old broads push you too far ... (as I get up to see who is hissing and growling in the other room) ... 🐈 Ci

    

Whimsical ...

Not content with getting a toy,
 out of the box,
Oliver had to pull all the toys out.

     My doctor appointments went well a week ago.  My knee has been signed off on with a "come in if any pain or issues," so I'm free to continue doing everything I already was.  Blood work for my 2nd visit of the morning came back all normal.  I've even managed to lose more than ten pounds in the last six months without trying.  I'm not sure yet if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but I'm watching it now.  I do not want a repeat of 2021.

  The rest of the week was quiet and uneventful, even Halloween.  No trick-or-treaters here.  I got my front herb garden cut back and ready for winter.  Basil is the only one I'm not sure will come back next year.  The rest of them (rosemary, German thyme, lemon thyme, sage and oregano) all came back this year, stronger than ever.  But I didn't plant any basil until this summer.  I know in some climates it is a perennial but think it might be an annual in my zone.

    I signed up for a local Methodist church's Christmas event this afternoon called "Christmas Mother."  It is geared towards seniors, and also single parents, and parents in need.  I'm not sure exactly why I signed up since I haven't really celebrated Christmas in several years, since leaving the cult church in WV, and honestly, I've not missed it.  What I've missed is Christmas in Germany.  That's the "season" I've missed.  The markets, the smells, the flavors, the joy.  It's not something I can easily describe because it is a feeling, and not a feeling I've ever felt here in the states.  We make Christmas so commercialized I saw it sneaking into stores and onto shelves the weeks before Halloween.

    When they asked what I wanted for Christmas, I was unprepared.  I was happy enough to learn that I'd get a $50 grocery store gift card.  My "wants" and "needs" are miles apart at this time in my life.  I don't even dare to think of things I want anymore.  I can't afford to.  I told her cat litter, and she looked at me a little oddly.  "Really?"  "Yes, the clumping slide out kind."  "Isn't there anything else you want?"  "I guess watercolor paints.  Maybe a Walmart gift card for toiletries."  How does one answer a question like that?  It made me feel rather old and Scrooge-y or Grinch-y.  How does one fill out a Christmas wish list when there are no more Sears Christmas catalogs to turn down page corners and put a little star by a particular item?  "I'd like a job, please.  And a stair railing for my front porch steps, and a better, metal one along the house for the back steps to the basement.  Even with a new knee, I'm afraid of falling on both sets of stairs.  I'd like new thermal curtains for my two rooms with seven windows ~ a neutral stone beige color, 63" long, with grommets ~ to help keep my house warmer in the winter months.  Walmart has them for $14 a pair.  Maybe seven is too many to ask for, so I'd be thrilled with just two sets for the bedroom." Where does one draw the line between wants and needs, and how does someone who spent more than one (marriage) lifetime taking care of others learn that it's okay to ask for something for myself or something whimsical.  "Could I sign up instead for someone who can dig a proper French drain on the side of my house that floods the basement when it rains?"

    I'm sincerely not trying to be flip and really truly am grateful for even the smallest amount of assistance they can offer (the grocery gift card will be a great help alone because $25 in food stamps doesn't go far in this economy).  I know that this is probably a lesson for me to learn in how to be more whimsical and less old biddy.  There is a woman on Instagram I follow (@undercoverkindnessgnomes) who reminds me that when I write up my 13 Wishes (@vanessaandheriphone) in December for the Universe that I need to be less practical and more whimsical.  Especially since last December's wishes were all way too practical and zero have been granted so far this year.

    Whimsy is my 2027 word of the year ... I'm going to start practicing it now ... stay fun out there ~ 💜Ci

Watercolors ...

We are on bear-alert locally.
I caught these five on Monday...

 

Watercolor fun on Wednesday...