Tuesday, January 7, 2020

miscellaneous stuff


One more day. My sister is returning tomorrow but not until late so one more day to look after the Demon Duo. They will be glad to have her back. I haven't minded because I get about an uninterrupted 45 minutes or so to read while they play or lay in my lap. It does play hob with my routine since I like a leisurely morning and going over in the middle of the day breaks it up just enough that I don't get much else accomplished but it is my choice when to go.


Speaking of routines, I've done my yoga routine 5 days in a row now. Yay me! I used to wait until after coffee and reading and writing blogs and before breakfast but always ran out of time so now I've been doing it first thing after getting up and before I sit at my desk and have my coffee and that seems to be working out.

When Marc gassed up the car and had the oil changed the other day, the guy discovered a big rat's nest under the hood. We drive that car nearly every day so that surprised the hell out of me. Now I'm wondering if there's one under the hood of the truck as it rarely gets driven these days. I suppose I should look but haven't so far.

We've been having a spate of really pretty days, not too hot during the day, not too cold at night, blue skies and low humidity, just really pleasant. The downside is we aren't getting our winter rain and we could really use some. The other downside is all the early spring weeds are already rampant in the yard...chickweed, cleaver, clover, henbit, oxalis, etc. The woodland violets are blooming and the 10 petal anemone are emerging but not blooming yet. The climbing roses in the crepe myrtle and oak are blooming but I can't tell if this is their fall bloom or their spring bloom.


The place I found out here in Wharton, Hesed House, that has yoga classes and other community activities and lectures and stuff is having a six week series of free classes on Watercolors For The Beginner (for adults) so I signed up for the Wednesday classes which start tomorrow. I'm not exactly a beginner artist but I have never taken watercolor classes. I'm sure I'll learn something and it will be an opportunity to engage in a broader range of art or it may be so basic that I'll be bored. We'll see.

I just took the dog out to see if she had some business to do while I watered the poppies before the dip into the 30˚s tonight and looked up to see her hauling ass across the 12 acre field behind us chasing that gray cat into the scrub on the other side. She ran full out without a thought but coming back she slowly picked her way with her dainty feet.

And now I'm going to go finish my book.




16 comments:

  1. Yaaaayyyy! Unless I do my yoga routine first thing in the morning, there is rarely another time for it. I actually like the long stretches of clouds and rain here throughout the year but when I look at your photos, I remember how much I liked growing up on the bay side of the San Francisco peninsula where winter was mostly sunny with blue skies, not too hot, not too cold, with flowers blooming, and cats sleeping outside in the sunshine.

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  2. Those two cats seem so content in their lot. I suppose the Duo Sisters have a different story.

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    1. nope, we get along well though she does tend to pull the big sister card now and then.

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  3. the roses are so delicate and tender, and the blue sky nearly makes me weep! Just beautiful and such a welcomed sight.

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  4. I am in a bad mood this morning. I guess it froze last night and I didn't even cover my plants. Also? It's cold in my house. I think my husband is going to "research" new heaters until spring at which point we won't need one.
    On the other hand, it is a beautiful day.

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    1. well, it will put off the expense for another year and who knows, maybe by next winter you won't need one, not that that's a good thing.

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  5. There is snow on my pansies but the fact that I still have pansies this time of year is a sweet thing. How nice that you are seeing the beginnings of spring in your backyard. It is such an encouraging sight.

    I am pretty sure that I would not want to look under the hood of your truck. A family of rats is not a sweet thing. Maybe that is a job for the Demon Duo.

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    1. way too early for spring. and you'd think my little rat terrier would have disposed of any rats around here.

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  6. I keep trying to stick to my exercise routines, but I fail again and again. That does not mean I will stop trying!!

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  7. Kudos to you on your yoga routine! And omg a rats nest under the car hood. I hope it was empty?

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    1. I imagine that if it was in the nest when he started up the car it abandoned it as soon as it could.

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  8. Strange how animals will haul ass running but walk back as if they are trying to avoid hot coals. I haven't done any Tai Chi in close to five years and I went through a whole routine of 24 or was it 26 steps Monday? Can't remember how many steps but it felt really good. I've never tried the longer versions which go something like 60 to 100 steps.

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    1. I'd like to do Tai Chi but it would have to be self taught and I'd rather go to a class to learn.

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  9. Rats under the bonnet! Was there no smell?

    I do a kind of yoga routine, max. 15 min - after the first cup of tea, after the shower - to get rid off my morning stiffness. Mostly stretching and copre muscles. The cheapest, easiest stuff but hey, daily!
    Spring here or maybe late autumn, whatever. Marigolds and aster and sweet william just keep flowering. Almonds about to.

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    1. nope, no smell. everything is screwy. the plants don't know what season it is.

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  10. You saw where one of our azaleas was blooming - crazypants! And alarming... For about 5 years now every time we have unseasonably warm days in winter I start getting anxious.

    I should really incorporate yoga into my routine. Except I don't have a routine. Ha!

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