Winter Storm Watch

I'm ready.
Bring it.

Update, December 1, 2007, 8:00 pm: The snow and ice have started. I do not recommend the Full Moon though. Weird, metallic aftertaste. Better options out there for hunkering down.

Wednesday's Photo

i made u a piktchur, but i forgotted it.



Sylvie snoozes unaware of an intrepid squirrel just inches away, calculating the jump to the bird feeders (unsuccessfully, it turned out).

Sorry, Folks

Caucuses, primaries - forget about 'em. It's up to me to decide the 2008 election.



Yoda your grammar teacher is?

Pretty Little Silky Tea Sachets

Me mum gave me a canister of tea whilst I was en famille for Thanksgiving. The silky little sachets are really very pretty - and difficult to photograph.

The tea is yummy too with orange blossom honey.

Snow

Regularly Scheduled Program

Every morning now.

Starling Cloud

Route 422 westbound, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.

Moo

Cows near Elderton, PA.

On the Road

To grandmother's house I go.

Thanks

Ten Things I am Thankful for that Money Can Buy:

• Computer with connection to teh Internetz
• Food from the farmer's market
• Hot water
• Hot tea
• Bubble bath
• Pencils and paper
• Yarn and knitting needles
• Reliable transportation
• SmartWool socks
• Contraceptives

Ten Things I am Thankful for that Money Can't Buy:

• Furry purry Sylvie
• Friends who feed furry purry Sylvie while I'm away
• Literacy
• Birds
• Nearby woods with trail
• Low-crime neighborhood
• Sunshine on autumn leaves
• Snow
• Thunderstorms
• Krebs cycle

Ten Things I am Thankful that I Do Not Have:

• Warts
• Loved one in the hospital
• Terminal illness
• Long commute
• Abusive relationship
• Unsafe living conditions
• Food stamps
• Trolls on the blog
• Windows Vista
• First guy I ever thought I loved

Please

Marshall Ramsey, Jackson Mississippi, The Clarion Ledger

Obesity Epidemic

As a concession in the squirrel war, I put out a brick of seed for the persistent squirrel. Now Fatty here doesn't even run when I open the door. Shameful.

What Do These Pictures Have in Common?

(Other than that I took them and they have appeared on this blog)...











Today I found all of them, and others, have been taken from my Flickr pages and posted on other web sites. They are properly attributed to "Kimmijo" and linked back to my original photos, but finding them still kinda freaked me out a little.

I've been freaked out by a lot of things lately, and the five-week wait to get into to see a new doctor isn't helping my anxiety.

The selection of photos that were borrowed strikes me as odd. They're not the best photos on my Flickr account - prettier flowers, better compositions, and sexier legs have yet to be swiped for someone else's page. Clearly people like food pix though and "No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog" might be wrong.

Annual Holiday Gift Guide

Just in time for the Black Friday mosh pits - my round-up of the most striking gift ideas gathered from the Intertubes.

Take it to the opera or the zoo.
Just like toast!
Close your eyes and you're back in kindergarten all over again!

RuPaul '08

Oh, that's not what that bumper sticker said?

Birds on a Wire

Squirrel War

Before installation of squirrel baffle:


After installation of squirrel baffle:

How to Get to Heaven from Michigan

Before departure, adjust the wordspacing on "HEAVEN," then kern the space between the "A" and the "V." Seriously, you could drive a Hummer through there.

Take I-94 east to I-275 south to Detroit Metro Airport, McNamara Terminal.
Take Continental flight 6639. Change planes in Newark. Arrive London Gatwick.
Take train from Gatwick to Windermere.
Take coach from Windermere to Grasmere.
You might want to stop for some gingerbread.
Start walking trail to northwest.
Keep going.
When you don't see any other people and fluffy sheep of clouds make racing cheetah spots on the hills, sit down and look at the glint off some distant lake.
*sigh*

Get Your War On

A symbol of religio-politico-ideologico-cultural conflict.

Two local radio stations started 24/7 Christmas carols - twelve days ago.
Fa la la la la.

My fundie-Catholic coworker started ranting about the "war on Christmas" already too. 'Cuz nothing's more Christ-like, humble, and full of good will than to get angry at the cashier at Rite-Aid for saying, "Happy holidays." So angry that you huffily report the indignity you suffered to your hapless coworkers a day later, which is what FCC did weekly last year.

Until I met FCC, I didn't even know Catholics could be fundies. All the Catholics I know are practicing atheists.

I don't want to put up with it this year. We are a donor-supported non-profit service agency and aren't even supposed to decorate the office. I don't want to be confrontational, because I don't want to add to the strife, but I may start talking to supervisors about appropriate workplace conversations. And then I'm going to go meditate with the Buddhists until the season of ideologues peace is over.

You Must Be This Tall To Ride This Ride

I suspect the Russian headline had something to do with this.

Eating Locally

All of this food grew up within 20 miles of my home, and that makes me really happy to eat it. I'm especially pleased to have made the acquaintance of the folks who raised and butchered the chickens (I bought two). They live out by where D. first showed me the snow buntings.

The other thing I like about farmers' markets: the fresh vegetables cost me $5 total. There's enough arugula in that bag for me to have salad for four or five days. And the cute little cabbage was only a quarter.

Update, 6:40 pm:



Don't fear the parsnip. I mashed one with two of the leeks and a potato.
I give the recipe three forks up.

Another Thrill-A-Minute Friday Night at the Kimmijo Abode

Milestone

In the wee hours of this morning, Hawk in the Rain logged its 2007th visit.

НАРЦИССЫ ТРУБЧАТЫЕ

I bought a package of anemone bulbs on sale today, and was intrigued to find that the flower name was translated as "tubular narcissus" in Russian. Narcissus in Russian is the same as narcissus in English - a daffodil (only in Cyrillic), so I'm a little baffled.

Stripes with Plaid

Last year, in a fit of desperation at being unable to find a pair of grown-up girl shoes my size in any store at the mall, I bought a cheap plasticky pair of loafers out of the little girl section. When I saw REI had an online sale on Dansko clogs my size last month, I snapped up a pair for casual business work day wear.

I was glad to set aside the little loafers, with their heart-and-key charm accents. However, I have discovered that most of my pants have been hemmed while wearing some other pair of shoes. I am waiting for certain coworkers to tease me about wearing floods. The comfy Danskos seem to show an inordinate amount of sock.

This is fine by me, because I love socks. I have an entire drawerful of socks that have been longing to see the light. Holiday socks, traditional Scandinavian patterned socks, socks with cardinals and pine boughs on them, socks with cats and fish on them, socks I knit myself with deliberately mismatched stripes. All now much more on display than before. The rooster socks have been worn so much they're threatening to chicken out at the heels.

In the absence of any plain socks, today I opted for this combination of argyle socks with striped trousers. They remind me of a favorite quotation, which I've posted before but deserves to be repeated:

Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.

– Albert Einstein

Ducky

For a brochure project for class.

Yay! Red-Breasted Nuthatch!

And a goldfinch.
Chickadees found the seed block first.

Gearing up for impending squirrel war.

College Football Saturday

I miss P. He would have enjoyed the cheap beer paired with the vegetarian chili.

Hot Toddy

You can't see it, but there's a generous dollop of the cheapest Canadian whisky I could find in the tea, along with lemon and a spoonful of honey.

'Night y'all.

Golden Sun

November light filtered through a maple.