Lovely, Dark, and Deep
This is an Unhosted Cafe.
but Izzy will be here later.
but Izzy will be here later.
Coffee & Tea under the window.
Goodies on the platters.
Goodies on the platters.
|
Newspapers are in their regular spot next to the door.
|
Please recommend (and unrecommend the Cafe/Lounge from earlier)
|
May the 4’s be with you
It’s almost 8pm Wed. down in Tasmanina.
I have a phone conference for a magazine I edit in a few minutes, so I just dropped in to say good night and good morning all.
And not to drop another Thursday Dog Blogging teaser?
Hi Andi, hi everybody. You know, since the last dustup, I have become withdrawn here on Bootrib, but I’m still here. I freely admit it, I really miss you all. Andi, I love your new avatar. I suppose I missed all your vacation pictures. It would be wonderful if you could post a few for this wayward pond resident. I so love your photos (am I sucking up enough?) 🙂 Perhaps I could take a few new horsie pics today and post them tomorrow. We’re about a week away from new baby gosling photos. Momma’s been on the nest for 3 weeks now (and she’s in a rotton mood lately). Gotta go work in my garden today. Just had to drop in and say howdy.
I’ve missed you too but at least I get to read your comments in the news bucket.
I hope you take a break from your gardening and stop back by to see this link to some photos from our spring trip to Utah. You can see bigger versions by clicking on the individual photo or select the slide show and see all the bigger versions.
New horse and duck pics would be greatly appreciated. 🙂
Oh, Andi, they are breathtaking… and I didn’t even look at the larger versions yet. I bookmarked the page for later. Lots of blue dot shots. Utah is truely God’s country, haina or no? (proper answer is ‘haina’… it’s a local double negative variation of ain’t. A few years ago a local radio station had a song ‘The Haina Family’ sung to The Adams Family theme song)
Dey go ta Sain Ubaldo
ta eat a pizza fritta
and get a cuppa caffee, da Haina Family…
Later…
Good to see you again. Come back often. I tend to treat the Froggy Bottom as a blog within the blog and not tied into the nastiness that occasionally goes on elsewhere. Even when I become disenchanted with various aspects of the bigger picture at Booman, this place is always a point of refuge.
Hiya Nag,
I tend to agree with KMc. I figure the pond is a refuge from the other stuff that swirls around us and gives us a chance to remember what really matters — friends, family, flowers, sunsets, cats and music.
Oh, and apparently hockey, beer and not-so-subtle innuendo.
Personally I would like to see the Cafe as a place where, no matter what we think of each others’ opinions on the rest of the site, we can come in here, relax, have some good conversation and remember that behind those obnoxious opinions there are real people doing real things. Of course it doesn’t always work that way, but why not strive for an ideal?
Yup, I think you’ve got it exactly.
What AndiF said.
And for Nag: I’ve only ever seen one person foolishly drag a disagreement into the cafe, and that person no longer posts here.
Thanks, Omir… I think that you and KMc are right. Here in the cafe you can just kick off your shoes, relax, and enjoy a little conversation without having to worry about anything else.
Good morning, Andi and keres.
Ouch, what happened in the lounge last night? I have a pouding headache.
What happens in the lounge stays in the lounge — even if it was what happened to you.
Good morning, ask.
True, and I can’t be the only one. It’s very quiet here this morning.
It does seem like everybody slept in today…
Who wants to be in a stuffy cafe when it’s so nice out?
Did you go for your walk with the dogs already?
No, I had to take Jim to school because he’s going on a field trip till Friday. But I think I’m going to switch to walking in the mornings starting tomorrow.
That’s a long field trip…does he like going on them?
CBtE has his 3-day field trip next week, and I think CBtY is looking forward to being an only child for a few days. I’m looking forward to sleeping past 6 AM those days. 🙂
He’s been doing it for years — it’s a nature education program run by Indiana University. The teachers and the Center work together to design a specific curriculum of activities and education for the class.
That looks and sounds great. CBtE’s trip is a nature education thing at Cape Henlopen in Delaware.
That does sound like something he’d love! Nature and teaching! 🙂
Nothing to see here, move along
Good Morning, Folks. Not much time to chat today. Have to get ready for work. I just needed my cup of java and then shower and off for a day of sweat at the shop…:o)
HOpe this finds you all well and doing fine and getting into the spring of things.
It is finally getting the temp of spring around here. The trees are really lovely and green with their leaves…have been like this for a couple of months or so now. The flowers are blooming and good god my rose climber is so full of red roses!
Hugs and good to have a few words with you all this morning.
Early spring and early fall are my two favorite times of year. The combination of pleasant weather and nature making transitions seem irresistable.
Have a fine, fine day.
Odd to make it in the morning Cafe when there are only 6 comments…
Heading out in a little while — making an early trek to try and score playoff tickets for this weekends Sharks/? matchup (still not sure who the opponent will be — we’ll know by the end of the Calgary/Anaheim game tonight). Then off to brunch and erranding. Both of us feeling much better — no headaches, migraine or otherwise — and considering I’m extremely short on sleep (kept waking up overnight), I’m doing pretty well. (Though I’ll most likely take a page out of FM’s book and catch a nap later on — where is that guy? I’m worried about him…)
Hope everyone has a great day…
Glad you’re both feeling better, Cali. Have fun erranding!
I get the occasional migraine and really feel for you both. Good luck on the tix.
Sigh. “Heat the headaches,” instead of “hear the the headaches?” I suppose that it has the slender redeeming quality of being a meta-comment on the nature of headaches, but that’s reaching.
Feel like I’m moving through a vast sea of jello this morning. Everything is really slow, and just a bit off. Hopefully the caffeine will mitigate this with time.
Fantasy Tea: Berried Treasure This is a spicy black blend with bits of strawberry and black and red pepper. I need something with kick today. Unfortunately, all I’ve got is plain old Teasource Darjeeling. Good, strong, works, but not fancy.
P.S. has anyone heard anything from FM yet?
Howdy Andi, CG, Cali, KMc! Sorry to be a drive by hello again, but I’m back in the office (after a very long night in the lounge!) also trying to conquer mental jello. Nobody but myself to blame for that, so I may have to break my usual only one cup of coffee rule today. LOL.
Did any of your folks check out the very cool pics that Keres posted last night? If not, you should take a look… some amazing flowers and critters from down under!
Anyway, hope to see you all later, after I get some work done today. hehe
The feeling that no matter what you do, you’re doing it in slow motion. You know you should be moving faster but for some reason it’s an effort just to get up off the bed.
Usually I have that feeling when I’m sick with something really nasty like strep throat. I used to get it when my tonsils would flare up every few years, but I had them taken out about 7-8 years ago and can’t say I miss them.
I’m going to come over here, grab a paper, sit down and have something nice and cold to drink. Squirt, if you would — the old grapefruit formula.
I can only have this online because in the real world (1) the sugar would wreak havoc with my diabetes, (2) the grapefruit would interfere with some of my other meds, and (3) they don’t make that formula any more.
Mother’s Day is Anti-War Proclomation All the info and stuff and thingies are there in my older diary. Not meaning for this to be a diary whore, just a reminder because the day is coming up.
🙂
Going to go to the bank today to see if we can get a loan and for how much. ACK. I’ve been trying to beat down the stress monkey inside of me but… to no real avail. LOL
Hey there DJ… just popping in here, and thought I’d say hey. Good luck on the loan wrangling. Talk about stress, I can understand where you’re coming from on that matter. Hope everything works out for you, so you can throw the stress monkey out the window! Catch you later…
I didn’t get a chance to say hi when you popped in earlier so taking my shot now.
Thanks for the mention of keres’ pics (even if it did take forever for that cafe to load).
Weren’t those pics awesome? I really loved them all, especially the “Spiny Devil” lizard, who has now taken up residence as my background photo on the computer at home… hehe.
Yeah, it was a pic heavy lounge last night, but even though I have dial up too, the page didn’t take that long to load. I’m attributing that to having switched over to Firefox last weekend… I notice that almost all pages load way faster in FF than IE.
btw, what did you think of my “update” on the bizarro arum? That thing is really growing noticeably every day!
It’s an impressive fella but I’m kind of disappointed — it’s not nearly as phallic as it was.
Those are just the leaves at this point… wait till it actually blooms (e.g. pic I posted last week), then I think you’ll probably think differently At least we hope so!
ah, so this is just a phase it’s going through.
It’s too early too put up one of your gawd-awful ugly drinks as a stress-remover so just think lovely thoughts instead.
Well, the real BooMan stopped eating about 10 days ago. Last Wednesday I took him to the vet and they couldn’t find anything wrong with him. I started giving him Pepcid and he began eating again for a few days and then stopped. At first, he would eat bisquits or potato chips, but that stopped too.
The last two days I made him a hamburger and yogurt concoction, and he ate that right up, but nothing else. Last night his energy level dropped significantly, and he could barely go on a walk.
Now, he is at the vet again getting x-rays and blood work. I don’t think I am going to like the phone call I am going to receive in a few hours.
Oh no! Maybe they’ll find something they can fix or ease. I will be sending you both my love. I am so sorry.
with my dogs so I know how worried you must be. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be anything serious but if it does, one of my dogs had stomach cancer which we went ahead and had removed and she got two more quality years before it came back.
Maybe they’ll find like what happened to one of Mr Damnit’s old Burnese Mtn Dogs from way back when – he, the dog, somehow managed to swallow a tennis ball and they had to have that removed.
One our dogs face swelled to 2 or 3 times it’s normal size and when we took her to the vet, the found a stick wedged sideways at the back of her mouth — the result, we figured, of going after something down a hole with roots and bit through them.
That is sheer torture when dogs have those inexplicable episodes, so I fully understand where you’re coming from. I hope you will get a satisfactory explanation from the vet, so you can at least have an idea of what’s going on. Not knowing why is the worst part of it, I’ve found.
As nasty as it sounds, you might try giving him some cooked liver… when my previous dog Coco was dying of mast cell cancer and was very anemic, that was about the only thing she would eat, other than meaty baby food from a jar. Not implying that’s the case with Boo, but at least that might be something that would perk him up a bit, and certainly couldn’t hurt. Now, if he doesn’t want to eat cooked liver, then you’re stuck with it, which to my mind, is not a pretty proposition. (that was an attempt at humor)
Just know we’re sending our love (human and doggie) and hope to hear that it’s nothing serious!
Hang in there (((Booman)))!
Hopefully this will all turn out well, BooMan.
The Diva Dogs and I are sending warm thoughts of Love and Healing!!!!!!!
Sorry to hear about your pup booman. Hope he’ll be ok.
You should consider puting him on the raw diet. It great for dogs. Check it out!
Bu’s been on a BARF (Bones And Raw Food) Diet for about 5 yrs. and is a very happy and healthy pup. Here’s a more detailed link to typical diet info, I’m sure there’re others.
A bit more expensive but seems to have payoffs in minimal health problems. Was/is highly recommended by our vet.
Worth a try, or at least a discussion w/ your vet.
Peace
I,m surprised your vet recommended it, since they recieve money form the pet food industry. One of our vets (who is really good) does not like it.
I used to work for a while in a kennel/ training place, and I saw first hand the results of it. In just 10 days alergies dissapear. their coat shines like crazy, white teeth etc.
We also are refusing to give them their shots, due to the effects it has. Even heart worm (we rather test them every month)
Love raw!
she trained under our old vet, now retired, who was adjunct faculty at CSU’s VetMedSch….very highly respected. In to acupuncture, and herbal remedies, etc., as opposed to chemicals. Needless to say she’s WAY COOL, and Bu and I love her.
Still have to do rabies and req’d vacc’s, and only do Heartworm meds during the summer…some compromises are required, I guess.
Peace
I was digging through some old stuff of mine and came across the book, All Creatures Great and Small, by James Herriot.
Anyone who had never read it should. It a great read.
Hi Olivia. What’s been going on here?
Everyone has been really worried about you … {{{FM}}}
Thanks, I gathered that. Sorry to worry everyone, but it was just a bad migraine.
Why are you two hanging out in the old lounge? Too good for us, are ya?
Didn’t want us all to make a fuss over him … I was urging him over to the other cafe … 🙂
Are you kidding. When I feel bad, I would take an ad out in the paper to let people know to fuss over and feel sorry for me.
If I had the money, I put ads up during prime-time.
Hmmm? 😉
loved the BBC/PBS series based on them…back when tv had some redeeming value.
Good to see ya, FM!
Peace
Thanks dada. I read the book before I saw it on PBS, but it followed it true to form.
WHAZUP!
You can do homeopatic treatment to raise the defenses for rabies. Those shots are really bad
I hope it just turns out to be something relatively benign, but if he’s been off his feed for a couple of weeks, it don’t sound good. Hang in there.
from me and the Bu girl. We know how stressful this stuff is for both of you.
Peace and Blessings
Sending {{{{{{{{{lots of good thoughts}}}}}}}}}}}} to Booman and his name sake!!!
Thank you mythmother, and thanks to all of you sending good thoughts and support.
I don’t have any kids and the BooMan is very precious to me. His downturn has been very sudden.
I still haven’t heard from the vet. I’m just trying to mentally prepare myself for the worst, while I hope some miracle turns up that will allow him to get his strength back.
I’m not ready to put him down.
Ah Booman/Booman. This is so difficult. I just had to put my son’s dog down while they were on a cruise and there was no way to get a hold of them. He was 12 years old, part setter part newfoundler and got “bloat” where the stomach gets twisted and turned upside down.It is prevelent in large breeds. He was in horrendous pain and the only relief was emergency surgery with no guarantees at his age. It broke my heart. Norman was like a grandleezy to me.
Hopefully Booman, everything will turn out better for the Booster. Big ((((hugs)))) to you both.
Ouch, alohaleezy! That must have been really heartbreaking!
It sure was mm. I was with Norman the whole time though and he just looked at me with those big brown eyes and they said Please grammy, let me go. It still chokes me up on a daily basis. It will take time. The kids were very supportive with the decision. There is another dog and the two were together for ten years. He is really having a hard time. The kids went out and got a beautiful puppy from the pound. She will help us all heal. Cliffie is finally coming around after two weeks and playing with her some. He just has the saddest look in his eyes though.
It’s amazing what great souls animals have. They are such great companions, and so much more “advanced” than some of the people I know, esp those who are running this country into the ground right now! I’m just figuring out that I’m not really a “dog person,” even though I love dogs, I am much more of a “cat person” and most particularly a “Shadow Person.” I’m glad you are finding some healing for Cliffie and your family!
Thank you so much for your kind words. I haven’t had a dog personally for years now but I was the kid on the block that brought all the strays home. I have a cat that just turned nine. He is my best buddy. I am an animal lover and a really soft touch when it comes to them. Again, thanks so much for your kind words.
Booman, my heart goes out to you and Booman. I’m hoping for the best and sending good vibes your way. Animal lovers have to deal with these things, it comes with the territory… but it never gets any easier. Good luck.
Sending positive thoughts … >’.'<
This isn’t good. Poor BooMan (dog) and BooMan (man). I’m sending good thoughts to both of you.
Break time…now for something really important:
Draw a Pig Personality Test…no talent required.
No accolades, Please…:{)
Later
Peace
I tried it and the test confirmed everything I already knew about myself… intelligent, imaginative, practical, sensitive, thoughtful, creative, reliable, loyal…. And you should have seen the pig I drew! LOL
It was just the right size!!!
that really matters.
I am a poor listener but have a great sex life … 🙂 LOL
Me too! As well as emotional, naive and stubborn.
but where did you two draw the pig?
I’m a realist, am friendly, believe in tradition, and rememeber dates (like birthdays). And of course, I got stubborn too. Big surprise.
According to this test I’m positive, optimistic and believe in tradition; am friendly and remember dates. I’m secure, stubborn and stick to my ideals. I’m a great listener with a great sex life.
Sounds about right 😉
I think we drew the same pig.
We’re secret twins?
Maybe we’re really the same person and that’s why we’re seldom in the cafe at the same time. Too much effort to keep logging in and out.
Well, let’s see:
We both hate the end of the month because we have to track our time for work…we both like cosmopolitans…
we’ve both got that thing about red neck/white trash food …
And the Cabin Boys …
um, your saying that we both have a thing for the cabin boys? That’s kind of weird if it turns out we’re not the same person — at least weird for Maryb.
Erm, I’m rather fond of the CabinBoys, but I don’t think I’d say I have “a thing” for them either…
so maybe we’re still twins.
(and you do have a thing for them — just happens to be a mommy thing) so I was curious to hear what maryb’s equivalent was going to be.
If we’re trying to throw people off the scent it makes sense that our two personalities wouldn’t have identical background stories.
Or maybe my equivalent is FM and SN — kids at heart.
Oh, that could work.
Now what about pets, maryb? 🙂
Just a quick fly by high and I am gone. I am at work and was too busy this am even to stop in before work. I have two meetings today after work. I hope all the froggies are well and splashing happily in the pond!!!!!
Testing, testing, 123 testing. Haven’t been able to post all morning!
I was trying to say good morning and I think Descanso denizen might be a Peruvian Lilly.
Hey somebody spilled their koolaid on that flower!
Ummm, Andi dearest… some of us don’t drink the kool aid! hehehe
No shit — cause ya spill it all over the poor, purty flower instead. No wonder the repubs are so pissy with ya.
That’s another impressive shot, MM. Don’t think I’ve seen a variety of Alstroemeria quite like that one, but there are so many variants, I think just about any color combination is possible. I sure wish they were hardy to our zone, because I just love those flowers!
Glad you got over whatever hurdle that was preventing you from posting! How’s the slacking program going today?
Ooooooh, what a show off, IVG! LOL
My computer started getting weird last night, sites wouldn’t load completely, then it slowly straightened itself out, but Booman was the last to be put right again.
For example, I would try to post in the FBL and nothing would happen, so then I would switch to DKos to see if things were normal there, and I would get to DKos but instead of the front page I would be switched to the error message you get (on Dkos!) when you preview something and then hit the back button, even though I wasn’t trying to post anything on DKos. Go figure.
Slacking is going fine, thanks for asking. I’m trying to stay in “puttering around” mode as much as possible in between naps and true slacking off. And speaking of which, is Family Man around today?
How are things in your neck of the woods?
that reminds me of peppermint salt water taffy, one of my favorite flavors…must get to Santa Cruz soon…
Was unsuccessful in the Grand Ticket Quest — they sold out just right before we got to the windows. 🙁 Oh, well, I’ll hold out hope for a split either here or at the opponent’s place, which will guarantee a Game 5…and I’ll hop on the computer and try to get the tickets from the comfort of my living room. 🙂 (May go ahead and get tickets to one game via StubHub again, even if they do cost an arm, a leg, and a couple of toes.)
Blessings and peace to all those worried about their four-legged companions, and to those who have recently lost same (you know who you are).
Finally started reading Michael Lerner’s The Left Hand of God (now that I’ve missed the online discussion at Street Prophets); a lot of great stuff in there and I’m not even through the Introduction! I’ll probably end up diarying about it over here (though I worry it’ll bring out the anti-religionists), because it’s important that all sides of the progressive movement (the secular, the “spiritual but not religious”, and those who follow assorted religious paths) come together to either recreate the Democratic Party or build a new party. He has some pretty scathing words for the current crop of Democrats…I’ll have to post some of them later (left the book in my daypack and my daypack in the trunk).
But now, I feel a nap coming on… 🙂
Mmmmmm, salt water taffy. There’s a place in the Seattle Center with a taffy machine in the window. It’s kinda cool just watching it pull the taffy.
Something even cooler than that, though, was when we were in Salt Lake City in November for my nephew’s wedding we stopped by Trolley Square (kinda upscale midtown mall) and got to watch a guy in a candy store there making fudge. It was a fascinating process, involving lots of melted chocolate, lots of butter, lots of nuts, some vanilla and a great deal of scooping and kneading and I don’t remember what-all else. It was candy making as performance art.
That’s a good idea for a diary. Don’t worry about the ‘anti’s’ — if they get abusive we’ll all head over and troll rate them. Well, I will. And I’ll think of SOMETHING to bribe the others to join me.
If we only act the way extremists want us to act, we become like the right — controlled by extremists.
It’s still morning for 15 more minutes here — I squeaked in!
Good very very late morning back to you, Izzy!
Thanks, mythmother! I was actually up a little earlier than usual, so when I saw there were just a few comments I went early for my morning walk. It’s a lovely day here.
A walk sounds lovely! It’s still June gloom in SoCal, it was June gloom through most of April. I hope it doesn’t mean that summer will come sooner and be hotter than ever. Not looking forward to that. As for me, I took a walk down the supermarket aisles.
Got woken up last night by the apparent escalating gang warfare on our street — nothing like screeching tires, shouting, and guys wandering your street with guns to make for a pleasant middle-of-the-night waking experience.
I’m a bit of an insomniac anyway, so I had a hell of a time getting back to sleep.
But it made me think — just anecdotally, from personal experience and talking to friends — that it seems like this stuff is on the rise again. I’m guessing that recent national stats aren’t available yet, but was wondering if anybody knew of any local stats on gang related violence in their areas. It’s not vital; this is really just an idle curiosity, and maybe it’s a CA central valley thing, too — we go through weird waves of gang shit here, which seem to correspond to our weird waves of drug shit (chicken? egg?).
The advantages of country living — the only gang violence that wakes me up at night is caused by my dogs.
I do miss that about the country. Every time I visit my parents, who live in Middleofnowhere, Maine, I have trouble getting to sleep for the first couple of nights just because it’s so quiet.
Usually, the gang stuff around here isn’t such a big deal. They’re around, but if you’re not involved you don’t see much of it. People are just a little… more tense than usual lately.
Our last neighborhood was much worse on that level; we did a lot of staying away from the windows if people started shouting. Plus, homeless people pushed carts down our alley and muttered to themselves all night (which I’ve actually learned to think of as a somewhat soothing sound).
This is probably the FSM’s way of telling it’s time to move somewhere that you can keep a horse.
There has always been a lot of gang violence in the SF Valley where I live. I’ve had people running up and down the street shooting at each other many times over the years. I think the violence always gets worse during Republican administrations, for some reason, probably because the economy goes to hell in a hand cart, so there is more pressure on those who are struggling financially. Also it seems like the more of a police-state type of an atmosphere, the worse the violence, don’t ask me why it would happen that way, though. All this is just talking from my gut (where there are more nerve endings than in my head LOL!) and I don’t have any stats to prove it.
Last night I was kept awake by a helicopter circling overhead for hours. Then the other day there were some kids fighting and yelling outside their car for a long time and then one of them went and took a long piss right onto the boat that a neighbor keeps parked in his driveway. I was watching out the window with the lights out, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
I was thinking it might be economic stuff. No matter how much the media likes to scream “great economy! never better!” at us all, I always think you can see the truth on the ground in the way the poorer neighborhoods are doing.
On the helicopters, sometimes I think they fly them over some neighborhoods all night just to remind the residents that they live in a bad area. I wonder how many community policing programs — cops back out walking a beat — we could fund for the price of gassing up our helicopter to shine lights in poor people’s windows all night.
I’m with you, Spit! I’m with you.
Several people have been asking about Family Man and I just wanted to let you all know that he has had a migraine but is feeling somewhat better and hopes to grace us with his slacker charm very soon.
Whew – I thought it was because I keep badgering him to quit smoking. Although I have to assume the slew of worried emails probably has him feeling pretty good about himself right about now. Yep, I’ve still got it!
I believe it is a universal truth that whatever else is happening in the world, you will always still have it.
Well, I was speaking for FM…but thanks!
ah but I never said what it was.
Oooohhhh! Jane Austen fan! Woman after my own heart!
Sad to hear that FM has had a migraine (though I somewhat suspected that was the case), but good to know that he’s on the mend and will be back among the froggie flock soon! Thx for passing the info along, Andi.
The new lounge is open!