This is an Unhosted Cafe.
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Sit down, have some coffee, and try not to get newspaper ink on your clothes.
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Please recommend (and unrecommend the Cafe/Lounge from earlier)
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We’re over the hump — lounge opened.
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Sit down, have some coffee, and try not to get newspaper ink on your clothes.
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Please recommend (and unrecommend the Cafe/Lounge from earlier)
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Good morning Andi.
Wow, slept till 6.30, quite unusual.
Sleeping until 6:30 sounds grand — I’m hoping to pull that off while I’m vacation.
I’m now late in my morning routine.
Hope you are successful in your intentions, you have a good break coming up, no?
Break coming up? There’ll be no breakin when Santa is demanding to be fed! ;o)
Good morning Ask and Andi :o)
Hey. Good morning, ss.
At least it will be a change from the usual hassles. Try to stay away from the most rampant commercialism, make it quiet time with family and/or friends.
Ask & andi, sounds like a morning radio team. And here’s a holiday slogan for you. Why aren’t you shopping? Put the más back in Christmás!
The joys of living in the middle of nowhere and being loath to leave — we stay blissfully unaware of Santa’s problems.
And, despite super’s objections, I have a two week break coming up, which I definitely hope will be good.
Hi Andi, ask, and super! How is everyone this fine morning?
Can I just say I had the best time Christmas shopping last night? I went to the studio of someone who makes these really neat hand-blown glass beads, and while I was there to pick something out for my mom, she showed me how she makes those beads with the 3-dimensional flowers in them. Very cool. Way better than getting malled.
And now I just need to finish up for the CBs and wait for the Fedex man to get here. 🙂
And only 2 more mornings before school vacation starts…Yay!
Good morning, CG.
Any pickles?
In my fridge? Or made of glass? 🙂
Which reminds me, I still need to get a “pickle present”.
Are you and the asklets and curly all ready for the holidays?
Ornament.
ask is seriously behind in his preparations, curly is way ahead, as usual. The kids and curly will come to me Christmas Eve (which in my tradition is the big day).
We always celebrate christmas eve as well, and then loll around the house the next day. It sometimes makes christmas day seem boring but I wouldn’t change it.
Sharing your perfect morning cup with Ryan? Or is she not allowed to have any liquids?
We don’t have to be there until 9 and she’s not allowed to eat or drink, and she’s going in her pjs, so I’m not even going to wake her until 8:40 or so. She worked a double shift yesterday.
KS and I are sending good thoughts to Ryan!
Thanks you two! She’s a little nervous.
I’m sure you’ll be there to help her through.
I know mothers are supposed to be immune to body fluids but I will admit that I’m not very good at watching my kids throw up. Anything else but that. And that’s enough about that. I’ll pass on your good wishes.
Let me just add our good wishes too! I hope everything goes smoothly. When is the surgery?
Hey there. It’s at 1030 and should take 2 – 4 hours.
Wow. Are Mr Nature and/or the boys going along to peel you off the ceiling during those couple of hours? Or have you had enough hospital waiting room practice this fall to go it alone?
When CBtE had a brain scan (minor concussion, but we were worried it might be a brain tumor with the vision symptoms he had), it was nerve wracking, even though I was right there with the MRI tech while they did it and could see him the whole time.
(((SN and Ryan)))
You’re such a good mom. Pointless to say but try not to worry too much.
It’s bit early for this but I have to warn you that the removal of the packing was the most painful few seconds of my life (at least that I can remember; if there was worse I have thankfully forgotten it).
They don’t think they will pack it but there’s always that chance. She’ll have a cast on her nose and some sort of drip-catching system that I won’t elaborate on during breakfast time. 🙂
A nose cast with unmentionable catcher sounds lovely.
I love the idea of a nose cast. Does her nose get a little cane too?
My drip catcher was just gauze and tape. Apparently, my ENT was low tech.
I’m not sure exactly what nasal surgery we are talking about, I had a deviated septum and the removal of the packing wasn’t much fun.
Fixing the septum and reshaping (shaving off bits of the cartilege) the rest of her nose. Since her accident her nose sort of looks like playdoh that some kid smashed and left in a heap on the table.
I’m sure she’ll be pleased when her nose returns to its real shape and she looks like her old beautiful self again.
We’re Christmas eve celebrators too. I agree with SN, it makes the big day a lot more relaxing.
We’ve got the pickle ornament out, but of course it isn’t on the tree yet.
I’m so bad a delay of gratification that I usually give KS her presents as soon I buy and wrap them. I’ve learned not to buy then until the last minute.
That is so me! Maryb said I need therapy about it.
Two days until my vacation starts … Yay! (because it’s all about meeeeeeeee!)
What are you and Jim doing over the break? Going anywhere interesting?
Other than a couple of day trips, we’re just going to relax. We don’t travel in winter — between a wood-heated house and 3 dogs, winter just isn’t a good time to go away.
Hey, even day trips are fun. I’m just psyched about being able to sleep in and not have to push everyone out the door before 7 AM…
The day trips are for family stuff on roads we’ve driven a zillion times so that they aren’t the height of fun but they’ll be pleasant. We might go to Dayton, though, to see the Rembrandt exhibit (and see Indy if she’s feeling up to a visit).
But then they’re there at 7:30!!!!!
This was a response to CG that I stuck in the wrong place.
Don’t tax my brain like that.
I was just about to post a big question mark when the clarification came.
Morning Teach!
Morning, ask. Sorry about the confusion. Morning isn’t my best time. If I has two weeks off like andi, I’d be staying up until dawn, then sleeping until mid-afternoon.
I shouldn’t try to post while eating breakfast and fending off cats.
Of course, you should. It just adds to the early morning amusement factor.
I must hustle to work. See everyone later, and once more, hang in there, Ryan.
Good morning, pondlings! At my usual risk of repetition, it’s great to see you.
Also at usual risk, my forest-fix is well satisfied by this morning’s image. If only serene happiness were generally that easy. An absolutely beautiful pic, Andi.
I’ve always had a special fondness for those shadows in pictures — especially near Solstice. This one provides for some lovely memories.
One more day to Solstice & two to vacation, Andi. I’d guess you’re looking forward to both (if not equally).
I’d guess Ryan’s well into surgery now & trust all will go very well. I hold your virtual hand, SN.
Teach, I thank you for the ‘nibbled to death by ducks’ metaphor. Seems to describe living with my mother perfectly.
😉
Oh my, here’s Hillary on this morning’s televised kaffee-klatch, The View (Mom’s a devotee).
She’s looking a bit disheveled today, leads off with church on Christmas.
Boy o boy — every time I look at that image I love it more. Its motion is fabulous.
Honestly, I wish I could dose the Froggy Bottom coffee pot with the feeling it gives me.
The Pack and I just got back from a walk — they were disappointed you weren’t here to join them in chase-the-squirrels.
I’m happy you like that picture — I loved the shape of the shadows. I’ve been having fun the last few weeks looking for pictures that would be ‘hump day’ appropriate.
Ho! The ‘hump day’ connection didn’t even occur to me. (I must get away from Mom’s continual TV — it’s softening my brain!)
My apologies to The Pack for my (apparent) absence today. Being of a Buddhist state of mind re lesser creatures, I was actually hiding behind a tree lest I be subject to embarrassing peer-pressure.
I’m not too sure that Buddhist tendencies provide for a successful poochy existence.
Don’t worry about the missing the connection — I haven’t expected anybody to notice (and they haven’t); it’s just been for my own amusement.
The dogs point out that they chase but don’t catch and that they do this to provide the squirrels (and chipmunks) a regular regime of good exercise which includes an aerobic workout.
Aha. Iirc, my cats offered similar explanations for their own predatory behavior.
That’s why they’d generally leave their ‘gifts’ for me anonymously. Anything to support the mystique.
The squirrels, chipmunks, deer, raccoons, and rabbits are quite safe; mice and moles otoh, not so much.
No, never.
The safest mouse I know of lives at my Isis’ place in Harlem. No pets, no traps & no poison.
G’day all. Throw another shrimp on the barbie.
Unfortunately, I think we’re all on the barbie.
How’s it going, b2?
Not bad. It will be in the 50s here in the Hudson Valley tomorrow. How are things for you?
Basically ok, thank you. Looking forward very much to getting back to NY.
It doesn’t seem to me that the northeast will have much of a winter this year. More than one weather-watcher of my acquaintance predicted as much this fall. We may have a few deep cold-snaps, but nothing compared to our traditional winters.
The Catskills don’t even have snow-cover yet! By now they should have a foot on the ground. This doesn’t bode well for the downstate water supply this summer.
Yep. And the ski operators are starting to scream, they’ve lost a significant part of the season already. The temps are too high to consistently maintain even the artificial snow.
Just curious, b2: what is ‘artificial snow’, exactly? How is it formulated/dispensed? I can’t seem to draw anything from my elderly imagination but lots & lots of those little circular cut-outs from the hole-puncher.
What I meant was man-made snow. 😉
Yeh, that’s what I meant too. I’ve dealt so much with the nature-made variety I’ve never given much thought to the man-made type.
Goodness knows why I’m curious about it here in Sauna-land. I s’pose I’m thinking of my personal possibilities, given the Saudi slopes.
😉
happy nearly solstice froggies! I’m home with what we used to call the stomach flu, something my housemate brought home from her work at the rest home. She thought her case was food poisoning until she went back to work yesterday, mere hours before I started upchucking. It was dramatic but I will spare you the graphic descriptions.
Hey, ‘soup! A very, very happy near-Solstice to you too!
So sorry to hear about the bug — not a pleasant experience at all. Need I remind you to keep up your fluid intake & drop diuretic drinks (coffee, tea) if at all possible? I’m sure I don’t.
Here’s hoping it passes soon.
</woodsy mother hen>
obviously the woodsy mother hens are on the same wavelength.
Naturally — we know the essentials.
😉
BTW, how’s your woodsy weather today?
It’s pretty nice — partly cloudy and in the upper 40s, rain later. It’s going to stay warmish through next week so no white xmas.
So far, the only pondling I know of who might see a white Christmas is maryb.
Personally, I’d take 40s/rain very nicely. Anything but 78/partially sunny, 77/partially sunny, 77/partially sunny, 78/partially sunny ..
The local weatherfolks’ forecasts here make me laugh: And for tomorrow, 78! (they chirp excitedly).
Oh boy (thinks the wench), what a surprise! I could plotz.
I guess we could go look for an old post where you’re trying to thaw the pipes to see if that would help but based on my own antipathy toward florida, I’d have to doubt it.
Oh, I can remember the pipes well enough.
I’ll be damned if I’ll ever deal with that again on any land but my own.
As for FL antipathy: I’m still in search of some objective insight as to why the environment’s so uncomfortable for me, aside of the ultra-humidity (which, I’m told, actually isn’t typically tropical. It has more to do with development).
A general consensus seems to involve the sense of extreme violence & upheaval just below the surface. Even fans of the area cop to that energy. I think the fans are ill.
Just got a holiday card from the Catskills, with my offered digs pictured on it. It’s really pretty (& I can imagine my boytoy kitty in the window — he’s already there).
I just don’t like the entire feel of Florida, the whole sense of the outdoors is just part of the construction, an place where you go to dip your toe in and then scurry back inside.
Perfectly said. Exactly! It’s a ridiculous way to live, imo. I’ll take the pipes any day.
Mom says, in response to prodding on relocation northward: ‘I’m afraid of the bad weather, in case I get sick & need an ambulance.’
Exemplary of the type of mentality that finds Florida lovely. God forbid she should do without ambulance service in winter, as is typical up north. This is why we generally tend to our medical emergencies with our teeth & some silverware.
Not so perfectly since the corrected sentence is “The whole sense of the outdoors as just part of the construction, a place where you go to dip your toe in and then scurry back inside.” 🙂
As for your mom — it’s pretty typical for the elderly retire to warm places since winter is so hard on them. It could have actually been worse; she could have retired to Sun City, AZ or horror of horrors, Las Vegas.
Mom actually came down here from NY long before retirement, about 25 years ago, to be with her man.
As I see it, if she’s basically living indoors, she can do just as well up north in the cold weather (which is hardly year-long) & have family nearby also (me). Here, she basically has no one. I shudder to think of her difficulties in the next severe hurricane, now that the man’s gone. He took care of everything — even without power for weeks, closed markets, flooded roads & no water.
It’s all up to her, of course & I’m hoping these considerations will eventually sway her. She suffers in the heat, as well — even after 2+ decades.
At least this trip has made crystal clear to her that hopes for my permanent residence here are totally useless.
Well good luck. I can’t even get my mom to move out her condo.
Thanks, Andi. Me, I know where my ‘stubborn gene’ comes from.
We’ll leave her to herself a bit & see.
Just got a UPS package from good friends in CO. Let me head offline for a bit & open it up. Alas, there’s probably no snow in it.
See you later!
So when will you be back to our Hudson Valley?
‘Round about mid-January, I hope. Thanks for asking!
Helluva time to come back. 😉
Considering how the winter’s shaping up, I’m not really worried about it.
Additionally: I’ve got a cat living in the woods up there (I hope) & I plan to try & locate her. She vanished when we became homeless this summer & I couldn’t find her before heading south on the urgent family stuff. I’m depressed by the circumstances & will do my best to adjust them.
I hope that it goes well.
Thanks, boran2. All good wishes are appreciated very much.
Maybe we can manage to cross paths in the new year!
I’d love that!
you aren’t feel well but great appreciate the lack of detail.
I’m sure you know to make sure you don’t get dehydrated but I’ll just go ahead and remind you anyway.
I hope that you’re feeling better soon.
My 8 year old, who is obsessed with desriptions of bodily functions in a way that only a young child could be, loves the word hurl.
Quite honestly, I do too.
Shows you the level of my sense of humor.
on the Left Coast —
Heading out shortly to shop for the in-laws; we’re planning to get them a couple of these really cool battery operated lanterns (one for the parents, one for the bro-in-law); they collapse down to a small box size for storage, but they put out a lot of light when opened and lit. Perfect for power outages/earthquakes — being in California, I’m well aware that we’re approaching the 20th anniversary of Loma Prieta. We’re also going to pick up a few other small things, and I still need to come up with an idea for the spouse (actually I have a couple of ideas, just need to ditch him for an appropriate length of time today).
Oh, and just bought some more Christmas music through iTunes, so BooTrib gets a present too. 🙂
Tonight we’re finally going to get out and do some lights viewing — there’s a local park that sets up some wonderful displays, and this year the adjoining miniature railroad is offering rides through a portion of the display, so we’ll do that first then go do the drive through for the rest. Wish I was better at night photography; maybe I’ll give it the old college try tonight at least.
Okay, I’m probably extra dense, but what the Sam Hill is YAHD?
Best wishes to ‘soup and Ryan for speedy recovery(s), and to SN for speedy recovery of her sanity after dealing with a child’s surgery…
One of the albums I downloaded was a version of Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols”, which had a bunch of other Britten works on it (including some of his more secular works). One of the pieces is called, “King Herod and the Cock” (meaning rooster)…and Apple actually Bowdlerized the word “Cock”, making it “C**k”. I know they did it with the Big Jim’s Ego song “Asshole”, but this is frickin’ hilarious… 🙂
No r**sters?
On the horizon: ‘The Owl And The P***ycat’ by the Simon Sisters.
They listed the title of “The Collected Quotes of Edward Bulwer-Lytton”, an little purchased audio book by the ertswhile creator of “It was a dark and stormy night,” as “The * ** Mightier Than the Sword.”
Damn, my joke was ruined by html! The title should read
“The * * * * * Mightier than The Sword.”
That is pretty damn funny! Rather grotesque, too. Tipper, what have you wrought?
🙂
Also funny: I first read the album you’ve downloaded as Brittany’s “Ceremony of Carols” & thought, well, whatever floats your boat.
Hey, Cali. Seems like you’re having a very nice holiday so far!
It’s sweet of you to pick up a gift for BooMan. He deserves it. I’d do the same if I possibly could — alas, no gifts from me this year for anyone aside of my presence (for better or worse).
HD is Hump Day — but my mind’s slipped on YA.
‘Yahoo! A (Hump Day)’ ..?
Yet Another.
Aha. Thank you, CG.
S’pose it’s hard to figure these things out when ‘it’s all the same day, man’.
Yet Another is a Unix joke naming convention (and Yahoo uses it).
Yet another reason why I love the FBC — I’m finally getting my education.
it appears — yet I like WW’s interpretation best…hump days are best yahooed when at all possible… 🙂
Evening, lefty amphibians. I knew I shouldn’t have gone to work today. But more importantly, has anyone heard from SN? How’s Ryan doing?
Hi, Teach. Sorry to hear about a less-than-pleasant work day.
No word from SN here, far as I know. I’m guessing Ryan’s still in recovery.
That’s what I figured. I’m sure she’s fine.
andi, I guess I fall in the mind of the frog pack. I figured out YAHD, but I missed the carefully chosen visual tie-in. That figures, as I’ve always been fascinated by words, but visuals aren’t my strong point.
The link with the pictures was really subtle — I knew I was specficially taking pictures of places with “humps” but why should any of you look at picture of woods and go “oh look — humps!”.
Don’t get comfy — it’s time to go open the lounge.
I’ve been in Detroit too long. I though you’d found Hoffa’s Last Stop.
If only — I would get rich and retire.
If the dogs start rooting at a “hump,” I’d check any bones they dislodge
Open containers allowed so come on over.