Saturday 30 January 2010

By the Light of the Silvery Moon


Snagged this photo from the Winnipeg Free Press (photog. not known, sorry) but just really liked it.

The Golden Boy tops the Manitoba Legislature and although scantily clad for our Siberian-type winters, he's a stoic lad with knackers of brass and does a stupendous job of holding his position come hell or high water.

Of course, if the water got high enough to reach him, the entire planet except for Tibet and Chile would be under water.

It's still colder than a witch's t... well, you get the picture. When it's feeling like -27 outside (and that's Celsius, folks, not Fahrenheit) no one really wants to spend any time outside, no matter how warmly dressed you are.

Pips decided to bolt outside this afternoon... She gets a bug up her butt every now and then to escape into the Great Outdoors. By the time she got around the corner of the house she was gingerly jumping from paw to paw, trying the figure out how to keep the ground from biting her toes. That's when she gladly let me pick her up and carry her, shivering (her, not me), back into the house.

The dog is quite happy to NOT go for walks, as this means she does NOT have to wear her boots. But I do subject her to doggie torture on a regular basis, as she really does need the exercise. There are days, however, when I am just as happy to NOT take her for a walk either so we both relish being couch potatoes.

The long term forecast is calling for temps just below freezing by Friday... but I'm not holding my breath. We all know they are weather pretenders not predictors.

Now if I could only figure out a way to buy the winning lottery ticket so I could spend the winters someplace where it's not actually winter...

13 comments:

  1. The Wiki pix of Golden Boy is almost Infomaniac worthy!

    Love the cat clip, made me laugh.

    Stay warm

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  2. XL: Aren't they, though?!?! Didn't I say he was scantily clad??? ;-)

    I laughed too... had a cat that played in the snow like that years ago. He was a hoot!

    I stay indoors... I stay warm. :-)

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  3. Thanks for sharing the "Simon's Cat" thing - I love that!! Someone we both know ~wink~ gave me a book of Simon's Cat cartoons for Christmas... it's so funny! Stay warm... spring is on its way!

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  4. I see just one potential flaw in your lottery plan: would you be able to find somewhere warm enough for the winters where you could take the menagerie without chaos following?

    Having watched that movie, I can't help thinking how lucky we are that cat's have yet to master snowballs. Such anti-social, selfish little buggers ... we'd never dare go out!

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  5. Helga: I love the Simon's Cat stuff... always make me laugh! Someone we both know... Hmmmm. That could be several people... ;-)

    Ro: If I had enough money... anything is possible! In actual fact, I could easily go to Mexico. People travel down there with pets all the time. The chaos would be named Lila... She is such a brat right now! But at 9 months old, that is to be expected. I just hope she grows up soon... I get run over on a regular basis.

    Anti-social? You've obviously been hanging around the wrong cats. Mine have never been like that. Just ask the New Man. Lila was up close and personal the first day she met him. Pips was purring and lying on his lap on day two.

    Maybe it's just English cats... ;-)

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  6. When you started off with, "The Golden Boy tops the Manitoba Legislature," I thought, "Oh boy, another province with a flakey politician." Thanks for the link to clear it up for me.

    I am confused, however, which is fairly normal for me. I can't seem to match up your critters with their names. Dogs, cats, a goldfish or two ...

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  7. Charlie: All politicians are flaky, aren't they??? ;-)

    Zoë: female Bullmastiff dog, almost seven, weighs 100 lbs, is made of muscle and chicken feathers - the biggest suck around - and drooler extraordinaire.

    Pips: black and white female medium hair cat - three - very much a snuggle bunny - and owner of the name "That Damn Cat" (click on the link for that lengthy story...)

    Lila: nine month old female Siamese cross - medium length hair - and as mental as a young cat can be - she runs up, over, and across me on a regular basis, play wrestles with the dog, and generally gets into absolutely everything with gleeful abandon. Can't wait til she grows up... That may be about ten years or so.

    No fish... useless as pets.

    Had a horse (Thunder) but just sold him so am now horseless. (Another link to click.)

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  8. What a fascinating history on the Golden Boy statue! He was in the war!

    Yeah, I'm with you. It's chilly here, about 50s Fahrenheit, but it's nothing compared to where you're at. I was in a blizzard on the East Coast once--lasted a whole week and shut down the city. It was my first experience with snow. It was fun, but I sure hated that wind and the icy roads and sidewalks. And after a while, it really was too freakin cold!!!

    I like cats, but I can't have any pets right now. Cats like me-even the strays! Cats are very fun and useful animals, esp when they cut down the number of pests.

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  9. Eros: I guess that's where he lost his shirt... (not to mention the rest of his clothes).

    We had a blizzard last Monday... Terrible visibility what with the snow and howling gales of up to 80 kph (that's close to 50 mph, I think) and the cold was brutal - again, from that wind. Turned everything into ice...

    Cats are great entertainment and companionship... you should move so you can have one or two!

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  10. No, I insist on it: cats are anti-social.

    Oh, sure, they can be friendly enough when it suits them but you know - you know - that's only because they think it's in their best interests.

    It's only the lack of opposable thumbs that stops them kicking us all out and changing the locks.

    And I say this as someone who's had and adored loads of kitties!

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  11. Ro: And I say again... it must be 'English' cats who are anti-social. Even when I had barn cats who hunted, had all they needed, no human intervention required for their survival... they still loved to be with me, follow me around, play and get scratched.

    Now Lila, on the other hand, would probably gladly change the locks... She's a brat, that one! My cats have food at all times, water and 2 litter boxes, so in all reality, they only need me for companionship... and someone to fling toys about. ;-)

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  12. So you reckon Lila has some English ancestry?

    But even these barn cats of yours, they tolerated you precisely because you'd play with them and scratch their itches.

    Trust me, if they'd run out of prey in and around the barns, they'd've been eyeing you up with a whole different kind of kitty-treat in mind! ;-)

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  13. Ro: Lila was a stray... who knows what her roots are?

    I always figured the barn cats would go after the horses rather than me, if it came down to that. Probably much tastier, being grain fed and all. ;-)

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