Oh Christmas Tree!

LOOK OUT!!!

It's not the kitten I have to worry about... it's the old lady! Pips has to topple the tree at least once every Christmas. So far this year, it is twice. Luckily the tree is outfitted with unbreakable baubles.

Merry Christmas to one and all!

love, Ponita and the kitties (Pips, Lila and Aska) xoxo

Merry Christmas!

Or Happy Holidays. Or Happy whatever it is you celebrate, or don't. There are so many religious celebrations in December and January that it can be difficult to know what to say to people. But if you wish a non-Christian Merry Christmas, most do not get offended. So be happy and wish everyone you see a happy whatever it is that you celebrate! Spread that joy and love! Smile and people will smile back, because smiles are contagious.

Last year, I never got around to setting up my tiny little Christmas tree, because up until shortly before Christmas, Frosti was still in the house and I was sure I would look up to see him dragging it across the room.

This year, I pulled that little tree out of its plastic storage bag and brought it up to the living room. I have a large wooden chest in front of the living room window, covered with a sheepskin, so I put it there and plugged it in.

At first, Aska paid it absolutely no attention whatsoever. For about an hour, she stayed on the top of the cat tree, not 5 feet away, playing, napping, and grooming herself.

Then she ventured over to check it out. She kind of picked at it gingerly a few times but quit when I finally hissed at her, as I didn't want her to get too aggressive with it. She has since left it completely alone. Such a good girl!

Aska is now just over 7 months old and pretty much fully grown. She is still a tiny thing, about half the size of Lila but I have not been successful in getting a photo of all three sitting next to each other to show the size differential. They really are small (Aska), medium (Pips) and large (Lila)!

Frozen water running

It has been quite chilly here, with temperatures a good 10 degrees or more below normal. And wet. September has been the wettest month in the past 2 years. Pretty horrible timing, Mother Nature, as farmers has more than one million acres yet to harvest!! This could potentially be economically catastrophic for them, and then for us at the grocery store.

This morning Pips yelled at me for a good 10 minutes before I agreed to go outside. I had worked a double yesterday (16 hours) and am physically tired today so all I really wanted to do was sit in my recliner with my feet up, enjoying my coffee. But I eventually relented, because that cat is very persistent and once she's had some outside time, she is content.

So once outside, I swept leaves away from the step (the trees are nowhere near finished dropping them) to prevent some from being tracked into the house, and noticed the rain chain still had water dribbling down it. (The eavestroughs, or gutters are they are often known, are full of leaves now, which slows the drainage of water.) Here is a little video I made.

That's Pips now yelling at me to let her back in the house, because she is cold. It was 4C and felt like 1C. She lasted about 5 minutes! Such a wimp. ;-)

Truman

Heard on "Because News", a CBC Radio program, "Couldn't we just drug Trump and put him in a big building that looks like the White House and hire a whole bunch of actors to play the staff? Couldn't we just Truman Show him?"

I think that's just perfect!

Under the sea?

A year (or two?) ago, an old maple tree in my yard had died and was cut down. The stump was taken to ground level and just sat there.

This year, it decided to let a conglomerate of fungi take up residence on the cut surface.

I find it very reminiscent of things that live in coral reefs! Fungus comes in so many forms. Very fascinating!

I am not sure how to get rid of this, as I don't really need it spreading to the nearby old but still living maple trees. Google, here I come!