Norms Bait and Tackle

[MarsGal]

Shan was also in to the vets for his last distemper booster and a one year rabies shot. I must have mistaken the vet the last visit as I thought he said Shan couldn't have a rabies shot until he was one. His next rabies shot will be the three year kind. He seems to be flea free now, so the vet says I don't have to use any flea stuff on my cats now unless I see a resurgence. Yea! Shan's next trip will be around the end of January for his snipping and his microchip.

We got a little snow overnight, not more than an inch I would say. The temp is now 28F, and it is only supposed to get to 33F today. Looks like the cold weather has truly set in for a while.

[larryhanna]

Hi Everyone.  It is going to be another nice day here in South Carolina with clear skies and getting up into the low 60's this afternoon.  I won't be picking up my friend at the assisted living facility to take to coffee this morning as he has a dental appointment.  However, I will go downtown for coffee and then to the Church for the Wisdom Class.  Then later this afternoon plan on going over to Joann's to pick up something Pat ordered this morning that we can pick up in the store.  Unfortunately it is across the street from the Augusta Mall so traffic may be a problem.  That will be it for today.  Pat wasn't feeling up to going to the Church dinner last night so I brought her home one of the meals.  Scott and Jennifer came out after the meal and they played Farkle again. 

Yesterday I learned in the Christian Photographer Discussion that Janet Damon's daughter Beth had passed away.  I also learned that Jeanne Lee was back in the hospital with more breathing problems.

Patricia, glad to see you didn't have the terrible winds in your area and that you didn't lose power.  Enjoy the warmer weather as that is where we are getting to at night and early morning into the 30's and 40's.  Glad that Farrah enjoyed her cab ride and wasn't upset by the Vet and the shots. 

Yesterday I learned that Janet Damon's daughter Beth had passed away.  I also learned that Jeanne Lee was back in the hospital with more breathing problems.

Mary Ann, the taco pie was tasty and is one dish he likes to makes.  Since his daughter is now living with him she is doing most of the cooking as likes to cook.  She and Pat have been discussing the Christmas Dinner we will be having and looking at recipes.  One can't beat a 2 for 1 special for meals.  We get a 50% off of a second meal coupon from Ruby Tuesday's and it is applied to the lowest cost meal.  At least it covers the taxes or the tip. That sounds like an interesting toy that Annie got for Kendrick. 

Marilyne, I checked this site several times yesterday and it was down.  I  could get to the home page but when I clicked on the Forums it gave me the error message that the certificate had expired the day before.  Glad we are back on line this morning.  I have been too the Bass Pro store several times and it was too big for me plus I am not a sports person so found little of interest.  It has been a long time since we had any See's Candy.   

MarsGal, I bet Shan is growing a bit and now has become a part of the family.  Is he being accepted by your other cats.  Glad you didn't get too much snow.   

[MarsGal]

Larry, Shan seems to have settled down ever so slightly. He follows Oscar around a lot, much to Oscar's disgust on occasion. They play and chase each other lots too. If Oscar is a little hard on Shan and he squawks, Oscar immediately lets go. If Shan disappears for a while, often Oscar seems to get a little anxious and goes looking for him. It's a big brother thing I guess. Even Lucy is allowing him to get close, IF he doesn't try to pounce on her or otherwise try to roughhouse. The vet weighed him in at 4lb. 4oz.

Library day today, so I must get going soon. I brushed the car of about an hour ago.

[Marilyne]

MarsGal - Looks like Shan is a happy and active kitten!  I'm glad that Lucy and Oscar have accepted him into the family.  It gives me a warm feeling to know that you rescued him, and that he is thriving.  I also left a message for you in Library Bookshelf.

Larry - Thank you for telling us about Jeanne Lee.  I hope that we soon hear that she is doing well?  I occasionally look into Christian Photographers, and happened to go there yesterday, when S&F was down for a number of hours.  I saw that Janet's daughter has passed away, and felt bad for Janet and her family.

[angelface555]

Posting for MaryAnn;

SmartyKat has claimed another victim....errr fan.


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[Mary Ann]

Thank you, Patricia.  As soon as I turned it off, Kendrick lost interest.  I don't know how long the mouse will last, but we can always get another.  The top is more substantial than I expected it to be. 

I'm sorry for the mess, but you can tell a cat lives here.  But he loves the toy. 

Mary Ann

[angelface555]

MaryAnn, Farrah does the same, loses interest, except for a few times when you turn it off. There are two speeds; the second comes with flashing lights...    It's the movement that tantalizes.

I decided to post a photo of Farrah after you spoke of cat toys about. What isn't showing in the photo is the basket of small toys. You also may not be able to make out the number of hanging toys, 6, from the white computer shelf. 


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[Lindancer]

MaryAnn and Patricia Love the photos of your kitties.  I hate to buy Taffy and expensive toy, as she never seems to show interest in any thing but grey mouse, and now she will not play with that.

Patricia, someone ask me to print a picture of my Cape Cod scene again this year, could you put it in for me. thanks IF I remember how again.

[angelface555]

Gloria, just email me a copy of it and what you want to be done and we'll  go from there.

[Marilyne]

Mary Ann and Patricia - I LOVE the pictures of Kendrick and Farrah, and their toys! Both cats are gorgeous!   

Mary Ann - is that your moccasined foot sticking out at the bottom the picture?

I can't help wondering how Winnie would have reacted to that toy? He was always curious, so probably would have had a great time with it.  Not sure about a noise coming from a toy?  He was unconcerned with the sound of the vacuum cleaner, but an outside noise like a firecracker, would send him into hiding for a couple of hours.

[Mary Ann]

Marilyn, sorry, but that is my moccasined foot visible in the picture.  I sent the picture to Patricia "as is".  Annie came to see Kendrick tonight to see his new toy and he would not perform for her but he did stalk the mouse. 

I'm sorry I didn't aim the camera a bit higher so you could see the snow on my deck.  We don't have a lot of snow, but the deck floor has about 2 to 4-inches of snow and it is snowing now.

I think most cats would show an interesting in the action toy just because there is motion.  If the toy stays intact, my only expense will be batteries and I have a package of them.

Mary Ann

[MarsGal]

It is 14F at 5:40am this morning. We are to get another inch or snow this afternoon. I don't need to be anywhere today, so I will probably do another load of laundry and start picking through stuff again to see what I can/want to get rid of.

I prevented Shan from going down the basement until he was big enough to negotiate the stairs. Now he won't come down. I picked him up yesterday afternoon and carried him down. He got all big-eyed and made little frightened meows, so I turned around and took him back up right away. One of these days he will get brave enough and follow me or Oscar down, I am sure, but for now, I don't have to worry about him getting into any trouble down there.

Now that the windows are replaced out in the garage, I am going to be moving some of the old electronic stuff stored in the basement that needs recycled out there. That way it will all be in one easy to access place when I get Dirty Dogs (or some other like enterprise) to haul it away for me. Right now, many of the community recycling centers are refusing electronics or restricting access to their own county residents. Cumberland County, where I live, stopped taking them altogether until recently. Now, instead of local recycle days scheduled at certain times of the year for electronics and hazardous waste, we must take them to the only recycle center in the county. First, the drive to the center is not pleasant as Rt. 81 a high accident road between here and Carlisle, second, I can't lift some of this stuff and third, they now charge fifty cents a pound to help defray costs. I think that is exorbitant. The old 27" TV alone will cost me somewhere around $40. The Dauphin County recycle center, which is closer and easier to get to no longer takes electronics for recycle from anyone outside their county.

[Mary Ann]

MarsGal, your electronics recycle program is hard on the elderly, isn't it.  I think we have a place that takes electronics in Rockford, which not only is in the County, it also is in the Township where I live.  We "donated" quite a few earlier this year and I don't think we'll have any more to give this year since most of what we have is relatively new.  Counties may try to save or make money but they should take into consideration some of their residents.

We have a very white world this morning.  It snowed during the night and at 9:20 is still snowing.  Tom is out driving.  He has snow tires on his car and he likes driving in bad weather.  I don't worry about him, but I do worry about some of the "nuts" driving who are not cautious with their driving.

I got out Kendrick's new toy and he laid in his scratch lounge watching the lights and the bump of the mouse going around for several minutes.  I was about to put it away when he pounced on the thing.  He lifts the cover to see the mouse and about the time he is ready to grab it, the mouse goes to the other side.  I think it is a toy he will get to play with only once or twice a day. 

Mary Ann

[larryhanna]

Hi Everyone. We are to have cloudy day today with a high of 57.  The housekeeper will be here later this morning.  I plan on staying home all day.  I put our Christmas check in the mail this morning for our great grandchildren and their Dad. 

Yesterday mailed the Christmas package to Pat's sister.  I had expected there to be a line at the Post Office but there was only one person ahead of me in line.  I did go to coffee with the fellows and then attended the Wisdom group.  Then later in the afternoon I went over to Joann's Fabric to pick up an artificial poinsettia that Pat had ordered to put in the container we have on the front porch.  They had it on sale for 70% off and it is quite a nice looking flower and puts some color on our porch.  All I had to do was show the cashier the order number and the item was sacked up and available in the cashiers area.  I didn't even have to sign anything so was in and out in probably 5 minutes or less.

MarsGal, nice that your other cats are now accepting of Shan.  Hope you found some good books at the library.  I am reading my second ebook since getting my eyes fixed and really enjoying reading again.  It sounds like winter has arrived big time in your area with the cold and snow. In our town we have to pay a $25 fee for each computer or monitor that we discard.  I see you also have a fee too pay at your recycle center. 

Marilyne, Janet has been a very devoted and caring mother for Beth for fifty plus years and the demands have been great on her these last few years. 

Mary Ann, that is an interesting toy.  Is that the scratching pad in the picture? 

Patricia, I think all you ladies certainly have pampered cats.  Farrah looks like she is a big cat.  Is she laying on the skirt with the mouse?

deAngel, look forward to seeing your Cape Cod scene.  I suppose cats may be like human in that their interests change over time. 

[Mary Ann]

Larry, yes, that is a scratching pad you see in the picture, but it is too small for Kendrick.  He can sit on it and takes up the entire space.  His favorite is out of sight, but it is an oblong box and called a scratch lounge; he scratches there, but also sleeps in it.  While he did not perform for Annie last night, he was interested in the toy this morning.  I will limit his having the toy both to preserve the toy and to reintroduce it to him to keep up his interest.

I'll let Patricia answer about Farrah's size, but I think she mentioned weight a few days ago and both cats weigh about the same.  When Kendrick stretches on my bed, from stem to stern, I think he's about four feet long. 

There are lots of whitecaps on Lake Michigan and snow on the beach.  The background is grey so it may be snowing there.  Radar shows snow all over lower Michigan.  With those whitecaps, none of the lake has frozen yet (would be along the shore).  The water is still warmer than the air. 

Tom and I will eat out today and we don't pick the place until we're in the car ready to leave.  Nor do we know what we'll have to eat, either.

Mary Ann

[angelface555]

Good morning, still dark and warm here in the Interior while we await the Winter Solstice. After the Solstice on the 21st, we will again regain six to seven minutes of light daily, so it is essential. I wanted to mention that for many people who become depressed at this time of year, that often it is a scarcity of vitamin D. Some Northern women especially may have none in their system.

Doctors need to test for this as you can overdose on your own but you can cure a winter depression by increasing your rich in vitamin D  foods or by oral vitamins. Many are doing this rather than buying and using expensive unique lamps or other paraphernalia. Of course, eating the whole food is always better than synthetic vitamins, but you use what is available.

Larry, Farrah always looks more substantial because the hair on her stomach is slightly longer than elsewhere and is an orange in color. Her top is grey with black bars and dots while her underside from tip to tail is white otherwise.

She has a prominent ruff and the longer orange stomach hair due to some Abyssinian in her genes.She was six pounds in May of 2016, nine pounds in May of 2017 and now is 14.5. She lays on the toy's skirt often. Perhaps she is keeping an eye out for that confounding mouse?

The vet who has formerly feral and or abused cats of his own, says this is common for those who often went without food for various lengths of time. He has banned treats, people food,(tuna); and declared more exercise to put her back in the nine to 12 weight range for her size. My avatar shows her facial markings and some of her ruff. She is 18 inches from her nose to her tail. The vet labeled her a medium haired tricolor mackerel tabby. The mackerel is a term for a coat with broken bars and spots rather than stripes.

Larry, you do have a well-ordered life! We have an entire mall here with two floors of JoAnn's Fabrics. I've often wandered around in there and at Michaels just down the road, but I rarely buy anything from either place anymore. I used to paint with fabric paint on tees and sweatshirts and knitted, crocheted and tatted but no longer do so. Several grocery stores have that order from home and then pick up service, but I've never tried it. No one delivers that I know about.

A shared friend of Alan and Dora and I just delivered a large bag with presents from them. I had to take the wrapped gifts out and put them elsewhere as Farrah wanted in the bag! I miss them both and will be glad to see them back and hear about Dora's grand cruise and castle visits!

Penny says their two cats run and hide from her and watch her from behind the furniture when she waters plants and fixes their food and litter boxes. She says they don't seem friendly, but I told her they're missing their people and don't know if they're coming back. So not to let it bother her. Farrah has taken two years just to sniff her shoes so it is merely a cat's behavior.

So many of my good friends are away, with family or trips and or busy with the season, so I'm home more often than not. My Christmas was sending out checks and gift cards after Halloween, and a few stashed for some folks here, but I don't plan on doing anything else. My daughter's birthday was December twelfth, and that was always the majority of the holiday for me.

MarsGal, Shan sounds adorable and is so lucky to have you and Oscar and Lucy. My vet agreed with me that a second more playful cat would be better for Farrah; however, we are lucky I suppose to be allowed any pets here, much less the locked, enclosed dog park they've included. Public housing does not allow pets although I understand it is a lot less in price. These seven buildings for invalids thru seniors aren't cheap, but the availability lists are five to seven years.

The weather here is still unusual or perhaps the new normal? A lot of wind and very icy with the scattered snow, then rain then melts. Walking is an exercise in itself out there.

MaryAnn, you have quite a social life along with Larry. Many of my group have either what are euphemistically called teas or card parties but are more gab fests than high society! We play more poker for small gifts and treats than bridge or pinochle. The guys have poker nights and get together to play cribbage sometimes. Otherwise, it is all outdoor sports and games.

[angelface555]

These winners of 2017's comical wildlife awards will put a smile on your face!

https://gizmodo.com/behold-the-most-hilarious-wildlife-photos-of-2017-1821301269?utm_source=lifehacker_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2017-12-15

[angelface555]

Farrah and her purloined gift bag;



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[Mary Ann]

I've always known that cats like bags and boxes.  Kendrick likes something over his head and often is found under a chair, a table, or my mother's sewing cabinet.

Mary Ann

[angelface555]

I'm posting for Gloria and this is her wonderfully detailed Cape Cod scene;



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[Marilyne]

Patricia - such a cute picture of Farrah, inside the Christmas bag!  Winnie also loved to get inside of a paper bag . . . or a cardboard box.  Sometimes he preferred to walk around and around on the bag and squash it down until it was almost flat, and then sit on top of it!   Wish I had some pictures.

Gloria - Your Cape Cod scene, is truly lovely!  I've seen lots of Christmas villages over the years, but I've never seen this one.  Love the water and the boats and the lighthouse!

[larryhanna]

It is a bright and sunny but cool morning here in South Carolina.  It is suppose to get into the mid 50's this afternoon.  I plan on attending a meeting this morning and then stopping at Aldi's to replenish our fruits and vegetables and get a couple of other things.  After resting this afternoon I will probably watch one of the bowl football games.  Yesterday was a day to stay home and take things easy.

Mary Ann, the scratching pad in the photo looked a bit like a trampoline.    Too bad that Kendrick is too big for it.  It sounds like you and Tom may go through the same routine Pat and I do when we go out to eat, i.e., where shall we go? 

Patricia, our cat was black and white striped all over so obviously of a different Breed.  I guess if Farrah is laying on the skirt of that toy that mouse isn't going to be able to get through that area.  I was happy that the checkout desk is right inside the front of the store so didn't have to walk to the back or up and down the isles looking for something.  This is a large store but only one floor.  Pat gets their mailer every week as well as keeping an eye on their website.  She doesn't like the quality of their fabric.  Nice of Alan and Dora to plan the gifts before they left?  Cute photo of Farrah in the gift bag.  Cats love boxes and bags especially it there is something over their heads.  I see Mary Ann has the same thought about something over a cat's head. 

Patricia, thanks for posting the Cape Cod scene for Gloria.  It is very nice. 

[FlaJean]

Gloria, what a nice Christmas display.  The only thing we put up was our little tree which has its lights flickering in different colors.  All my Christmas stuff is still packed from our move in March 2016, so I enjoyed seeing your display. 🎶🎶

[Mary Ann]

Gloria, what a nice display.  I have some Father Christmas figurines that I put out and if I can get Tom to bring up my small tree, I'll get something to use as a base.  I have a 7' tree that I no longer put up - takes too long to put up and take down and takes up too much room in my small condo living area. 

Dot's brother had a lot of Christmas villages that he displayed every year and he had a lot more things to show but he had a large house with many rooms.  He died several years ago and I wonder what they did with all of his Christmas stuff; it would be too much for his wife to handle and I'm not sure his kids wanted that much.

I like your village.

Grand Haven looks awfully cold today.

Mary Ann

[Lindancer]

Patricia, thank you so much, for printing my scene. A couple people asked to see it.  I put this scene up as Mark built a home on the Cape, as it remained him of Long Island.  I put the church scene up for Dennis, as I have gotten to be this old, every year I say I cannot do it again,but I just cant't help myself. It just takes me a little longer.

Thank you all, for the nice comments. MaryAnn, the cranberry bog in the right hand side of the picture, is my most expensive piece.

Marilyne, the light house has  censor it  so the light and seagulls go around and the fog horn plays.

Flajean, as I wrote before, it give me pleasure to set it up, but now taking it down and putting away, is another story.

[Mary Ann]

Gloria, of course I don't know how much space you have, but I wonder if you could leave the display up but take out some of the definitely Christmas things.  I think it could give you some nice memories during the year.  I am sure it would require dusting, but you could manage that. 

I just had a call from the American Heart Association.  I've received many calls in the past few weeks and always ignore them, figuring they wanted money.  I finally answered the call and it was almost as bad as wanting money; the man wanted me to mail four letters to my neighbors and they would provide everything.  I told him "no" and asked him to please remove my name from his calling list.  I've received many calls like that over the years and always refused them and I'm not going to start now.

I think it has quit snowing for the time being.  Tom is going out to drive for Uber and he's been rather busy.  He said his per hour rate isn't too good because it takes longer to get from Point A to Point B because of the snow, but he has had enough calls to make it worth while.  His recruiting of semi drivers has slowed down because of the holidays; no one wants to be away from home for any length of time this time of the year.  No drivers, no money!

Mary Ann

[angelface555]

Posting for Gloria again. This lovely church scene is in memory of her son, Dennis, (who loved Christmas); and passed just before Christmas.

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[Marilyne]

Gloria - I used to set up a Christmas village called Snow Village.  It was the most modern of the Dept 56 villages, and the houses and businesses were supposed to depict America in the 1950's.  I had a lot of houses, lodges, churches, and a few businesses.  My favorite was the movie theater, and on the marquis, the movie playing was "White Christmas".  Like you, I also had pieces to make it look real, like trees and cars.  We had to set it up, and then string lights through all the pieces, which got harder to do every year.  We offered everything to our son and dil, or either of the daughters, but nobody wanted anything.  We eventually sold every piece on ebay, but I hung onto that movie theater  until the very end.

Mary Ann - We know lots of people who drive for Uber around here.  You can make a lot of money, working nights and weekends.  Our daughter has been working at UPS again this Christmas season.  She is in charge of recruiting truck driver helpers,  and people to work in the warehouse handling packages and loading trucks.  Nobody wants to do it this year!  The hours are long and the work is hard - but even the good pay is not enough to entice people to take the jobs. 

[Lindancer]

Thank you again Patricia. What wonderful cyber friends we have. I am to happy to count you as one. You are all my family now.

Marilyne, i may get  ride of all my houses, but not the light house or church.  right now my granddaughter in Tenn. wants the set up. When Luke and Mandy were young 10 and 14 they would help me set up the scene, if they were down from Mass.  One day Luke was setting there just looking at it, and said the more I look, the more things I see.

[angelface555]

Good afternoon from the Interior! Life, cat, and self, are as usual. Gloria, thank you, I have always felt you were a good friend and now its official!

We had the bimonthly food boxes today, and it was quite a scene because after two or three months of very little in the boxes, think perhaps three or four cans of vegetables, one freeze dried bag of stew, one box of oatmeal and a can of fruit. Remember these folks only get $19.00 a month in food stamps! Today, besides that same type of box, there was two boxes of two pound froze whole eggs, plus an entire extra filled box of mixed frozen meats!

The ones I delivered had five sixteen inch long packages of Angus beef. Now I do not know if I have ever had it, but it is supposed to be of high quality. My three folks were thrilled to see meat that wasn't in a can or vacuum packed!

Of course with the large crowd and the folks going back and forth, you knew something had to happen. The elevator on the left was locked as someone this morning had the runs both inside that elevator and just outside it on the first floor. So it was backed up as everyone was waiting for their turn with the elevator on the right and for maintenance to come and do their thing.