OT December Chit Chat

[agate]

From a cat's point of view, it must seem really crazy for humans to put a tree in the middle of their living room.

Why else would they put it there except for the cats' amusement?

[Cat Dancer]

We gave up on Christmas trees when we got a second cat, and the two of them would chase each other up and down the tree. Even before that, we'd tie the tree to an oak bookcase full of books...no way that sucker would come down! :) and the first 3 feet or so were decorated with origami ornaments, or wooden ornaments...something that would not break.

But...the last tree we had, we had some Amish friends. We invited them to the house for eggnog and cookies, and had the tree set up. The Amish of course don't use electricity, don't celebrate Christmas in the same way (they wait until 12th night..12 days after Christmas, when the wise men were supposed to have come, bearing gifts). Anyway, we had the tree, with lights that twinkled. They had a charming little 3 year old girl. Who walked into the living room, saw the tree, and stopped dead in her tracks, mouth agape. When she got her wits about her, she marched up to the tree, grabbed the light string, and tried her darndest to stuff them into the pocket of her little dress. :) :)

We rescued her, the lights and the tree (still tied to the bookcase, thank goodness!). Momma had a long talk about "look, don't touch!" So she sat down in front of the tree and refused to move the rest of the evening! :)

[Howie]

Great story Cat! For a kid, seeing a tree all lit up and decorated had to be quite an experience. Amish lifestyle isn't easy, but I respect their view of life.

[Virginia]

That is a cute and nice memory Cat.

As for the cat video Agate - they are little devils.

[SuzE-Q]

Howie, hope you can get a new lock tomorrow.

Virginia, like BBS, I take selfies at the optician's, then put my glasses on to see what they look like. But, like you, my last time, the optician and a customer liked one pair, so those are the ones I went with.

Lol @ the tree video. I think cats think the tree is THEIR new Christmas toy!

[Howie]

The lock thing worked out for now. Putting the shed lock on the garage, and moving my ladder from the shed to my junk room indoors. Now the shed really has nothing in it of any value except the lawn mower, but I now have someone to mow my grass. It's a guy who my sister knows, and he has a business and that's all they do, mow grass. Plus my dear sister is paying for it.

*** Mower for free to a good home. ***

[Virginia]

Great for you Howie, good for Sister!

[agate]

Your sister is a gem. I remember the problems you've had in the past with the lawn-mowing task and lining up people who would do it. Having to feel beholden to neighbors isn't fun, and now you won't have to be.

[Howie]

I use to enjoying mowing, and had it down to 20 minutes. I was able to do it for many years. But then it started getting harder, and I would have to stop and lean against the house, mower running, then in a few minutes, take off again.

It's nice to have someone do it. All I have to do now is buy my own groceries, clean the house now and then, and wait on these two fuzzy princesses.

[agate]

Waiting on two fuzzy princesses is a lot! Of course you wouldn't have time to mow any grass.

I'm doing the happy dance here ever since mid-afternoon yesterday when the Safeway actually appeared with groceries for my neighbor and me. And they got most of the order--one omission, one mistake. That's really good considering the weather and the fact that the neighbor and I were out of enough things that we had large orders.

The Safeway driver said that their trucks have no chains or traction tires, and so getting around has been difficult for them. Their trucks are gigantic. I would have thought they'd be well equiped for weather.

[Howie]

So how do you order, weekly, or when you see you are getting low?

[Virginia]

I am so glad this available to you Agate. Good too that you have a neighbor to go in with. I suppose this must save a little on the trip cost.

[Howie]

I just looked it up, and they aren't in this area.

[agate]

Howie, you might be able to find a good online grocery delivery service through this Website: Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

I try to get groceries once a week. Bananas and other things just don't keep very long.

Usually the online grocery delivery places will give a pretty good photo of whatever item you want and a description plus the nutrition info and ingredients. And the produce they find when they shop is often better in quality than what I might find by shopping in the store.

My experience with grocery shopping in real stores has always been that unless the store is one of those very top-rated ones, you can be there on a great day for apples but a very bad day for tomatoes, or they're out of cauliflower.

[Howie]

Thanks Joan. I would be an easy customer because I eat pretty much the same thing. A Compleat's dinner, coleslaw, and bread like the frozen kind like Texas Toast. Soy milk to drink. And later in the evening, I have ice cream. Simple!