Because she’s worth it…
Constance J. Woodle went to day spa today. Apparently she’s very well behaved for the groomer, but she’s a TERROR when you’re trying to get her into the cage in the van -the groomer picks up and returns, how’s that for service, eh? This is her winter haircut – just the feet, face and bum trimmed, because she feels the cold.
And now we’re all headed upstairs for a nap – it’s 16C and grey here, so fingers crossed my silly internalised “NO NAPS!” voice will STFU and let me rest.
This is one of my favourite photos
… and a reminder of why using a mat in a photo frame is a Good Idea. This was taken before digital cameras, and is one of only two pictures I have with my beloved Burmese, Moët. All the others were lost in The Great Orange Juice Incident of 2005 (in which a laptop died, with its hard drive not backed up. I lost so many pictures that day…)
I was walking past this picture in its cheap little clip frame the other day and noticed it seemed to be resting on the glass … oddly. Yep, it had stuck to the glass, and very careful peeling off left only those few damaged areas, which I will repair on the digital image I now have. If only I’d used a mat to keep the picture even just a teeeeeeeeny distance off the glass, this wouldn’t have happened. Oh well, lessons learned.
The photo is from somewhere around 1994 ish. If I could remember what years my sister worked in Taiwan, I could pinpoint the timing, because that Tintin t-shirt was a present from her.
Moët made it to Toowoomba with me at the end of 2003, but died a few weeks later from kidney failure. She was 16 or so. I still miss her.
And I miss my sister, who died in 2005. Sometimes its the little reminders that make her death seem such a short time ago. Stupid brain cancer. And she never used a mobile phone in her life, it was just one of those random horrible cancers.
An eventful evening…
During the pre-prandial Throwing Of The Ball For The Dog (an important afternoon ritual) A DISASTER was noted. Yep, the loo had backed up and raw sewage was flowing out onto the concreted area at the back of the house. (It would be too grand to call it a patio, even though it is roofed.) This happens every so often (as I’m sure it does to most households) probably due to tree roots in the sewer pipes.
ACK! Call Nice Plumber (who, as you may remember, was only here the other day to tell us about the leaky gas stove) who sends his offsider to snake the pipes or whatever it is you call it. Expensive is what I call it – “call out” fee (because of course, it’s after 6 pm by now…) plus the snaking thing adds up to $250+. Five runs of cable down the pipes later and we *should* have reached the elbow of our sewer pipe where it intersects with council’s responsibility.
If the problem re-occurs tonight, we get to call council out to fix it. Fingers crossed that it’s now fixed… Trust me, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and non-working loos are NOT a good mix!
Then – after Mr Beloved had made a rush trip to the big supermarket before they close at 8 or so for cleaning stuff (ewwwww) there was a rattle at the door.
This small wire haired terrier had slipped under our fence and was looking for someone to be nice to him and a feed… he was dragging a broken lead, as though he’d broken away from someone or somewhere he’d been tied up. So we secured him to our fence on a long enough rope that he can get under the house for shelter. Mr Beloved fetched water and food which were both guzzled. Poor thing is very friendly but very thin. Oh, and yes, that’s a pigs ear he’s got in his mouth – not that we spoil dogs in our house, much! Connie desperately wanted to go out and play with Stray Dog but of course we couldn’t let her – I mean, the poor stray could have had any number of issues, yes? But at least a pigs ear to chew on will keep him occupied for a while. (I suspect Connie will whinge all night at hearing the stray outside, though…)
And of course there are just not the resources in a regional town like Toowoomba to have after hours RSPCA or council help for lost dogs. I did call both council after hours number and the 1300 RSPCA to register that the poor thing (he?) was here, and give a description and my phone number, but there just isn’t much else to be done before morning.
This all on top of braving the shops earlier today – all I wanted was a black cardigan, you know, just a nice looking cardie to throw on as it gets a bit colder? You would have thought I was asking for the MOON! I looked at the cheap chickie shops (Big W, Millers, Katies, Rockmans) and the fat chick shops (My Size, Autograph, and the Be Me section of Rockmans) but nope, such an article was not to be found. I did see ONE warp thing I liked, not a cardy, but it was $120. Um, nope! All I wanted was just a plainish black cardie, nothing fancy, you see people wearing them ALL THE TIME, so where are they hiding?
Turns out “they’re just not fashionable” said the lady at Lowes (cheap menswear) “but I do have a couple here…” $48 later and I have a nice black cardie AND a blue-ish one as well. VALUE!
So – I’m tired, there’s a strange dog making rattly sounds that will probably upset our dog all night, the back concrete has been cleaned down, and in a little while I will go and start my bedtime rituals. Got my CPAP machine back today (it had to have a new motor and switch) and I’m hoping it’s now as efficient as the loaner machine was.
Here’s hoping for a quiet night … although I must say, all this other stuff took my mind off my anxieties really well, LOL!
(Quick update: we all slept, and stray dog was taken away by Council’s Animal Control bloke this morning. Apparently the dog is a known Houdini…)
Not really all birds, all the time…
But they were being cute. These are Rexy’s parents: Dorian Grey and Bollinger B. Birdy.
(credits: everything except smudge brush in lower left corner: “Cutie Putie Birdie” kit by Kitty Designs at Oscraps.)
I am a Bad Blogger
But that’s just tough, for now. Have another cute birdy pic instead:
Little Rexie can FLY now! And is eating some “grown up” food all by him/herself. But still likes to make the dinosaur noises and beg from Mum and Dad every so often.
Rex Redux:
Just keeps getting cuter! Can almost stand properly now, though still in the nesting box.
That’s bird’s got attitude!
Introducing…. REX!
Credits: Kitschy Digitals Vintage Camera Kit (background paper, Box Brownie, Polaroid frames); Lesley Grainger‘s Birdie ABC Alpha; Doodled Edge from Laurie Anderson – Heaven’s Gate Designs.
We’ve heard the little one saying “peep peep peep peep PEEEEEEP” for over a fortnight now – but we didn’t want to do anything that might endanger him/her. Well, S/he has open eyes and is finally big enough to start to stand. I think you have to be a bird person to truly love the little ones when they’re this ugly/cute! Bollinger and Dorian, the parent birds, are spending increasing amounts of time out of the nesting box, but both are still on feeding duty.
I’m trying not to get too attached, as it’s still early days, but young Rex is over the most vulnerable phase, we hope.
BTW – Mr Beloved called the chick “Rex” because it was able to make a fierce hissing noise when disturbed – sort of like what baby dinosaurs might have done. (And how much do I love the look of adoration on his face as Mr Beloved holds Rex?!)
We went to the Nice Psychiatrist today, and I feel like I have a little more control over what’s going on. She listened to my whinging about side effects and gave me the option of changing meds or sticking things out – she thinks that a lot of the symptoms I’m struggling with are signs that I’m actually getting better. So – knowing that it really takes at least 6 weeks for new medications to settle, I now have an action plan, possibly at half hour increments, of How To Cope with panic attacks, rage, hunger, etc. It feels a bit silly filling in the day in such small wedges of time, but apparently I know this makes sense and stops any one problem becoming OVERWHELMING.
And tonight I baked. It smells sooooo good – let’s hope THIS one makes it out of the tin without any disasters! It’s the banana variation of Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Cordon Rose Cream Cheesecake. Mr Beloved beta beater(!) tested the mix before it went into the tin and pronounced it Good. It’s been at least 6 years since I made it last – I had to buy a new springform tin to replace one that didn’t survive the move from Canberra.
I must get to bed: Social Cre8te tomorrow, and we’re celebrating my birthday, so I have to be there (with the cheesecake!) I should point out that I didn’t HAVE to make my own cake, I just wanted an excuse to bake. Especially since part of the new regime to cope with the side effects of the medication will be a CARB FREE HOUSE (or as close as we can reasonably manage) – so that I don’t end up the size of a house again. Lots and lots of veges and vege soup in my future.
BED!
Photos of cake etc tomorrow.
Housekeeping; 2 and a half journal pages.
Well, BLOG housekeeping – you didn’t think I’d suddenly developed a passion for actual housekeeping, did you? I mean, in our house the dust buffaloes have NAMES and GRANDCHILDREN.
You might notice (if you’re reading the actual blog, rather than an RSS feed) that I’ve finally got around to adding some things back in over there ———————————> in the right hand column. My Yahoo avatar (did you know Toowoomba has several croquet clubs? Steaming towards the 19th century, we are, oh my!) and my long neglected Shelfari list have been updated. And some links.
Speaking of links – without sounding toooo gushing, there are some bloggers who are so awesome that I had difficulty deciding how to label the group. “Who I wanna be When I Grow Up”? Not quite right. “I am a Total FanGirl of these Bloggers” is accurate but a bit long…
Anyway, on to other matters.
It’s been quiet on the home front, with only increased security rounds of the commercial premises across the road and some newly boarded up windows to show for Monday night’s excitement. But it’s truly the silly season and I expect we’ll have some hoon related drama before too long…
Speaking of Christmas, I am SO OVER IT! As an atheist household, we don’t really do Christmas… but as this is the first year we’ve really been “out” as atheists, we’re still adjusting. I’m happy that other people want to celebrate, fine, send Christmas cards, do whatever – but I am sick unto DEATH of Christmas music. And crowds. *shudder* I don’t like crowds at the best of times, but add in carpark rage, congested shops full of people desperately buying tat that will go in the rubbish by the end of next week… Ugh.
[clicky for biggy]
I had another “oops,I slept all day” day today. (wow, that’s awkward, with those three “days” in there!) And I’m still tired. Ridiculous!
Here’s another art journal page, this one only just started:
[click.big. yada yada.]
Miss Constance J Woodle’s eye problem seems to be mostly cleared up after a week of eye ointment (ick!) but she is back in the hated elizabethan collar because she’s chewed the pad of her right from paw to bloodiness. ARRRGH!! I’ve been putting anti-fungal ointment on it but if it’s not cleared up by Monday she’ll be back at the vet. Again. (yes, I’ve checked thoroughly that there wasn’t a grass seed or something similar stuck in her paw to cause the irritation – I think it’s just one of the joys of having a furry hound, and let’s not even go into the eyelashes problems that poodles can get…)
[clicky]
I’ll probably put more colour over the white dots yet…
And you? What are all of Y’all up to, hmmm?
Man, this is HARD!
So Friday night at social scrap (aka playgroup!) I actually made a PHYSICAL, not digital, scrapbook page. And it was HARD! There’s no undo button when you cut paper the wrong size, and I always have issues with glue, dammit.
Another customer commented “If I could do pages like your art journal, I wouldn’t bother doing ordinary scrap book pages!” – but I WANT to be able to do scrap book stuff too. Except now I realise I need to stay true to MY style, especially in physical scrapbooking. Even Mr Beloved says “I prefer your digital stuff…
Okay, so here (complete with lousy flash photography and parallax error, sorry!) is the Actual Paper Page (sitting on a white paper bag to keep it clean):
(clicky for biggy if you must…)
Things I like: I vaguely remembered seeing a tutorial on how to make these paper roses, so had a go on the night. Not too bad, I think. (Although now I look at the instructions – not so much!)
Things I didn’t like: Grrr! I had issues with GLUE. And the photo didn’t really pop.
Credits: Cardstock: Bazill ColorMates; Papers: Basic Grey (all the oranges) and Kaisercraft (all the greens); Journalling tag by Michelle Coleman, part of the “So Charming” digital kit from Little Dreamer Designs; Chipboard alpha by Heidi Swapp; Grey pearls by Kaisercraft; pens: various (seriously, you want me to remember PENS?!)
And tonight I made a digi version:
(clicky for biggy, this one is MUCH nicer!)
Credits: Background paper: Jen Wilson‘s “Midnight Jack” kit; Orange/red papers and green paper behind photo (modified) “Sweet Sensations 2″, Lori Barnhurst of Little Dreamer Designs [get in quick if you want this, her store is retiring Dec 12!]; Journaling Tag: Michelle Coleman, “So Charming” kit, Little Dreamer Designs; Butterfly and Flower elements from Holly Designs “Naturally” kit; Alpha is Katie Pertiet‘s “Basic Bare Chipboard Alpha” (modified); photo frame and staple are from Katie Pertiet’s “Classic Curled Photo Frame” pack; leaves (modified) from Thao Cosgrove‘s “Beautiful Life” kit.
Hmmm. Yep. Which format do you think I should persist with?
Lipstick
Apparently the average consumption is 9 pounds, not 8 kilos, I got that wrong – it’s still a ridiculous amount of LIPSTICK to eat!
It’s too darn hot - and no Ann Miller tapping on the coffee table around here!
Had a HUUUUGEE fight with the bestie over something I wrote on facebook. Me and my big mouth/fingers, eh? In my defence, I mentioned NO NAMES. This is what I wrote:
Sad today – lost a friendship, I think. Probably gone a while ago, but I really noticed it today. (Yeah, I’m an Aspie, I don’t READ signs well, ok? JUST TELL ME!!)
Hmmmm. And no amount of saying I’m sorry seems to help. And never mind that it could EASILY have applied to more than one person… and that I did in fact have a misunderstanding with a friend online that same day.
Don’t know what to do there.
So it’s been an … interesting …week. Constance J. Woodle had another visit to the vet, and her blood test (pancreatic lipase) came back as NORMAL, yay! But now she might have an allergy to GRASS.
GRASS! She’s a dog! Where else is she going to walk and pee? Bloody GRASS!!
And the treatment (large shots of cortisone) can’t be given to dogs with … yep, pancreatitis. Poor little darling, she’s having a rough trot. But she’s almost back to normal (so long as “normal” no longer includes being able to eat anything at all interesting.)
What I’ve been reading lately:
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbary. I know this book has had RAVE reviews on many blogs I read; whih often makes me reluctant to read something. But - this lives up to the hype. I would love to know if it can possibly be as elegant and erudite and charming in the original Klingon French (sorry, too many years with Trekkies) – one of my favourite books of the year and one I sincerely DON’T WANT HOLLYWOOD TO GET because they would stuff it right up and probably change the ending and that would spoil THE WHOLE THING.
*deep breath*
And a gem from my book boxes (these are the squintillions of books that haven’t made it to shelves yet, despite our best efforts) – Marie Curie by Eve Curie My copy is the 1946 edition and is quite badly foxed, but still readable. Something of a hagiography, but a good basic history – I’m itching to read more about Madame Curie.
OK, I am off to play art journals… see ya later!
