Furball Friday

Contrary to what most people think,

it can be tiring to be a tiny koodle named Milo.

Happy Weekend!

Goals for My Least Favorite Time of Year

Sigh.  I just realized that the post I scheduled for Memorial Day (yesterday), I actually scheduled for today.  We were out of town and I didn't have any access to e-mail or anything else, so I didn't even realize it until today.  Fortunately, it did not cause the world to explode or anything ...  and I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend here in the U.S.  We visited my sister at home in WV, and most of the family was there, so it was lots of fun, as it always is.

Even if it was too hot.   Which brings me to:

 This week's topic:  10 Goals for This Summer

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that I am not a fan of summer.  I don't like hot weather, and I absolutely abhor humidity.  So I thought I would try to come up with ten things that I could concentrate on accomplishing, thereby (in theory) keeping me from complaining so much.  A tall order, but worth a try.

1.  Lose 6 pounds.  Why six?  Because I think it is completely realistic to think that I could lose two pounds in June, two in July, and two in August.  I'm hoping that will get me back on track with healthier eating without seeming like punishment.

2.  Finish my Narrangansett sweater.  Ideally, it would have been nice to have it a month or so ago, and have worn it.  But it isn't finished, so I'm gonna aim for the end of the summer at the latest.  If I don't wear it this year, I'll have plenty of opportunities in the years to come.

3.  Take better care of my nails.  One of the first thing I notice about people is their hands.  I was doing pretty well with  mine, but tried one of those shellac manicures, and though it did last two weeks, and looked nice, it made my nails all peely and icky-looking.  So I'm making an effort to bring them back to health and looking nice.

4.   Try to be more creative with my CSA items.  I joined a CSA at work, and we've had one delivery so far that was pretty great.  I want to give at least one new recipe/food item a try with each delivery.  The same old things are yummy and reliable, but I don't want to get tired of the tried and true.  And who knows, I may just find the next amazing thing!

5.  Get rid of stuff.  Clothes/shoes I don't wear, or that are worn out.  Same with household linens.  And just the other *stuff* that has accumulated over the years.  Stay tuned - a stash clear out is part of this goal!

6.  Try to be nicer.  I'm doing pretty well overall with my efforts to be more kind this year.  But summer challenges me in a whole different way, 'cause when I am way too hot and uncomfortable, I really don't want to be nice to anyone.  At all.  Ever.  So I want to change that, even if it's just in a baby steps kind of way.

7.  Clean up/fix up the garden.  The Tim already has his "crops" planted on the deck, but I want to clean up our street-level garden and plant some things, so we can start actually using it again.  When it's not terribly hot, it's a great place to sit in the evenings to relax, and a wonderful spot for weekend breakfast.

8.  Visit The Barnes Foundation.  I never visited it in its suburban location, but really have no excuse, now that it is a) within walking distance of my house, and b) literally across the street from where I work.  I even know the woman who is the Librarian there through knitting workshops, so I should take advantage of it.

9.  More trips to the shore.  Last summer, mainly due to laziness, we only made it two or three times, which is just wrong.  

10. Try to have realistic expectations regarding all of the above.  None of them absolutely have to be done this summer, so I don't want to get caught up in whether or not I'm sticking to them.  I want to try, but not obsess, if you know what I mean.

Now to find something cold to drink ...

Memorial Day

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal,

love leaves a memory no one can steal.

  ~From a headstone in Ireland

Old Photo Friday - Memorial Day Edition

Well, here we are - a long weekend for those of us in the U.S.   Memorial Day weekend is considered the unofficial start of summer here, with people heading to beaches, pools, and picnics with family and friends.

So it seemed only appropriate that this week's Old Photo Friday show the photo above. The woman on the far left with the scowl on her face?  My mother.  I have no idea what "U.C.C.Co." means, but the location, Oglebay Park, is in our hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia.  The park and the pool are still there, beautiful, and still looking the same as in this picture.  The year marked in 1938, which means my mother was 19 going on 20 years old (her BD was in December).  So maybe this was an outing with co-workers?  Who knows, but in any event, this is a favorite picture of mine, because whenever you got this look from my mother, you knew things weren't going well for you ... (I can actually can hear her saying "Oh for God's sake" here ...)

Have a wonderful Memorial Day - or as my mother would say, Decoration Day - weekend.  May you have no reasons to scowl.  :-)

Now with More Doodle and Koodle!

Well, it's been a busy week here at Chez Ravell'd Sleave, what with a kitten keeping all of us on our toes!  Fortunately, everyone seems to have decided that it will all work, and there have been no serious conflicts.

Last Sunday, when I took Dug for a walk, I decided to do a little photo essay.  We have a weekend morning routine that he truly enjoys, and it's nice to see him get to have a nice, long walk (our weekday morning walks are short and sweet, to say the least!) which results in seeing some of his doggie pals.  Anyway, some of the pictures are blurry because a) I'm not a great photographer to start with, and b) I was moving when some of the pictures were taken.  But, for those who are interested, here is the link to a Flickr slideshow, called "Dug's Favorite Day."  Note that if you go to the upper-right-hand area, and click "Show Info" you can see the captions, etc.

Dug's day got better, though, that evening, when the koodle arrived.  They have become fast friends, and when the kitten is not sequestered for meals and such, they spend a lot of their time together.  I'm not sure the kitten has any idea that Dug is a dog, and for Dug's part, he seems to sense that it's a baby creature, and he is very gentle.

There's a lot of this kind of activity:

Along with attacks on Dug's legs and tail, which he doesn't seem to mind.

It's also been decided that the koodle's official name is Milo.  For whatever reason, he just seems like a Milo - not that I can tell you what that means.  It's true, there was the movie called "Milo and Otis," where the cat was an orange tabby, but that wasn't the immediate inspiration, so to speak.  And it seemed destined to be his name, when The Tim told Milo's foster mother that we were trying to think of a good name for him, and she said that she had been calling him Milo!  Weird coincidence, huh?

Jetsam and Pip are also just fine with Milo's joining the family.  The Tim and I think that Jetsam is particularly pleased because Pip is now getting a dose of his own medicine - as in, he wants to sit in a sun spot, and out of nowhere, Milo attacks!  Pip still does that to Jetsam and when he is in the mood to play, it's fine ... but otherwise, Pip gets a whack on the head and you can tell he has no idea why it happened.

********

In other news, 34 years ago today, The Tim and I graduated from college - wow, that's a long time ...