Merry Christmas

 

And so, another year was brought to a sudden halt at work,
sent home early due to rising COVID.
Again, no tree at work - and just a small one at home.
Hard to muster up that "feeling", but today,
Christmas Day,
I am here with my blessings,
the Cat Wrangler and kitties, and perfect softly falling snow,
whilst listening to the Salvation Army show from England.
 Then Mr. Bean later on!
Oh, and still later maybe I'll see what the Pope has to say as well. ;)
Merry Christmas!!!
🎄

Time Is A Little Girl/Over The River and Through the Woods

9/11 The Story of a Dog

 

As the world is remembering 9/11 20 years later, let me share a story that to this day seems rather amazing. This happened several years ago. I think it was 2003. It was a snowy late night, close to midnight. Snow was falling lightly, slowly but persistently, covering all surfaces with a magical, sparkling white coating, obliterating all traces of footprints and paw prints. As we are shutting off the lights for the night, we notice a dog on our neighbor's porch - just sitting there, as though admiring the view. Sitting very still, as though waiting for a command or for his owner to appear. But a few things were wrong: our neighbors don't have a dog, they had had no visitors with a dog that evening, and the dog was now looking up and down the street, looking a bit confused and anxious. We figured (hoped) he would soon move along and so we waited for about 1/2 an hour. But it was late, and not a soul in sight. How could we just leave him out in the cold? But most importantly, how could we bring in a largish boxer-type dog into a house of 4 cats!? Very carefully that's how. So, Cat Wrangler (CW) goes outside, down the driveway and approaches him slowly with hand cautiously extended,  soon realizing this is one sweet dog, with no meanness whatsoever. He is easily led by his collar onto the back porch and into the house. The cats having been secured upstairs, we usher him into the screened-in front porch (with storm windows), give him some cat crunchies and water, secure the door and go to bed. 

Since we have cats, rising early is not unusual. Happily, that is the CW's job, not mine 🙂.  He heard whimpering coming from the porch, which is not winterized - the poor guy was shivering, and we realized a little too late this sweetie was certainly not used to being out in the cold for those few hours. Feeling just horrible about that, we usher the cats outside (it was for them a mild winter morning) and lead the poor cold dog upstairs and put him in the spare room. When we looked in on him later, he was so well-behaved, snoozing on a blanket and happy to be warm and secure. One of our cats, Smudge, upon sniffing the closed door, looked at us with wide eyes, as if to ask, "whadya got in there this time??" This room often being the "holding pen" for various critters needing assistance, requiring sequestration, usually cats - an occasional baby raccoon. He was such a good-natured cat and welcomed all. He even once followed a young moose after he appeared in our yard - I guess he thought it was a very large dog! 

Anyway, with poochie safe and secure, CW went off to the local grocery store up the street, where folks often post items lost/found including cat/dogs. Amazingly, as CW was posting our sign, the owner of "our" dog was affixing his (see photo). Long story short, dog and owner happily reunited, CW told me the story of this dog named Victor, as recounted by the owner:   the dog was a 9/11 survivor - he had lost his owner/s due to the tragedy in New York and was put up for adoption. Victor, being a sweet poochie, unfortunately had the habit of following children when coaxed, as children do. Turns out he lived not that far away from us, we learned - round the corner, down the street. But I guess this time, and partly due to the snow, he had gone a bit too far, lost his bearings, and so he got lost. 

CW was his saviour. Now guess what CW's birthday is? That's right - 9/11. Also born in the Chinese Year of the Dog. 🐾🐾🦮💖

One Year of Lockdown: My Normal

I work pretty much in isolation. My work as an archivist in a very small university library necessitates a quiet and reflective environment: those who study there are expecting silence and that is what they get. But it is not a bustling place. As for myself, I have worked in this solitude for over 35 years, and therefore, this lockdown is not a hardship for me the way it is for others, and I feel sorry for them. Even my personal life is quiet and largely uneventful: no big family reunions, no large circle of friends, and so weekends and evenings are also quiet and peaceful. Usually. We like it, and the cats like it. 

Every moment is a fresh beginning.
T.S. Eliot

A recent Amaryllis festival in my window garden.

A Chair with a View

🎄The view from my armchair 🎄

 

No Christmas in my little library this year...

Due to the world wide pandemic, I was off work March to August, went back briefly
September to mid November, then home again.
Back in the office today for one more "clean-up" day to tidy the desk etc.,
and then home to at least the 6th of January.
It feels lonely without my little tree in my Old Library,
put up every year since we first moved in in 1994.
Luckily, I have some items from the folks at Jacquie Lawson cards, calendars etc.
All interactive, and just a joy to look at, and play with, and feel like a kid again,
even though I scarcely feel anything like that these days.
But check out this living room, which I helped to decorate - such fun!

 I even got to decorate this little tree, save it, and then share it.

And no boxes to put away!

Does it look familiar?

That's right, it's the same one as in the living room,

which can be "recreated" outside!

Brilliant!

🎄

The Summer That Wasn't

 That's how it feels anyway 😟  Very few daylilies bloomed - why? As for everything else, due to my back issues, being unable to be upright for longer than a few minutes without extreme pain setting in, it all suffered. The garden was a mess - and seemed in mourning with my decrepit state. But a few things shone through despite the gloom of Covid and my own infrastructure problems, always a combination of cats and flowers. 

Elvi loves to soak up the sun in the living-room window garden

Hostas under the Hydrangea

This  Hibiscus is a bright yellow in the heat of the summer,
but more orange in cooler temperatures, seen below.

South Seas, one of the few daylilies that bloomed this year,
and it bloomed very well. 

A very pretty new Hosta

Succulents in the sun

Kobi poses with my birthday glads, late September.

Spring ushered in something nasty, and began a 5-month lock-down at home.
But it also began with these beauties:
Darwin tulips aptly named Beauty of Spring!

And of course, some things never change:
Ginja and Zena,
"You lookin' at me?"
Who's zoomin' who eh?

Meh - whatever - some know how to make it all go away,
Lily snoozes endless hours on the couch,
more so these days now that the weather is cooler.
'Night-night!
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............