Happy Veteran’s Day! Go hug yourself a veteran.
Yesterday morning I was trying to decide what I needed to get done during the day, when an email came in from the Monday morning pet store volunteer. She was sick and needed someone to cover for her, and was throwing herself on the mercy of the volunteer mailing list. Since I had nothing big planned, I told her I’d do it, and ten minutes after I’d read the email, I was headed for Huntsville.
On Thursdays mornings, I usually leave the house at 6:30ish in an attempt to avoid the traffic going into Huntsville. Yesterday, there was hardly any traffic at 8:00. Either the traffic doesn’t happen ’til later, it happens between 7 and 8, or a LOT of people took yesterday off to extend their three-day weekend into four days.
At the pet store, I had a moment where I glanced into a cage to see a new cat, and my heart just sank. I was pretty sure it was Zoe, and Zoe always was my favorite kitten (sometimes), and I couldn’t see that there was any way I could leave her in a cage without sobbing hysterically.
And then I took a closer look, and the cat in the cage looked nothing at all like Zoe (I’d offer photographic proof, but I left the house without a camera in my purse), but I gave her lots of extra love, just because.
I stopped by Micha3l’s to look around and pick up a few things, stopped and got groceries, and was home shortly after 10:00.
Fred spent the day putting up the fence around the back forty, so I puttered around the house, went out to check his work, spent time with the kittens, made cookies for the pigs, and canned the last three half-pint jars of mushrooms.
I ended up getting 17 half-pint jars of mushrooms, by the way. I’ll report back, after my next trip to Sam’s, on how much money I saved by buying the big can and recanning into smaller jars. Watch it end up being like 75 cents, right?
Speaking of mushrooms, Paula asked in my comments yesterday if you can grow your own mushrooms. You can, actually. The easiest way (I assume it’s the easiest way, anyway) is to order your own kit. You can Google and find places to buy your own kits – here’s an interesting site. The more I checked out that site, the more I realized how little I know about the different kinds of mushrooms.
And speaking of making cookies for the pigs (somewhere up there I mentioned it, I think), Sunday night Fred waved at me from the back yard and pointed out toward the pigs, asking if I was ready to go give them their evening snack. Which is when I realized we’d given them the last of the cookies the night before and I’d forgotten to make more. We ended up giving them rolls instead of cookies, and do you think they even noticed? Not a bit. Food’s food as far as they’re concerned.
Last week, I stopped on the way home from my doctor appointment at Old Time Pottery. I’ve been needing new cookie sheets and cooling racks for a while, and that store has got just about any kind of kitchen tool you could think of, so I knew they’d have what I needed. They did, and while I was there I moseyed through the pet section, eyeballed the pet beds, and ultimately bought a big cozy bed.
I put the big cozy bed on the couch where Tommy sleeps in the evening. He’d been sleeping on a couch pillow, but it was annoying me because he was getting cat hair all over the pillow.
Tommy liked the cat bed a LOT. In fact, all the cats like the cat bed a lot. Tommy uses it in the evening while we’re watching TV, but Spanky has dibs on it during the day, and I’ve seen Stinkerbelle and Miz Poo taking turns in it, too.
Not bad for a $7.99 bed.
Last night Fred and I were discussing it, and I said “Well, I have a lot of errands to run later this week, I’ll stop by Old Time Pottery and see if they have any more beds.”
Because what this house needs more of is cat beds, you know. The goddamn cats can’t go three feet without falling over a bed but, you know. I’m a little addicted to buying cat beds, is what I’m saying.
Fred said “Old Time Pottery?”
I said “Yeah, that’s where I got it.”
Fred said “Do they actually have pottery there?”
I said “No, they have just about anything else you could imagine, though. It’s in the old K-Mart building.”
Fred got irate. “I feel like that’s false advertising! What if people are suckered in by the name and they go in to look for pottery and there’s NO POTTERY? That’s like naming a place “Joe’s Restaurant” and then you go in, and it’s a SHOE STORE.”
I laughed.
Fred went on. “What about Pottery Barn? Do THEY sell pottery?”
I said “Well, I – uh – no, I don’t think they do. I think they have kitchen stuff and maybe furniture too, but I might be mixing them up with Ikea*.”
“That’s -”
“Well, they MIGHT sell some pottery too, I don’t know,” I added hastily.
“That’s just ridiculous. That’s fucked up. You’re forbidden to ever visit a store that calls itself “Old Time Pottery” and then doesn’t SELL pottery.”
I rolled my eyes and said “Yes, master.”
Please. I’m so going back there again. I just realized that I’ve never been to the entire left half of the store, which is apparently where they keep their sheets and quilts and stuff.
But seriously – if you’re needing any kind of kitchen utensil, plates, glasses, canisters, any kind of that stuff and there’s an Old Time Pottery near you, check it out. There’s plenty of cheap and crappy stuff, but some decent stuff, too. It’s worth a try, right?
*Sue me. I’ve been in Pottery Barn once, and never in Ikea. How would I know what the hell they sell?
I don’t know if I’ve actually mentioned it here in the past, but I’ve certainly thought it to myself enough. I’ve been thinking that Delmar looks a lot like a little fox. Fred’s even been calling him “Foxy Brown”. When I was surfing the web the other day, I realized that it’s not a fox he looks like.
It’s a little coyote.
Here’s Delmar:
It’s mostly the eyes and the coloring, I think. Anyone else see the resemblance?
He’s got the red hat, now he just needs a purple dress, and he’ll be all set to join the Red Hat Society.
This is Exhibit #1 of why I should not be allowed into the craft store, your honor. I saw the hat and I imagined putting it on a cat and I laughed and laughed and laughed. More proof forthcoming.
Previously
2007: Why should I answer the door if I’m not expecting anyone, I ask you?
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: That girl has some serious lung power.
2003: Not holding my breath – but a girl can dream!
2002: Let me tell you about the saga of the box.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
1999: No entry.