Walnut Hulls

I'm so sorry. All the stress from the one and then a broken system on top. *Hugs*

Close up of cat sitting very precisely on a folded dish towel on a countertop. Her tail is wrapped around her feet not touching. Next to her are a small clear glass bowl of water and four limes.

If you look closely, Mother, you will see I am not in fact on the counter.

Franzi Schimmer captured this Grizzly bear in Brooks Falls, Alaska just floating along, tippy-tapping down the river, browsing the salmon.

Prior to hibernation, up to 40% of a bear's body mass is fat, which is less dense than water (~0.9 g/cm^2), so the murder-monster is also a floaty-boaty.

It's also almost word for word reply from another account that I blocked yesterday. Probably a bot, at least a troll.

I cracked up when I realized that was one of her hiding places. But color-wise, she blends well, and who would think to look for a kitten in a lobster pot?

She understands being anxious all too well!

Glad she's on the job! (And yay for tea, too)

Small gray and white striped cat crouched inside a lobster pot with torn netting

Hugs to you all. Here's Dustbunny in one of her many hiding places.

Honestly, after the whole Koi incident this morning, she could use a win.

1 Goldfinch 2 Cardinal 3 Chickadee 4 Robin 5 Pigeon 6 Bluebird

I'm more sure of some of these *cough* pigeon *cough* than others

I realized I have multiple answers. New York metropolitan area, front door always. Maine back door into the mud room then kitchen. Michigan, front door with a strong side order of the door that's nearest to the parking whether that's side of the house or back of the house or garage.

Nice of you to have someone over to work on something a bit intricate for her to inspect. (now as long as she doesn't do any bite-testing!)

A tweet from the @ArchaeologyArt account which shows a knitted belt from the Byzantine Empire, dating from c.420-600 AD. It looks a lot like Tom Baker's scarf from Doctor Who.

Can I just say something...? 🧣

A lovely mossy boulder with a face. I walked past this venerable stone gentleman on Dartmoor when I was beginning to write my first novel, Villager, and it whispered all 104,000 words of the book to me. So now I have to pay it all of my royalties. Unfortunately my ex-publisher stopped paying me royalties last year. Understandable, the boulder was not happy. But now I have a new publisher and the book is being republished this Thursday. So remember if you purchase a copy you will be helping a boulder to eat, pay the rent on his riverside moss garden, and feed his boulder family.

Yes it could be argued that keeping up with world events is important but alternatively can I interest you in hugging an ancient mossy boulder that looks like a face and quietly listening while it tells you stories from centuries cloaked in mist.

That is a really *solid* pout. 10/10

A Dutch tile from the seventeenth century showing a person standing and reading a paper. The person is supposed to be a "Stads- en Dorpsomroeper", an kind of spokesmen of the past. The source for this, and many more Dutch readers and cries may be found here: https://www.spijkertegels.nl/mensen-beroepen/stadsomroepers

Get lost, I am reading.

This!

Cats who play fetch are fun! I had one who would play fetch with qtips (cotton buds), but only when I was in the bath. She'd drop them in and watch them float then sink. I was supposed to squeeze out the water and toss it away to be fetched again.

and she's still playing with it five minutes later. One creature's day has been improved. 3/3

She looked up, "For me?!?" I said, yes, it's a toy for you! And she looked really happy, batted it to the left, then batted it to the right...right under a bookcase. LOL. Luckily I had the other half of the sheet of paper so I made a second toy, carefully tossed it outside the room with the bookcase

It's been a stressful day for all with contractors here, and things are still a mess while I try to put things away. Dustbunny (high anxiety kitten) tried to play with something on the floor that didn't move so I made a crumple-paper-ball toy for her and tossed it right to her. 1/3

I mean, now I'm pricing tile saws and considering a dramatic career change (not too seriously, my knees couldn't take it). At that price I could buy, not rent, and jumpstart a business.

Oh FFS.

Right next to the radiator, 15-20 minutes. The rest of the house, about when you get comfortable under ten layers of blankets, then are too hot.

I needed this.

Watching this is a balm to the soul.

I am glad we were able to share the Milky Way with our kid growing up. I have heard of people who didn't realize it was real / visible (depending on the moon, of course 😀).

We were visiting our daughter this past Christmas. They live somewhat near there and daughter-in-law complained about light pollution from the nearby city. I told her to be grateful - the fact that there's a distinct segment of the horizon/sky that glows shows that the rest is actually dark.

It took me a moment to understand why people would object to 'dark and stormy night', but I had the benefit of spending summers in a dark area growing up. Of *course* there are dark nights and bright nights, and moonrise and moonset make a difference as well.

Dark striped tabby curled loosely in one corner of a double-layered dog bed 10 times her size. A dog toy is also on the bed. A sliding door window is behind her head with snow just visible outside.

Happier times.

She was already mad, because Puppy had the nerve to be sleeping on the dog bed where Growler likes to lie and watch the birds.