It is getting colder!

I can tell it is getting colder. I have companions in the bed in the morning!

Arbogast

He must know that arbre is tree in French!

Too Busy to Blog

I've been furiously working on a chapter of my book, so I've had no time to blog.  So of course with no children to abuse, I have to put up pictures of the animals. Here's Arbogast "chilling" near the fire.

Random Autumn Photos from the last month or so

December is always a murderously busy month for me. As we near the end of the year and the miserably cold temperatures of central Minnesota, it seems like a good time to look back at some of the charming moments over the last few months and be thankful. Here without too much by way of explanation are some pictures that didn't make it into the blog, but which make me feel warm inside on a day when we have barely crept above zero.

Before and After

Since I have spent the better part of the week teaching Japanese high school students English prepositions, I seem to be thinking a lot about "before and after." Ironically in Japanese  the  location comes first and then the preposition and finally the object (and after that the verb). English prepositions seem backwards to those who grew up speaking Japanese. Thus the simple sentence- The chair is under the table, becomes something akin to - The table under the chair is, in Japanese.

Anyway as I looked at my most recent camera downloads, I realized that none of the pictures that had stored up in my camera represented the way things look now. Things seem to be in a constant sate of flux. So I am uploading a series of pictures that show before and after. Of course this is before and after before you read this and after you read this the after will be the before of the next time you log on. It all is relative and temporary I guess when you start to think about such things. So why should prepositions have a particular order!?

Here is how things stand with a variety of on-going projects:

I was SO proud of the way my pink garden was developing and I loved the new petunias that I had put in amongst the perennials so there would always be visible pink in a garden that seems to ebb and flow in terms of blossoming.

 

Well, it was great while it lasted!

 

As we know, Grasshopper, attachment is suffering and I was visited by the Anti-christ of gardening known as Rabbit.  But I have a detective on the case now.

Arbogast has settled in and is on the alert. (Let's hope it works better than it did in the movie Psycho.)

 

The back garden with the new lantern has changed a bit too since I last blogged about it. Here it is not too long ago.

You can see those tiny little impatiens peeking over the log. They have really spread and are now blooming beautifully. It wasn't a space I had planned on using for flowers after this year, but knowing what grows well where beats all the esoteric plans in the world. I suspect there will be impatiens and asters there for some time to come!

I also bought a large azalea for the back right and planted it along with my very small conifers that grow extremely slowly.

So here is closer view of the impatiens. (You can also see the new grass and part of the peony behind the lantern.):

 

I've labeled some of the changes below.

From outside I want to turn to inside. I am frustrated by the gaps in my ceiling. You can see that the joins are not smooth and tiles do not line up correctly. This is the picture from before.

That was before caulk and a little bit of paint. I'm still working on it, but I now have one side of the ceiling completed.  (3 more sides to go!)

 

 It still isn't perfect, but I think it is better. I'm hoping people don't really pay much attention to to the surfaces above them. I'll have to do some outlandish decorating to attract the eye away from the ceilings.

Here is the little round garden in the front, but when I looked at the picture, I realized it doesn't look like that any more.

 I'd finally managed to get the last pavers for the garden in back. It took just a few minutes to lay the last 8 pavers in place. That garden is developing nicely.



Of course, I purchased a few extras while I was at it. (You know about me and garden centers!) These extras I used to help define a couple of island gardens in the front yard.

 

Of course I now have seven pavers left over. You realize that this means I'll have to go back and buy a few more so I have enough to do something with. It seems to be an endless Karmic circle.  I must have really neglected my garden in a previous life!

Silly Cat Shot

So I pinned an afghan together on my coffee table to use for pinning out my knitting. So the cat thought this was a great place to sleep (but not ON TOP of the table, oh, no!!)

The Vet

The vet was amazed. He has never seen a dog so happy to see him. Our bulldog Aimeé was so excited that she literally wore both my husband and myself out in trying to control her while she was having her exam. She was even happy to get her inoculations. Our other animals came too. Needless to say they were not as thrilled.

When we got home everyone had the same idea!

 



The Peonies have  begun to bloom. Unfortunately many of them got struck in our recent hail storm. Still the ones remaining are dazzling.



Does anyone know what this shrub is? I'm trying to decide whether to cut it down or not.

Sunny Day

Well, there are no raindrops on my roses, it is a beautiful bright sunny day, but my kitten has whiskers, so it seems like a wonderful day (except I have to go attend a graduation ceremony and spend this gorgeous afternoon indoors listening to long repetitive speeches - sigh)



Well at least Arbogast will have a nice afternoon.

Obligatory Cat Photos

Little Bitty Kitty One

No comment really - just cute pictures.

Keeping Up with Arbogast

My Mom must like the bulldog, cause she has indicated that she hasn't seen any pictures of her on the blog lately. Of course that isn't quite true! Less than three weeks ago there was this picture of her protecting us from the green menace! Nonetheless, I thought I'd update on how us old timers are doing since the arrival of the ghastly Arbo.

Of course our older cat has had some difficulties adapting to this new energy ball. (The shelter had called him Spitfire if that's any indication!) Little guy adores her and just can't understand that she does not want to play EVER!



There has been a bit of hissing, and avoidance behavior, but they seem to be getting along just a bit better.


All us older citizens are having a hard time keeping up with Arbogast. His tendency to ambush us from behind curtains or body slam us when we are least expecting it, keeps us on our toes and after a few short hours this is what the household looks like on an average playday with Arbogast.


Copper has to protect the most important toys from kitty predation. The bottom of my contact lense case disappeared from the bath tub (without a trace) My hair brush is currently seeking asylum under the living room couch after being chased down the hall and across the dining room!

Of course Aimee feels completely neglected, if not exhausted from all the guerilla warfare being practiced around the house.


She's asleep on the couch right now next to Copper. (I think trying to blend in with the blanket in the hopes of getting a little rest before the next onslaught.)

We love our new little kitten, we really do, but this is how we have all decided we like him best.