Ellen. the Cats, Christmas, Clouds and Such

 Much of this I have posted on Facebook, but I feel perhaps it bears posting in here as well, just for posterity's sake.  

Ellen knows the gal who is the fill-in editor at the local newspaper, The Buffalo Reflex.  She gave Ellen the questionnaire to fill out for this little blurb they have every week. This came out last week.

 

Ellen actually got her picture in the paper twice last week.  Here is a closeup of the second one:

Only Ellen, who was not scheduled to be on a float in the Buffalo Christmas parade, could end up with her picture in the paper for being on a float in the Buffalo Christmas parade.  We were standing there watching the parade when the OMB (Old Missouri Bank) float went by.  Her coworker there in the green sweater hollered at her to climb on, so off she ran and clambered onto the float.  Gary and I, when it was over, then had to follow the tail end of the parade over to the factory parking lot where it started so we could pick her up.  As the tail end of the parade went through the outskirts of the town there were still a few kids and families lined up there at the end.  Well, some of the floats still had candy to toss out, so they were emptying their bags of candy on the road in front of some of the houses.  Like fairly large puddles of candy on the side of the road.  We had to weave around the kids and candy to get through.

*****

Cats

Smudge and Chica are getting along famously with one another; playing and all.  Our neighbor, Bonnie Brown, gave us her kitty's bed because her kitty didn't like it and that has proven to be a hit here. 


At one point Smudge was even lying on Chica; just Chica's little rear and head were sticking out.  We might have to get Smudge her own kitty bed.  

Chica is a pain in the patootie for sure

Several times of the day, or night even, I have to remove this kitten from the Christmas tree.  Today she really hasn't been that bad, so maybe she is getting tired of messing with it.  It makes such fun jingly sounds when she clambers up the fake branches.  She likes chewing on the little twigs, and having a perch that high up off the ground is fun for her too.  

Chica is certainly a little lap cat.  She is lying in my lap as I am typing this.  Smudge just doesn't like to be held at all.  

******

Christmas

We did our family gift trade this afternoon; we, Gail and the three of us, took all of our gifts down to Kathy and sat and visited for an hour.  Then Kathy gave us our gifts from her, we came home and Gail brought us our gifts from her and we gave our gifts to her to take home. The tradition here is to always open gifts on Christmas morning; with no variance ever.  When I was a kid we always opened our gifts on Christmas eve; with hot cocoa and music in the background and all.  That way the mess was all cleaned up and the cook, my mom mostly, could get things revved up in the kitchen on Christmas morning and not worry about anything else.  Plus we could go to playing with our toys, or whatever we got, right away.     

Today, Christmas Eve 2024, marks 3 years since my mom passed away.  I miss her and think of her often.  But I have peace knowing she is with our Savior and that I will see her again.Time just seems to be flying.

This Christmas doesn't seem to have been as hectic as in the past.  I am not sure why.  I mean, yes, I did do most of my actual Christmas gift shopping in September and October...some in November, and that helps.  But even with that, it just seems much more low key.  Maybe having a kitten in the house has been a distraction.  Maybe Ellen going to work has made it a bit different as well.  In the past when she has been home all day every day during her Christmas break we would listen to more carols, make cookies and candies and desserts....all keto or low carb of course.  

******

Cloud


On our walk down to the creek bottom the other morning this cloud was just lazily drifting over.  It looked like the beginning of tornado of some sort, but it wasn't rotating, just drifting along.

Bella wasn't concerned with clouds in the sky.  There was some sort of animal living in this dozed pile of limbs and whatnot.  That kept her busy from running off on me.


And that is going to be all for tonight.  Nothing profound, just a bland record of our lives.  There is much to be said about a regular life.

I think it was J.RR. Tolkien who said; "It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life."

That is what this blog does, or attempts to do. Thank you for joining me. 

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