Happy New(ish) Year!

You can still say Happy New Year in January, right?  Even if it’s the very last day of January?  Anyway, I hope 2019 ended well for all of you, and that you’re all having a great start to 2020.

I meant to do at least a few posts in December, but as usual time got away from me.  I had a few projects at work to finish up, and the usual holiday stuff just seemed to take over beyond that.  Here
are the highlights since the last time I posted:

An oldie but a goody:  Howard the meerkat.

We had our holiday meal at work.  It was a lunchtime potluck in mid-December.  I really like how the new job does it.  There aren’t many nearby options for lunch so almost everyone brings their lunch almost every day.  So bringing food to work and eating it there wasn’t really an inconvenience for anyone.  And I loved that it was during the workday.  It’s so much better than trying to fit in yet another event after work or on the weekend during the holidays.  And the food was awesome, which I’m sure contributed to my good opinion of it.  I got a few new recipes I’m looking forward to trying.  I brought macaroni and cheese, which went over very well. 

Nick and I went to my sister’s for Christmas.  It was just the three of us this time.  Nick’s mom and step-dad weren’t able to come because one of their cats was extremely sick, and they couldn’t leave him.  Fortunately, he’s doing much better now.  Our friend Alex ending up going to Florida to be with her family.  It was a little odd without our usual group, but the three of us still had a great time.  We’re working on putting together a second Christmas so everyone can get together to see each other and exchange gifts.

I bought a camera.   A nice one.  I’ve been toying with the idea for a long time.  I took pictures for a Realtor for a couple of years while I was going to school, and I fell in love with taking pictures.  I’ve never had any formal classes or training, but I love it, and I’ve dabbled with trying to improve my skills over the years.  I’ve never taken the plunge on a good camera, though.

One of my coworkers, Doc, has a degree from an art school and has done professional photography.  He was nice enough to look at some of my pictures (taken with a cellphone) and offered me some pointers that have been helpful.  He also said I have a good eye and have potential.  One really good Cyber Monday sale later, I was the proud owner of a new camera. 

Doc showed me a few things with the camera, and has sent me out into the world to practice.  He has promised to look at my pictures and tell me what’s working, what isn’t, and how to get them to turn out how I want them to.  I haven’t had as much time as I had hoped to experiment, but I think that will change now that the holidays are over.  You’ll probably be seeing more pictures from me.  Hopefully you’ll also notice an improvement in the quality. Just FYI, the pictures in this post are the usual cellphone pictures.

Nick’s mom sent the cats some catnip bananas for Christmas.  All six of the cats absolutely love them.  Tara loves them, which made me so happy.  Tara was a few years old when we adopted her, and had an extremely hard life.  She’s still very skittish around people.  Some days seem better than others, and lately she seems to be really coming out of her shell.  She loves the bananas so much that she came out and played with them, and even let me get some pictures of her playing with one.

Tara

 It snowed today.  It started off light around mid-morning, and then started coming down heavily.  We have the option to work at home during bad weather, so I panicked, took my laptop home, and finished up my work for the day at home.  I’m a South Carolina native, and we don’t handle snow well!  It’ supposed to get warmer this evening, so the snow should all be gone by tomorrow.  I certainly hope so!  Nick sees this as a dusting.  I see it as accumulation.   I think most of you who read and comment regularly live in colder climates, so I suspect most of you will see it as a dusting like Nick does. 

The view down our street. 

In my defense, it did snow some more after this picture was taken.

We had a Crock Pot cooking competition at work last week for a fundraiser.  I entered my macaroni and cheese.  I came in second place.  Obviously, first place would have been great, but I don’t think second place is too bad. 

Duke had surgery a couple of weeks ago.  He had two cysts on the top of his head that needed to be removed.  He also had some broken teeth that needed to be pulled.  The vet thinks he probably broke the teeth chewing hard on something.  Given everything Duke gets into, I think that’s an excellent explanation.  He did well with the surgery, and is recovering nicely.  Duke is pretty popular at the vet’s office, so I know he was treated very well.  He insisted on going around to tell everyone bye before we left.  He did manage to look very pitiful the next day, and convinced us to give him quite a few treats. 

Duke

Nothing else is really coming to mind that merits posting about.  It always seems strange to me how the end of the year seems insanely busy, but whenever I try to list what we did there’s just not much.  Does that happen to you? 

So how has 2020 started off for you?  Was the end of 2019 insanely busy?

Of course, no catch up post is complete without random cat pictures, so here are a few more for you to enjoy. 

Charlie & Mortimer

Howard

Mortimer

Caroline

Another Catch Up Post

Frankie

I feel like I need to come up with more interesting names for all of the catch up posts I seem to be doing this year.  I guess that’s my blogging theme for 2019.  The year of the catch up posts.  It’s safe to say that it most definitely will not be the year of meeting blogging goals.

Speaking of goals, the ThredUp box is gone!  It’s not time for a goals post yet, but I’m thrilled that the box was finally shipped off.  Nick was actually the one who took it to the post office, but it’s gone now.  I’m calling it a success.

My biggest news is that I started a new job at the beginning of November.  That’s part of why I haven’t been blogging much.  I accepted the new job, we went on vacation, and I had to wrap things up at my old job.  Things got a little hectic in October!  They seem to be leveling off some now, as much as things can around the holidays anyway. 

I’m really, really happy in my new job.  It was a long time coming, and I really didn’t think it was going to happen.  It was basically a transfer, so I kept all of my retirement and accrued leave, which I was very happy about.  I’m almost ten years in, and I didn’t want to lose all of that.  The only negative was that it involved taking a pay cut.  So far it feels like the right decision.  I’m much happier.  No job is perfect of course, but I enjoy this work so much more than what I was doing before.  I had lunch with a friend from my old job a few weeks ago and she told me I looked happier than she’d ever seen me.  Nick says he has noticed a huge difference in my demeanor when I come home from work.  I think those are good signs. 

Starting a new job did not interfere with our Thanksgiving celebrations.  As those of you who’ve been reading for years know, I love Thanksgiving.  I got in touch with the local hospice house early in November to ask about bringing the meal, and they said yes.  We stuck to our usual tradition of taking the meal to them for lunch, and then having our celebration at home in the evening. 

I was still able to take the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off of work, and I made the desserts that day.  It’s not the best picture, but here are the desserts and one of the loaves of the sweet potato bread.  I made two more loaves of sweet potato bread after that, but never got around to taking any more pictures. 

Nick peeled and mashed twenty pounds of potatoes on Thanksgiving.  Things went very well with dropping off the food.  We took turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, macaroni & cheese, rolls, sweet potato bread, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, apple crisp, cherry crunch, banana pound cake, and brownies.  We even remembered to take butter and whipped cream.  Nick’s mom sent us lots of fall theme paper plates, napkins, and cutlery, so we took that as well.  Everyone was incredibly nice.  As usual, they made me cry.  I manage to keep it together until we get all of the food unloaded and set up, but once we leave I always start crying in the parking lot.  This year they told me that word has gotten around about it, and that people who work on Thanksgiving ask what time we’re coming.  I thought that was really sweet. 

Once we got home from hospice we finished making the food for our Thanksgiving celebration.  We didn’t have quite as many people as last year because a few of our friends were sick, but our neighbors still came.  Honestly, they’re more like family, and I love that we have some holiday traditions with them.  We all ate way too much, then broke out the games.  We played Stinky Pig and Taboo.  We finally went to bed around 1:00 in the morning.  I was exhausted, but I loved every minute of it. 

I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I did nothing on Friday.  We ate leftovers and watched Miracle on 34th Street.  I like having the lazy day after all of the activity the day before. 

We did get the Christmas tree put up that weekend, but we haven’t put up the wreaths or the Christmas flag yet.  I’m planning to do that this weekend.  Frankie seems to have finally outgrown his habit of messing with the tree.  Charlie and Mortimer have not.  Caroline most definitely has not!  We seem to spend a lot of time pulling cats, mainly Caroline, out of the tree, and putting ornaments back on the tree.  It’s a good thing they’re cute. 

In somewhat random news, I finally planted an ornamental cabbage this year.  We went to Lowe’s in October, and of course I ended up leaving with plants.  I’ve been fascinated with the ornamental cabbages since I was a little kid.  Does anyone else remember always seeing them in planters at restaurants in the late 80s and early 90s?  It seems like we went to places with salad bars a lot back then, and I was convinced they grew their own cabbage and lettuce out front.  I didn’t realize at the time that they were ornamental.  Anyway, I’ve wanted an ornamental cabbage for a long time now, and finally got one this year.  It’s still in good shape, even though we’ve been at and below freezing several times.  I’m hoping this means it will last all winter. 

And since I always share random cat pictures in my catch up posts, here are a few more:

Mortimer

Charlie

Howard

So what about you?  How were October and November for you? 

Duke & Chuzoo Were Interviewed

Duke and Chuzoo have both been interviewed for Friends of Fur Kid Friday at Zigler News. 

You can read Chuzoo’s interview here. 


You can read Duke’s interview here. 

And you should definitely check out the other Friends of Fur Kid Friday posts as well.  It’s always fun to read about other pets. 

Glimpses Of Fall

It hasn’t felt much fall here until very recently.  We started October with record breaking high temperatures.  It finally cooled off on Saturday.  Our high was only 70 degrees.  On Sunday morning the temperature in the house was lower than what we had the thermostat set for.  It felt like fall.

We started the week off cooler.  Today was overcast and gray.  It felt chilly.  We warm back up to the mid 70s tomorrow, and have a chance of hitting 80 degrees in the next week.  Summer definitely doesn’t seem to be over yet.

Still, there are some glimpses of fall, especially today with the gray skies. 

The mums have come back.  It still surprises me a little bit whenever something I’ve planted comes back for another year.  And I had no idea how big they would get! 

Here's a closer view of the flowers.

The yellow ones aren't quite as big.  I may have gotten a little too enthusiastic when I tried to deadhead them.

They’re still pretty, though.  Here’s a closer view of the flowers. 

It’s not all fall plants, though.  One of the snapdragons from this spring is still blooming.  It’s dwarfed between the purple and yellow mums, but still going strong.  We also still have cherry tomatoes (even though we haven't planted them for a few years), but I didn't get a picture of them today.

My favorite mums are the ones next to the carport.  I think this burgundy is the perfect fall color.

Here’s a closer view of the flowers.  Don’t they just look like fall?

One of the bushes in our front yard is just starting to turn.

Here’s a slightly closer view of the changing leaves. 

And an even closer view of the changing leaves. 

So what about you?  Are you seeing some glimpses of fall where you are?  Or more than a glimpse? 

All About Our Composting

When I posted about how I did (and in some cases, didn’t) do with reaching my goals for last quarter, one of the things I was happy with was how we’ve been composting.  Bijoux asked for more details about it, so here’s more than you probably ever wanted to know.

We’re relatively new to composting.  Nick’s grandmother composted, so he had some experience with it.  I had none.  To be honest, I was initially pretty opposed to the idea of composting.  I was afraid it would smell bad, and I thought it would be a lot of trouble. 

Then I read several articles right around Earth Day last year, and I decided that composting was probably worthwhile.  We need to take care of our home, right?  I did a lot of internet searching about various methods of composting, and read a lot of articles and blog posts. 

It appears that composting is really one of those things you can make as easy or as complicated as you want.  There’s also a huge range in start up costs. 

One of the popular methods is using a large plastic storage bin with some holes drilled in the bottom, and stirring it periodically with a shovel.  I really didn’t like that idea because I was afraid it would smell, I was concerned about it leaking, I don’t like how it looks, and realistically, I wasn’t sure how diligent we’d be about stirring.  I wanted to make composting as easy as possible. 

We decided on a two-bin composter because it takes time for the material you’re composting to break down.  We couldn’t figure out a good way to get ready to go compost from a bin we were still adding material to.  And taking a break from composting anything new in order to use what we already had just seemed counterproductive.

So we went with this Miracle Grow Dual Chamber Compost Tumbler.  It seemed sturdy and easy to use.  Nick put it together, and said it was easy to assemble.  

We composted fairly diligently at first, during the warmer weather, and while it was still light wen I was cooking dinner.  Once the colder weather came, and it started getting dark at 5:00, composting just didn’t happen.

That’s when we decided to get a counter top compost bin.  Before the bin, we would just put compost material in a bowl, and take it out after we cooked.  That meant it needed to go out right away.  If we didn’t take it out right away we ended up just putting it in the trash.  The bin has been hugely helpful in making sure we actually do compost what we can.  

We chose this bin because it had good reviews, and it seemed like a good size.  We have a small kitchen, so we have to be careful about what we give up counter space to.

Here it is with a coffee cup to give you an idea of scale. 

Typically we dump it about once a day, or at least every other day.  We’ve accidentally let it go for two or more days before, and it gets pretty gross.  Most of the time we have scraps to put in it in the evening when I cook dinner, or in the morning if I put dinner in the Crock Pot.  If Nick dumps it he usually does it in the evening, and if I dump it I usually do it in the afternoon when I come home for lunch.

Bijoux specifically asked about animal issues with it.  We haven’t had any animal issues.  We live just outside the city limits, so we don’t have a lot of trouble with animals, anyway.  The other side of this field, kind of down the hill, is in the city limits, to give you an idea.

We do have Duke, though, and we were worried that he might try to break into the compost to eat scraps.  Fortunately, that hasn’t been an issue.  It’s sturdy, and seals up well, so I don’t think he can necessarily smell what’s in it.  

If we’re not diligent about taking the counter top bin outside to be dumped into the composter we do get some fruit flies, but that’s not an issue as long as we’re diligent about dumping the counter top bin.  I think it does help that the counter top bin seals, and that it has a filter.  We’ve noticed a few fruit flies around the composter outside, but really not any major infestations.  I probably wouldn’t set a composter up right next to a picnic table, but bugs really haven’t been an issue for us.  Honestly, I think buying an actual composter, designed for that, and that seals up well probably contributes to that.  

I have been pleasantly surprised by the fact that it doesn’t smell.  We put it as far away from the house as possible, against the back fence, but I think it would have been fine closer to the house.  We are very careful about what we put in the compost, though.  Most of what I read basically said not to put any meat, dairy, or fat into the compost bin.  That’s apparently what will smell bad, and can also contribute to attracting animals, which makes sense.

Remember when I said composting seems to be one of those things you can make as easy or complicated as you want?  I think we go kind of middle of the road there.  We’re careful not to put anything we’re not supposed to in the bin, but we don’t get into trying to get the perfect ratio  of brown and green matter.  Apparently there’s some thought that you need a certain mixture of fruit/vegetable material and cardboard/paper material.  That seems unnecessary to me.  

So what do we compost?  Fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, tea bags, coffee grounds, coffee filters, and plain brown paper.  There’s some thought that paper with ink isn’t a good idea for the compost bin,so we stick to putting things like toilet paper rolls and plain brown packing paper in the compost bin.  I have no idea what our ratio of paper to produce to tea to coffee to eggshells is.  

Our system is to put everything we compost into one side for a while.  We only put things in one side for about a month when we first got the composter.  Then we stopped adding new material to that side, only adding new material to the other side.  It takes about four to six months from when we stop adding things for what’s in the bin to be ready to use.  We turn both sides a few times whenever we dump the bin, but other than that we just leave it alone.   

Here’s what the ready to use (or at least what we deem ready to use) compost looks like.  

And here’s what it looks like when we’re still adding new material.  

And here’s the gardenia bush we planted recently, and added some our compost to.  

Obviously composting isn’t the only answer to all of the environmental problems we’re facing, but I do think it makes a difference.  We do seem to have less trash now that we’re composting, and we’re not buying plastic bags of compost for the yard.  So I do think it’s worth it, and it seems like a fairly high payoff for not much effort.  

So what about you?  Do you compost?  What are your composting tips?