Just a Week or Two More...

 "Christmas Parade" by Lynn Bywaters.

I Wouldn't...

 ...would you??

P.S. I asked the Brick about this -- he said he wouldn't do it. He already knew what electrical shocks felt like, having run his own shop in the Navy.

Jingle Bells!

 Catching up, after the laptop debacle...I have more to say, but my energy needs to go toward WORK first.

Meanwhile, this is one of Beatrix Potter's 'sort-of-Peter Rabbit' illustrations. It's lovely.

Does the song's use in minstrel shows make it any less appealing?

Or racist, because it was written by a ex-Confederate soldier? 

(Pierpont was cruel to horses, obviously. They're out in the cold, having to work, and "got upsot.")

(I guess I keep hearing White Christmas' "I'd rather see a minstrel show - 

than any other show I know...")

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

 From the 'Animals in Art Through History' FB page:

Tokuhiro Kawai’s “Ode to Sleep,” 2025, oil tempera and gold leaf on panel

The work is part of his solo exhibition "Altarpiece of Cat Adoration."

Kawai used the style of early Renaissance religious altarpieces to celebrate cats, reflecting his deep empathy as a cat lover.

The artist uses cats, who have been his lifelong companions, to explore universal themes such as connection, peace, and empathy that transcend ideological and racial divides in the modern world.

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Getting Used To...

 the new laptop.  Let's put it this way: I'm not in Kansas anymore. (Nor is my name Dorothy, but I already knew that.) BUT -- the Brick says I know more than I think I do, computerwise. We'll see.

I haven't had access to my appraisal reports area -- or photos -- for nearly three weeks. Now I'm way behind, but at least there's an opportunity to catch up.

The San Luis Valley, on a very cold morning in December.

Photo by Erik Schneider

(who says he got up early, barefoot and in pajamas, to take it.)

Meanwhile:

   Ohio State lost its final college football game to Indiana?!?  Poor babies. I feel so sorry for them. (Snort)

Cheapskate moms in action:

'Luxury' items and services that really aren't worth it -- mentioned by the employees who sell them.

ONE HUNDRED abducted schoolgirls from Nigeria are supposed to be released...but if you read the article carefully, you suddenly realize there are nearly 200 more students and their teachers still captive. Christians are really being targeted in Nigeria right now.

A Pearl Harbor attack survivor remembers. Another article said there are 10 survivors left, each past 100 years old...but none could attend the ceremony this year in Honolulu. Did you realize it's been 84 years??

The New York Times finally acknowledges that there was (and is) a border crisis. Big of them.

REBUILDING  -- a new movie about losses and beginning again, filmed in the San Luis Valley!

The strange (but totally normal) reason why some of Chernobyl's feral dogs are blue.  Sometimes scientists are a bit TOO serious...

The Faberge Winter Egg -- 

The Winter Egg is one such example. A 1913 Easter gift from Nicholas II to his mother, Maria Feodorovna, it’s a chilly, serene scene formed of rock crystal, platinum, and rose-cut diamonds. For the third time in the past 30 years, the Winter Egg was auctioned...

It just sold for 30.2 million. Dollars. 

Why a decade can change everything.  From my buddies at Millenial Revolution. 

Houston's International Quilt Market has been cancelled. So has Spring Market, I found out later -- but the festivals will keep on. 

Have a great week. Stay warm.  (It's freezing out here.)

Meow!

 Now you know who gets the lovey talk in this household...

I'm Still Here...

 How 'bout dat.

The Brick has been putting in hours and hours on the new laptop, loading decades' worth of appraisal reports, plus my regular files. He has been a champ about this. 

I am trying hard not to be impatient...but I do have reports just waiting until I can get back on. Meanwhile, I've been finishing up restoring a baby quilt that is years overdue. So that's good.

We got at least 7" of snow yesterday. (I think more, up to almost a foot.) That meant we weren't going anywhere -- which was probably a good thing.

I'll finish off the quilt today or tomorrow -- then it's back to finishing up the reports. Hang in there, clients!