Random Pictures on Saturday

I snapped this while driving down the street with Will (he was driving). The train on the trestle above Mission Blvd right above us with the green winter hills in the background. I can't help but shudder when I go under a train. I try not to, but I can't!
The denim slipcover on the living room couch is a mess again. It seems I'm always fixing this.

What makes you think I have anything to do with the messy slipcover?

This is Ziggy's favorite spot to sleep. He's so comfortable on Will's desk that he sprawls on his back.

Wait a minute, if this spot is so comfortable, I should be here. After all, I'm the top cat, king of the house.

This pretty pink and white rose, for which the picture does no justice, came from one of our rose bushes on the side of the house.

Bad cat trying to drink from the water. I wonder what exactly goes on in this house when we

a) aren't home, or b) aren't constantly watching what the felines are doing.
I tried on this short scarf/collar that I knitted for a collague's birthday present. I guess I actually designed it, since I made it up! I got the button from my collection of buttons. The color doesn't work with what I was wearing when I tried it on, but I do like it and hope my friend does.

Here's the whole set. I made fingerless mitts, too. It's Lamb's Pride wool. The scarf is short because I ran out of yarn and time.

Will caught Ziggy using the new litter box we put in the bathroom. Hooray! Maybe he was just afraid to go into the other box, since we have two cat stalkers living here. Here's Alex sitting on the box - those were the old, original pink drapes left by the former owner. They've since been replaced.

Isn't this a cool picture of an old drive-in theater that was at Westwood Blvd. and Pico Blvd. in West Los Angeles? This was before my time in that area.

I am pleased that my periodontist told me yesterday that my gum grafts are healing well. They didn't look all that good to me, but he assured me if I brush more and better, all should be fine.

Random Pictures on Monday

We had some frost on the rooftops this morning, but the Niles sign on the green hills is a gorgeous site.

Not as cold as Denver! Isn't this beautiful? Happy Birthday, niece! Have a great time in Denver today.

At home, the blooming camelia plant is sheltered by the side of the house.
Does anyone remember the Picwood Bowl and Theater on Pico near Westwood in Los Angeles? Apparently there's a group for just about anything on FACEBOOK - I found one about this, with this photo! My mom and I saw ET at the Picwood Theater.

It's now a huge, modern shopping center.
There is a multiplex theater, but we'll never forget the Picwood!

Yesterday the sunroom was actually warm enough to use for a little while. For the first time that I know of, BIG Alex climbed up to the top tier. That's usually Mowry's spot.

Mowry took a few minutes from his playing to clean himself.

If only Ziggy would play with Mowry instead of being afraid.

We put out an extra box - maybe he's spooked by the mean devil cats when he's in the box. The extra open box is now in the bathroom. I hope this works! We really want to keep Ziggy and for him to be happy here.

Sunday

We went to a computer store so Will could return something, but I waited in the car and knitted. It looks like a jail with the bars, but it's a nerd store.Then we went to the Farmers' Market, and then to Longs for ice cream. It was on sale for $2.99. The Longs we went to didn't have my favorite flavor, but we found something we liked.


This corner is near where we used to live. It's empty and natural, but our city thinks it's "underutilized" and as such has been zoned for high-density housing. It's beautiful in the winter when it's green.


The Niles sign pops out against the beautiful green hills. There are many cows on the hills.
From Mission Boulevard, the light on the hills with the gray coulds and cool lights on the street it's quite a view.We can even see the Niles sign from our office window when it's winter and the grass is green and the leaves are off the trees.
The new fire station on Niles Boulevard is coming along.

These two look so sweet, don't they? They are on our *&$*@ list right now. They are still torturing Ziggy and today we found two places in the house where Ziggy had peed, and that is not going to work. Will is on the phone right now with Zig's former human putting him on notice that we may have to return him. This will be very sad. AND don't for a minute think we didn't consider getting rid of Alex and Mowry since Ziggy is the sweetest, most loving cat of the three.

We're going to try to put out a new cat box for him, and see if that helps, but since it appears to be fear driven, another box may not help.

Saturday

The socks are done, except for weaving in the ends. I wasn't crazy about the striping - I like the striping by the heel and bottom better than the striping on the shin, but the colors are perfect for jeans. I have some yarn left, so I started a scarf. I started it about 5 times and finally decided on the lacy stitch here. I am sure I will need more yarn.

This is Mowry's idea of playing. He's sniffing the toys Will has thrown to him.

I showed Ziggy the windowsill, so now he likes to sit on the chair, and sometimes he sits on the dishwasher.

This will be my new uniform for chilly days. A client gave me this yesterday and it's warm and cozy. You can barely see their logo on my left arm (your right).

Someone posted a VCR on Fremont Freecycle. I claimed it for my parents since theirs stopped working. I'm assuming this family has a DVD player and no longer uses this, and so they gave it away. The woman giving it away confirmed that it still works. Fremont Freecycle is great - it's a great way to recycle things you no longer need, and it's free to those who claim it. More errands and house cleaning as soon as I get up from my computer.

Alex and Mowry are being lazy cats, but the pictures I snapped didn't come out very good. Mowry was very bad yesterday. He was stalking Ziggy. I don't know what to do. Ziggy loves us - he sits on my lap every night. Now he runs over the minute I sit down and put the blanket over me. Sometimes Mowry just sits and stares at Ziggy. I wish they could be friends like Alex and Mowry have become. They weren't always like that - Alex hated Mowry when we first brought Mow home.

Election Day and Other Things

The picture says it all with Barack Obama in focus, and George Bush blurred. Goodbye George Bush, and hello Barack Obama. It will be an interesting 4 (or more) years. Let's hope all the excitement and expectations we are placing on our 44th president can be met, and that the US is a better place in 4 years.

Uh oh, Ziggy was on the new bookshelf. I don't want to come home and find it on its side. He may have jumped from the couch or cat post, so it's not that big of a leap. Notice the UNUSED cat post!

This is the table we used in our kitchen eating area. It was left by the former owner and matches a smaller table, both of which were in the sunroom. It's fine for the two of us when covered with a tablecloth, but it's not sturdy enough for our cats. They've knocked it over more than once, and once it was in the middle of the night.

Someone posted a small maple dining table on Fremont Freecycle, and I got it. It has little drop leaves, so it takes up less space. It smells a little like rose - cologne or some cleaning stuff? I put Murphy's oil on it, so hopefully the scent will not linger. It's not bad, I just don't like scents, especially those from other people.It's much sturdier, and is perfect with the table cloth on it.

Time to watch the news about the inauguration. I had a brief feed from CNN.com, but it was lost - probably too much traffic on the internet.

The trees must be cut....

Lorne came over with his new toy - a chain saw. We thought he'd do a little trimming, but he was having so much fun, he kept going, which was fine with us! Darlene and I were cutting the downed branches, and I can feel it in my arms and shoulders already.

I hate this plum tree. I pick up about 100 plums a day when it's in season, almost none of which are any good. He chopped it low, so maybe it will grow again, but not as large. We don't really need a tree there with the beautiful magnolia tree in the neighbor's yard, but I didn't want to go any lower.He also cut the orange tree that had some dead parts, so maybe now it will grow. We used to get one orange a year, and it grew into our neighbor's yard. This is a poor pathetic orange tree, but maybe now it will grow.

The apple tree needed pruning, too. Now we have lots or branches to chop up, but we will do that over the next few weekends.

The bees were on the lavender plant while we were busy with the trees.Then we walked into town to lunch. This morning before the backyard party we went to a few garage sales. Will found another electric lid opener, but this one has a can opener. I found two frames. Nice frames for $1.50.
I could have sat down on Mowry, but one thing he DOESN'T blend in with is my desk chair!

Ziggy in his favorite spot on Will's desk.All stretched out.