Is it Christmas?

This is one of my favorite sayings, and yes, it was Christmas yesterday!



Ziggy is hiding less!He even jumped onto my lap. Of course it was right before we were leaving for Ken and Diann's. It was hard to go knowing I had a warm, loveable kitty on my lap.It's not like we didn't have a lot of cats at Ken and Diann's! Clawdette is their newest cat. Diann found her on Niles Blvd. darting in and out of traffic. She is lucky to have been rescued. She's the cutest cat, and tiny - she weighs about 7 lbs. - but she's a kooky one. She can be sweet or turn around and bite you. And this is Smokey sleeping on the ottoman by the chair where I was sitting and knitting.



We had a lovely dinner at their house. Diann made delicious Cioppino, and she didn't know cherry pie was Will's favorite when she served that with ice cream!


It's now the day after Christmas - Boxing Day in the UK, Canada, Australia, etc. etc. It was COLD again - see the frost covering the entire roof across the street? This is 8:15 am. The frost should be gone by now, shouldn't it?
I cannot get a good photograph of this Weatherbug program on my computer screen, but you can see enough - note the time and the temp.
It's warming up!

My cousin Traci sent more pictures of her street in Durango, CO:

Can I really complain about 35 degrees when I see this? It's absolutely gorgeous, but it looks COLD!

Will needs to go to Fry's today (see post from two days ago) and there is a Walmart right near there, so I may brave Walmart while he's at Fry's. I thought we'd throw on clothes and go when we woke up, but somehow it was hard to get going - you think at 35 degrees it's easy to get motivated to go outside? It was 49 INSIDE! We like our house cold when we sleep as long as we are warm with many blankets, including an electric blanket that we used to only use to warm up the bed when we got in, but now we sometimes leave on at low all night. Double controls - the only way to go! 49 is WAY too cold inside!

Christmas Day Then and Now, White and Wet - UPDATED 11:15 am

A photo from Christmas 2008:

Christmas 2008 the street to cousin Traci's house in Durango, CO:And downtown Durango - we were there in July 2006 and it didn't look like this!Wow! New snow in Jackson Hole, WY today. And Montrose, CO also got a White Christmas!This morning at home the wind was blustery and blew sheets of rain across the road, which of course, did not photograph well.The rain puddle out back. You can see the neighbor's Christmas tree in their window over the fence)The beard is coming along:

Mowry is still giving me odd looks when I take his picture:

Or maybe he just squints from the flash!

Ziggy was adventurous yesterday:

Last night we had a lovely evening with Kathryn, a friend of hers, and Ken and Diann.

There is a nice picture of the three of us, but I don't like posting faces on this blog! Ziggy came out from his hiding place to see all the guests! And before everyone got here, he jumped onto my lap! Mowry came out for a bit while the guests were here, too, but Alex emerged only after everyone left and it was safe!

I'm working on this sock with Lorna's Laces yarn. It's interesting. I'm not sure I like the way the yarn patterns using K3 P 1, but the yarn is pretty. I tried a few different stitches to get the most of the yarn pattern, and settled on this.


MERRY CHRISTMAS to all who celebrate!

UPDATED 11:15 AM Christmas Day:

The rain stopped and the sun came out. There are still clouds, but it's beautiful. It's still cold at 45 degrees!

But there's more snow in Durango!

Just a view of here and there! I'm glad I'm here, but that I'm able to go online and see there!

Christmas Eve Day

It's almost over. The 2008 holiday season. I haven't dreaded it this year as some years past, but frankly, I don't like the holiday season. Bah Humbug. If I want to give someone a present, I'll do it whether it's a holiday that says I should, or not. I'm amazed at how much people spend on gifts. We try to keep it all within our means and not overspend. It's not that hard to do. And we don't exchange many gifts, either.


Will leases his computer equipment for his business. He was very excited to get his new laptop yesterday. Or is it a spaceship?


So today he took off to go to Fry's to get some adapter thing he explained to me twice, but I still don't quite understand. I guess I don't really care. This is the man who refuses to drive anywhere when it's wet out if he can help it. I guess he couldn't help it. That's not fog, just the reflection of the camera on the window.






He kept asking me if I wanted to go with him. I think he was kidding, especially since I was in my jammies and robe, and he was ready to go. Going to Fry's is, well, like going to the zoo. Or not. The zoo can be enjoyable! Unless you're the one in the cage. Yep, that's Fry's!

Meanwhile, I'm home and I have things to do! The dishwasher is running so it will need to be emptied. The table needs to be set for dinner tonight.

The dining room table has been put back into the dining room from the sunroom, where it resides all summer. Now I just need to set the table.

I put out some decorations, but they aren't set up yet.


The gifts are safely stored in a laundry basket covered by a towel. Why "safely stored" you ask? From FELINES! Look at that wrapping in the bag. Looks like a cat toy to me!

It's got "active cat" written all over it. This was Mowry's active time.
I couldn't get a picture of his face because he wouldn't sit still long enough. He had to leave his scent everywhere.He finally played with the banana. This was one of the cool toys that came with Ziggy. There are two bananas, which is good in the event one gets lost. That means knocked under a piece of furniture and we can't see it until we move the furniture. The fish in the background is being ignored at the moment.

Alex is being lazy boy. He loves the banana, too, but he's resting now.

I think he worked hard this morning coming around and meowing at us to tell us the dishwasher was going. Or something. Who knows what he wanted. I don't speak cat speak. It's not for lack of trying!

Meanwhile, Ziggy is hiding in his spot.

Last night we had a Ziggy breakthrough. Will and I were on the loveseat and Ziggy jumped up and sat on Will's lap. And when Will had to get up, he put him between us, and he stayed!!!! He even put his head in my lap. Unlike Alex - if you so much as breathe deeper than you were breathing before, he's up and out of there! Just in case. You never know!

It's not a great picture, but that is Ziggy on Will's lap being petted, and seeming to enjoy it!

Happy whatever you celebrate! I wish everyone peace, health, and prosperity. This is something everyone wants and deserves, no matter what you believe in.

I love this blog! Pictures to share...

I really like having this blog where I can post pictures that I take, and share them with anyone who wants to see them. Without this, they would sit on my computer drive, and I'd probably not print very many. I copied Diann when she told me she had a blog. I thank her for telling me about it.

Yesterday we saw some trees that still had fall colors on them as we were leaving the Trader Joe's parking lot. That store was a zoo like a weekend. It's definitely Christmas week.

I couldn't have blocked Mission Peak with the palm tree had I tried to do this intentionally! We can see Mission Peak from the middle of our driveway. I had a picture, but now I can't find it.

I haven't seen this bumper sticker before. I'm not sure why people like bumper stickers - they deface the car, and I don't really care what they think, who they voted for, what religion they are, etc., but this one was good to take a picture of.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. Gas is $1.75 if you pay cash, and $1.79 if you use your credit card.

I love looking at the web cam of the front of Wrigley Field in Chicago. It was snowing again today!

They plowed a walkway for pedestrians, but I just looked and it's all iced up. BRRrrrrr. It's actually warmer than it's been - 22 degrees vs. 2 degrees yesterday.


New snow in Durango today. I can't remember ever seeing the whole street covered with snow.

The show must go on! The Fed Ex truck is delivering. I hope he gets paid more than drivers in California! Oh my, this could start a whole riot. My blog, my opinion!

Last night was the second night of Chanukah. Blue wax dripped onto the white candle as it was being lit.

Ziggy is a cuddler when he lets you hold him.

He found a new hiding place on the shelf of the side table. I didn't think a cat could fit in there.He's back in his favorite hiding spot.
I think Alex and/or Mowry is getting in trouble for bothering Ziggy. Will just told me that Mowry had Ziggy cornered in the sunroom. This has to end. I don't understand why Ziggy is so afraid (since he could turn around and pounce Mowry) and why Mowry thinks Ziggy is prey.

I need to go to the store (how could I forget mozzarella and ricotta cheese for my lasagne?), the library and the post office box. We're cleaning and setting up the table for tomorrow's dinner.