What happened to the furnace???

Well OF COURSE just when winter finally gets cold... the furnace stops working.
It's COLD in here and getting colder. Robin's at his warm workplace.
I would go down the basement and turn on the fireplace but Robin still hasn't put some parts of it back in place since the renovation.

I guess I'll just pile up the blankets, make a lot of hot tea, and not try to type - because my fingers are icicles and the top floor is coldest. There goes my productive day of work I had planned.

UPDATE: Turns out the fireplace wasn't working anyhow because the battery in the remote receiver needed to be replaced.
We were without heat until 8:30 when the repairman finally arrived.
Oh sweet sweet warmth!

Sweet warmth and clean carpets and a new kitchen and a rockingchair... this is the life.

Is Winter finally arriving???

Flurries outside the window tease us with the prospect of winter.
We've had a very warm season in southern Ontario this year. We've been without snow since December. It was a very green Yule. Many of my indoor flowers are flowering - even the geraniums I brought in from the garden. The parsley was still green and I cut some to dry yesterday - just in time! I never expected to be harvesting herbs in January! lol But the parsley just kept growing through the winter. I would have cut some earlier, but I had nowhere to dry herbs during renovations.
It doesn't look like the snow is here to stay yet. It should warm to above zero again for a few days, but perhaps we'll have a blanket of snow in a week (looking at weather forecasts). I'm sure Mother Earth would appreciate a blanket of snow so she can rest.
Maybe we'll have snow just in time for the neighbour to take down their inflatable snowmen which have been sitting on the green lawn forever.

Monkey was spayed today and I pick her up tomorrow. I called and she is doing well - not that I expected worse. I was a little concerned because the vet office (not my usual vet) tried to recommend additional proceudres such as blood testing and fluid checks - which would cost an extra $110 or so. I declined, never having used such procedures before (or heard of them). They also require post-surgery medication, which I've also never seen required before. Unfortunately, I can't decline the meds, but they're only $15. Still... seems odd to me that I've never encountered this before with several cats and several vets. I'll be asking my cousin and sil about this next time I see them.

Ooops, time to pick up Robin from work!

They're Here....

There's a new pile of boxes cluttering the house again.
They're welcome here.
Inside are our new cabinets.
Beautiful new cabinets!
And the countertop is on the floor in the dining room.
It's gorgeous! (Okay, it's no marble top, but still lovely.)

I've got to shut down ... wait a minute. No I don't. I was going to say I have to shut down the laptop to unplug it incase we need to kill the power during installation (want to be prepared). Hello Mandy - laptops have batteries. I forgot.

Well, for anyone who may be a morning blog reader, I'll leave this entry as is for now and update it as soon as I have photos!!!
You will just have to wait with anticipation like me!

At this time the oven and hood are already in place. Sink will be installed tomorrow. White pantry is back and loaded.

I know I know, it's looking GOOD!

Kitchen Kountdown Kommences

Mark January 4th on your calendars. I expect you to all celebrate this day in your own kitchens. On January 4th our new cabinets, countertop, etc are being installed. At long last...
Expect photos on January 5.

Post-Xmas Wrap up (follows the unwrapping)

We are not braving the Boxing Day sales. I don't think I've ever been shopping on boxing day. There's no need when "boxing day" sales last at least a week. Plus, who needs more stuff after Xmas?? We've got plenty of Booty already thanks. See :


We received many fondue items from my grandparents and aunt - including fondue plates - yay!! Time for a fondue party!!!!! We already had one fondue pot from the wedding, but we actually wanted a second. Josie things she got boxes for Yule. Darla got a new ball (see picture 3) and a tin of treats. She was afraid of the ball at first, which annoyed me because I spent good money on that toy - again! - and I was certain she would like it. Turns out she's afraid of the bell that was inside. Once I popped that out she loved it! Good to know - no noisy toys for Darla - which means Robin can't be tempted to get her a squeeky toy just to annoy me.

We hope you all had a fabulous Holiday and have exciting New Years plans (any suggestions for us? we've got no plans yet.)

Holiday Blessings

Fenwick has been celebrating a little too much

Gryphon's been helping Santa make toys.
Monkey oversees things in the elf-shop.

Darla runs errands for Santa. Don't we have great little elves.

Yule Blessings - the secret is revealed

What lies behind door number one?
Did you guess already?
I did.
And I guessed right!
Robin lied. He lied! Damn he's good at that. I'm jealous. I can never hide that stuff from him.
I am impressed that I actually guessed correctly.
Figured it out yet?
That's right. My Yule gift is a beautiful wooden rocking chair.
Just like I guessed.

Robin received PJ pants and a t-shirt. Not nearly so exciting. But I do have an official UN patch to sew on the T for him :) I just wanted to make sure the T fit before sewing.
When I was in Washington I bought him an emroidered CIA t-shirt.

And of course, we're both getting a Monkey this year :D

Solstice Blessings from Sunny, Snow-free, Blue-skies Kitchener!!

Well, I'm off to re-fill my delicious fair-trade coffee (finally got a new bag of beans recently after running out a month ago) and spend time with Robin.
Probably watch some Angel...
(shh, don't tell mom - mom stop reading - but we were anxiously waiting for the Christmas gifts to arrive so we could open a season of Angel early! We've been desperate!! So... yeah... that season was actually a Yule gift... and I only opened it 2 days early... and we're half-way through the season. I said desperate.)

Early Yule Gifts

It's official.
We're adopting Monkey. (Josie)

:D

I'm trying to get photos of her with the other cats now. So far I've caught her sleeping near Gryphon. I could get some fun action shots with Fenwick, but it's dark on that side of the basement so I don't think they would turn out well.

I still don't know what's hiding in the spare room.
Aren't I a good curious-cat? I've not peeked at all!!!
What's wrong with me????

Or maybe the question you are all asking yourself is "what's wrong with Robin?" Three cats? The things you do for love :) Oh, I'm not saying he did this for me (well, not totally). He is very fond of Monkey. He takes great pleasure in playing ("torturing" - nothing that ever hurts them of course, just what he likes to call it to justify his actions as a (former) anti-cat person) with the cats.

Bloggy Goodness

I'm just full of bloggy goodness lately.
That is, I've been blogging a lot. I don't always/only blog here. I have one for school stuff elsewhere.
(Is bloggy a word? Well, if it isn't yet I'm sure it will be - and not because I said it, but because blogging is a rapidly expanding phenomenon and will develop its own vocabulary.)

So, for bloggy fun:
My driveway is now clear of my former linoleum floor that had been tossed out there long ago... It finally found its way to a dumpster. Cleared driveway - check.

Josie's potential adopter decided not to adopt another cat before even meeting her. Silly fool doesn't know what he's missing.
His loss, my gain.
Maybe it's just meant to be... ... ...

Yeah, I know, I was anti-kitten for a while. I was good and strong - loving yet detached. And now I'm failing Fostering 101 yet again.
But not because she's a kitten.
It's because Josie fits here. She matches the other kitties - she could be their daughter, if kittens looked like their parents (which they often do not).
She's not a cuddle bum, and for once that works for me. I've got enough cuddle-kitties and a big suck of a dog.
Plus, she's good for Fenwick. I've mentioned already how they play together - and I see Fenwick out of her hidey hole far more often now.

Potentially increasing the household cat population to three - check.
(This is still under consideration.
I had 3 cats for a while after Jenny was born and while Snuggles was still around. Snugs, Ren and Molly made a cute family.)

I met with Barlee's Angels volunteers the other day. It's a great group of people and I am happy to be involved. Then I rushed to pick up Robin from work, home to change, and off to a Yule ritual I was planning.

Oh, gotta go. Watching Elf on TV.

Yule Torture

Robin is evil.
He has "hidden" some large gift for me in the spare room. And by "hide" I mean he closed the door and told me not to look inside because my gift is there. He says he can't even wrap it.
So... too big to wrap, but light enough to carry up the stairs...
Hmmm...
I already guessed a rocking chair. Sadly, that wasn't it.

For those who know me, you know how torturous this is!
What if I needed to get one of his presents out that is also hidden in that room? (Granted, I wrap my gifts as soon as I get home!) What if... well, okay, there's nothing I can't fetch Robin to get out of that room for me...

In other news, I had half-holiday cookies today. As I lamented earlier, without an oven we've had absolutely no holiday baking yet this year. It's terrible. My department's Holiday Party is in late January. Robin had a work lunch today. And nobody else I know is having a party. Usually we have the party. I decided that I had to have *something* so I picked up some holiday-themed sugar cookies, ginger bread, and almond-flavoured cookies at the grocery store, but they are not homemade (Voortman cookies) and thus I can't really call it holiday baking.
Yes, it's pathetic. You can pity me all you want - and then send baking!

Also, Yule cards have all been sent (assuming I have your snail mail address). Yay me. Check.
As far as I know, I'm also done all my shopping and package shipping. Check and check.

Now *you* are jealous of me! I know it.